Frankie Beverly 1946–

Rhythm and blues singer

Joined The Silhouettes

Raw Soul Headed West

Enjoyed Consistent Success

Remained Popular

Selected discography

Sources

Most musicians are lucky to get one shot at stardom, and even then it doesn’t last long. Frankie Beverly, who formed Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly over 30 years ago, is even more fortunate. After over three decades in the music business, nearly 30 hit singles, nine Top Ten hits, and eight gold records, he is still going strong. His music doesn’t get air play on the popular radio stations, and he doesn’t sell millions of albums or win Grammy awards. But, despite all that, Beverly and Maze is one of the most consistently popular R&B bands.

Beverly was inspired to sing as a child in the church choir. “Like most black artists,” he said in an iMusic.com profile, “I was influenced by going to church. You know, it was like anyone that could sing was featured in a Sunday program! So I did a lot of solos in church … a lot of singing!” When he was about eight or nine-years-old, the first record he can remember hearing was Lloyd Price’s “Lawdy Miss Clowdy.” He loved it, but then heard Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, which really inspired him. Beverly even changed his first name from Howard to Frankie. He became a huge fan of the group’s hit singles, such as “I Want You to be My Girl,” “Who Can Explain?,” and “The ABC’s of Love.” Every time that Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” he watched the program. Every time they played a concert in town, Beverly was in the audience. He credits Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers for being a catalyst that helped foster his interest in music.

Joined The Silhouettes

While still in junior high school, Beverly was recruited into a vocal group called The Silhouettes. The group had just lost its singer, and word on the street was that Beverly could sing just like Frankie Lymon. “Little Frankie,” as he was known around Philadelphia, played his first professional concert at the age of 12. Beverly’s father could’ve cared less about his son’s musical career. He wanted him to get a job, and follow more “serious” pursuits. “We clashed as I was growing up,” Beverly told iMusic.com. In retrospect, Beverly credited his family for standing behind him. He stayed with The Silhouettes for about a year, but began to feel out of touch with his bandmates, who were older. Beverly left The Silhouettes to form his own band.

Beverly’s first group was called The Blenders, an a cappella (voices only, no instruments) and doo-wop

At a Glance…

Born Howard Beverly in 1946, raised in Philadelphia, PA.

Career: Lead singer, Frankie Beverly and Maze, 1977-; recorded the albums: MazeFeaturing Frankie Beverly, 1977; Golden Time of Day, 1978; Inspiration, 1979; Joy and Pain, 1980; Live in New Orleans, 1980; We Are One, 1983; Can’t Stop the Love, 1985; Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly Live inL.A., 1986; Silky Soul, 1989, Back to Basics, 1993; Southern Girl, 1996; Rebel for Life, 1998.

Awards: Eight gold albums for sales of over 100,000 each.

Addresses: Office —Capitol Records, 1750 N. Vine St., Hollywood CA90028.

group. He found it difficult to find bandmates who were as serious about music as he was. After The Blenders broke up, Beverly formed The Butlers, and started recording. The Butlers’ sound was in the vein of the traditional vocal harmony groups of the time. The Butlers recorded on local Philadelphia record labels from 1963 to 1968. As the 1960s drew on, Beverly and his band were more influenced by groups like Sly and the Family Stone, and developed a new sound and a new name, Raw Soul.

Raw Soul Headed West

A future member of Maze, percussionist McKinley “Bug” Williams, was an original member of The Butlers, and stayed with Beverly in Raw Soul. The group played shows in and around Philadelphia, but Beverly knew that they had to move west to achieve more wide-spread success. “Philly wasn’t going to be the place for what we wanted to do,” he said on iMusic.com. In 1971, the group headed out to the San Francisco Bay Area. Other bands that Beverly respected, such as Sly and the Family Stone, Santana, and Cold Blood, were also based there.

Raw Soul had an eventful cross-country road trip, and arrived in Oakland, California. At first, things were tough for the group. They slept in their bus, and couldn’t get paid shows. One day, they met a girl who was crazy about the band’s sound, and she promised to set up concert dates for them. Within a month, the band landed a job through her at a San Francisco club called The Scene. They played at the club for a year. Ultimately, the club’s owner decided to invest in Beverly and Raw Soul, and paid for them to record a whole album’s worth of songs. They sent those demo recordings around to record companies, but found no interest. Those recordings, however, became the basis for the first Maze album.

Raw Soul received their big break when Marvin Gaye’s sister-in-law saw them perform live. She was impressed with the group’s sound and notified Gaye, who was looking for a backup band to tour with. Within a week, Gaye was in the audience, watching a live Raw Soul show. “I can’t describe how I felt,” Beverly told iMusic.com, “because he was an idol of mine … and I couldn’t believe he was checking us out!” Soon, Raw Soul was not only Gaye’s backup band on tour, but also the opening band. They also had the opportunity to perform original material. Gaye took the band under his wing, helped them financially, and used his influence in the music industry to open doors for the group. They sent out their demo recordings again, and received a phone call from Capitol Records executive Larkin Arnold. About a week after he received the tape, Arnold signed Raw Soul to their first record deal. The band changed its name to Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly and released its first record, Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly, in 1977.

Enjoyed Consistent Success

From their first release, the group enjoyed consistent success. They had nearly 30 hit singles from 1977 to 1993—nine of which were Top 10 R&B singles—and eight of its ten releases went gold. Maze’s most notable Top 10 hits include “Running Away,” “Love is the Key,” “Back in Stride,” “Too Many Games,” “Can’t Get Over You,” and “Silky Soul.” When the band first toured Europe in 1981, Beverly was shocked by the overwhelmingly positive response they received. He was even more surprised by the racial makeup of the audience. “I was looking for black folks to be at the shows,” Beverly told iMusic.com, “because that’s basically who makes up our audiences ]in the United States]—and when I looked out there, I saw a crowd that was 99-percent white, grooving, digging our music.”

Beverly credits his struggles during the early years of his career for helping him to deal well with success. Ever humble, he is thrilled that he’s been able to share some of Maze’s success by bringing young talent into the spotlight. Opening acts for Maze have included Anita Baker, Regina Belle, and Toni Braxton, all of whom went on to achieve great success.

Remained Popular

As noteworthy as the band’s longevity is it’s ability to play before sellout crowds. Music industry analysts compare Maze to Neil Diamond or the Grateful Dead, in that their modest record sales don’t affect concert ticket sales. “There isn’t a one-to-one correlation between record sales and ticket sales, Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar, the concert-industry magazine, told the Dallas Morning News. Thomas Bacote, a program director for KRBV-FM in Dallas, told the Dallas Morning News that the group’s success is due to “the uplifting, almost spiritual vibe they have at …concerts.” Even Beverly can’t explain the group’s tremendous concert appeal. “I have no idea why we’re so much bigger live than we are with our records,” he told the Dallas Morning News. “I just call it the Maze Craze.”

Beverly noted that Maze stays together by sticking to its “organic” formula, which was developed in the 1960s. “It’s not like we come out with dancers and we’re swinging from the rafters,” he said in the Dallas Morning News. “I’ve got nothing against the hip-hop thing,” he continued, “but there’s too many people going in and pushing buttons on some machine for five or ten minutes—ding, ding, dong, dong, boom, boom—and they think they’ve written a classic. It takes blood, sweat, and tears to write a classic.”

Selected discography

Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly, Capitol, 1977.

Inspiration, Razor & Tie, 1979.

Joy and Pain, Razor & Tie, 1980.

Live in New Orleans, Capitol, 1980.

We Are One, Capitol, 1983.

Can’t Stop the Love, Razor & Tie, 1985.

Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly Live in L.A., Capitol, 1986.

Silky Soul, Warner Bros., 1989.

Back to Basics, Warner Bros., 1993.

Southern Girl, Capitol, 1996.

Rebel 4 Life, Sony International, 1998.

Sources

Periodicals

Dallas Morning News, September 26, 1996, p. 5C.

Knight-Ridder\Tribune News Service, February 2, 1994.

St. Louis Post Dispatch, November 21, 1997, p. E4.

Other

Additional information for this profile was obtained from “Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly,” iMusic.com, at http://www.imusic.com (February 24, 2000).

—Brenna Sanchez