Earth Wind and Fire - Classic or Dud? [UPDATE Feb 2016: RIP Maurice White]

RIP - so much music that lifted so many spirits. you can't really stay in a bad mood when earth wind and fire comes on the radio.

David Stubbs on fb: "To listen to EWF anytime is to be temporarily levitated."

otm.

any EW&F comp you own is among the greatest albums in pop history

Damn right re Stubbs. The full quote is even better:

Robert Wyatt once talked about how he was complimented backstage by some student types after one of his gigs, the geezer complaining that the previous week they'd had to endure Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band and their comparatively non-cerebral music, and how good it was to have experienced something more elevated. Wyatt, alive to this sort of bollocks as he creditably ever was, responded that dear God, if they could have moved a crowd a tenth of a degree Geno could, they'd have been more than happy. Critics privilege the morbid, the broody, the gloomy, over the likes of Earth, Wind & Fire; dumb critics, that is. It's fucking hard to create the sort of popular joy they serially did, the physical, spiritual uplift, the perennial high. Many try and fail desperately, counterproductively. A great deal of other worthy culture weighs us down. To listen to EWF anytime is to be temporarily levitated. My god, 2016 can fuck off with its scythe.

EW&F are ripe RIPE for a Deep Album Cuts-type reappraisal.

he did some great work w/ ramsey lewis too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUgNGJj7O_U

RIP

Don't all y'all forget all the great Checker/Cadet/Chess sides he drummed on in the '60s ("Rescue Me", "Soulful Dress" etc.)!

ha didn't know he was drumming on "rescue me", that is awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0w8YcyLPmE

RIP

Aw, RIP.

EWF was one of those bands I heard many times without really knowing while I was growing up. A singles band for many, but their best albums listen as well as any comp. They all follow a distinct formula, but what a formula it was. And they set the template for a decade or so of LA pop - just for starters, Off the Wall or Thriller don't exist without Maurice White and EWF's efforts.

Didn't make that connection -- true!

Dave Marsh says something to that effect in his singles book, describing EWF as an R & B equivalent to Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86YiGNGCxvI

They were mostly a hit singles band for me, but After The Love is Gone is in my all time songs pantheon, so good.

Anybody else ever see the "That's The Way of The World" movie? A fun mix of '70s cheese and grit, with some fantastic live EWF footage.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C59DUe0G3Gc/VW6XBGKi7dI/AAAAAAAAnyQ/_NXN4tLe4xA/s1600/p422_p_v7_aa.jpg

RIP. Blared "September" on the way home from class tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VjgGIS4yo4&list=PLrrWWJCP6a4h5o0EkGTCC0GlTLU27_wtJ&index=4

Did George Clinton really hate them (per the op)? I find that hard to believe.

man, MW played on, wrote, and produced a hell of a lot of good music

always impressed by how goddam busy those EWF hits are. there's a lot going on. busy, but not cluttered.

danced in the kitchen to Boogie Wonderland, such a great jam

prob my fave from them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoI1XPqXQ90

Did George Clinton really hate them (per the op)? I find that hard to believe.

― Οὖτις, Thursday, February 4, 2016 9:20 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think we've been over this before. Clinton's jibes at Earth Wind and Fire apparently originated in some sort of tour-related conflict between the two bands, but it was never a serious beef. He clowns on every 70s funk band on "Let's Take It to the Stage," not just EWF. I think the perception that EWF were his mortal enemies originates in that same Dave Marsh singles book, because Marsh projects all the time and thinks everybody else views the world as antagonistically as he does.

Someone outside is singing Boogie Wonderland. Wasn't quite what I had in mind when I was thinking of listening to them today.

RIP. terrible loss. songs like cant hide love were really important to me. i dont think they were an albums band or a singles band, but they had so many great songs, and they were one of the best live bands of the 70s. shame they are basically, in the uk at least, seen as pure cheese purveyors cos of boogie wonderland (which i actually love, but its not their greatest song). the clinton thing is that p-funk, ewf, and the commodores were basically the main 3 rivals in terms of their shows.

This is really sad, maybe the biggest loss in popular music since MJ. White was a brilliant producer and songwriter (and even though he wasn't a bad singer, I'm glad he left most of the EWF singing duties to Philip Bailey, because Philip Bailey is phenomenal), you just need to listen to something like "Fantasy" for proof. That tune has like three different catchy melodies, they could've had three different hit singles with it but they put them all into one tune! And the production and the arrangement on it is so lovely and impeccable, but also so full of life.

And yes, EWF was more than just a great singles band, they had a lot of awesome album cuts (Zanzibar, Happy Feelin', Drum Song, Open Our Eyes, Spirit, Magic Mind, I'll Write a Song for You, Evolution Orange, Lady Sun, Side by Side, etc). Pretty much all of heir albums up to Powerlight have some quality grooves, though obviously not all of them can be loaded from front to back with heavenly music like That's the Way of the World and All 'n All.

