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Earth, Wind & Fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the elements, see classical elements.
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire performing at the opening ceremony of the 2008 US Open August 25, 2008.
Background information
Origin
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres
R&B, funk, soul, jazz, disco
Years active
1969?present
Labels
Warner Bros., Columbia, Sanctuary
Associated acts
Ramsey Lewis, The Pharaohs, Charles Stepney, Phenix Horns, The Emotions, Caldera (band), Chicago
Website
www.earthwindandfire.com
Members
Maurice WhitePhilip BaileyVerdine WhiteRalph JohnsonJohn ParisB. David WhitworthGreg "G-Mo" MooreMorris O' ConnorGary BiasBobby Burns Jr.Krystal BaileyKim JohnsonReggie Young
Earth, Wind & Fire is an African-American R&B and disco band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 and led by founder Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the Elements or the Elements of the Universe, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.[1][2] Having sold over 90 million albums worldwide has earned them a place on the list of best-selling music artists, where they are ranked as the seventh best selling American band of all time.[3][4] Rolling Stone has described them as "innovative, precise yet sensual, calculated yet galvanizing" and has also declared that the band "changed the sound of black pop".[5] In 1998, they were ranked at number 60 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Rock N' Roll.[6]
The band's music contains elements of African, Latin American, funk, soul, pop and rock music, jazz and other genres, as well. The band is known for the dynamic sound of their horn section and the interplay between the contrasting vocals of Philip Bailey's falsetto and Maurice White's tenor.[7] The kalimba (African thumb piano) is played on all of the band's albums.[8]
Contents[hide]
1 Career
1.1 Early years
1.2 The switch to Columbia/CBS Records
1.3 Classic Period (1973?1980)
1.4 Electronic Period (1981?1987)
1.5 Later Career (1988?2003)
1.6 Current Career (2004?present)
2 Influence
3 Band members
4 Awards
5 Discography
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links
//
[edit] Career
[edit] Early years
In 1969, Maurice White, a former session drummer for Chess Records and member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, joined two friends in Chicago, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead, as a songwriting team composing songs and commercials in the Chicago area. The three friends got a recording contract with Capitol, and called themselves the "Salty Peppers," and had a marginal hit in the Midwestern area called "La La Time."[9]
The Salty Peppers' second single, "Uh Huh Yeah," didn't fare as well, and Maurice left Ramsey Lewis Trio and decided that it was time for a change of location from Chicago to Los Angeles. White added to the band singer Sherry Scott and percussionist Yackov Ben Israel both from Chicago, and then asked his younger brother Verdine how he would feel about heading out to the west coast. June 6, 1970, Verdine left Chicago later joining the band as their new bassist. Maurice began shopping demo tapes of the band that also featured the talents of Donny Hathaway around to different record labels and was then signed to Warner Bros. Records.[9][10]
Maurice, based on the fact that his astrological sign of Sagittarius had a primary elemental quality of Fire and seasonal qualities of Earth and Air (hence the omission of Water, the fourth classical element), changed the band's name, to Earth, Wind & Fire. With him on the drums and mbira, Maurice held auditions in L.A. adding Michael Beale on guitar, Chester Washington on reeds, and Leslie Drayton on trumpet and as the group's musical arranger. Trombonist Alex Thomas and Wade Flemons playing the electric piano and vocals, completed the lineup and so a ten member Earth, Wind & Fire was born.[7][11]
The band's self-titled debut album, Earth, Wind, Fire, was released February 1971 to great critical acclaim, as was November 1971's The Need of Love. Both of these albums were produced by Joe Wissert and a single, from The Need of Love called "I Think About Lovin' You" provided EWF with their first Top 40 R&B hit. In 1971, the group also performed the soundtrack to the Melvin Van Peebles film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song,[7] which was recorded at the Paramount Recording Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard and released on Stax records and the band also developed a growing popularity on college campuses. However, some members of EWF were restless and the band broke up after having been together for less than six months. With only Verdine left Maurice decided to re-form the group and he started holding auditions.
