Frankie Beverly, the stylish singer, songwriter and founder of the R&B/funk band Maze, whose baritone voice drove such ‘80s hits as “Back in Stride,” “Too Many Games,” “Before I Let Go” and “Can’t Get Over You,” died Tuesday, according to a social media post from his family. No cause of death was announced; he was 77.
“We honor the memory of our beloved Howard Stanley Beverly known to the world as Frankie Beverly,” the statement reads, which includes a request to respect the family’s privacy. “He lived his life with pure soul as one would say, and for us, no one did it better. He lived for his music, family and friends.
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While not quite at the level of contemporaries such as Earth, Wind & Fire or Parliament-Funkadelic, Frankie Beverly and Maze created deeply contagious melodies, tight rhythms and its leader’s elegant, silken vocal style. Indeed, his vocals perfectly matched his signature stage attire of all-white, casual clothing and baseball caps – something live audiences shared en masse during Maze concerts.
Howard Stanley Beverly was born in Phialdelphia on December 6, 1946. From his earliest days in Philly’s East Germantown section, he was involved in music, singing gospel songs in the local church, joining a vocal quartet called the Silhouettes when he was 12, and creating his own a cappella doo-wop group, the Blenders, as a teen at Germantown High School. When the Blenders broke up, Beverly formed the Butlers (soon to become Frankie Beverly and the Butlers) in 1963, and cut singles such as “If That’s What You Wanted,” “The Sun’s Message” and “She Tried to Kiss Me” for Philly-based labels such as Liberty Bell and Guyden.
Burgeoning Philadelphia songwriter-producer Kenny Gamble, took an interest in Beverly’s sound and signed the vocal band to Gamble Records. However, their music didn’t fit into Gamble and partner Leon Huff’s idea of “The Sound of Philadelphia” soul — which would dominate FM radio in the mid-1970s — and Beverly left the label.
Subsequently, Beverly and his group, renamed Raw Soul, moved to San Francisco in 1971. Marvin Gaye soon became a fan and enlisted Raw Soul as his opening act, shepherded them into a deal with Capitol Records and convinced them to change their name — to Maze.
The group’s self-titled debut album was released by Capitol in 1977. This first album contained Beverly’s soon-to-be signature hits “Happy Feelin’s,” “While I’m Alone” and “Lady of Magic.” After releasing the above-mentioned hits via five more albums for Capitol, the group left for Warner Bros. in 1989, where they recorded “Silky Soul,” a tribute to Gaye.
Although the group released its last studio album in 1993 with “Back to Basics,” Beverly’s Maze music was sampled heavily by early hip-hop artists; most notably, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock’s used of the chorus of Maze’s “Joy and Pain” for their 1988 single of the same name. Beverly and Maze continued to tour over the decades, finishing with a retirement tour that concluded this year with an emotional performance at Philadelphia’s Dell Music Center in July.
Earlier this year, Beverly received a lifetime achievement honor at the NAACP Image Awards.
