my favorite band let's discuss their amazing music

Spirit,released in the fall of 1976,is one of my absolute favorites.Like many of their albums,this album is so inspiring,uplifting,reflective and spiritual.I also like the album cover.

RARE FOOTAGE: Earth Wind & Fire 'Spirit Tour' Landover,MD August 1,1976

Earth Wind and Fire Spiri... - YouTube

I'd love to have their 70s concerts on DVD/blu-ray!

Russian band Leonid & Friends do amazing covers. They recently did "In The Stone," which I'd never heard before. So that definitely turned me onto a "new" EWF song.

L&F are big on Chicago, EWF, and others. Their covers have just about fooled The Ides of March with their cover of "Vehicle."

Their cover of "September" has just blown me away. Of course there's nothing like the original. EWF really had a special kind of magic that maybe other funk bands - despite those bands' numerous hits - didn't possess.

I really need to sit down and just sorta work through their albums. I know I'm still missing stuff with them.

SoulAlive said:

Spirit,released in the fall of 1976,is one of my absolute favorites.Like many of their albums,this album is so inspiring,uplifting,reflective and spiritual.I also like the album cover.

My top EW&F LPs:

1) That's the Way of the World (1975)

2) I Am (1979)

3) Spirit (1976)

Released in November 1977,All N' All is a favorite among fans.I remember hearing "Fantasy" on the radio back then and I was blown away! What a wonderful track!

One of the reasons I truly love the movie "Intouchables" was that the soundtrack was basically the music of EW&Fire.

Great, Great Band.

I also remember once hearing a Prince concert where Prince complained that so much good music was being ignored....He named Earth, Wind & Fire as once of the groups whose music deserves more contemporary attention ( at the time of the concert of course). Do any of you guys know which concert this was?

In 1975,Earth Wind and Fire appeared in the movie 'That's The Way Of The World'.The film isn't very good (imo) but if you're a fan you must see it at least once.And of course,the soundtrack was a massive hit.It's the album that took EW&F to another whole level.

Gratitude,a 2-LP live album with several "new" studio tracks,was released in November 1975.It is one of the greatest live albums ever.Two singles were released: "Singasong" and "Can't Hide Love".

taken from Gratitude....this is the heavenly "Sun Goddess"

Earth, Wind & Fire - ... - YouTube

remember in the 70s when some popular artists had their own TV specials? Natalie Cole had a TV special in 1978 and one of her guests was Earth Wind and Fire.They performed a very cool medley of their hits.....

Earth Wind & Fire wit... - YouTube

don't we all miss Maurice White? what an incredible front man/leader! So much charisma and talent! You don't see artists like this nowadays.

I couldn't get into the "Faces" doudle LP. It wasn't up to the level we're used to from EW&F. "Raise" (1981) was a big improvement.

EWF is without question my all time favorite band! ALL N ALL and That's The Way of The World both are on my short list of favorite albums ever by anyone. I highly recommend ANYTHING they did in the 70s ( I enjoyed the later years too but ymmv).

Even though they have accolades from all over the world I still think they are underrated. Charles Stepney and Maurice White combined soooo many types of music to create the sound of EWF. I find it hard to take serious any music fan that does not recognize their greatness and legacy.

[Edited 5/23/22 8:03am]

SoulAlive said:

don't we all miss Maurice White? what an incredible front man/leader! So much charisma and talent! You don't see artists like this nowadays.

You are so right. I think about his influence on my life often. I really miss the guy. I highly recommend his biography to anyone that hasn't read it yet. He had a vision and he MADE it happen.

They were not consistant but great at times.

Released in June 1979,I Am is one of the most successful EW&F albums,going double platinum and featuring two huge singles ("Boogie Wonderland" and "After The Love Has Gone") that went Top 10 (the latter reached Number Two).This is one of those albums where nearly every track could have been a single.Songs like "Can't Let Go" and "Let Your Feelings Show" are absolutely superb.

uPtoWnNY said:

I couldn't get into the "Faces" doudle LP. It wasn't up to the level we're used to from EW&F. "Raise" (1981) was a big improvement.

Faces seems to divide the fanbase.Some love it,some think it is subpar.I don't think it's as consistently strong as some of the other albums,but there are some great songs throughout.

uPtoWnNY said:

I couldn't get into the "Faces" doudle LP. It wasn't up to the level we're used to from EW&F. "Raise" (1981) was a big improvement.

I couldn't either with the exception of a few songs or so. Even listening to it now some of it just sounds lazy and dated to me. I remember when I was in high school my uncle who turned me on to EWF when I was a kid was chatting with his friends when Raise came out and Let's Groove was tearing it up. He was telling us now that's the real EWF. Faces wasn't shit.

I just think it was hard for them to top match the success of the hits from

That's The Way Of The World, Spirit, All N All, and I Am much like it was hard for the

Commodores to duplicate the blue album. Lionel Richie stated on later albums the fans always

wanted another Brick House, Zoom, and Easy.