[edit] The switch to Columbia/CBS Records
In 1972 Maurice added to the band vocalist Jessica Cleaves who was a former member of the R&B group The Friends of Distinction, Ronnie Laws on the flute and the saxophone, rhythm guitarist Roland Bautista, keyboardist Larry Dunn, percussionist Ralph Johnson and vocalist and Denver native Philip Bailey. Warner Brothers did not know how to promote this new combo as the only other funk band on their label was Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band.[7]
The band won an audition for managers Bob Cavallo and Joe Ruffalo, which was successful, and Cavallo's management of John Sebastian led to a series of gigs as opening act for the popular pop/folk singer. A performance at New York's Rockefeller Center introduced EWF to Clive Davis, who was then the President of Columbia Records. Davis was very impressed with the band's performance and bought their contract from Warner Bros. Their debut album on CBS/Columbia Records Last Days and Time featured mostly original material, but Bailey had recommended that the band cover the Pete Seeger song, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," and the elements also remade the Bread hit "Make It with You".[10][11]
[edit] Classic Period (1973?1980)
On the cover of Earth, Wind & Fire's album, The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1, the Egyptian God Horus represented as a hawk holding Shen rings in its talons is the band's official symbol.
The album Head to the Sky was released in the spring of 1973 and with this album, some personnel changes took place as Ronnie Laws and Roland Bautista had left to pursue new musical opportunities. Philip Bailey had recommended a former Denver East High School classmate, saxophonist Andrew Woolfolk, as another addition to the band. Woolfolk had been busy in New York studying sax with sax maestro Joe Henderson and was about to start a career in banking when Bailey called. Guitarists Al McKay, who had been performing with The Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band and Johnny Graham, from R&B favorites, New Birth, rounded out the lineup.
Head to the Sky gave the group their first two legitimate hit singles, "Evil", which was co-written by Maurice and Philip, and "Keep Your Head to the Sky", both of which reached the top 30, the top 60 and the R&B pop charts respectively. Jessica Cleaves left the band after the release of the album and it was the last to be produced by Joe Wissert. As some of the band's songs required lower vocals than that of Bailey's, and due to the success of "Evil", Maurice altered his role in the group to lead vocalist.
Recorded at the Caribou Ranch Studio located in Colorado and released in 1974, the album Open Our Eyes was another commercially successful LP. At Maurice White's request, Producer and songwriter Charles Stepney began his work with EW&F co-producing this album with White. Stepney had previously worked with The Dells, Terry Callier, Minnie Riperton and the Ramsey Lewis Trio.[4] May 1974 the single "Mighty Mighty" became Earth, Wind & Fire's first top 30 hit on the pop charts, peaking at No.29. Another single, "Devotion", was a song with a strong spiritual message. This album also saw the inclusion into the band of Maurice's younger brother, Fred White, who had played in Chicago clubs as a drummer with Donny Hathaway and later with Little Feat.[7]
April 6, 1974, Earth, Wind & Fire performed at the California Jam, a West Coast rock festival that attracted an audience of 200,000.[12] Also in 1974, the band collaborated with Ramsey Lewis on his album Sun Goddess, which reached number one on the Billboard Jazz and Black Album charts and has been certified gold in the U.S.
