Maze, also known as Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly and Frankie Beverly & Maze, is an American
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...
band
Band or BAND may refer to:
Places
*Bánd, a village in Hungary
*Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania
*Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...
founded by
Frankie Beverly in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
in 1970.
Under its original name Raw Soul, the band relocated to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
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.
Maze released 9
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
albums from 1977 to 1993.
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".
The band has maintained a large and devoted following.
Career
Frankie Beverly started the band as Raw Soul in 1970.
They recorded a couple of
singles on the small Gregar
label
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...
, but without any major
hits. With a few personnel changes, a relocation from Philadelphia to the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
in California in 1971, and an introduction to
Marvin Gaye, the band became an immediate success.
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.
Maze signed a
recording contract with
Capitol Records in 1976, and released their debut album,
''Maze featuring Frankie Beverly'', in 1977.
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
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
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.
Their next
recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, r ...
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
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
with promotional support from the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
DJ Robbie Vincent
Robbie Vincent (born 9 June 1947) is an English radio broadcaster and DJ. As a champion of jazz, funk and soul music in the UK during the late 1970s he made an important contribution both live in clubs and on radio. In 1995 he was voted Independ ...
. In May 1985, Maze sold out eight nights at the
Hammersmith Odeon
The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...
.
The band released their next album, ''Can't Stop the Love'' in March 1985,
which featured the group's first number one R&B hit "Back In Stride." The
Top 5
''Top Five'' is a 2014 American comedy film written and directed by Chris Rock. Produced by Scott Rudin and Eli Bush, the film stars Rock, Rosario Dawson, and Gabrielle Union, and follows New York City comedian and film star Andre Allen (Rock), ...
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
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
In 1989, they signed with Warner Bros. and released the hit album ''Silky Soul'', plus ''Back to Basics'' in 1993,
and released the
live DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
recording at
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
's
Hammersmith Odeon
The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...
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.
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
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
.
Maze continues to tour around the United States as well as
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
to this day.
Discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilation albums
Singles
Videos
*''Live in New Orleans'' (1981)
*''Live in Los Angeles'' (1986)
*''Live in London'' (1994)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maze
African-American musical groups
American soul musical groups
American funk musical groups
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups from Philadelphia