Maze | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Genres | R&B, soul, funk |
Years active | 1970–Present |
Labels | Capitol, Warner Bros. |
Members | Carl Wheeler Ordeen Mays Jr. Vernon Black Larry Wims Kevin Lloyd Kevin Stancil Marlon Curry |
Past members | Frankie Beverly McKinley "Bug" Williams Sam Porter Robin Duhe Wuane Thomas Joe Provost Ahaguna Sun Ron Smith Billy Johnson Philip Woo Wayne "Ziggy" Linsey Vernon "Ice" Black William Bryant George Murrille Michael White Anthony Beverly Chris Johnson Road Manager: Calvin "VJ" Jones Stage Manager: Michael Burton Light Director: Michael Lowry Roame Lowry Larry Kimpel a.k.a. Bear Williams Vance Taylor Jubu Smith Calvin Napper Daniel Weatherspoon |
Maze, also known as Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly and Frankie Beverly & Maze, is an American soul band founded by Frankie Beverly in Philadelphia in 1970. [1] Under its original name Raw Soul, the band relocated to San Francisco and was introduced to Marvin Gaye. Gaye took the group on the road with him as one of his opening acts, and in 1976, he suggested that they change their name from Raw Soul. [1]
Maze released nine Gold albums from 1977 to 1993. [2] Their well-known songs include "Happy Feelin's", "While I'm Alone", "Golden Time of Day", “Southern Girl”, "The Look in Your Eyes", "Joy and Pain", "Before I Let Go", "We Are One", "Back in Stride", "Can't Get Over You" and "The Morning After". [3] The band has maintained a large and devoted following. [1]
Frankie Beverly started the band as Raw Soul in 1970. [4] They recorded a couple of singles on the small Gregar label, but without any major hits. With a few personnel changes, a relocation from Philadelphia to the San Francisco Bay Area in California in 1971, and an introduction to Marvin Gaye, the band became an immediate success. [4] Gaye took the band on the road with him as one of his curtain-raising acts, and in 1976, he suggested that they change their name from Raw Soul to Maze. [4]
Maze signed a recording contract with Capitol Records in 1976, and released their debut album, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, in 1977. [4] From that album, the hit singles included "Happy Feelin's", "While I'm Alone", and "Lady of Magic", ultimately giving them their first gold record and earning Maze a devoted following. They also had success with the albums Golden Time of Day (1978), Inspiration (1979) and Joy and Pain (1980). The group has stated that their hit single “Southern Girl” was dedicated to all the southern women from Virginia to Texas. [5]
Their next recording was Live in New Orleans, three quarters of which was recorded at the Saenger Theatre, on November 14–15, 1980. Three of those songs got into the US R&B chart, including "Running Away", "Before I Let Go", and "We Need Love to Live". By that time, the band had a reputation in America and enjoyed a following in the United Kingdom with promotional support from the British DJ Robbie Vincent. In May 1985, Maze sold out eight nights at the Hammersmith Odeon. [6]
The band released their next album, Can't Stop the Love in March 1985, [4] which featured the group's first number one R&B hit "Back In Stride." The Top 5 follow-up, "Too Many Games" was also featured on this album. The latter single also became the band's biggest hit in the UK, where it peaked at number 36 on the UK Singles Chart. [7]
In 1989, they signed with Warner Bros. and released the hit album Silky Soul, plus Back to Basics in 1993, [4] and released the live DVD recording at London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1994. The two albums also attained gold disc status. They had another number one R&B success with "Can't Get Over You".
In 2009, a tribute to the hits of Maze was released. Called Silky Soul Music: An All Star Tribute to Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly, it included modern stars performing Maze's biggest hits with Maze acting as the backing band. [5]
In recent years, it has become tradition for the audience to honor the group by dressing in all white attire, as the group has often worn while performing.
On September 2, 2011, their percussionist and background singer, McKinley "Bug" Williams, died of an apparent heart attack. [8] [9]
On May 9, 2023, it was reported that long-time Maze band members along with original member Roame left and started their own group, "The Music Forever" (TMF): Formerly of Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly. However, Beverly would remain and perform with new Maze band members. [10]
On September 10, 2024, Beverly died. [11]
Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Record label | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [12] | US R&B [12] | CAN [13] | UK [7] | |||||||||||
1977 | Maze featuring Frankie Beverly | 52 | 6 | — | — | Capitol | ||||||||
1978 | Golden Time of Day | 27 | 9 | 83 | — |
| ||||||||
1979 | Inspiration | 33 | 5 | 54 | — |
| ||||||||
1980 | Joy and Pain | 31 | 5 | — | — |
| ||||||||
1983 | We Are One | 25 | 5 | — | 38 | |||||||||
1985 | Can't Stop the Love | 45 | 1 | — | 41 |
| ||||||||
1989 | Silky Soul | 37 | 1 | — | 43 |
| Warner Bros. | |||||||
1993 | Back to Basics | 37 | 3 | — | — |
| ||||||||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Record label | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [12] | US R&B [12] | UK [7] | ||||
1981 | Live in New Orleans | 34 | 3 | — |
| Capitol |
1986 | Live in Los Angeles | 92 | 12 | 70 | ||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |
Year | Album | Peaks | Certifications | Record label | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US R&B [12] | |||||
1988 | Southern Girl | — | Capitol | ||
1989 | The Greatest Hits of Maze...Lifelines, Vol. 1 | 57 | |||
1996 | Anthology | 57 |
| The Right Stuff | |
1998 | Greatest Slow Jams | — | |||
2002 | Classic Masters | — | Capitol | ||
2004 | Greatest Hits | 79 | The Right Stuff | ||
2011 | Greatest Hits | — | Capitol | ||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |
Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [12] | US R&B [12] | NL [14] | UK [7] | |||||||||||
1977 | "While I'm Alone" | 89 | 21 | — | — | Maze featuring Frankie Beverly | ||||||||
"Lady of Magic" | 108 | 13 | — | — | ||||||||||
1978 | "Workin' Together" | — | 9 | — | — | Golden Time of Day | ||||||||
"Golden Time of Day" (A-side) | — | 39 | — | — | ||||||||||
"Travelin' Man" (B-side) | — | — | — | |||||||||||
"I Wish You Well" | — | 61 | — | — | ||||||||||
1979 | "Feel That You're Feelin'" | 67 | 7 | — | — | Inspiration | ||||||||
"Timin'" | — | 55 | — | — | ||||||||||
1980 | "Southern Girl" | — | 9 | — | — | Joy and Pain | ||||||||
"The Look in Your Eyes" | — | 29 | — | — | ||||||||||
"Joy and Pain" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
1981 | "Running Away" | — | 7 | — | — | Live in New Orleans | ||||||||
"Before I Let Go" | — | 13 | — | — | ||||||||||
1982 | "We Need Love to Live" | — | 29 | — | — | |||||||||
1983 | "Love Is the Key" | 80 | 5 | — | 88 | We Are One | ||||||||
"Never Let You Down" | — | 26 | — | — | ||||||||||
"We Are One" | — | 47 | — | 86 | ||||||||||
"I Wanna Thank You" | — | 59 | — | — | ||||||||||
1985 | "Back in Stride" | 88 | 1 | — | 79 | Can't Stop the Love | ||||||||
"Too Many Games" | 103 | 5 | — | 36 | ||||||||||
"I Want to Feel I'm Wanted" | — | 28 | — | — | ||||||||||
1986 | "I Wanna Be with You" | — | 12 | — | 55 | Live in Los Angeles | ||||||||
"When You Love Someone" | — | 38 | — | — | ||||||||||
1989 | "Joy and Pain" (re-release) | — | — | — | 57 | Joy and Pain | ||||||||
"Can't Get Over You" | — | 1 | — | 89 | Silky Soul | |||||||||
"Silky Soul" | — | 4 | 76 | — | ||||||||||
1990 | "Love's on the Run" | — | 13 | — | — | |||||||||
"Songs of Love" | — | 37 | — | — | ||||||||||
1993 | "Laid Back Girl" | — | 15 | — | — | Back to Basics | ||||||||
"The Morning After" | 115 | 19 | — | — | ||||||||||
1994 | "What Goes Up" | — | 32 | — | — | |||||||||
2001 | "Teach Each Other" | — | 123 | — | — | The Brothers - Music from the Motion Picture | ||||||||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and musician. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of successes, which earned him the nicknames "Prince of Motown" and "Prince of Soul".
