The brainchild of UMG executive Harry Weinger, La La Time is a nine-track digital-only collection that contains the recordings of The Salty Peppers, the original trio formed by Maurice White, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead in 1969 that became the precursor to White's creation of the legendary supergroup Earth, Wind & Fire.

An initial single, "La La La" was issued on a local Chicago label, TEC Records and later released by Capitol Records who signed the group (who had originally started as writers of commercials in the Chicago area). Capitol re-released the single as "La La Time" and it enjoyed some response in the Midwest without achieving any notable chart action. A second Capitol single, "Uh Huh Yeah" (backed with an early version of "Your Love is Life" which, renamed as "Love Is Life" appeared on the first EW&F album on Warner Brothers) but its lack of commercial acceptance led Maurice to move to Los Angeles where he expanded the band to include vocalist Sherry Scott, percussionist Yackov Ben Israel and his brother Verdine on bass.

The Salty Peppers morphed into Earth, Wind & Fire in 1970 (with Flemons and Whitehead among its members); the short-lived band's Capitol recordings have never been available digitally until now and the two singles are supplemented by five previously unreleased tracks, making this - truly the roots of one of the most important bands in music history - an essential buy for the global fans of EW&F.

Track listing:

Uh Huh Yeah
La La Time (Pt. 1)
La La Time (Pt. 2)
Your Love Is Life
Someone Waits (previously unreleased)
Open Your Heart (previously unreleased)
Tugs And Tears (previously unreleased)
Time Oh Time (previously unreleased)
Tag Along (previously unreleased)

"Uh Huh Yeah" by the Salty Peppers (1969)

"Your Love Is Life" by the Salty Peppers (1969)

As a longtime fan of Earth Wind & Fire,I knew about The Salty Peppers group that Maurice put together in 1969,and I had heard the two songs I posted above.But I never knew that they had recorded an album's worth of songs,so this is a nice surprise.

more info....

"Earth, Wind & Fire leader Maurice White was a founding member of the Salty Peppers. While a session drummer for Chess Records and a member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, White started a group with bassist/keyboardist Don Whitehead and vocalist Wade Flemons. The Salty Peppers had a Midwest hit with "La La La" -- issued on White's own Hummit Records -- and the track was leased to Capitol, which led to a record contract for the group. (The single was "Un Huh Yeah" b/w "Your Love Is Life.") After visiting California several times, White decided to make the move West and quit Lewis' trio. With demo tapes that featured the skills of Chicago multi-talent Donny Hathaway, White began shopping demo tapes (some featuring the skills of Donny Hathaway) around, then signed to Warner Bros., while The Salty Peppers eventually evolved into Earth, Wind & Fire".

What was new to me, was that Maurice obviously has worked with the late Donny Hathaway.

I've listened to the album a few times now, and it's better than I expected. Since all we had were the singles Uh Huh Yeah and La La Time, I always felt that The Salty Peppers wasn't exactly my cup of tea. After listening to the other songs, I think The Salty Peppers did a better job than I always thought. Maybe a single like Uh Huh Yeah wasn't exactly the right point of reference.