SoulAlive said:

don't we all miss Maurice White? what an incredible front man/leader! So much charisma and talent! You don't see artists like this nowadays.

You know what Soul that pisses me off. This man didn't get the proper tribute he deserves for his

contribution to music from the 2 biggest black networks TVOne and BET. Let a famous rapper die that the mass rap fans love and BET will do a month long tribute.

There is a clip on Youtube where David Foster gave Maurice his flowers in his last public appearance

at an awards show. At that point Maurice was already in a wheelchair.

EWF as we speak now are currently on tour with what they call their alumni legacy tour which I suppose will feature all the guys from the classic lineup. Sadly we just loss saxophonist Andrew Woolfolk earlier this month. I was just listening to The Promise album last night from 2003.

I loved it because it sounded like EWF. Maurice was my favorite band leader of all time. He was

the best to ever do it as a band leader, musician, and producer.

phunkdaddy said:

SoulAlive said:

don't we all miss Maurice White? what an incredible front man/leader! So much charisma and talent! You don't see artists like this nowadays.

You know what Soul that pisses me off. This man didn't get the proper tribute he deserves for his

contribution to music from the 2 biggest black networks TVOne and BET. Let a famous rapper die that the mass rap fans love and BET will do a month long tribute.

There is a clip on Youtube where David Foster gave Maurice his flowers in his last public appearance

at an awards show. At that point Maurice was already in a wheelchair.

EWF as we speak now are currently on tour with what they call their alumni legacy tour which I suppose will feature all the guys from the classic lineup. Sadly we just loss saxophonist Andrew Woolfolk earlier this month. I was just listening to The Promise album last night from 2003.

I loved it because it sounded like EWF. Maurice was my favorite band leader of all time. He was

the best to ever do it as a band leader, musician, and producer.

I totally agree....Maurice deserves much more respect and recognition for his amazing talent and accomplishments.The current lineup are also working on a new album produced by Babyface I'm not sure if that's a good fit? They already released a single from it (a remake of "Can't Hide Love") and I wasn't too impressed.

Earth, Wind & Fire - ... - YouTube

SoulAlive said:

Released in June 1979,I Am is one of the most successful EW&F albums,going double platinum and featuring two huge singles ("Boogie Wonderland" and "After The Love Has Gone") that went Top 10 (the latter reached Number Two).This is one of those albums where nearly every track could have been a single.Songs like "Can't Let Go" and "Let Your Feelings Show" are absolutely superb.

EW&F's "I Am", Chic's "Risque" & Donna Summer's "Bad Girls" - I wore those LPs OUT during the Summer of '79!

Earth Wind and Fire doing a Beatles song

Earth, Wind & Fire - ... - YouTube

phunkdaddy said:

uPtoWnNY said:

I couldn't get into the "Faces" doudle LP. It wasn't up to the level we're used to from EW&F. "Raise" (1981) was a big improvement.

I couldn't either with the exception of a few songs or so. Even listening to it now some of it just sounds lazy and dated to me. I remember when I was in high school my uncle who turned me on to EWF when I was a kid was chatting with his friends when Raise came out and Let's Groove was tearing it up. He was telling us now that's the real EWF. Faces wasn't shit.

I just think it was hard for them to top match the success of the hits from

That's The Way Of The World, Spirit, All N All, and I Am much like it was hard for the

Commodores to duplicate the blue album. Lionel Richie stated on later albums the fans always

wanted another Brick House, Zoom, and Easy.

Similar to Stevie Wonder in the 70s and Prince in the 80s.

uPtoWnNY said:

SoulAlive said:

Released in June 1979,I Am is one of the most successful EW&F albums,going double platinum and featuring two huge singles ("Boogie Wonderland" and "After The Love Has Gone") that went Top 10 (the latter reached Number Two).This is one of those albums where nearly every track could have been a single.Songs like "Can't Let Go" and "Let Your Feelings Show" are absolutely superb.

EW&F's "I Am", Chic's "Risque" & Donna Summer's "Bad Girls" - I wore those LPs OUT during the Summer of '79!

I hear ya we had no shortage of great music in the summer of '79!

TrivialPursuit said:

I really need to sit down and just sorta work through their albums. I know I'm still missing stuff with them.

I would definitely say that EW&F were an 'album band'.Their singles only tell part of the story.Explore the albums.

the 1973 album Head To The Sky.

2freaky said:

They were not consistant but great at times.

That's complete bullshit, From Head to the Sky (1973) to I AM (1979) they gave us seven consecutive masterpieces! Only Stevie Wonders body of work during that time period is of similar quality.

[Edited 5/23/22 12:52pm]

[Edited 5/23/22 12:52pm]

SoulAlive said:

Earth Wind and Fire doing a Beatles song

Earth, Wind & Fire - ... - YouTube

You forgot to say "doing it better than the Beatles". McCartney

BalladofPeterParker said: