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Maze featuring Frankie Beverly
Combining a Philadelphia soul sound with a strong appreciation
of Marvin Gaye, Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly was among the top R&B
acts of the late '70s and '80s. The distinctive Maze and its charismatic
lead singer, founder, producer, and songwriter Beverly didn't have many
pop hits, but they were extremely popular among soul and urban contemporary
audiences and enjoyed at least six or seven gold albums.
Maze's self-titled debut album was released by Capitol in 1977; that album
(which contains the hits "Happy Feelin's," "While I'm Alone,"
and "Lady of Magic") went gold and earned Maze an extremely
devoted following. The band's 1977 lineup consisted of Beverly on lead
vocals and rhythm guitar, Wayne Thomas on lead guitar, Sam Porter on keyboards,
Ronald "Roame" Loary and McKinley "Bug" Williams on
percussion and background vocals, and Joe Provost on drums. In 1978, Provost
was replaced by Ahaguna G. Sun, formerly of a little-known soul/funk group
called Sunbear; subsequently, Sun was replaced by Billy "Shoes"
Johnson. There were other personnel changes along the way; keyboardist
Phillip Woo (formerly of Roy Ayers' band Ubiquity) joined Maze in 1980,
and Ron Smith was the guitarist who replaced Thomas. But regardless of
who was coming or going, Maze always reflected Beverly's vision -- Beverly
was to Maze what George Clinton was to Parliament/Funkadelic. 1978 saw
the release of Maze's second album, Golden Time of Day, which contains
the number-nine R&B hit "Workin' Together." Golden Time
of Day went gold, as did 1979's Inspiration and 1980's Joy and Pain (the
album that gave us the major hit "Southern Girl"). In the late
'70s, Maze earned a reputation for having one of the best live shows in
R&B and their first live album, Live in New Orleans (a two-LP set),
came out in 1981. Another live double-LP, Live in Los Angeles, was released
in 1986, which was the year after Maze's funky "Back in Stride"
reached number one on Billboard's R&B singles chart and became their
biggest hit ever. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
Let us connect you with a Frankie Beverly and Maze Agent now to book Maze featuring Frankie Beverly to appear at your next corporate, private or special event!
*Please Note: Headline Entertainment will not respond to inquiries related to any of the following (sorry, no exceptions):
•
Upcoming public appearances of artists on this site.
• Contact info for artists or requests to fwd messages.
• Artist's TV, stage or film projects or representation.
• Invitations to appear to accept awards, etc.
• Requests for artists to donate items for auctions, etc.
• Media requests for print, radio or TV interviews.
• Non-paying or expenses only fundraisers.
• We will not forward jokes, songs, screenplays, etc.
*Headline Entertainment, LLC, the booking agent working on your behalf, acts only as an entertainment broker/producer for corporate functions, private engagements and special events and does not claim or represent itself as the exclusive booking agent, booking agency or management of any artist on this website.
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