Earth Wind & Fire mp3

Born in Memphis in 1941, bandleader and founder Maurice White moved to Chicago as a teenager and found work as a session drummer for Chess Records. By 1967, he was the new drummer in the Ramsey Lewis Trio, replacing Red Holt. In 1969, Maurice left the Ramsey Lewis Trio, and joined two friends in Chicago, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead, as a songwriting team which wrote 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'.

The Salty Peppers' second single, "Uh Huh Yeah" didn't fare as well, and Maurice decided it was time for a change of location - and a change in the band's name, which turned into Earth, Wind & Fire. This was based on the fact that White's astrological sign being Sagittarius, had a primary elemental quality is Fire, but also had seasonal qualities which are Earth, and Air, hence the omission of water.

White recruited Chicago singer Sherry Scott, along with local percussionist Phillard Williams, and then asked his younger brother Verdine whether he'd like to head out West. Verdine White, joined the band in 1970 as their new bassist.

Maurice held auditions in L.A., adding Michael Beale on guitar, Chester Washington on reeds, Leslie Drayton for trumpet and initially the group's musical arranger, and trombonist Alex Thomas to the lineup. With Flemons playing vibes and electric piano and vocals, and Verdine on bass, percussion and vocals, a ten-member Earth, Wind & Fire was born. Their self-titled debut album, Earth, Wind & Fire, was released in 1970 to great critical acclaim, as was The Need of Love (1971). A single, from this album "I Think About Lovin' You" provided EWF with their first Top 40 R&B hit. However, some members of EWF were feeling decidedly restless and the band broke up after being been together for less than six months. Maurice White decided to re-form the group and he started holding auditions.

In 1972, White dissolved the line-up (minus himself and brother Verdine White), and added Jessica Cleaves (vocals), Ronnie Laws (flute, saxophone), Roland Bautista on guitar, Larry Dunn (keyboard), Ralph Johnson (percussion) and Philip Bailey (vocals, formerly of Friends & Love).

Warner Bros. did not know how to promote this new combo - the only other funk band on their label was Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. An audition for managers Bob Cavallo and Joe Ruffalo led to an association that continued uninterrupted until 1983, 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, then President of Columbia Records. Davis loved what he saw and bought their contract from Warner Brothers.

In the spring of 1972, EWF headed to the studio to record Last Days And Time, their CBS debut. The album featured mostly original material but Philip Bailey had suggested the Pete Seeger song, "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" and the group threw in a cover of the Bread hit "Make It With You" for good measure. Last Days And Time was also the first album that prominently featured Maurice on the electronic Kalimba drum on the instrumental track "Power".

The album Head to the Sky was released in 1973, and with this album some personnel changes took place. By this time, Ronnie Laws and Roland Bautista had left to pursue new musical opportunities. Philip had recommended former Denver classmate Andrew Woolfolk, who had been busy in New York studying sax with sax maestro Joe Henderson and was on the verge of taking up a career in banking when Bailey called; guitarist Al McKay who had been performing with The Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band; and guitarist Johnny Graham rounded out the lineup, after playing with R&B favorites New Birth.

The album yielded the group's first two legitimate hit singles: "Evil," co-written by Maurice and Philip; and the title track, "Keep Your Head To The Sky," both top 30 R&B and top 60 pop charts.

In 1974's the album Open Our Eyes was released which was the group's first platinum album, a major hit. Jessica Cleaves, a former member of the Friends of Distinction, left after the "Head to the Sky" album.

"Open Your Eyes" was the turning point in providing EWF with its first Top 30 pop hit ("Mighty Mighty") In May 1974, "Mighty Mighty" became Earth Wind & Fire's first top 30 hit on the pop charts, peaking at #29. Their second hit single ("Devotion") was a song with a strong spiritual message.

