Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling bands ever, with sales of over 90 million records worldwide.
The band was formed by Maurice White, originating out of the Salty Peppers; its history includes a hiatus from mid-1984 to mid-1987. Prominent members have included Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Ralph Johnson, Larry Dunn, Al McKay, Roland Bautista, Robert Brookins, Sonny Emory, Ronnie Laws, Sheldon Reynolds and Andrew Woolfolk. The band is known for its kalimba sound, dynamic horn section, energetic and elaborate stage shows, and the contrast between Bailey's falsetto and Maurice's tenor vocals.
The band has won six Grammy Awards out of 17 nominations and four American Music Awards out of 12 nominations. They have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame, and Hollywood's Rockwalk, and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The band has also received an ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Heritage Award, a BET Lifetime Achievement Award, a Soul Train Legend Award, a NARAS Signature Governor's Award, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2012 Congressional Horizon Award, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2019. Rolling Stone has called them "innovative, precise yet sensual, calculated yet galvanizing" and declared that the band "changed the sound of black pop". VH1 has described EWF as "one of the greatest bands".
History 1969–1970: Beginnings In 1969, Maurice White, a former session drummer for Chess Records and former member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, joined two friends in Chicago, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead, as a songwriting team. They wrote songs and commercials in the Chicago area. The three friends got a recording contract with Capitol Records. Calling themselves The Salty Peppers, they had a marginal hit single in the Midwest titled "La La Time".
The Salty Peppers' second single, "Uh Huh Yeah", did not fare as well. Maurice moved from Chicago to Los Angeles. He added singer Sherry Scott and percussionist Yackov Ben Israel, both from Chicago, to the band. He asked his younger brother Verdine to join and on June 6, 1970, Verdine moved from Chicago to LA to become the band's bassist. Maurice began shopping demo tapes featuring Donny Hathaway to various record labels and the band eventually signed to Warner Bros. Records.
1970–1974: Formation and early years Maurice White's astrological sign, Sagittarius, has a primary elemental quality of fire and seasonal qualities of earth and air, according to classical triplicities. Sagittarius in the northern hemisphere occurs in the autumn, whose element is earth, and in the southern hemisphere, it is spring, 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. White held further auditions in L.A, adding Michael Beal on guitar, Chester Washington on reeds, and Leslie Drayton on trumpet. White was a percussionist and lead vocalist. Drayton served as the group's arranger. Trombonist Alex Thomas completed the then ten-man lineup. Warner Bros. designated Joe Wissert to be the band's producer.
Earth, Wind & Fire The band's self-titled debut album was released in March 1971 on Warner Bros. The album got to No. 24 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and was certified Gold in France by the SNEP.
Larry Ridley of DownBeat, in a 5/5 stars review declared, "(Maurice White) has assembled here a strong musical organization. They are a tight, well- knit instrumental and vocal group...The vocal voicings are somewhat reminiscent of the Fifth Dimension, but this is not to imply imitation, for Earth, Wind and Fire are just that...Any further critical analysis is unwarranted and my only other comment at this point is go out and buy this record and keep your eyes and ears open to Earth, Wind and Fire." Bob Talbert of the Detroit Free Press, with praise wrote, "I'm not sure what to call this group. Afro-gospel-jazz-blues-rock? Must there be a label?...could be a forerunner of musical styles-sort of a black Blood, Sweat and Tears or Chicago. BS&T with soul maybe".
Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song EWF then performed on the soundtrack of Melvin Van Peebles 1971 feature film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. The soundtrack, entirely composed by Van Peebles, was released in June 1971 on Stax Records. Ian McCann of udiscovermusic.com found "Today, though, you couldn't find a record, soundtrack, or otherwise, as freewheelin' and funky as this." Jamie Atkins of Record Collector also proclaimed the soundtrack is "Well worth checking out...(where their) hippified psych soul...crossed over into relentless, harder-edged funk." The album reached No. 13 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart.
The Need of Love In November 1971, EWF's second album, titled The Need of Love, was issued. The LP got to No. 35 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart. Bruce Lindsay of Jazz Journal said "as evidence of a tight, stylish, band in the early stages of its career this is a worthwhile album". Al Rudis of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote "Their second album, The Need of Love again displays some unusual music that might be called avant garde were it not so melodic and entrancing. The nine-member group mixes excellent jazzy instrumentals with harmony singing and chanting, some big band sounds and some free-form parts as well as solid soul beats. It all works beautifully, and while the elements of Earth, Wind and Fire aren't new, this mixture of them is a unique sound".
A single from the album called "I Think About Lovin' You" reached No. 44 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart.
The band became popular on college campuses, although some members started to become restless and the band eventually split. With only Verdine left, Maurice decided to re-form the group.