In the same year, Earth, Wind & Fire worked with Sig Shore, the creator of the motion picture Super Fly, on a new film about the dark side of the recording industry. That's The Way Of The World starred Earth, Wind & Fire as "The Group", a new recording act. In the film, Harvey Keitel hears "The Group" performing, and produces their first album. The film's title is repeated throughout the film as a shrug of the shoulders to the music world. Earth, Wind & Fire performed the songs in the film and Maurice had a small speaking part, as leader of "The Group".[7] When the band saw the film, they were convinced that the motion picture would be a box office bomb, so they released the album's soundtrack before the premiere of the movie.[11] The film was produced by Maurice White and Charles Stepney, recorded at the Caribou Ranch Studio and was an eventual flop. However, the movie's soundtrack, which was also titled That's the Way of the World, became Earth, Wind & Fire's breakthrough album.[13]
Called "one of the strongest albums of the 70's" and "EWF's crowning achievement" by Allmusic's Alex Henderson and described by Billboard Magazine as "a very tightly produced and performed package",[14][15] That's the Way of the World included the hit singles "Shining Star" and "That's the Way of the World" and because of the album, EWF became the first black act to top both the Billboard album and singles charts.[7][16] The origins of "Shining Star" came during a nightly walk by Maurice during the band's recording of "That's the Way of the World", when upon looking up towards the starry sky, he became inspired and took his concepts for the song to the other band members.[13] With the success of "That's The Way Of The World", the band could then afford a full horn section called the Phenix Horns, which had become an integral part of the band's sound and was composed of saxophonist Don Myrick, trombonist Louis Satterfield, both from Maurice's Chicago session dates, and trumpeters Rahmlee Davis and Michael Harris.
After returning from their first European dates with Santana, Columbia Records wanted another album released and so the band's new album sessions June 1975 produced "Sing a Song" and "Can't Hide Love", the latter written by Clarence "Skip" Scarborough.[10] These songs were included along with other studio songs on Gratitude, a double album comprised mostly of live concert material from their 1974 and 1975 tours, which stayed at number one on the pop and R&B charts for three weeks. In addition, with the release of Gratitude, the Phenix Horns got their first album credits. Also in 1975, Earth, Wind & Fire won Down Beat magazine's Readers Poll for favorite Rock/Blues Group.[17]
Maurice created and developed Kalimba Productions in late 1975, two acts that he had signed were vocalist Deniece Williams, a former member of Stevie Wonder's Wonderlove backup group, and the girl group, The Emotions, who had a run of hits with Stax Records from 1969 to 1974. Maurice also loaned the band's signature Phenix Horns and most of the band members to his other production projects and put on tour some of the acts that he was also producing at the time. In 1976, Charles Stepney, after helping co-produce and arrange Earth, Wind & Fire's incomplete album, Deniece Williams's debut album, This Is Niecy, and The Emotion's first Columbia Records album Flowers, died of a heart attack May 17 in Chicago at the age of 43. He was survived by his wife Rubie, his three daughters, Eibur, Charlene and Chante, his parents and his brother.[18]
Maurice then took over the production duties of Kalimba Productions for Earth, Wind & Fire and completed the recording of the band's new album, Spirit, which was released October 1976. EWF paid tribute to Stepney in the form of the album[19] and included were the hit singles "Getaway" and "Saturday Nite". "Getaway" was one of the small number of hits written by someone from outside the group as Verdine White heard "Getaway" for the first time from Chuck Davis who was producing Bobbi Humphrey. Maurice got with Melvin Ware who produced the song on his artist "Beloyd" and they struck a publishing deal. Maurice thought the song would be a good fit for EWF, so the band took it into the studio and recorded the song.[7][20]
The band's concerts during this time were loaded with pyrotechnics, magic, laser lights, flying pyramids, levitating guitarists and elaborate production tricks, that included the entire group ascending in a pyramid and a disappearing act, which saw EWF literally vanishing from sight. Magician Doug Henning directed many of their tours throughout the 1970s with his young assistant, David Copperfield. Their concerts were choreographed by George Faison.[7][21]
November 1977, the group released another studio LP, All 'N All. Starting with this album, the Japanese artist Shusei Nagaoka began doing the artwork and the illustrations for several of Earth, Wind & Fire's album covers.[22] With its Egyptian/African themed album cover, All 'N All featured the hit singles "Serpentine Fire" and "Fantasy", and has achieved triple platinum status. In 1978, EWF picked up three Grammy Awards, the third for their version of The Beatles' "Got to Get You into My Life". This song, as well as the band, were featured in the movie, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. The film itself was a commercial bomb; however, "Got to Get You into My Life" was the biggest hit from the movie's soundtrack, reaching numbers one and nine on the R&B and Pop singles charts, respectively.
