For The Luv of Music: Earth Wind and Fire

Showing posts with label Earth Wind and Fire. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 1, 2026

EARTH WIND AND FIRE

For his third non-fiction feature film, following his docs on the 1969 Harlem Cultural Music Festival and Sly Stone, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson delivers "Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs That's the Weight of the World)" (streaming now on HBO Max) which examines the extraordinary career and enduring legacy of this legendary r&b band who went on to sell well over ninety million records throughout their career. While Earth Wind & Fire was made up of an unusually large number of members, the driving, creative force and spiritual leader of the group was really only one person: Maurice White.

Born in Memphis, TN, White endured emotional hardship as a small child when his mother moved to Chicago for a better opportunity following the passing of his father, leaving him behind to be raised by his grandmother. His mother would remarry and start another family and he wouldn't live with her until he was a teenager. This would leave White with a deep feeling of abandonment, some resentment and trust issues, affecting his personal and professional relationships later in his life.

One thing that helped him get through his childhood trauma was music and he gravitated towards playing the drums. First starting out playing professionally with the jazz/soul band, the Pharaohs, White would join them as session players for Chess Records, backing many of the popular acts on the Chicago soul label. By 1966, White left this band and the label to join the Ramsey Lewis Trio to replace the drummer. During his time with this jazz group, they achieved great commercial success and awards while White was encouraged by Lewis to develop his stage presence. This was also when White first encountered the African thumb piano, kalimba and used it for a recording with the Ramsey Lewis Trio.

But White once again became restless, wanting to have more control over his music, and formed another group, The Salty Peppers with friends, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead. They had some minor success in Chicago but soon decided to take their chances by heading to the west coast. Once there, White soon became intrigued by studying philosophies, metaphysics, mysticism and astrology with these concepts beginning to heavily influence his life and approach to creating music. Using his astrological sign, Sagittarius which has primary elemental qualities of fire and earth and air, White came up with the name of "Earth, Wind & Fire" and guided his band towards universal, genre-defying music that would inspire all listeners.

Briskly paced and visually electrifying, Thompson utilizes video footage, animated sequences and plenty of famous talking heads to reveal the importance and legacy of this group. We have founding members (who still perform with the band), Phillip Bailey, Ralph Johnson and White's brother, Verdine who share their experiences working with the mercurial White (who died in 2016 at the age of seventy-four) which managed to be both gratifying and complicated. Stevie Wonder, Lionel Ritchie, H.E.R., Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and even the Obamas all express on camera the importance and emotional impact that the music by Earth Wind & Fire had left on each of them.

"Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs That's the Weight of the World)" is the perfect tribute to this pioneering band, offering objective insight and historical information that reveals how they expanded and innovated their sound to attract a global audience, blazing a powerful trail for other artists to follow.

Saturday, April 25, 2020

MY TUNE OF THE DAY

This tune of the day is actually a reason to talk about the television special, "Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince" that aired on April 21st. This program was in order to honor the memory and career of the prolific, gifted musical artist who passed away on this date four years ago which is still really shocking to believe. The actress and comedian, Maya Rudolph hosted the event (and briefly performed with Gretchen Lieberum as a part of their tribute band to Prince, Princess) with a a variety of musicians coming out to entertain with their versions of the Purple One's Greatest hits.

As to be expected, there were some thrilling performances (H.E.R. and Gary Clark, Jr. doing a guitar-heavy cover of "Let’s Go Crazy"; the Foo Fighters delivering their version of "Darling Nikki" and the reunion of Morris Day and The Time who came together to do several of their big hits) and a few that failed to generate much excitement (Susanna Hoffs teaming with Chris Martin of Coldplay to turn the Bangles', "Manic Monday" in to an odd ballad; Beck singing a lackluster cover of "Raspberry Beret"; Usher doing a reprise of his Prince medley performance from this year's Grammys but singer, FKA Twigs was still only being used as a back-up dancer). Sheila E. was a constant presence throughout the show, playing as a backing musician for all of the acts and the dazzling percussionist even had the chance in the spotlight with an electrifying performance of her Prince produced smash, "The Glamorous Life".

One of my favorite moments of the evening was Earth, Wind and Fire doing an impressive cover of Prince's "Adore" from his 1987 album, "Sign o' the Times". Philip Bailey's distinctive falsetto sent this beautiful ballad soaring and the band made their version a highlight of the show. As "Adore" is one of my favorite songs by Prince, I have made it my tune of the day. Please listen and enjoy:

Thursday, December 26, 2019

ALLEE WILLIS (1947 - 2019)

The Grammy-Award winning songwriter, Allee Willis passed away suddenly on December 24th from cardiac arrest. The seventy-two year old Willis had just been inducted in to the Songwriters Hall of Fame last year.

Some of the music this talented writer helped create includes Earth, Wind and Fire's "September" and "Boogie Wonderland"; "Neutron Dance" by the Pointer Sisters (for the "Beverly Hills Cop" soundtrack which she won her first Grammy), "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" by Pet Shop Boys featuring Dusty Springfield and "I'll Be There for You" by The Rembrandts which was used as the theme song for the still-popular sitcom, "Friends". Willis also co-wrote the songs for the Broadway musical of "The Color Purple" and received Tony-Award nominations and a Grammy win for her work.