During 1972, Maurice added vocalist Helena Davis, Ronnie Laws on the flute and saxophone, rhythm guitarist Roland Bautista, keyboardist Larry Dunn, vocalist Philip Bailey and percussionist Ralph Johnson. Davis was soon replaced by Jessica Cleaves, a former member of the R&B group The Friends of Distinction.
The band successfully auditioned for managers Bob Cavallo and Joe Ruffalo. Cavallo's management of John Sebastian led to a series of gigs as his opening act. A performance at New York's Rockefeller Center introduced EWF to Clive Davis, then-President of Columbia Records. Davis was impressed and bought their contract from Warner Bros. Wissert went along with the band.
Last Days and Time Their debut album on CBS/Columbia Records, Last Days and Time, was issued in October 1972. The album got to No. 15 on the US Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 9 on the UK Blues & Soul Top British Soul Albums chart. Paul Sexton of Record Mirror, in a 1979 review proclaimed, "Musical historians and EWF fans alike will welcome (Last Days and Time)". Ovid Goode Jr. of The Los Angeles Daily News declared "Last Days and Time, sprouts forth with a fresh sound that sets it apart from many of the ho-hum aggregations around today. The album consists of eight moving tunes". Hip-hop artist Nas was also inspired by the album's cover art while British singer Gabrielle also named Last Days and Time as one of her favorites.
A single called "Mom" got to No. 39 on the Cashbox Top R&B Singles chart.
Soon thereafter, Roland Bautista and Ronnie Laws left. Denver native Philip Bailey recommended former East High School classmate, saxophonist Andrew Woolfolk, as a replacement for Laws. Woolfolk had been busy in New York studying sax with sax maestro Joe Henderson and was due to start a career in banking at the time. To fill the void created by Bautista's departure, rhythm guitarists Al McKay and Johnny Graham were added. Graham previously played with New Birth, while McKay was a former member of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue and The Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band.
Head to the Sky EWF's fourth studio album, Head to the Sky, was released in May 1973. The album rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 27 on the Billboard 200 chart. Head to the Sky was certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
Vince Aletti of Rolling Stone declared "Been having a lot of music dreams lately but this one's not too surprising since I've been playing the Earth, Wind & Fire album pretty constantly for the past week, certainly beyond all expectations". Aletti also noted EWF "sound like a cosmic choir and generate a Sly Stone effect" on the album. Tony Palermo of the Pittsburgh Press wrote "Folks like to compare this bunch with War, but the first difference that hits you with E,W&F's brand of jazz-rhythm and blues is the smoothness of Jessica Cleaves' vocal work. Then, the extra slug of R&B in their style".
A single off the LP titled "Evil" got to No. 19 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Songs and No. 25 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs charts respectively. Another single called "Keep Your Head to the Sky" rose to No. 23 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart. Jessica Cleaves left after the album release.
Open Our Eyes The band's follow-up album was co-produced by Maurice and Wissert. This LP was recorded at James William Guercio's Caribou Ranch Studio and Open Our Eyes was released in March 1974. Ken Emerson of Rolling Stone called Open Our Eyes "a pleasant miscellany of Africana, Latin rhythms, well-mannered funk, smooth jazz, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder and the Fifth Dimension". The Village Voices Robert Christgau described the album as a complete "tour de force". The album rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 15 on the Billboard 200 chart. Open Our Eyes was certified US Platinum.
A single from the LP called "Mighty Mighty" reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Kalimba Story" rose to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart. "Devotion" got to No. 23 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
After Open Our Eyes was issued, Maurice's younger brother, Fred White, joined the band. He had previously played in Chicago clubs as a drummer with Donny Hathaway and Little Feat.
On April 6, 1974, EWF performed at the California Jam, a West Coast rock festival that attracted an audience of 200,000. The concert was televised in the US on May 10, 1974, by ABC.
Another Time In September 1974, a compilation double album titled Another Time, comprising songs from EWF's first two studio albums, was released by Warner Bros. The album got to No. 29 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart.
The band collaborated with Ramsey Lewis on his album Sun Goddess, which was produced by Maurice and issued in October 1974 by Columbia. The album got to No. 1 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 12 on the Billboard 200 chart. The LP's title track rose to No. 20 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart. Sun Goddess was certified US Gold.
1975–1980: Ornate sound
That's the Way of the World During 1975, EWF was approached by Sig Shore, producer of Super Fly, to record the soundtrack of a new film called That's the Way of the World. With a screenplay from Robert Lipsyte, the film was produced and directed by Shore. The movie starred Harvey Keitel, Ed Nelson, EWF as "The Group" and Maurice as Early, "The Group"'s leader. Keitel played the role of a record producer who's wowed by a performance of "The Group".