Part of the reason why I enjoy their music, is because of their heavy use of symbolism.

Harlepolis said:

Off tangent, but ok.

PFunkjazz said:

Oh stfu, please

I have read a few threads that mention that EWF was a funk band? I started listening 2 them in 1976 so I'm no expert. When were they a funk band? I don't think I have ever heard any of their pre '76 material.
[Edited 11/29/07 15:50pm]

Graycap23 said:

EWF couldn't be labeled as a funk band. They music encompassed so much more than just funk. It was a fusion of many sounds. What I miss about the band is the musicology. The vocals, the horns, the beats, the bass, the rhythm guitar, the lead, the overall harmony. They were the best fucking band of the 70's hands down.

Oddly, I never considered EWF a funk band either. I think they were a mixture of funk, jazz, soul, rock, blues, classical, gospel, Afro-beat, etc. They were too musically diverse to be just funk if we're looking at funk as a "genre" but if funk is considered a mixture of the genres I mention then ok, they're a funk band but they were on a bigger plateau than that. Just like the Isley Brothers. Sure they had funk songs too but they also had a diverse palette.

Graycap23 said:

EWF couldn't be labeled as a funk band. They music encompassed so much more than just funk. It was a fusion of many sounds. What I miss about the band is the musicology. The vocals, the horns, the beats, the bass, the rhythm guitar, the lead, the overall harmony. They were the best fucking band of the 70's hands down.

I consider EWF a band.

I've NEVER considered them a FUNK band. I still don't.

Man... EWF's first albums are funk, jazz, latin & R&B all mixed up. Even though they are not a straight-up funk bad, they had some badass funk jams too

Graycap23 said:

I'VE NEVER CONSIDERED THEM A "SMOOTH JAZZ" ACT, EITHER. BUT THEY GET THE HELL PLAYED OUTTA THEM ON SMOOTH JAZZ STATIONS!!!!
THEY'RE MORE OF A FUNK/JAZZ HYBRID, THE WAY KOOL & THE GANG USED TO BE BEFORE THEY WENT ALL DISCO ON MOFO'S!!!!!

Earth, Wind, and Fire had some funk tracks but they weren't a straight up funk band. They had all kinds of music. That's why they are never in my "top lists" when I'm listing my favorites. I love loads of Earth, Wind, and Fire songs but my favorite acts have been and always will be artists that have majority funk on their albums. Earth, Wind, and Fire is a great group with a lot of great music (of all kinds) but my complaint about them through the years is....."just imagine if a band that great cut out a lot of the extra stuff and replaced it with more funk".

Whatever you wanna call'em, I have to agree they were one of the absolute best bands of the 70's & 80's hands down.

They did it all, jazz (didn't they start out as Ramsey Lewis' band?), fusion, funk, and don't forget gospel.

I once saw them backing The Mighty Clouds of Joy in Chicago and it was soooo killer.

And Harlepolis mentioned the use of symbolism... it's time to dust off a review of an EWF concert I went to about a week or so after John Lennon was killed.

This is a bit off topic but it's so good I just gotta share:

OK it's time to report out the Earth Wind and Fire concert of Dec. 30th, 1980 at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland CA and as I recall it's this stadium type place that holds maybe 25 or 40,000 people.

We had great seats, maybe a hundred feet or so from the stage which in a venue like this is really close.

As the time drew near for the show to begin the house lights were turned down and we were sitting in the dark with some low spots on the stage so you could just barely see the amplifiers and drum set a glowing in the dark.

Anticipation is mounting and then a tall shadowy figure appears on the stage and begins stalking around kicking at the amp banks. As he comes forward we see its Darth Vader. His helmet is mic’d and we hear him raspilly breathing and growling to himself, “I hate music. I hate music.”

This was curious. WTF does Darth Vader have to do with an EWF performance? Then, as mysteriously as he arrived he was gone.

And then all of a sudden BOOM, the show was in full swing!

Now remember these were the days of incredible special effects and EWF had spared no expense.

They appeared out of nowhere in a giant blast of fire and smoke already playing their instruments. Some came down from the ceiling in flaming pyramids some came up out trapdoors, some came out of clouds of smoke but all of a sudden they were just there and playing their asses off.

I don't remember which song they started with but I do remember that it was a particularly fast tempo song and they did not start this song from the beginning. They came in on it somewhere in the middle of a very fast passage and they did it flawlessly, while swinging down from the rafters no less.

It had the effect of just blowing you back in your seat. It was an Oh MY God moment. If you think about the discipline and virtuosity that it took to start a show like this you get a good sense of how accomplished these players are.

The show continued on for more than an hour with EWF running through their hits but stretching out on them with lots of variation from the recorded versions and awesome soloing. Although every musician who took a solo displayed world-class ability, the one that impressed me most was when Philip Bailey the falsetto lead singer showed us his chops.

The fact that that could be done with the human voice was just astounding. If you’ve ever heard the call and response exchange between saxophonist Don Myrick and Philip Bailey on the song Reasons from the live album you have just a hint of the form that Bailey was in that night.

So here we are groovin’ to a fabulous show and all of a sudden the Darth Vader character was back on stage. Lead singer Maurice White and the Darth Vader character began to have a fireball fight. Flash pots are going off everywhere.

Vader was running all over the stage knocking things over and trying to ruin the performance. He'd pick up a horn player like he weighed nothing and toss him through a flaming trapdoor in the stage as if sending him to hell

After five or so minutes of this fighting Maurice White steps up to microphone breathless from the effort and says to the audience. "This dark force…he’s
too powerful y’all. I can't beat him alone. I need all y’all’s help. On the count of three I want you to stand up out your chairs with your hands over your heart like this (he crosses hands and arms over his chest) and I want you to throw all the love you go at the stage and together we can beat this dark force.”

Then Verdine White, the bass player steps up to mic and counts off, “one, two three” and 30,000 people jump up out of their seats and throw all the love they got in their hearts at the dark monster on the stage.

Now what happened next happened all in a single moment but it will take me some time to describe it.

Over the stage were mounted about a dozen emerald green lasers very, very bright. At the back of the stage were positioned a dozen mirrors set at precise angles to deflect the emerald shafts of light flashing out into the back of the stadium where they were met by a dozen more mirrors which directed the beams to the center of the ceiling.

In the center of the ceiling was one mirror which consolidated all 12 beams into one huge super beam of green light and directed at back down to the stage right on the spot where Darth Vader was standing and vaporized him into a puff of smoke.

Now in this moment that the event occurred, the musicians turned on a dime and went from playing the dramatic fight music to playing a very triumphant passage.

The fact of having everyone's attention in the same place that the same time to participate in such an archetypal act of vanquishing a demon with the power of love accompanied by the appropriately triumphant music was unbelievably powerful. It was not merely witnessed but participated in it and it was a moment of true oneness and one of the most brilliant performance concepts I've ever seen.

One of the top concert experiences of my life.
[Edited 12/2/07 7:44am]

Anticipation is mounting and then a tall shadowy figure appears on the stage and begins stalking around kicking at the amp banks. As he comes forward we see its Darth Vader. His helmet is mic’d and we hear him raspilly breathing and growling to himself, “I hate music. I hate music.”