Does anyone remember? Was that show just a "Chicago" thang?

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I remember it with clarity. In fact, our very own Stepfather Of Soul..Jason Stone did an incomparably delicious blog on Big Bill Hill, including an actual aircheck from one of his shows in 1967:
Check it out...

~e
Center cut pork chops 68 cents ?????? Those were the 'Good ole days' for sure :)
Wow, thank you for sharing this. Chills are running down my spine, just listening to the show. This brings back such great memories. I was really little then, but I have an older brother & sister that I would watch the show with. I remember them dancing in the living room while the show was on Channel 26. If it wasn't for my brother & sister, a lot of things from the late 60's & early 70's I wouldn't even know.........Thank God for the memories!
See, this is why i wish i was around back in the day...I would have been eating this stuff up...LOL. This is great
I thought that I was the last one left that remembered "The Big Bil Hill Show" I grew up on the West Side of Chicago first in the Henry Horner homes off Damen Avenue and Lake Street then Polk and Congress. We finally relocated to the Western Suburb Maywood. The show in the Basement was so great because when we finally moved in to a home I could really relate to the shows concept now The Crate was too funny but the fold up card tables...When Don who was also a former Chicago police officer and radio disc jockey created and produced "The Sooouuul Train Show" I still trip and smile when thinking of the opening shot of the show with a real train coming down the tracks talk about how far we've come with videos.
And let's not forget W.L. Lillard who was also first a police officer His show was great as well but this really takes me back now all these names come to mind Purvis Spann "The Blues Man" "The Real Steel" Richard Steel and My Girl Bernadine C. Washington

If you didn't listen to WVON back in the day...It really was our voice not only Great music but it was The benchmark for The true Urban Radio of today which spoke from our perspective of the news and the talk shows...thanks as Minnie would say for the "Walk down memory Lane"
I remember Big Bill Hill the real title of the show was Red Hot & Blue.
Friday's at 10:00or 10:30pm. We had to try and stay up that late, I had lots of friends who were on the show carloads would go down to the station {Ch 26} where they say the dance floor was the size of yo moms living room. They would make up dances to do on the show a favorite was Stop the Love You Save bythe Jackson 5. Every blackgirl group in every neighborhood in Chicago had a dance off that.
I alsoRemember the White Dancing Girls --My mother used to say they were hookers. I still remember those pitiful looking chicks with their go-go boots on and their hotpants and mini skirts.
Dons CedarSupper Club was one of the sponsors he would be on there sometimes --I think he was a goodfella if u know wat I mean-- Big Bill would introduce the girls as the "lovely ladies" from the Don Cedar Supper Club. Another sponsor was some ratty furniture store on the Westside.
Will post more as I remember.

Does anyone remember when Soultrain was filmed in that same studio? Thats where it started yet they never mention it on TV. Why?
Can anyone can tell me how to get a copy of the big bill hill dance show tapes. I used to dance onthat show with my sister and we just want to know if we find a copy of the tape.
Yep I believe it was.

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The history of the Butlers/Raw Soul is dense, but for all of us music nerds, that's normal. It is not totally clear what year the Butlers actually formed but they released their first single in 1963 on Liberty Records. That single was "She Tried To Kiss Me" and another single followed on Guyden entitled "Lovable Girl." After the Guyden single the Butlers took a break not recording another record until the single "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" was released on the Phila label in 1966. The group also backed Charles Earland and Jean Wells on one Phila single ("I Know She Loves Me"). 


As you might be noticing, the Butlers were doing a fair amount of recording but not achieving much success. The group's recordings sold regionally but never had the promotion to make an impact on the national scene. After the single with Phila, the Butlers moved to the Fairmount label (part of the Cameo-Parkway family) and released a handful of singles, some being reissued singles of the past. The Butlers were with Fairmount for 1966-67 and then moved to Sassy Records. Sassy released the group's greatest single (in my opinion) "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" b/w "If That's What You Wanted." A copy of that 45 sold for just under $500 last summer on eBay. Even though that isn't that much in the world of record collecting--it's still a hefty sum. The Butlers released another single on Sassy ("She's Gone" b/w "Love Is Good") that appears to be even 
harder to come by then the "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" single.

 

The true history become a bit blurred here as the AMG biography states that the Butlers last record was released on C.R.S. in 1974 (". However, between 1971 and that single, Frankie Beverly formed a group called Raw Soul and released a number of singles. Some of the songs recorded by Beverly during this period are "While I'm Alone," "Open Up Your Heart," (both on the Gregor label) and "Color Blind." "Color Blind" was released by the Eldorado label and rerecorded by Maze. Beverly's big break came when Marvin Gaye asked Raw Soul to back him on a tour. Gaye helped Beverly/Raw Soul get a contract at Capitol. Beverly decided to take the group in a different direction, a name change occurred, and Maze was created. 

The above isn't the most complete history of Beverly but hopefully someone will know a way to get in touch with the man or his management because a comprehensive pre-Maze history needs to be done on Frankie Beverly (his real name is Howard, by the way). Below you'll find every Frankie Beverly (pre-Maze) song available to me right now ("Color Blind" will be up soon). 

If you have a song that is not included below, shoot it over to funkinsoulman (at) yahoo.com and it will go up in the next Frankie Beverly post (later this week--highlighting Maze). Also, if you have any more information please share your knowledge. The Butlers material has been comp-ed sporadically (usually imports) but the entire Maze catalog has been reissued and is available. 

Enjoy.  "She Kissed Me" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967) 
 
 "I Want To Feel I'm Wanted" (not sure which label or year) "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" (Phila, 1966) "Because Of My Heart" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967)
   
 "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" (Sassy, 1967)
   
 "If That's What You Wanted" (Sassy, 1967)
 



Frankie Beverly is one of those cats that has lasting power. He started in the music business doing a tour with doo wop group the Silhouettes and then formed his own group called the Blenders. The Blenders never recorded a single, Beverly wouldn't appear on wax until forming the Butlers a few years later. Along with Beverly, the Butlers included Jack "Sonny" Nicholson, Joe Collins, John Fitch, and Talmadge Conway.

Beverly would later enjoy great success fronting Maze and Conway would become a
well-known penning Double Exposure's
"Ten Percent" and the Intruders' "Memories Are Here To Stay." 
 While Maze is a phenomenal group, Beverly's work before that group will always stand out as his best (imo).

The Butlers produced tunes that most Northern Soul fans would kill for and Raw Soul gave the funksters something to pursue. If, by chance, you know of a way to get in touch with Frankie Beverly or his management, please drop me an e-mail. It would be absolutely great to do an interview with him about his pre-Maze work. He's still playing out, most recently doing a New Year's Eve show in Atlanta.
:: Funkinsoulman ::

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