1978 was also the year that Maurice and managers Cavallo and Ruffalo worked out a deal for the launch of a new record label called The American Recording Company (ARC), to be distributed through CBS and the creation of a recording studio, George Massenburg/ARC also called "The Complex" in West Los Angeles. The year ended with another hit single, "September", which was added to the quintuple platinum compilation album, The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1, and was released November 23, 1978, just four days before Thanksgiving.
At this time, Bobby Harris of the Dazz Band requested and got Philip Bailey to produce the group's first album, Kinsman Dazz. Bailey would also co-produce the second album, Dazz and had a major input into the group's vocal arrangements.[23] In 1979, the band performed "September" and "That's The Way Of The World" at the Music for UNICEF Concert, which was broadcast worldwide from the United Nations General Assembly for NBC.[24] The band donated their royalties from one of their songs to UNICEF.
1979 also saw the release of I Am, the group's ninth album, their seventh for Columbia and their second to be released on the ARC label. Songs from the album included "In the Stone", "Can't Let Go" and the much-anticipated, but sad ballad, "After the Love Has Gone" by David Foster, which went to the number 2 spot on the Billboard Pop and R&B charts and won for the Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group at the Grammy Awards of 1980.
Early 1979 saw the band touring overseas, headlining shows in Europe and Japan. Though the band had previously overlooked disco, the summer of 1979 saw EWF topping the dance music charts with their most disco inspired single "Boogie Wonderland", which was produced by Maurice and Al McKay, and featured The Emotions. Even with the song's success, Verdine White claims that band is not a disco band, saying "I guess you could say we were at the party but didn?t get on the dance floor".[25][26]
The double-album Faces, the group's tenth album, was released October 1980 and went gold. In a 2007 interview, when asked which EWF album is his favorite, Maurice White replied "Probably Faces because we were really in tune, playing together and it gave us the opportunity to explore new areas".[27] After the release of this album, longtime rhythm guitarist Al McKay left the band to pursue production interests and was replaced by returning electric guitarist Roland Bautista, giving the band a bit of a hard rock feel. Phil Collins saw EWF while they were on one of their European tours and came in contact with the Phenix horns, where they later worked on Genesis songs like "No Reply At All" and "Paperlate", and on his solo hits, like "I Missed Again" and "Sussudio".
[edit] Electronic Period (1981?1987)RENOWN PRIVATE SCHOOL & DAYCARE: THE AUGUSTA ACADEMY & CHILDREN'S CHRISTIAN CENTER IS HOSTING A COMMUNITY ... www.myspace.com/becklestradition - 64k - Cached Paradeofquartets on MySpace Films - New Films & Documentaries The Children's Christian Center 3725 Old McDuffie Rd. Augusta, GA ... www. beckles.net Who I'd like to meet: The Children's Christian Center 3725 Old McDuffie ... www.myspace.com/paradeofquartets - 103k - Cached Files Beckles already runs a day care, ministry and learning center out of his home called the ... Dr. Frank Beckles's Experience Owner The Children's Christian Center ... doctorfranklynbeckles.angelfire.com/files -Rev. Dr. Franklyn V. Beckles, Jr WE ARE LOCATED AT: THE CHILDREN'S CHRISTIAN CENTER 3725 OLD McDUFFIE RD. AUGUSTA, GA. ... WE ARE LOCATED AT: THE CHILDREN'S CHRISTIAN CENTER 3725 OLD McDUFFIE RD. AUGUSTA, GA. ... actionguys.angelfire.com/rev_dr_franklyn_v_beckles_jr/... - Cached Files WE ARE LOCATED AT: THE CHILDREN'S CHRISTIAN CENTER 3725 OLD McDUFFIE RD. AUGUSTA, GA. ... The Children's Christian Center 3725 Old McDuffie Rd. Augusta, GA 30906 Who I'd like to ... doctorfranklynbeckles.angelfire.com/files - Search ResultsNew soup kitchen in Augusta | NBC Augusta 26 | news, weather ... An Augusta reverend and firefighter is doing his best to feed the homeless and serve his community from his home. www.nbcaugusta.com/news/georgia/70162132.html83k - Cached Family-Friendly 88.3 WAFJ - Augusta, GA/Aiken, SC 88.3 WAFJ, Augusta ... Seekers of His Face Prayer Center. Augusta. The Children's Christian Center Event. 