And then of course there's Maurice White's drumming... Besides those 60s sould hits, his work as Ramsey Lewis' sideman was also full of great moments. Did you know the RLT accompanied Minnie Riperton on Come to My Garden? Yes, that's him on the drums on "Les Fleur"! And the mid-70s albums that produced and co-wrote for Ramsey, like Sun Goddess and Salongo, are also some jazz-funk gems. Definitely worth checking out if you dig the jazzier side of EWF.

Glad you mentioned "Magic Mind," Tuomoas, for I was about to post the link.

"Lady Sun" is one of my favorites too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsTKFakujM0

And StillAdvance is right that they were an awesome live band, at least judging by the recordings they left behind. Alive in ´75 is my favourite live album of all time.

(xpost)

shame they are basically, in the uk at least, seen as pure cheese purveyors cos of boogie wonderland

Says who?

FOr a start, who has ever described Boogie Wonderland as 'pure cheese'?

RIP :(

was he still touring with them? they're supposed to come through my area in a few weeks.

I think there's a touring version of the band that has no original members. White himself hadn't been touring with them for years, because he had Parkinson's.

And apparently Parkinson's was also the cause of his death.

cmon, most popular tv shows would mention EWF with a kind of smirk as they rolled a video of BW. thats what the majority of the population knows them for. you think they know the earlier 70s stuff? seriously doubt it. youd be hard pressed even to get mojo reading types to know much about EWF beyond the big crossover hits.

shame they are basically, in the uk at least, seen as pure cheese purveyors cos of boogie wonderland

I don't think this is true at all. As Mark S pointed out when Alfred said the same thing on Facebook, EWF had 12 hit singles in the UK, the highest of which was September.

Boogie Wonderland is a disco classic, the only people who think it's cheese are the ones who think disco was cheese in general.

Yeah, also, as Tuomas says, BW is ACE

well that is the problem. anything disco or associated with it is seen as pure cheese.

i love BW. never said it wasnt ace.

half expecting someone to come in and tell me disco ISNT seen as cheese

Sorry but you're just wrong there, EWF were very well respected as something more than a 'disco band, I mean, they were virtually a prog rock band! Concept albums (sort of), complex music, virtuoso musicianship, extravagant stageshows and Phil Collins!

judging everything by what ignorant people think it is is a losing game, StillAdvance!

hey, look, i have almost all their albums, im not dismissing them so lightly. you dont have to tell me about their greatness. and sure, perhaps i should give up trying to gauge how they are perceived by the greater (british) public, but honestly, when it comes to 70s funk bands, the only ones you really see covered seriously in the music press are those beginning with p and f. i dont see how this is news to anyone, sorry guys.

a late period song of theirs i love -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyIm2rWrGZQ

just went on to spotify to see what their most popular songs are and whaddyaknow?! its september, lets groove, and boogie wonderland.

And why not, after all!

The current lineup includes Philip Bailey, Verdine White and Ralph Johnson, and then a bunch of other dudes, the most veteran of whom joined in 1996 - all the others are from 2001 or later, but one of them is Bailey's son.

I don't think this is true at all. As Mark S pointed out when Alfred said the same thing on Facebook, EWF had 12 hit singles in the UK, the highest of which was September.

― Brian of Morbius (stevie)

Stupid of me. Don't know where I got that idea other than my not thinking much of "Boogiw Wonderland."

I think we've been over this before. Clinton's jibes at Earth Wind and Fire apparently originated in some sort of tour-related conflict between the two bands, but it was never a serious beef. He clowns on every 70s funk band on "Let's Take It to the Stage," not just EWF. I think the perception that EWF were his mortal enemies originates in that same Dave Marsh singles book, because Marsh projects all the time and thinks everybody else views the world as antagonistically as he does.

― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs), Friday, February 5, 2016 1:51 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The Funk episode of the 1995 PBS Rock & Roll series ("Dancing In The Street" in the UK) took a swipe at EW&F for "selling out"/"softening" their sound to get on white radio. The episode centered around Clinton, and the strong implication was that EW&F were the lesser band for crossing over.

I don't think Maurice White had toured with EWF for quite a few years, but the group has remained very popular on touring circuit in US. I know they played a Superbowl pregame and the White House both in the past few years.

The tune by them I seem to find used all the time in incidental ways is Serpantine Fire. You will hear that bass groove used as bumper music quite a bit.

Never understood why this wasn't a smash hit, being the first single to the follow-up to the mega selling I Am. Steve Lukather on guitar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO5RSVAghgs

RIP Maurice