Earth, Wind & Fire's true breakthrough, however, came in the form of the soundtrack to That's the Way of the World in 1975. In 1974 Earth Wind & Fire worked with Sig Shore, the mastermind behind the motion picture Superfly, 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." "We actually recorded one of the songs, 'Happy Feelin',' at a roller skating rink during the movie," said Philip Bailey. "We had a truck outside, we actually recorded it then, we went to the studio and tried to do it over, but the feel that we had in the roller rink was the one. So we just used that one." "Our performance in That's The Way Of The World was us running into a van and the van driving off," said Verdine White. "There was some concert footage in the end, that was it. When we saw the film, we said this is going to be a major flop, we need to get our record out before the film comes. The music was so different, and we didn't want the film to hurt the music."

Though the film was not a success, the song "Shining Star" became a huge mainstream hit and launched the band's career. and Johnson turned to vocals. It was the first time that the band could afford a full horn section."It was incredible, the most incredible feeling," said Maurice White. "Our song, 'Shining Star,' was the #1 song in the country. That was our dream come true, it was unbelievable."

Many of those early hits came from the long years of touring and soundchecks, the improvisation every night that generated a new guitar lick, the musical dexterity born from inspiration and dedication. Even their second song to reach the pop Top 10, "Sing A Song" (Columbia 10251), found its genesis in a soundcheck. "The creative process took place in the studio," said Maurice, "and it continued to the stage. When we were preparing for a gig, we would make up songs, and a lot of songs later became album tracks. That's how "Sing A Song" was discovered. We were on stage, just having a sound check. In the studio, there was a process too. I had so many years in the recording studio as a producer, it was very easy for me to capture a song."

Younger brother Fred White (whose Chicago background had included playing local clubs as a drummer with Donny Hathaway, later playing with Little Feat) joined the group and after returning from their first European dates with Santana, CBS wanted another album - and fast! Also at that time Ralph Johnson turned to vocals.

Maurice - "We didn't have time to do a whole new album so we stared taping all our shows. I sat down and listened to the tapes from everywhere. We cut four new songs in the studio and we had the double-album Gratitude..."

EWF's June '75 sessions produced "Sing A Song" and "Can't Hide Love" and helped take Gratitude to a double-platinum status, an unheralded occurrence for any black group of the day; and, for the first time, the group's horn section (Don Myrick and Louis Satterfield, both from Maurice's Chicago session dates, and Michael Harris) which had become an integral part of the EWF sound was credited on disc.Aside from his EWF duties, Maurice had been developing his Kalimba Productions and had signed two acts - vocalist Deniece Williams, White produced Top 10 hits like "Free" and "It's Gonna Take A Miracle" for Williams, a former member of Stevie Wonder's Wonderlove backup group. Another track Maurice produced, for the r&b group The Emotions, who had a run of hits with Volt Records from 1969 to 1974 the track "Best Of My Love" , went to #1 on both the pop and R&B charts. Ramsey Lewis asked him to produce an album, and the Lewis-EWF collaboration Sun Goddess is still a jazz staple.

Earth Wind & Fire released Spirit in 1976; and had hits with singles such as "Getaway" came from outside the group. Verdine White heard "Getaway" for the first time from someone who was producing a flute player named Bobbie Humphries.He indicated to him,that this song would be a great song for Earth, Wind & Fire. The individual wanted to produce it for EWF but that didn't occur So they got the tune, took it into the studio and recorded it. It turned out to be a smash hit too which Verdine White credits to it being "totally different, it was like Yes with a little funk under the bottom. It had uptempo and breaks, and a lot of upbeats in it."

In 1976, after helping co-produce and arrange Earth Wind & Fire's Spirit album and Deneice Williams' "This is Nicey" album, producer and songwriter Charles Stepney died of a heart attack at the age of 45.Charles Stepney had worked with Maurice since the days of Chess Records, and had produced and arranged albums for the Dells, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy.

Their concerts during this time were loaded with pyrotechnics, magic, laser lights, flying pyramids and levitating guitarists, all supported by a solid musical performance every night. Magician Doug Henning directed many of their tours throughout the 1970's, and the band - including Larry Dunn (keyboards), Al McKay (guitar, sitar), Fred White (drums) and Andrew Woolfolk (sax, flute) would levitate, teleport, explode on stage - all for their audience's entertainment. "We started the massive tour around 1975," Verdine White recollected "We thought that for the high ticket prices at the time, the public should see something they had never seen before. Most concerts were just concerts, and we thought it was time that people would see something they never saw before."