06.01.10 - 07.23.10. Camp Tower. Strong Tower Christian Fellowship with Principal and Church Pastor; Rev. Dr. Franklyn V. Beckles, Jr., and his Son; Christian A. Beckles. Augusta. Children's Event ... www.wafj.com/component/eventlist/eventlist.html - 51k New soup kitchen in Augusta | NBC Augusta 26 | news, weather ... An Augusta reverend and firefighter is doing his best to feed the homeless and serve his community from his home. www.nbcaugusta.com/news/georgia/70162132.html - 94k - Cached The Augusta Academy & Children's Christian Center Street: 3725 Old McDuffie Rd City: Augusta State: GA ZIP: 30906 Country: Description
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the elements, see classical elements.
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire performing at the opening ceremony of the 2008 US Open August 25, 2008.
Background information
Origin
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres
R&B, funk, soul, jazz, disco
Years active
1969?present
Labels
Warner Bros., Columbia, Sanctuary
Associated acts
Ramsey Lewis, The Pharaohs, Charles Stepney, Phenix Horns, The Emotions, Caldera (band), Chicago
Website
www.earthwindandfire.com
Members
Maurice WhitePhilip BaileyVerdine WhiteRalph JohnsonJohn ParisB. David WhitworthGreg "G-Mo" MooreMorris O' ConnorGary BiasBobby Burns Jr.Krystal BaileyKim JohnsonReggie Young
Earth, Wind & Fire is an African-American R&B and disco band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 and led by founder Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the Elements or the Elements of the Universe, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.[1][2] Having sold over 90 million albums worldwide has earned them a place on the list of best-selling music artists, where they are ranked as the seventh best selling American band of all time.[3][4] Rolling Stone has described them as "innovative, precise yet sensual, calculated yet galvanizing" and has also declared that the band "changed the sound of black pop".[5] In 1998, they were ranked at number 60 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Rock N' Roll.[6]
The band's music contains elements of African, Latin American, funk, soul, pop and rock music, jazz and other genres, as well. The band is known for the dynamic sound of their horn section and the interplay between the contrasting vocals of Philip Bailey's falsetto and Maurice White's tenor.[7] The kalimba (African thumb piano) is played on all of the band's albums.[8]
Contents[hide]
1 Career
1.1 Early years
1.2 The switch to Columbia/CBS Records
1.3 Classic Period (1973?1980)
1.4 Electronic Period (1981?1987)
1.5 Later Career (1988?2003)
1.6 Current Career (2004?present)
2 Influence
3 Band members
4 Awards
5 Discography
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links
//
[edit] Career
[edit] Early years
In 1969, Maurice White, a former session drummer for Chess Records and member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, joined two friends in Chicago, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead, as a songwriting team composing songs and commercials in the Chicago area. The three friends got a recording contract with Capitol, and called themselves the "Salty Peppers," and had a marginal hit in the Midwestern area called "La La Time."[9]
The Salty Peppers' second single, "Uh Huh Yeah," didn't fare as well, and Maurice left Ramsey Lewis Trio and decided that it was time for a change of location from Chicago to Los Angeles. White added to the band singer Sherry Scott and percussionist Yackov Ben Israel both from Chicago, and then asked his younger brother Verdine how he would feel about heading out to the west coast. June 6, 1970, Verdine left Chicago later joining the band as their new bassist. Maurice began shopping demo tapes of the band that also featured the talents of Donny Hathaway around to different record labels and was then signed to Warner Bros. Records.[9][10]
