narrowcast: Deep Album Cuts Vol. 370: Maze with Frankie Beverly

A few months ago, I put “Before I Let Go” at #1 on my list of the best R&B singles of the ’80s. And I actually wanted to do a Maze deep cuts playlist over the summer when Frankie Beverly played his last show with the band, but I didn’t get around to it and then Beverly sadly passed away last week at the age of 77.

2. Time is on my side

3. I need you

4. You are not the same anymore

5. Beautiful inspiration

6. Welcome Home

7. Happiness

8. Changing Times (live)

9. Reason

10. Right on time

11. Your own way

12. A place in my heart

13. Change in our paths

14. Love is

Track 7 of Joy and pain (1980)

Tracks 8 and 9 of Live in New Orleans (1981)

Tracks 10 and 11 of We are one (1983)

Track 12 of Can’t stop the love (1985)

Track 13 of Silky soul (1989)

Track 14 of Back to basics (1993)

Beverly formed his band, originally called Frankie Beverly’s Raw Soul, in Philadelphia, but the group was based in San Francisco for most of its history. But Washington, D.C. was always a strong market for Maze, and I know and love so many of the band’s songs from stations like Majic 102. Marvin Gaye took the band on tour, backed them, and suggested they change the name to Maze.

Maze is sort of your typical non-crossover R&B act. They have nine albums that have gone gold, but none have gone platinum. They have dozens of hits on the R&B charts, but only four of them have charted in the bottom half of the Hot 100, and their most famous song, “Before I Let Go,” wasn’t one of them. They do, however, have a connection to a #1 pop hit. A few years ago I interviewed 24kGoldn of “Mood” and found out that his real name is Golden and that he was named after the title track of Maze’s “Golden Time of Day.”

Maze and Frankie Beverly were early on the trend of releasing a live album with a few studio tracks at the end, and “Before I Let Go” was one of four new songs on Live in New Orleans, along with “Reasons.” I like to think that Beyonce would have put her “Before I Let Go” cover at the end of a live album, Homecomingdeliberately as a tribute to that fact.

“I Need You” was sampled on 50 Cent’s “Hustler’s Ambition”, “Right On Time” was sampled by Eminem and J Dilla, and “Happiness” was sampled by Z-Ro. Maze has released a number of greatest hits albums, but in 1998 they also released Best Slow Jamswhich contains many album tracks, including “Lovely Inspiration”, “Happiness”, “Reason”, “Your Own Kind of Way” and “A Place in My Heart”.

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