Maze
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
Feeling out of place in his home town, Beverly moved Raw Soul to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971. Raw Soul had been playing the San Francisco/Oakland scene for several years when Beverlys idol, Marvin Gaye, became aware of the band. Quite impressed by Beverlys singing and songwriting, Gaye sang Raw Souls praises to Capitol and helped them land a deal with that major label in 1976. One thing Gaye didnt like about Beverlys band was the name Raw Soul. The late soul giant insisted on a name change and after considering a few other names (including Karma and Charisma), Raw Soul officially became Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly in 1976. (The name Karma wouldnt have worked because an obscure, L.A.-based funk/jazz outfit called Karma was recording for A&M around 1976-1977).
Mazes self-titled debut album was released by Capitol in 1977; that album (which contains the hits Happy Feelins, While Im Alone, and Lady of Magic) went gold and earned Maze an extremely devoted following. The bands 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 Beverlys vision -- Beverly was to Maze what George Clinton was to Parliament/Funkadelic. 1978 saw the release of Mazes second album, Golden Time of Day, which contains the number-nine R&B hit Workin Together. Golden Time of Day went gold, as did 1979s Inspiration and 1980s 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 Mazes funky Back in Stride reached number one on Billboards R&B singles chart and became their biggest hit ever.
In 1989, Maze left Capitol for Warner Bros. and recorded Silky Soul; the title track, an ode to Marvin Gaye, was a major hit. By that time, Maze was receiving a lot of attention from the
ap world -- their recordings were being sampled extensively by hip-hoppers. In 1988, rapper Rob Base used the chorus of Mazes Joy and Pain on a single that had the same title -- unfortunately, Base did so without permission and Beverly threatened legal action. Maze didnt enjoy many hits in the 90s, although their live shows continued to be well-received by a very devoted fan base.
