A native of Philadelphia, Frankie Beverly created in the sixties the group "The Butler" renamed it "Raw Soul" and with which he left Philadelphia and moved to California in the early 70's. At that time he will meet a key artist in his career: Marvin Gaye.

Marvin Gaye so loves what Frankie Beverly does that he hires the group to its concerts and convinces Beverly to rename it "Maze". Beverly also motivated Gaye to record his compositions in 1977 and Maze signed its first contract to record an album for Capitol Records. Then a series of album and live recording were issued like the famous "Joy and Pain" and "Live in New Orleans" now classics of American 80's R & B.