In 1977, the group released another classic album, All 'N All. Verdine - "That was one of the hardest records I've ever worked on. We were all in there sweating ourselves to the ground. Maurice was singing, playing drums and producing. And it was one of the best albums we ever did." Maurice White has stated that a vacation to Brazil served as an inspiration for that album. As he said that "When I came back, I was fresh and ready to start writing. I was affected by what I'd heard there. I think of that album as a turning point in our maturity musically. that record got everyone's attention." With its mystical cover and choked full of songs that played strongly on metaphysical themes ("Jupiter", "Fantasy" and "Be Ever Wonderful"), All'n All became the group's fifth successive double-platinum album.

Back on the road, EWF were wowing increasingly larger audiences with their spectacular stage show, featuring elaborate production tricks that included the entire group ascending in a pyramid and a disappearing act which saw EWF literally vanishing from sight! Verdine - "Everybody was coming to see our show to take notes. The Jacksons, including Michael. People were checking out our wardrobe. We had crossed over and were kicking...."

Maurice White in the midst of this started to put on the tour some of the acts that he was also producing at the time, for example the Emotions, and also Deneice Williams also Ramsey Lewis was also used too. He remembers that "It was like the moving circus comes to town. We had ten semis carrying equipment and instruments, and we had our own plane. But the music came first. First we were musicians, and we were very serious musicians rather than just there for the hits. Our first love was music. We were just a band. Which just happened to have a couple of hits."

1978 turned out to be yet another triumphant year as EWF picked up three Grammy awards, the third for their spellbinding version of The Beatles "Got To Get You Into My Life", featured (as were the group) in the movie, "Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band". The film itself was a commercial bomb, and although the soundtrack shipped triple platinum, allegedly it was returned triple platinum. Despite musical performances on the soundtrack from Aerosmith, Peter Frampton, the Bee Gees and Alice Cooper, Earth Wind & Fire's remake of the Beatles classic was the highest charting pop single from the soundtrack. "Once more, we had a movie that flopped on us," said Maurice White, "but we had a #1 hit out of it ... We actually recorded our parts on the set."

"Robert Stigwood called us and asked if we wanted to be in a movie," said Verdine. "We said okay, it could be interesting. At that particular time, you didn't see a lot of musical blacks in movies - there was The Wiz, but that was a horrible movie. We had three songs to choose from - "Got To Get You Into My Life" and two ballads. We just did the song Chicago-style. Some people thought George Martin produced the song, but Maurice produced it." "I remember that day, it was cold as heck," said Philip Bailey, "and it was an all-day, all-night kind of thing. That was one that really catapulted us into a whole new arena. That was an exciting move, because the Beatles - that's legendary, and the magnitude - we were honored to be asked on that, really. That was a good experience for us. We recorded the song in Colorado, in a little studio up in Boulder. We rehearsed the horns for that song in Denver, went up to Boulder in the snow, and recorded the whole song in one night."

It was also the year that Maurice and managers Cavallo and Ruffalo worked out a deal for the launch of ARC (American Recording Corporation) to be distributed through CBS and the creation of a recording studio in Los Angeles, The Complex. The year ended with another hit single, "September", an additional track added to The Best of EWF (Volume 1), which inevitably reached double-platinum status.

Also Bobby Harris of the Dazz Band at this time requested and got Philip Bailey, the vocalist of Earth, Wind & Fire, to produce the group's first album, Kinsman Dazz. Bailey would co-produce the second album, Dazz, and had a major input into the group's vocal arrangements. In 1979, the band performed "September" at the Music for UNICEF Concert, broadcast worldwide from the United Nations General Assembly. They donated their royalties from the song to UNICEF.

