Earth, Wind & Fire, Part 1

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Jumpin' John, and in this episode I will review one of the premier bands of the 1970's and 1980's:  Earth, Wind & Fire!  I am calling this episode Earth, Wind & Fire, Part 1, where I will discuss the band's career from its background and beginning through early 1978!  Be sure to check out our companion podcast, Earth, Wind & Fire, Part 2, where I discuss the band's career from 1978 to the present day!  

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John. It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then.
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Until next time...
Rock On!

Transcript

Thank you for that introduction and welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Jumpin' John, and in this episode I will review one of the premier bands of the 1970's and 1980's:  Earth, Wind & Fire!  I am calling this episode Earth, Wind & Fire, Part 1, where I will discuss the band's career from its background and beginning through early 1978!  Be sure to check out our companion podcast, Earth, Wind & Fire, Part 2, where I discuss the band's career from 1978 to the present day!  

Earth, Wind & Fire is such a unique band that it is impossible to categorize them within any one particular music genre.  Over the course of six decades they have produced a wide variety of music, including jazz-fusion, Afro-Caribbean jazz, funk, soul, rock, disco, and pop.  Their versatility produced a phenomenal string of 11 consecutive gold albums with sales of 500,000 copies, 8 of which also attained platinum status with sales of 1,000,000 copies.  So how did Earth, Wind & Fire become one of best selling and most influential musical groups of the 1970's?

Earth, Wind & Fire was the brainchild of Maurice White, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on December 19th, 1941.  Maurice grew up in South Memphis, and was a childhood friend of Booker T. Jones.  During his teenage years, White moved to Chicago, Illinois where he studied at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, and played drums in local nightclubs.  In 1962 he joined The Jazzmen, a student jazz trio at Crane Junior College in Chicago.  The Jazzmen later became the Pharaohs.  White and two of his band mates became studio musicians at Chess Records in Chicago.  At Chess, Maurice played the drums on numerous recordings.  He drummed for records by Etta James, Chuck Berry, Rotary Connection, Betty Everett, Junior Wells, Sonny Stitt, Muddy Waters, the Impressions, the Dells, Willie Dixon, Sugar Pie DeSanto, and Buddy Guy.  White played the drums on 1965's #1 R&B hit, Fontella Bass's "Rescue Me".  He also played drums on Billy Stewart's #7 R&B hit, 1966's "Summertime".   

In June 1966, White left Chess and the Pharaohs to become the drummer in the Ramsey Lewis Trio.  As a member of the Trio, Maurice first played on 1966's Wade in the Water.  A song from that album called "Hold It Right There" won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal or Instrumental.  White later played the drums on seven more Ramsey Lewis Trio albums.  In 1968 he discovered an African kalimba thumb piano in a Chicago drum store, and he first played the small instrument on a Ramsey Lewis Trio tune entitled "Uhuru".

In 1969, Maurice White joined his two friends, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead, to form a songwriting team.  They wrote songs for commercials in the Chicago area, got a recording contract with Capitol Records, and called themselves the Salty Peppers.  The Salty Peppers had a moderate hit in the Midwest area with their single "La La Time", and later in 1969 they moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, California.  Initially the band featured Maurice on vocals, percussion, and kalimba, along with Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead on keyboards and vocals.  Maurice switched labels in 1971, signing a new contract with Warner Brothers.  He also changed the band’s name to Earth, Wind & Fire (which is also known as EWF), after the three elements in his astrological chart.  The new name also captured Maurice’s spiritual approach to music, a brand of music that transcended categories and appealed to multiple artistic principals, including composition, musicianship, production, and performance.  His approach to music would draw upon a wide variety of his early influences, including his Memphis church-singing roots, his broad recording duties at Chess, and his stint at the Chicago Conservatory of Music.   In addition to White, Flemons, and Whitehead, the original EWF lineup included Michael Beal on guitar, Leslie Drayton, Chester Washington and Alex Thomas on horns, Sherry Scott on vocals, and percussionist Phillard Williams.