Maurice, based on the fact that his astrological sign of Sagittarius had a primary elemental quality of Fire and seasonal qualities of Earth and Air (hence the omission of Water, the fourth classical element), changed the band's name, to Earth, Wind & Fire. With him on the drums and mbira, Maurice held auditions in L.A. adding Michael Beale on guitar, Chester Washington on reeds, and Leslie Drayton on trumpet and as the group's musical arranger. Trombonist Alex Thomas and Wade Flemons playing the electric piano and vocals, completed the lineup and so a ten member Earth, Wind & Fire was born.[7][11]
The band's self-titled debut album, Earth, Wind, Fire, was released February 1971 to great critical acclaim, as was November 1971's The Need of Love. Both of these albums were produced by Joe Wissert and a single, from The Need of Love called "I Think About Lovin' You" provided EWF with their first Top 40 R&B hit. In 1971, the group also performed the soundtrack to the Melvin Van Peebles film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song,[7] which was recorded at the Paramount Recording Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard and released on Stax records and the band also developed a growing popularity on college campuses. However, some members of EWF were restless and the band broke up after having been together for less than six months. With only Verdine left Maurice decided to re-form the group and he started holding auditions.
[edit] The switch to Columbia/CBS Records
In 1972 Maurice added to the band vocalist Jessica Cleaves who was a former member of the R&B group The Friends of Distinction, Ronnie Laws on the flute and the saxophone, rhythm guitarist Roland Bautista, keyboardist Larry Dunn, percussionist Ralph Johnson and vocalist and Denver native Philip Bailey. Warner Brothers did not know how to promote this new combo as the only other funk band on their label was Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band.[7]
The band won an audition for managers Bob Cavallo and Joe Ruffalo, which was successful, and Cavallo's management of John Sebastian led to a series of gigs as opening act for the popular pop/folk singer. A performance at New York's Rockefeller Center introduced EWF to Clive Davis, who was then the President of Columbia Records. Davis was very impressed with the band's performance and bought their contract from Warner Bros. Their debut album on CBS/Columbia Records Last Days and Time featured mostly original material, but Bailey had recommended that the band cover the Pete Seeger song, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," and the elements also remade the Bread hit "Make It with You".[10][11]
[edit] Classic Period (1973?1980)
On the cover of Earth, Wind & Fire's album, The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1, the Egyptian God Horus represented as a hawk holding Shen rings in its talons is the band's official symbol.
The album Head to the Sky was released in the spring of 1973 and with this album, some personnel changes took place as Ronnie Laws and Roland Bautista had left to pursue new musical opportunities. Philip Bailey had recommended a former Denver East High School classmate, saxophonist Andrew Woolfolk, as another addition to the band. Woolfolk had been busy in New York studying sax with sax maestro Joe Henderson and was about to start a career in banking when Bailey called. Guitarists Al McKay, who had been performing with The Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band and Johnny Graham, from R&B favorites, New Birth, rounded out the lineup.
Head to the Sky gave the group their first two legitimate hit singles, "Evil", which was co-written by Maurice and Philip, and "Keep Your Head to the Sky", both of which reached the top 30, the top 60 and the R&B pop charts respectively. Jessica Cleaves left the band after the release of the album and it was the last to be produced by Joe Wissert. As some of the band's songs required lower vocals than that of Bailey's, and due to the success of "Evil", Maurice altered his role in the group to lead vocalist.