A good portion of 1979 was spend overseas headlining shows in Europe and Japan, the group could do no wrong. Philip - "When we sold out five nights at Wembley in London, that's when I knew we had transcended our U.S. success." Mid-'79 saw EWF topping the dance music charts; produced by Maurice and Al McKay, "Boogie Wonderland" (featuring The Emotions. Verdine White claims that "Boogie Wonderland" really was capturing the tail end of the disco era. We didn't think of it as disco, we thought of it as a song with a 4/4 beat. Clubs always had that kind of music, they just called it disco - the industry always has to call it something". In a total musical contrast, EWF scored a No.2 pop and R&B smash with the now classic ballad, Grammy-winning "After The Love Has Gone", co-written by David Foster who co-wrote four other tracks for the double-platinum, "I Am". "As an artist," said Philip Bailey, "I'm just blessed that songs like that came our way. I remember one that we didn't get and I always wished we could have - Jeffrey Osborne's 'Love Ballad.' He had a great hit with that one."

Maurice loaned Earth Wind & Fire's signature Pheonix Horns - Don Myrick on saxophone, Louis Satterfield on trombone, Rahmlee Davis and Michael Harris on trumpets - to his other production projects, the Emotions, Ramsey Lewis and Deniece Williams. Then, on a tour of Europe, somebody else took interest in the famed horn section. "We used to tour so much," said Maurice, "we used to tour Europe. Phil Collins had an opportunity to see us. He would recruit our horn section whenever we weren't using it." Sure enough, Collins imported the Pheonix Horns into Genesis tracks like "No Reply At All" and "Paperlate," and on his solo hits like "I Missed Again," "Sussudio" and "I Cannot Believe It's True." "I sometimes had to call and make an appointment to see my own horn section," said Maurice. "They even toured with Genesis and Phil Collins for a while."

The double-album Faces was released in (1980) went gold. 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 (compared to McKay).

Raise! released in (1981) featured their biggest hit single ever "Let's Groove", and the Grammy winning "I Wanna Be With You". "Raise!" went double platinum. Powerlight was released in early 1983 and included the hit singles "Fall In Love With Me," and "Side By Side." "Powerlight" went gold. Also In 1983, Earth, Wind & Fire contributed the song "Dance, Dance, Dance" to the soundtrack of the animated film Rock & Rule. White disbanded Earth, Wind & Fire in 1983 after the synthesized Electric Universe was released in late 1983 to poor sales and reviews. Maurice White attributes the album's lack of success to its release so quickly after Powerlight. It was their last release for four years.

Verdine White looking back at the time exclaimed "The whole scene was changing,". "There was an explosion of video artists. At that time, MTV wasn't playing black artists - the only black artists they played at that time were Michael Jackson, Lionel Ritchie and Prince. There was BET to play black videos, but they didn't have the same money behind MTV. It hurt a lot of those groups, because the audience didn't know who those groups were, and they only knew about groups that had the visibility. Rick James was the first black artist to really bitch about MTV, and he was right at the time. They were playing acts that hadn't had hit records, and he had hits at the time."

"I put the group on hiatus in 1983," said Maurice, "because I just wanted to rest from touring. I had been touring for 10 years, and it was time for me to take a rest. The only things I ever saw was the road or the studio, that was my whole life for ten years. So I left the band for a while. We kind of put everything on hold, and in the process of doing that, I cut a solo record. The two hits from that album was 'Stand By Me' and another song called 'I Need You.'"

"I think that was the best thing that ever happened to us," said Verdine, "because it was time to shut down. We had made enough records to define our careers - I tried to convince Maurice to shut down after the "Raise!" record in 1981, because I felt we needed a break, just to live. We had slammed pretty hard for 13 years. I think people should stop, particularly in creative endeavors, to catch up and see where you are. And times were starting to change, too. We were having our own interest in things we wanted to do."

During the hiatus, Philip Bailey released a solo album, "Chinese Wall." While it was not his first solo album (Bailey recorded a series of gospel LP's for the Myrrh and Word labels), it was his most successful. The first single from that album, a duet with Phil Collins called "Easy Lover" went gold, and the music video of Bailey and Collins rehearsing their collaboration hit #1 on MTV's video playlist. "I really didn't know that much about Phil's music until the Phnix Horns introduced us and I went to a concert of his. It wasn't a stargazing thing - when we got together, it was mutual admiration for each other's musicianship. It definitely was a boost for me - not only domestically, but also internationally. Still, to this day, I can do that song and people will know it. Phil Collins is one of the most down to earth famous people that we ever worked with."

