Frankie Beverly, the husky-voiced, white-clad soul singer from Philadelphia whose band Maze had a love affair with New Orleans for decades, died on September 10, his family announced on Wednesday. He was 77 years old.

Beverly’s catalog of classics with Maze includes “Joy and Pain,” “Before I Let Go,” “Back In Stride,” “Running Away,” “We Are One,” and “Happy Feelin’s.” For several generations of black fans, Maze’s music was deeply ingrained in their lives, the soundtrack to countless social events.

The Maze album Live in New Orleans (1981), recorded over two nights at the Saenger Theater, is widely considered one of the greatest concert albums of all time, especially in the R&B/soul genre.

Beverly’s death came just two months after the Essence Festival of Culture honored him at the Caesars Superdome. Starting in 1995, Maze closed the first 15 years of Essence Fest, sparking a mass electric slide on the floor of the Dome.

Most recently, Beverly and her band performed annually on the Congo Square Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Beverly performed in New Orleans for the last time on May 25, when Maze headlined a sold-out Smoothie King Center. Most of the 14,000 fans in attendance wore white, matching Beverly’s traditional stage attire.

Sweaty nights in New Orleans

He was born Howard Stanley Beverly in Philadelphia. In his youth he sang gospel and doo-wop. He formed a band called The Butlers, which later relocated to the Bay Area of ​​California and was renamed Raw Soul. The group caught the attention of Marvin Gaye, who hired Beverly and his band as their opening act. It was reportedly Gaye who convinced the group to change their name to Maze.

After opening for ConFunkShun at the Municipal Auditorium in 1978, Maze returned to headline the ILA Auditorium on South Claiborne Avenue. The room was sweltering, the walls covered in condensation.

“It was one of the hottest gigs I’ve ever played,” Beverly recalled in a 2006 interview. “The walls were sweating. I’ll never forget that gig.”

That weekend turned into a month-long local gig, while Maze records sold like hotcakes. The warm reception in the Big Easy surprised Beverly. “I never thought we would be so successful in the South. We weren’t as funky as Cameo. We had that California thing. We made songs. I didn’t know the South would accept us so well.”

New Orleans took the band to its heart, “as if we were born and raised here,” Beverly continued. “It was like a disease here.”

Maze recorded the album “Inspiration” in 1979 at Studio in the Country in Bogalusa. On November 14 and 15, 1980, they recorded several concerts at the Saenger for a concert album. Beverly had convinced Capitol Records that New Orleans would be the optimal place for such a recording.

And he was right. During “Joy and Pain” the audience took over the show; a thousand voices repeated the refrain a cappella: “JOY… and pain! SUNSHINE… and rain!”

After the release of Live in New Orleans in 1981, Maze’s popularity soared, especially in Europe. The singer’s audience “gave us a classic record,” Beverly said. “To this day, James Brown’s ‘Live at the Apollo’ is the No. 1 live R&B album. But I think our ‘Live in New Orleans’ has to be close behind because of the impact it had on our career.”

On August 19, 2006, Maze returned to New Orleans for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. 14,000 spectators filled the sold-out hall, then called the New Orleans Arena, and experienced an extremely emotional evening. During the encore, Beverly held out his hand to his fans, who held him tight and didn’t let go. His voice broke with emotion as he continued singing.

“I almost lost it,” he later recalled. The New Orleans fans “were there from the beginning. They never let us down. They squeezed my hand like I meant something.”

“I feel honored to be so respected. It’s almost frightening: How can I live up to this?”

After Maze completed the first 15 Essence Fests, new leadership at Essence Magazine decided it was time for a change – much to the chagrin of many old-school Beverly fans.

Maze answered fans’ calls and returned to Essence in 2015. In 2019, Essence staged a tribute to Beverly. Mayor LaToya Cantrell presented Beverly with a key to the city. Ed Lewis, co-founder of Essence Magazine and Essence Fest, paid tribute to Beverly’s legacy. Beverly then performed a 30-minute, five-song set with Maze.

Although Maze did not release any more albums with new material after “Back To Basics” in 1993, audiences continued to come to the concerts.

“Our thing came from being a legitimate act,” Beverly once said. “It’s just as powerful, or maybe more powerful, than selling records. The bottom line is that you have a reputation that so-and-so is coming to town and I have to go there. I don’t think you can do anything better as an artist.”

take farewell

Earlier this year, Beverly announced he would be doing one final tour before retiring. The I Wanna Thank You Farewell Tour also featured the O’Jays and the Whispers. Significantly, Maze’s continued presence in New Orleans was that all 14,000-plus tickets for the tour’s May 25 stop at the Smoothie King Center were sold out.

This was a revamped version of Maze, but the show itself, with its focus on shared nostalgia, felt like a particularly good night out from the early years of Essence Fest. It was a collective, wholesome lovefest, in the style of a family reunion, with a soundtrack that most of those in attendance had grown up with.

Beverly’s final performance was on July 6 at the Dell Music Center, an amphitheater in his hometown of Philadelphia. The next day, he flew to New Orleans to receive his flowers on the final night of Essence’s 30th anniversary.

He watched as New Orleans natives Luke James, Anthony Hamilton and former Santana singer Tony Lindsay sang with Maze. Occasionally, the cameras panned to Beverly, who leaned in a chair backstage, nodding his head and grooving to the music he was composing.

Just before 1 a.m., former Mayor Marc Morial led a delegation onto the stage that included Cantrell, Lewis and State Senator Royce Duplessis. They greeted Beverly and presented him with framed tokens of appreciation.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, my people,” said Beverly, who had clearly slowed down in recent years.

“Thank you for that nod. Thank you for your concern. And I will make you proud of myself soon… Thank you and I love you from the bottom of my heart.”