During the 1970s, a new brand of pop music was born - one that was steeped in
African and African-American styles - particularly jazz and R&B but appealed
to a broader cross-section of the listening public. As founder and leader of the
band Earth, Wind & Fire, Maurice White not only embraced but also helped
bring about this evolution of pop, which bridged the gap that has often
separated the musical tastes of black and white America. It certainly was
successful, as EWF combined high-caliber musicianship, wide-ranging musical
genre eclecticism, and '70s multicultural spiritualism. "I wanted to do
something that hadn't been done before," Maurice explains. "Although we were
basically jazz musicians, we played soul, funk, gospel, blues, jazz, rock and
dance music...which somehow ended up becoming pop. We were coming out of a
decade of experimentation, mind expansion and cosmic awareness. I wanted our
music to convey messages of universal love and harmony without force-feeding
listeners' spiritual content."
Maurice was born December 19, 1941, in
Memphis, TN. He was immersed in a rich musical culture that spanned the
boundaries between jazz, gospel, R&B, blues and early rock. All of these
styles played a role in the development of Maurice's musical identity. At age
six, he began singing in his church's gospel choir but soon his interest turned
to percussion. He began working gigs as a drummer while still in high school.
His first professional performance was with Booker T. Jones, who eventually
achieved stardom as Booker T and the MGs.
After graduating high school,
Maurice moved to the Windy City to continue his musical education at the
prestigious Chicago Conservatory Of Music. He continued picking up drumming jobs
on the side, which eventually lead to a steady spot as a studio percussionist
with the legendary Chicago label, Chess Records. At Chess, Maurice had the
privilege of playing with such greats as Etta James, Fontella Bass, Billy
Stewart, Willie Dixon, Sonny Stitt and Ramsey Lewis, whose trio he joined in
1967. He spent nearly three years as part of the Ramsey Lewis Trio. "Ramsey
helped shape my musical vision beyond just the music," Maurice explains. "I
learned about performance and staging." Maurice also learned about the African
thumb piano, or Kalimba, an instrument whose sound would become central to much
of his work over the years.
In 1969, Maurice left the Ramsey Lewis Trio
and joined two friends in Chicago, Wade Flemons and 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 Mid-western area called "La La Time."
That band featured Maurice on vocals, percussion and Kalimba along with
keyboardists/vocalists Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead.
After relocating
to Los Angeles and signing a new contract with Warner Bros., Maurice
simultaneously made what may have been the smartest move of his young career. He
changed the band's name to Earth, Wind & Fire (after the three elements in
his astrological chart). The new name also captured Maurice's spiritual approach
to music - one that transcended categories and appealed to multiple artistic
principals, including composition, musicianship, production, and performance. In
addition to White, Flemons and Whitehead, Maurice recruited Michael Beal on
guitar, Leslie Drayton, Chester Washington and Alex Thomas on horns, Sherry
Scott on vocals, percussionist Phillard Williams and his younger brother Verdine
on bass.
Earth, Wind & Fire recorded two albums for Warner Brothers:
the self-titled 1970 album Earth, Wind & Fire and the 1971 album The Need Of
Love. A single from this album, "I Think About Lovin' You," provided EWF with
their first Top 40 R&B hit. Also in 1971, the group performed the soundtrack
to the Melvin Van Peebles film 'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'.
In
1972, White dissolved the line-up (except he and brother Verdine White) and
added Jessica Cleaves (vocals - formerly of the R&B group The Friends of
Distinction), Ronnie Laws (flute, saxophone), Roland Bautista (guitar), Larry
Dunn (keyboard), Ralph Johnson (percussion) and Philip Bailey (vocals, formerly
of Friends & Love). Maurice became disillusioned with Warner Brothers, which
had signed the group primarily as a jazz act. Maurice, in contrast, was more
interested in combining elements of jazz, rock, and soul into an evolving form
of fusion, a truly universal sound.