The band's self-titled debut album, produced by Joe Wissert, was recorded in 1970 and released in March 1971 on Warner Brothers.  The album reached #24 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart.  EWF then performed on the soundtrack of Melvin Van Peebles 1971 feature film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.  Released in June 1971 on Stax Records, the album reached #13 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart.  Then in November 1971, EWF's second album, titled The Need of Love, was issued.  The LP got to #35 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart.  A single from the album called "I Think About Lovin' You", featuring vocals by Jessica Cleaves, reached #44 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart. 

Maurice became disillusioned with Warner Brothers, which had signed the group primarily as a jazz act.  White, in contrast, was more interested in combining elements of jazz, rock, and soul into an evolving form of fusion, a truly universal sound.  This time, he did more than change labels.  In addition to signing a new contract with Columbia Records, he completely retooled Earth, Wind & Fire’s lineup.  Flemons and Whitehead left the group, which now featured vocalists Philip Bailey and Jessica Cleaves, guitarist Johnny Graham, guitarist/percussionist Al McKay, and Maurice’s younger brother Verdine on bass.  By adding vocalist Bailey, noted for his four-octave vocal range and distinctive falsetto register, Maurice totally changed the vocal dynamics of the band.

EWF's debut album on CBS/Columbia Records, Last Days and Time, was issued in October 1972. The album got to #15 on the US Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and #9 on the UK Blues & Soul Top British Soul Albums chart.  A single called "Mom" reached #39 on the Cashbox Top R&B Singles chart.  Soon thereafter, Philip Bailey's high school classmate from Denver, Colorado, saxophonist Andrew Woolfolk, was added to the band.  Earth, Wind & Fire was beginning to build a reputation for innovative recordings and exciting live shows, complete with feats of magic.

EWF's fourth studio album, Head to the Sky, was released in May 1973.  The album rose to #2 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and #27 on the Billboard 200 chart.  Head to the Sky was certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA.  A single off the LP titled "Evil" got to #19 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Songs and #25 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart.  Another single called "Keep Your Head to the Sky" rose to #23 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart.  Jessica Cleaves left after the album release.

The band's follow-up album, Open Our Eyes, was co-produced by Maurice and Wissert.  This LP was recorded was released in March 1974.  The album rose to #1 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and #15 on the Billboard 200 chart.  Open Our Eyes was certified US Platinum.  A single from the LP called "Mighty Mighty" reached #4 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  "Kalimba Story" rose to #6 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart.  "Devotion" got to #23 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and #33 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  

Here is an excerpt from Earth, Wind & Fire's version of "Mighty Mighty":

After Open Our Eyes was issued, Maurice's other younger brother, Fred White, joined the band as drummer.  On April 6th, 1974, EWF performed at the California Jam, a West Coast rock festival that attracted an audience of 200,000. The concert was televised in the US on May 10th, 1974, by ABC.  Then in September 1974, a compilation double album titled Another Time, comprising songs from EWF's first studio albums, was released by Warner Bros.  The album got to #29 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart.  Earth, Wind & Fire collaborated with Ramsey Lewis on his album Sun Goddess, which was produced by Maurice and issued in October 1974 by Columbia.  That album got to #1 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and #12 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified US Gold.  

During 1975, EWF was approached by Sig Shore, producer of Super Fly, to record the soundtrack of a new film called That's the Way of the World.  The movie starred Harvey Keitel and was produced by Sig Shore.  That's the Way of the World was eventually released in March 1975 by Columbia.  The album rose to #1 on both the Billboard 200 and Billboard Top Soul Albums charts.  The album was certified US triple platinum.  

The concept for another song to include on the album came to Maurice White one night.  He was strolling at night under a starry sky during the band's recording of That's the Way of the World at Caribou Ranch.  Credit for the composition of "Shining Star" ultimately went to Maurice White, Larry Dunn, and Philip Bailey.  The song was produced by Maurice White and Charles Stepney, recorded in Autumn 1974, and issued as a single on January 21st, 1975.  "Shining Star" quickly rose to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Soul Singles charts.  It became their first single to top both charts and the only single to top the former.  It has also been certified gold in the US by the RIAA.  This made EWF the first black act to top both the Billboard album and singles charts.  "Shining Star" also won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.  In 2008, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  It has since been sampled by numerous hip-hop artists.