Born Alta Sherral Willis in Detroit, she would go hang out outside of Motown Records to listen to the artists record their soon-to-be hits as a teenager. Willis went to college to study journalism but moved to New York after graduation and was drawn to singing and songwriting, She did record an album, "Childstar" in 1974 but it failed to get any attention. Not long after, Willis decided to give up performing, move to Los Angeles and focus on being a songwriter.

Willis was hired by A&M Records in 1977 as a writer and her first chance encounter was an introduction to Verdine White, the bass player for Earth, Wind and Fire. Through him, Willis would meet his brother, Maurice, the founder and leader of the band. They worked together writing "September" and this 1978 now-classic became her first hit song. This opened doors for Willis and she would go to work with a wide variety of artists including Rita Coolidge, Crystal Gayle, Sister Sledge, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Patti LaBelle, Cyndi Lauper and Taylor Dayne.

Willis would later become known for her North Hollywood home, designed by William Kesling, where she threw wild parties and filled with pop culture artifacts which helped her become affectionately referred to as "the Queen of Kitsch". In honor of this great talent, here are a few of my favorite songs written by Allee Willis:

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

THE NEW "MEANING" OF KELLY CLARKSON

When she was a contestant on a new television singing competition fifteen years ago, Kelly Clarkson was able to dabble in many different genres of music each week in front of millions of viewers. That show was "American Idol" and she impressed everyone so much with her dazzling voice that Clarkson went on to become the very first winner.

The big prize was a recording contract with RCA Records and Clarkson has had a glorious career with many worldwide hits singles. However, she has recently revealed that her time with the label was not easy. Over the seven albums she released, Clarkson had little input on song selection on most of these albums and was not allowed to venture outside of the safe and narrow world of pop music.

Now after completing the terms of her recording contract, Clarkson decided to move on to a new label, Atlantic and with that, an new opportunity to take more control of her music. For her new album, "The Meaning of Life", the singer has decided to dive deeper in to a r&b and soul sound which she was previously unable to do. Clarkson was involved in all all aspects of the recording of the album and this busy wife and mother of two even managed to find time to co-write a few tracks.

To give us a sample of what's to come from "The Meaning of Life", two songs have been released. "Love So Soft" is a blast of classic funky soul with modern trap rhythms and features members of Earth, Wind & Fire playing on the track. Meanwhile, "Move You" is a emotional ballad with Clarkson's beautiful vocals soaring in to gospel territory. If you are a fan of Kelly Clarkson, you will be very excited by this new direction and if you are not, I think this dynamic collection might make you want to reconsider:

Thursday, August 17, 2017

NUMBER ONE FLASHBACK

I can't believe it but it's been forty years since "Best of My Love" by The Emotions landed at number one on the pop chart during this week. This enduring classic, written by Maurice White and Al McKay of Earth, Wind & Fire, spent five weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, won the group a Grammy for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group and the single would sell over a million copies.

The Emotions, made up of the Hutchinson sisters, Jeanette, Sheila and Wanda, hail from Chicago and began singing together professionally in 1962 as teens. Their first taste of success came when their single, "So I Can Love You" reached the soul chart in 1969. After their record label, Volt folded in 1975, the trio met Maurice White and he took an interest in the group. He got them signed to his label, Columbia and began work on an album. Their first project together, "Flowers" was released in 1976 and the singles, "I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love" and the title track, became big hits on the soul chart. But it was the follow-up album, "Rejoice" that gave the Emotions' the biggest smash of their careers. Their last major chart appearance would be providing backing vocals on Earth, Wind & Fire's 1979 top-ten hit, "Boogie Wonderland".

The Emotions still occasionally perform together, with younger sister, Pamela filling in for Jeanette. Enjoy this rare live appearance of the group performing their hit on "The Midnight Special" show back in 1977:

Saturday, February 6, 2016

MAURICE WHITE (1941 - 2016)

2016 is proving to be a really tough year in music as we have lost yet another great performer. Maurice White, founding member and creative force behind the soul & funk super band, Earth Wind & Fire, has passed away on February 4th. He had been struggling with Parkinson's disease since the late 1980's.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, White first began his musical career as a session drummer for Chicago's Chess Records in the 1960's playing on recordings for Etta James, the Impressions, Buddy Guy, Fontella Bass and Ramsey Lewis. In 1966, he joined the Ramsey Lewis Trio and played drums with the jazz band for several years and appeared on nine albums. By 1969, White decided to form his own soul group with friends Wade Flemons, Don Whitehead and brother, Verdine. They originally called themselves "the Salty Peppers" but after getting a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records, White decided to rename their act "Earth, Wind & Fire", which refers to the elements in his astrological chart.

EWF's first two albums brought them attention but not much radio play. Clive Davis, then head of Columbia Records, saw the band perform and was quite impressed. He was impressed enough to buy out their recording contract and sign them to his label in 1972. Earth Wind & Fire didn't find instant success at their new home but their 1975 release, "That's the Way of the World" was a major breakthrough. The album had three hit songs; the title track, "Reasons" and "Shining Star" which reached number one on the pop and soul charts. More hits followed including "Serpentine Fire", "Fantasy", "Sing a Song" and "Boogie Wonderland".

White also managed to find time to work with other artists. He produced the debut albums for Deniece Williams and Broadway star, Jennifer Holiday, worked on records for Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow and co-wrote and produced the Emotions' 1977 number one smash, "Best of My Love". In 1985, White released his only solo album which became a modest hit that included a cover of Ben E. King's "Stand By Me". Listen to a few of my favorite songs by Earth Wind & Fire featuring the voice of the great Maurice White: