Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly

Personnel includes: Frankie Beverly, Sam Porter, Robin Dune, Ronald Lowry, Wayne Thomas, McKinley Williams, Joe Provost.
Reissue producer: Tom Cartwright.
Includes liner notes by A. Scott Galloway.
Digitally remastered by Odea Murphy (Tower Mastering).
MAZE:
Maze: Frankie Beverly (vocals, guitar); Wayne Thomas (guitar); Sam Porter (keyboards); Robin Duhe (bass); Joe Provost (drums); Ronald "Roame" Lowry (congas, background vocals); McKinley "Bug" Williams (percussion, background vocals).
Producer: Frankie Beverly.
Engineer: John Nowland.
Recorded at Pacific Recording Studios, San Mateo, California.
GOLDEN TIME OF DAY:
Maze: Frankie Beverly (vocals, guitar); Wayne Thomas (guitar); Sam Porter (keyboards); Robin Duhe (bass); Ahaguna G. Sun, Joe Provost (drums); Ronald "Roame" Lowry (congas, background vocals); McKinley "Bug" Williams (percussion, background vocals).
Producer: Frankie Beverly.
Engineers: John Nowland.
Recorded at Applewood Studio, Golden, Colorado.
Maze started when singer/guitarist Frankie Beverly, who had kicked around in a number of Philly soul groups, was inspired to found the self-contained R&B band Raw Soul. After moving to San Francisco, the ensemble eventually metamorphosed into Maze. The band's 1978 debut album is split evenly between hard-grooving, percussion-laden funk and more melodic, vocal-oriented R&B. While "Lady of Magic" and "Look at California" are indicative of the soft, ballad-oriented style that would eventually make Maze famous, the heavy-hitting tunes "Time Is on My Side" and "Color Blind" help to make this the grittiest, funkiest album in the Maze catalogue. All the seeds of Maze's subsequent successes can be heard here in an embryonic state, but this is the work of a band in flux, still moving towards its signature sound.