A performance at New York's
Rockefeller Center introduced EWF to Clive Davis, then President of Columbia
Records. Davis loved what he saw and bought their contract from Warner Bros.
With Columbia Records, debuting with the 1972 album Last Days And Time, the
group slowly began to build a reputation for innovative recordings and exciting,
live shows, complete with feats of magic (floating pianos, spinning drum kits,
vanishing artists) engineered by Doug Henning and his then-unknown assistant
David Copperfield. Their first gold album, Head To The Sky, peaked at number 27
pop in the summer of 1973, yielding a smooth tangy cover of "Evil" and the title
track single. The first platinum EWF album, Open Our Eyes, whose title track was
a remake of the classic originally recorded by Savoy Records group the Gospel
Clefs, included "Mighty Mighty" (number four R&B) and "Kalimba Story"
(number six R&B).
Maurice once again shared a label roster with
Ramsey Lewis, whose Columbia debut Sun Goddess, was issued in December 1974. The
radio-aired title track was released as a single under the name Ramsey Lewis and
Earth, Wind & Fire. It went to number 20 R&B in early 1975. The Sun
Goddess album went gold, hitting number 12 pop in early 1975. Maurice had also
played on Lewis' other high-charting album, Wade In The Water; the title track
single peaked at number three R&B in the summer of 1966.
The
inspiration for "Shining Star" (one of EW&F's most beloved singles) was
gleaned from thoughts Maurice had during a walk under the star-filled skies that
surrounded the mountains around Caribou Ranch, CO a popular recording site and
retreat during the '70s. The track was originally included in the 'That's The
Way Of The World' movie that starred Harvey Keitel and was produced by Sig Shore
(Superfly). "Shining Star" glittered at number one R&B for two weeks and hit
number one pop in early 1975. It was included on their 1975 multi-platinum album
That's The Way Of The World that held the number one pop spot for three weeks in
Spring 1975 and earned them their first Grammy Award. The title track single
made it to number five R&B in summer of 1975. It also yielded the classic
ballad "Reasons," an extremely popular radio-aired album track.
The
multi-platinum album Gratitude held the number one pop album spot for three
weeks in late 1975. On the album was "Singasong" (gold, number one R&B for
two weeks, number five pop), the Skip Scarborough ballad "Can't Hide Love"
(number 11 R&B), and the popular radio-aired album tracks "Celebrate,"
"Gratitude," and the live version of "Reasons." In 1976, Maurice decided he
wanted to record a spiritual album. The multi-platinum album Spirit parked at
number two pop for two weeks in fall of 1976 and boasted the gold, number one
R&B single "Getaway" and "Saturday Nite." Spirit is remembered as one of
EWF's best albums and sadly for also being the last project of Producer Charles
Stepney. He died May 17, 1976, in Chicago, IL, at the age of 45. Charles was a
former Chess Records arranger/producer/session
musician/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter and Maurice's main collaborator on his
EWF projects. The multi-platinum album All 'N All peaked at number three pop in
late 1977, won three Grammy's, and had arrangements by Chicago soul mainstay Tom
Tom Washington and Eumir Deodato. The singles were "Serpentine Fire" (number one
R&B for seven weeks) and "Fantasy." The group's horn section, the legendary
Phenix Horns (Don Myrick on saxophone, Louis Satterfield on trombone, Rahmlee
Michael Davis and Michael Harris on trumpets) became an integral part of the
Earth, Wind & Fire sound.
During this time, Maurice produced several
artists such as The Emotions (1976's Flowers and 1977's Rejoice which included
the number one R&B/pop hit "Best Of My Love") and Deniece Williams (1976's
This Is Niecy which included the Top Ten R&B hit "Free"). In the late
seventies, in association with Columbia Records, Maurice also launched a record
label, ARC.