Recorded at the Caribou Ranch Studio located in Colorado and released in 1974, the album Open Our Eyes was another commercially successful LP. At Maurice White's request, Producer and songwriter Charles Stepney began his work with EW&F co-producing this album with White. Stepney had previously worked with The Dells, Terry Callier, Minnie Riperton and the Ramsey Lewis Trio.[4] May 1974 the single "Mighty Mighty" became Earth, Wind & Fire's first top 30 hit on the pop charts, peaking at No.29. Another single, "Devotion", was a song with a strong spiritual message. This album also saw the inclusion into the band of Maurice's younger brother, Fred White, who had played in Chicago clubs as a drummer with Donny Hathaway and later with Little Feat.[7]
April 6, 1974, Earth, Wind & Fire performed at the California Jam, a West Coast rock festival that attracted an audience of 200,000.[12] Also in 1974, the band collaborated with Ramsey Lewis on his album Sun Goddess, which reached number one on the Billboard Jazz and Black Album charts and has been certified gold in the U.S.
In the same year, Earth, Wind & Fire worked with Sig Shore, the creator of the motion picture Super Fly, on a new film about the dark side of the recording industry. That's The Way Of The World starred Earth, Wind & Fire as "The Group", a new recording act. In the film, Harvey Keitel hears "The Group" performing, and produces their first album. The film's title is repeated throughout the film as a shrug of the shoulders to the music world. Earth, Wind & Fire performed the songs in the film and Maurice had a small speaking part, as leader of "The Group".[7] When the band saw the film, they were convinced that the motion picture would be a box office bomb, so they released the album's soundtrack before the premiere of the movie.[11] The film was produced by Maurice White and Charles Stepney, recorded at the Caribou Ranch Studio and was an eventual flop. However, the movie's soundtrack, which was also titled That's the Way of the World, became Earth, Wind & Fire's breakthrough album.[13]
Called "one of the strongest albums of the 70's" and "EWF's crowning achievement" by Allmusic's Alex Henderson and described by Billboard Magazine as "a very tightly produced and performed package",[14][15] That's the Way of the World included the hit singles "Shining Star" and "That's the Way of the World" and because of the album, EWF became the first black act to top both the Billboard album and singles charts.[7][16] The origins of "Shining Star" came during a nightly walk by Maurice during the band's recording of "That's the Way of the World", when upon looking up towards the starry sky, he became inspired and took his concepts for the song to the other band members.[13] With the success of "That's The Way Of The World", the band could then afford a full horn section called the Phenix Horns, which had become an integral part of the band's sound and was composed of saxophonist Don Myrick, trombonist Louis Satterfield, both from Maurice's Chicago session dates, and trumpeters Rahmlee Davis and Michael Harris.
After returning from their first European dates with Santana, Columbia Records wanted another album released and so the band's new album sessions June 1975 produced "Sing a Song" and "Can't Hide Love", the latter written by Clarence "Skip" Scarborough.[10] These songs were included along with other studio songs on Gratitude, a double album comprised mostly of live concert material from their 1974 and 1975 tours, which stayed at number one on the pop and R&B charts for three weeks. In addition, with the release of Gratitude, the Phenix Horns got their first album credits. Also in 1975, Earth, Wind & Fire won Down Beat magazine's Readers Poll for favorite Rock/Blues Group.[17]
Maurice created and developed Kalimba Productions in late 1975, two acts that he had signed were vocalist Deniece Williams, a former member of Stevie Wonder's Wonderlove backup group, and the girl group, The Emotions, who had a run of hits with Stax Records from 1969 to 1974. Maurice also loaned the band's signature Phenix Horns and most of the band members to his other production projects and put on tour some of the acts that he was also producing at the time. In 1976, Charles Stepney, after helping co-produce and arrange Earth, Wind & Fire's incomplete album, Deniece Williams's debut album, This Is Niecy, and The Emotion's first Columbia Records album Flowers, died of a heart attack May 17 in Chicago at the age of 43. He was survived by his wife Rubie, his three daughters, Eibur, Charlene and Chante, his parents and his brother.[18]