The Four Seasons is an American vocal quartet formed in 1960 in Newark, New Jersey. Since 1970, they have also been known at times as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
Myron Lavell Avant, mononymously known as Avant, is an American R&B singer. He is known for his songs "Separated", "Read Your Mind", and "Makin' Good Love". He has produced three Platinum-selling albums. He has released 15 singles and 9 albums.
"Got to Give It Up" is a song by American music artist Marvin Gaye. Written by the singer and produced by Art Stewart as a response to a request from Gaye's record label that he perform disco music, it was released in March 1977.
Frankie Beverly was an American singer, songwriter, and producer, known primarily for his recordings with the soul and funk band Maze. Beverly formed Maze, originally called Raw Soul, in his hometown of Philadelphia in 1970. After a relocation to San Francisco and an introduction to Marvin Gaye, Maze went on to release nine Gold albums and create a large and devoted following. Beverly was the band's writer, producer and lead singer. He was known for his distinctive smooth baritone voice and charismatic stage presence.
Live at the London Palladium is a live double album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released March 15, 1977, on Tamla Records. Recording sessions took place live at several concerts at the London Palladium in London, England, in October 1976, with the exception of the hit single "Got to Give It Up", which was recorded at Gaye's Los Angeles studio Marvin's Room on January 31, 1977. Live at the London Palladium features intimate performances by Gaye of many of his career highlights, including early hits for Motown and recent material from his previous three studio albums. As with his previous live album, Marvin Gaye Live!, production of the record was handled entirely by Gaye, except for the studio portion, "Got to Give It Up", which was managed by Art Stewart.
"Hustler's Ambition" is a song by American rapper 50 Cent. Written by 50 Cent and produced by B-Money "B$", the song was released as the first single from the soundtrack to the film Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005). Built around a soul–influenced production sampling the Frankie Beverly and Maze song "I Need You", "Hustler's Ambition" features lyrics regarding 50 Cent's rise to fortune and fame, intended to mirror the experience faced by 50 Cent's character in the film: it marks a shift from influence of hardcore hip hop present in 50 Cent's earlier work. "Hustler's Ambition" was released to digital retailers in the United States in October 2005 via Interscope Records, with a CD release following in February 2006.
Malice in Wonderland is the eleventh studio album by Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, released in January 1980. After the heavy lurch of the previous album, the band chose to follow a more commercial path and the album produced the hit singles "Holiday" and "Heart's Grown Cold". This is the second and last studio album to feature guitarist Zal Cleminson of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band as a member of the band.
World Machine is the sixth studio album by British pop group Level 42, released in 1985. It was the band's breakthrough album internationally and features one of their most successful singles, "Something About You".
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"Do You Want To" / "Can't Hang" is Xscape's fourth single from their second studio album Off the Hook that featured rapper MC Lyte. The song reached number #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number #9 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. It was a double A side to Do You Want To. The song contains an interpolation of “Southern Girl” by Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly.
Silky Soul is an album by the Bay Area-based R&B group Maze, released in 1989 on Warner Bros. Records.
Maze featuring Frankie Beverly is the debut album by Bay Area-based R&B group Maze. Released in 1977 on Capitol Records.
Golden Time of Day is the second album by Bay Area-based R&B group Maze, released in 1978 on Capitol Records.
Inspiration is the third album by Bay Area-based R&B group Maze. Released in 1979 on Capitol Records.
Joy and Pain is the fourth album by Bay Area-based R&B group Maze, released on July 18, 1980, on Capitol Records. The album features the R&B hits "Southern Girl" and "The Look in Your Eyes," along with the title track, all of which remain staples on Urban radio stations.
Live In New Orleans is the first live album and fifth overall album by Bay Area-based R&B group Maze. Recorded live at Saenger Theatre in New Orleans, Louisiana November 14–15, 1980. With four new tracks recorded at The Automatt in San Francisco, California.
Can't Stop the Love is the sixth studio album and seventh overall album by Bay Area-based R&B group Maze. Released in 1985 on Capitol Records.
"Before I Let Go" is a song performed by American R&B band Maze, issued as the second single from the band's fifth album and first live album Live in New Orleans. Although Live in New Orleans is a live album, "Before I Let Go" appears on the album as a studio recording. Written and produced by lead singer Frankie Beverly, the song peaked at #13 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1981.
McKinley died last Friday of an apparent heart attack.
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