Musicians Verdine White (L) and Maurice White of Earth Wind and Fire arrive at the 2011 Pre-GRAMMY Gala and Salute To Industry Icons Honoring David Geffen at Beverly Hilton on February 12, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California.
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American R&B and funk band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both theRock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.[1][2] 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".[3] In 1998, they were ranked at number 60 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Rock N' Roll.[4]
In 1962, Maurice White, a former session drummer for Chess Records and member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, joined two friends in Chicago, Wade Flemons and Wayne T, 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".[7]
The band's music contains elements of African, Latin American, funk, soul, pop and rock music, jazz and other genres. The band is known for the dynamic sound of their horn section, and the interplay between the contrasting vocals of Philip Bailey'sfalsetto and Maurice White's tenor.[5] The kalimba (African thumb piano) is played on all of the band's albums.[6]
The Salty Peppers' second single, "Uh Huh Yeah," did not fare as well, and Maurice left Ramsey Lewis Trio and moved 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, featuringDonny Hathaway, around to different record labels and was then signed to Warner Bros. Records.[7][8]
Maurice's astrological sign, Sagittarius, has a primary elemental quality of Fire and seasonal qualities of Earth and Air q.v.(Sagittarius in the northern hemisphere occurs in the fall, whose element is earth, and in the southern hemisphere, it is spiring, whose element is air. Hence the omission of Water, the fourth classical element). Based on this, he changed the band's name, to "Earth, Wind & Fire". Maurice (mbira) 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 ten-man EWF lineup.[5][9]
The band's self-titled debut album, Earth, Wind, Fire, was released February 1971 to critical acclaim, as was November 1971'sThe Need of Love. Both 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 Peeblesfilm Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song,[5] which was recorded at the Paramount Recording Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard and released on Stax records. 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 started holding auditions.
With a full orchestra of Denver-area musicians backing them, Earth, Wind & Fire delivered what the sold-out crowd had come for — hit after danceable hit. The few exceptions — such as “Evil” from the 1973 album “Head to the Sky,” and “Mighty Mighty” and “Kalimba Story” from 1974’s “Open Our Eyes” — almost sounded as if they were in the set more for the band than the audience. During those years, the group was still searching for the sound that would give them the sing-along appeal the Beatles had mastered the decade before.marking their 40th Anniversary with a spectacular cross-country tour with a stop right here at the Nokia Theatre at L.A. Live tonight! Check out photos of the group through the years!
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Photos: Earth, Wind & Fire Celebrate Their 40th Anniversary Of Playing Funky Hits In 1972, Maurice added 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 to the group. 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.[5]
The band won an audition with 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 Centerintroduced 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 Timefeatured 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".[8][9]
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