Maurice then took over the production duties of Kalimba Productions for Earth, Wind & Fire and completed the recording of the band's new album, Spirit, which was released October 1976. EWF paid tribute to Stepney in the form of the album[19] and included were the hit singles "Getaway" and "Saturday Nite". "Getaway" was one of the small number of hits written by someone from outside the group as Verdine White heard "Getaway" for the first time from Chuck Davis who was producing Bobbi Humphrey. Maurice got with Melvin Ware who produced the song on his artist "Beloyd" and they struck a publishing deal. Maurice thought the song would be a good fit for EWF, so the band took it into the studio and recorded the song.[7][20]
The band's concerts during this time were loaded with pyrotechnics, magic, laser lights, flying pyramids, levitating guitarists and elaborate production tricks, that included the entire group ascending in a pyramid and a disappearing act, which saw EWF literally vanishing from sight. Magician Doug Henning directed many of their tours throughout the 1970s with his young assistant, David Copperfield. Their concerts were choreographed by George Faison.[7][21]
November 1977, the group released another studio LP, All 'N All. Starting with this album, the Japanese artist Shusei Nagaoka began doing the artwork and the illustrations for several of Earth, Wind & Fire's album covers.[22] With its Egyptian/African themed album cover, All 'N All featured the hit singles "Serpentine Fire" and "Fantasy", and has achieved triple platinum status. In 1978, EWF picked up three Grammy Awards, the third for their version of The Beatles' "Got to Get You into My Life". This song, as well as the band, were featured in the movie, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. The film itself was a commercial bomb; however, "Got to Get You into My Life" was the biggest hit from the movie's soundtrack, reaching numbers one and nine on the R&B and Pop singles charts, respectively.
1978 was also the year that Maurice and managers Cavallo and Ruffalo worked out a deal for the launch of a new record label called The American Recording Company (ARC), to be distributed through CBS and the creation of a recording studio, George Massenburg/ARC also called "The Complex" in West Los Angeles. The year ended with another hit single, "September", which was added to the quintuple platinum compilation album, The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1, and was released November 23, 1978, just four days before Thanksgiving.
At this time, Bobby Harris of the Dazz Band requested and got Philip Bailey to produce the group's first album, Kinsman Dazz. Bailey would also co-produce the second album, Dazz and had a major input into the group's vocal arrangements.[23] In 1979, the band performed "September" and "That's The Way Of The World" at the Music for UNICEF Concert, which was broadcast worldwide from the United Nations General Assembly for NBC.[24] The band donated their royalties from one of their songs to UNICEF.
1979 also saw the release of I Am, the group's ninth album, their seventh for Columbia and their second to be released on the ARC label. Songs from the album included "In the Stone", "Can't Let Go" and the much-anticipated, but sad ballad, "After the Love Has Gone" by David Foster, which went to the number 2 spot on the Billboard Pop and R&B charts and won for the Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group at the Grammy Awards of 1980.
Early 1979 saw the band touring overseas, headlining shows in Europe and Japan. Though the band had previously overlooked disco, the summer of 1979 saw EWF topping the dance music charts with their most disco inspired single "Boogie Wonderland", which was produced by Maurice and Al McKay, and featured The Emotions. Even with the song's success, Verdine White claims that band is not a disco band, saying "I guess you could say we were at the party but didn?t get on the dance floor".[25][26]
The double-album Faces, the group's tenth album, was released October 1980 and went gold. In a 2007 interview, when asked which EWF album is his favorite, Maurice White replied "Probably Faces because we were really in tune, playing together and it gave us the opportunity to explore new areas".[27] After the release of this album, longtime rhythm guitarist Al McKay left the band to pursue production interests and was replaced by returning electric guitarist Roland Bautista, giving the band a bit of a hard rock feel. Phil Collins saw EWF while they were on one of their European tours and came in contact with the Phenix horns, where they later worked on Genesis songs like "No Reply At All" and "Paperlate", and on his solo hits, like "I Missed Again" and "Sussudio".
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