His music kept the Black community’s spirits lifted in an era when nearly 1 in 7 Americans had plunged into poverty, crack was appearing in major cities and the U.S. divorce rate was at its peak.
When Frankie Beverly, lead singer of the soul band Maze, passed away this week, I thought of the audience on his recordings from one November night in 1980 at Saenger Theater. His album “Live in New Orleans” captured more than a concert. It captured a turning point in history. President Carter had lost his reelection bid barely a week earlier. Nearly 60% of Orleans Parish, where Beverly was recording, voted for Carter. The GDP grew a stunning 4.
When construction of Saenger began in 1924, there was prosperity in New Orleans, but Jim Crow laws kept Black people disenfranchised. And then just two months after the theater opened, the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 devastated the region, causing more than $1 billion in damages — equal to a third of the federal budget at the time. The flood killed more than 1,000 people and displaced 700,000 others. Many of the victims were descendants of the enslaved who had been forced into sharecropping.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Jalen Hurts pays tribute to Philly music legend Frankie Beverly: 'Long live Frankie'From one Philadelphia icon to another, Jalen Hurts is paying tribute to the life and legacy of music legend Frankie Beverly, who died at the age of 77 this week.
Read more »
Frankie Beverly, quintessential soul man and voice of the cookout, dies at 77R&B singer Frankie Beverly has died. HIs death was annouced Wednesday on social media by his family.
Read more »
Frankie Beverly, soul singer and frontman for Maze, dead at 77Legendary R&B singer Frankie Beverly died Tuesday, his family announced. He was 77.
Read more »
Frankie Beverly, soul singer and co-founder of Maze, dies at 77Frankie Beverly, the lead vocalist and co-founder of the soul-funk band Maze, has died at 77, his family said Wednesday in a Facebook post.
Read more »
Frankie Beverly, Iconic Soul Singer, Crooner Behind ‘Before I Let Go,’ Dies at 77Source of breaking news and analysis, insightful commentary and original reporting, curated and written specifically for the new generation of independent and conservative thinkers.
Read more »
Soul singer Frankie Beverly dies at 77, family announces; band had SF tiesBeverly was known for his time with the funk band Maze, based in San Francisco.
Read more »