Meanwhile, during the hiatus, Verdine White worked behind the scenes, writing and directing videos. He produced a Level 42 album, and promoted go-go bands like Trouble Funk and E.U. "When you are known for one entity, people think that's the only thing you know. But music is music."

In 1983, Earth, Wind & Fire contributed the song "Dance, Dance, Dance" to the soundtrack of the animated film Rock & Rule.

In 1987, CBS Records convinced Philip Bailey and Maurice White that a reunion of Earth Wind & Fire would be beneficial for all parties. Their comeback hit, "System of Survival", was made by an anonymous songwriter Skylark who "attached a cassette tape to Maurice White's car". A 1987 Earth, Wind & Fire reunion (featuring new member, lead and rhythm guitarist Sheldon Reynolds) brought about the double-platinum album Touch the World this album brought forth a number one R&B and dance hit "System Of Survival," and another R&B and dance hit "Thinking Of You".

The band continued to release new albums, including 1988's The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire Vol II featuring new track "Turn On The Beat Box", Their final Columbia album 1990's Heritage and the Warner Brothers release 1993's Millennium. The song "Sunday Morning" from Millennium was nominated for a Grammy Award.

On July 30, 1993, saxophonist Don Myrick was fatally shot by the Los Angeles Police Department in a case of mistaken identity. Five years later, Maurice White announced that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. On October 13th 1993 former Earth, Wind & Fire member from 1970-1972 Wade Flemmons died in Battle Creek, M.I.

On September 15th, 1995, Earth, Wind & Fire was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. All the original members of the group showed up -- including the group's founder Maurice White. He attributed EWF's success to the support of their fans. During this time, Maurice White retired from touring with the band to pursue more production responsibilities and to concentrate on producing and developing new Earth, Wind & Fire recordings. In The Name of Love was released in 1997 on Pyramid Records.

EWF was the special musical guests in Washington, D.C. June 20, 2000 at a White House state dinner. The event, which was held in a tent on the White House lawn, was honoring His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco. The band was first contacted just a week before the show by White House staff, and they quickly agreed to do the show. The entire group flew to Washington June 19.

Earth, Wind & Fire was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003. In addition, Earth, Wind & Fire were inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk on Monday, July 7, 2003.

Maurice White released two new Earth, Wind & Fire albums on his own label, Kalimba Records, in 2002: Live In Rio, a live album from a 1980 "I Am" tour, and The Promise in 2003, the band's first studio album in six years. The Promise received good reviews upon its release, and was first issued in the United States and Japan; it was issued in Europe in early 2004. The Promise included strong songs reminicent of classic EW&F such as the kalimba-laden track All In The Way, Betcha', She Waits and two previously unreleased songs from the "I Am" sessions Where Do We Go From Here and Dirty.

On September 27, 2005, trombonist Louis Satterfield died.

In the summer of 2004, Earth, Wind & Fire signed an exclusive record deal with Sanctuary Urban Records Group, owned by Mathew Knowles, father and manager of Beyoncé. The album Illumination, the band's 23rd, was released September 20, 2005. The album's first single was the Grammy nominated "Show Me the Way", featuring Raphael Saadiq. The album was nominated for a Grammy for best R&B album in 2005.

EWF was nominated for a Soul Train Music Award in the category R&B-soul album, group, band or duo for the album Illumination.

On September 18, 2005, they performed their hit "September" (along with the Black Eyed Peas) as part of an opening act showing memorable television moments from the 2004-2005 season for the 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on CBS.

And for the past two years, EWF has been touring in a wildly successful double bill with the band Chicago for unforgettable evenings in which both bands play separately, then come together for a grand finale switching off on each other's tunes. Philip's live lead on Chicago's classic ballad "If You Leave Me Now" was so sweet, it was added as an enticing bonus to Chicago's 2005 Love Songs compilation.

For the 2005 holiday season as part of Target Corporation's advertising, they recorded a song titled after Target's slogan, "Gather Round". David Foster and Earth Wind & Fire have recorded "Gather 'Round". The track, which is written by David Foster, Maurice White and Philip Bailey and is produced and arranged by Foster.