The multi-platinum greatest-hits set The Best Of Earth, Wind
& Fire, Vol. I included a cover of the Beatles' "Got To Get You Into My
Life" went to number one R&B and number nine pop in Summer 1978. The group
performed the song in the 1978 Bee Gees/Peter Frampton movie 'Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band'. Another single, "September," made it to number one
R&B, number eight pop in early 1978. On the flip side was the enchanting
popular radio-aired album track "Love's Holiday" from All 'N All. Their
live performances were stellar as well. Sellout crowds were spellbound by the
band's bombastic performances. Their performances blasted a cosmic wave of
peace, love and other happy vibrations to audiences using a combination of
eye-popping costumes, lights, pyrotechnics and plain old good music. Sometimes
they even threw in magic illusions. Earth, Wind & Fire's message was one of
universal harmony, in both musical and cultural senses. "We live in a negative
society," Maurice told Newsweek. "Most people can't see beauty and love. I see
our music as medicine."
The multi-platinum album I Am hit number three
pop in Summer 1979 on the strength of the million-selling single "Boogie
Wonderland" with The Emotions (number two R&B for four weeks, number six
pop) and the phenomenal gold ballad "After The Love Has Gone," written by David
Foster, Jay Graydon and Bill Champlin that stayed at number two R&B/pop for
two weeks. Their Faces album peaked at number ten pop in late 1980 and was
boosted to gold by the singles "Let Me Talk" (number eight R&B), "You"
(number ten R&B), and "And Love Goes On."
The million-selling
funked-up "Let's Groove," co-written by The Emotions' Wanda Vaughn and her
husband Wayne Vaughn, was the track that re-energized EWF's career, parking at
number one R&B for eight weeks and number three pop, causing their Raise!
album to go platinum (hitting number five pop in late 1981). Their next gold
album Powerlight made it to number 12 pop in spring 1983 and included the Top
Ten R&B single and Grammy-nominated "Fall In Love With Me." Their 1983
Electric Universe album stalled at number 40 pop, breaking the band's string of
gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums.
In 1983, Maurice decided he
and the band needed a break. During this hiatus, Maurice recorded his
self-titled solo album Maurice White and produced various artists including Neal
Diamond, Barbra Streisand and Jennifer Holliday. Reuniting with the band in
1987, EWF released the album Touch The World and scored yet another number one
R&B single, "System of Survival" and embarked on a corresponding nine-month
world tour. This was followed by the 1988 release The Best Of Earth, Wind &
Fire Vol. II. In 1990 the group released the album Heritage. Two years later,
Earth, Wind & Fire released The Eternal Dance; a 55-track boxed set
retrospective of the band's entire history. The appearance of such a project
after a prolonged period of relative inactivity signaled to many listeners that
the band was calling it quits but that did not turn out to be case. In 1993, EWF
released the album, Millennium that included the Grammy-nominated "Sunday
Morning" and "Spend The Night." Earth, Wind & Fire kept recording and in
1996 released Avatar and Greatest Hits Live; followed by 1997's In The Name Of
Love; 2002's That's The Way Of The World: Alive In '75; Live In Rio which was
recorded during their 1979 "I Am World Tour;" 2003's The Promise, which included
the Grammy-nominated "Hold Me" and 2005's Illumination, which included the
Grammy-nominated "Show Me The Way."
In 2000, the nine-piece '70s edition
of Earth, Wind & Fire reunited for one night only in honor of their
induction into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. In 2001, Eagle Rock Entertainment
released the documentary 'Earth, Wind & Fire: Shining Stars', which contains
rarely seen historic video footage along with in-depth interviews with the band
members.
Even though Maurice is no longer a part of the touring group,
he remains the band's heart and soul from behind the scenes as composer and
producer. Maurice reflects, "I wanted to create a library of music that would
stand the test of time. 'Cosmic Consciousness' is the key component of our work.
Expanding awareness and uplifting spirits is so important in this day. People
are looking for more. I hope our music can give them some encouragement and
peace."