Here is Earth, Wind & Fire's version of "Shining Star":

The album's second single was the title track "That's the Way of the World".  It reached #5 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and #12 on the Hot 100 chart in Summer 1975.

With the success of the That's the Way of the World LP, the band could now craft their own horn section, entitled the Phenix Horns [Phenix spelled P - H - E - N - I - X].  The horns were composed of saxophonist Don Myrick, trombonist Louis Satterfield, and trumpeters Rahmlee Davis and Michael Harris.  Both Myrick and Satterfield previously worked with Maurice White during his days as a drummer at Chess Records.

After their first European tour, EWF returned to the studio in June 1975.  The band eventually came away with an album of mostly live concert material together with some new recorded tunes.  As a double album, Gratitude was released in November 1975.  Gratitude rose to #1 on both the Top Soul Albums and the Billboard 200 charts respectively, holding the #1 pop album spot for three weeks.  The album was certified US triple platinum.  With the LP came "Sing a Song", which rose to #1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  "Can't Hide Love" got to #11 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart.  "Can't Hide Love" was Grammy nominated for Best Arrangement For Voices. The album's title track was also nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Here is an excerpt from Earth, Wind & Fire's version of "Sing a Song":

During 1975, White established a production company called Kalimba Productions.  He signed artists such as his former bandleader Ramsey Lewis, singer Deniece Williams, and the girl group the Emotions.  Maurice also loaned out the Phenix Horns and other band members to various musical projects.  Artists aligned with Kalimba Productions also regularly toured with EWF.  Alongside Maurice, Stepney began co-producing EWF's next album and Deniece Williams's debut LP, This Is Niecy.  

Sadly, Stepney died of a heart attack on May 17th, 1976, in Chicago at the age of 45.  After Stepney's death, Maurice White went on to complete production of the band's new album. Eventually entitled Spirit as a tribute to Stepney, this LP was released in October 1976.  The LP rose to #2 on both the Billboard Top Pop Albums and Top Soul Albums charts.  Spirit was certified US double platinum. The single "Getaway" reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart.  The song also rose to #12 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Dance Club Play charts.  The single "Saturday Nite" reached #4 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs and #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  "Saturday Nite" also hit #12 on both the Billboard Dance Club Songs and the UK Pop Singles charts, respectively.  The track "Earth, Wind and Fire" was Grammy nominated for Best Instrumental Composition.

By this time EWF concerts were renowned for lots of pyrotechnics, magic, lasers, levitating guitarists, and a flying pyramid.  Magician Doug Henning worked on many of EWF's tours with then assistant and eventual successor, David Copperfield.  George Faison also began choreographing their stage shows.  In November 1977, EWF released All 'n All, their eighth studio album.  This record was inspired by Maurice's month-long trip throughout Argentina and Brazil.  The album rose to #1 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and #3 on the Billboard 200 chart.  All 'n All won a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus.  The album was certified US triple platinum.  "Serpentine Fire" rose to #1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The energetic song "Runnin'" won a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental.  "Fantasy" reached #12 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and #14 on the UK Singles Chart.  "Fantasy" was Grammy-nominated for Best R&B Song.

Here is an excerpt from EWF's version of "Fantasy":

Thank you for listening to this episode of Rock and Roll Flashback, Earth, Wind & Fire, Part 1, where I discussed the innovative band's career from its beginning through early 1978!  Be sure to check out our companion podcast, Earth, Wind & Fire, Part 2, where I discuss the band's career from 1978 to present day!  I will close out this podcast episode with EWF's version of "Serpentine Fire".  So fellow travelers, may your path be smooth and your music always be rockin'!  And until next time...Rock On!