If only Charles had lived, just imagine what he would have accomplished!

I will stress, Certainly Charles Stepney was the go to arranger for EWF records of the period.. However Maurice White Had a very distinct, innate View of his Vision. These Records are groundbreaking in My opinion, Now Think of this.. I'm a white cat who started playing drums before All of this - YET Once I started really listening to the ' Spirit ' record, i was turned around. I grew up in a very artsy household, and a pretty white neighborhood, but I cared Not! I listened to Herbie Hancock when nobody else knew who he was - My point is despite his " human " failings , we're all flawed.. he was a Brilliant producer ( I went on to study composition and arranging because of My respect for M.White.. So my point is no matter what race, what color - he picked the best, and that is the definition of a great producer..

Earth Wind & Fire also had years of success way after Charles Stepney.

Yes they should have more. A lot of people in the industry were very jealous of EW&F's global success and felt that they had enough.Some even started ridiculous rumors and lies like the one @vickieadams6648 ignorantly and hypocritically believe in just to curtail their success. That's just one way of how the crooked industry operates. However this didn't stop them from winning many more important accolades and their leader and founder Maurice White's legacy as a musician, singer, song writer, and producer endures. EW&F 's music continues to be played around the world!

I agree. They had a terrific run for a black band. Self-contained Black bands don't have the longevity and lasting popularity of a Rolling Stones, Def Leppard or Kiss.

The man always breaks it up. Comes in & offers the star of the group a solo deal & offers more fame (lionel richie-commodores) Mj- the Jacksons/ jackson 5

@@cle-chi It happened to Earth Wind and Fire and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. In Petty's case, his manager convinced him that asking a band to be a democracy only leads to trouble. Naturally the Heartbreakers were, well, heartbroken. But I guess they figured being in a famous band override everything else. Plus Heartbreaker guitarist Mike Campbell didn't do too bad. He wrote hit songs like "Boys of Summer" for Don Henley, plus he joined Fleetwood Mac.

Myrick was a major contributor to EWF. Also no mention of Beloyd Taylor (RIP) who wrote Getaway and performed with the group briefly. Beloyd was from my hometown Cleveland.

Most of these vids about bands always get information wrong...

TO @bmrigs: I'm with you on that all the way. There is another slow jam I think you would agree that also was slept on. The beautiful and waltzing song called "Sail Away", off of the double album "Faces".

@@williamcampbell3868 I gotta check that out. Thanks.

​@@williamcampbell3868 Omg! That faces album is a killer. It kicked the 1980 door off the hinge. Alot of pop groups took pieces from it

@@cle-chi Yes it was a gloriously musical and masterful album without a weak song anywhere on it. I would beg anybody to name any R&B group since its release that is musically talented enough to pull off a jazzy instrumental like the title track. We already know the answer, there isn't any!!

Yo, was Johnny Graham the lead guitarist who had that fantastic solo with the shades on the live concert is that him?

​@@andreoates8405that's him

@@andreoates8405-Yes on “That’s The Way Of The World” with that Ibanez Iceman !!!

Yes I believe so​@@andreoates8405

Al was kicked out after faces

Right!

Ditto. Not that I didn't appreciate them back then when Fantasy was in the charts.

True that! A while back Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones said it himself!

Thank You!!

Beautiful song written by the great Skip Scarborough who went on to write big hits for EWF.

...no there's not much to do when it's you "Feeling Blue"

Thanks for informing me on them. Things like this will make a big difference on upcoming videos. They were a part of the success of the band.

Yes, I hate that I missed that. I am going to add them to my description box. I was so focus on the band that I have to realize that it is more to it.

I think Ralph Johnson and Andrew Woolfolk contributed in the studio but it was mainly Maurice and Phillip Bailey

Your right I forgot Ralph Johnson he still sings on the live shows. A . Woolfork RIP brother.

Agree 100% Brother @Elwrt455. It was like listening to a favorite album. An interesting and entertaining read that at times had me dying laughing.👍👍🤣

Also shinning star Phillip Bailey

According to my life with ewf, they broke up because Maurice wanted to go solo. Did not want to leave the name with his brother and Philip so he shut it down. Verdine stopped speaking to him. Phillip and verdine were not happy with Maurice.

@@athmanikumasi3565 Maurice wanted to do a solo project while the group was on a temporary hiatus, not a solo career and producce other projects. He also continued to communicate with band members though sporadically.

To, @cathridge : Yes a lot of what you said happened and some lead vocalist of R&B groups were pushed into solo careers. Maurice White and Philip Bailey also released solo albums. Other group members did production work but Maurice and Philip didn't let anything keep them from building on EW&F's legacy. They didn't let the name fall by the wayside and this is what kept them relevant after 50+ years. Other things happened in the social and economic climate of past times that affected the music industry also. Music and arts were severely cut in schools and Record companies became cheap and greedy for quick profits. A lot of Rap artists they signed didn't know what a musical instrument was and were exploited because they didn't understand the contracts.They did R&B artists the same way. Therefore they became one or two hit artists and the record companies were not concerned with their career development and longevity. It was these events that caused music quality to suffer and decline. The end result is a lot of the unlistenable junk today in the pop and hip-hop genres. For an economic example the cost of producing a album like EW&F's classic All n' All album was very high back then. Record companies today will definitely not consider paying nine group members, a four piece horn section( the Phenix horns)and a orchestra playing with them! That level of quality is something the industry is too cheap to pay for. They prefer low grade synthesizers, a cheap sampler, push buttons and other prefab junk. Real music made by real musicians cost too much for their greedy asses. They rather cut corners for sake of more profit. Nevermind the quality.

Jessica cleaves was the only female I knew of and I am a ewf fan from open our eyes. Who are these other female singers?

@athmanikumasi3565 Others from Earth, Wind & Fire's early days include Helena Davis and Sherry Scott, who you can hear below. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bqedqJByu7GWnYU.htmlsi=dPkH043D3ZIba3Sc

Correct....Roland was merely returning.

Naw, I read the book too he went solo and did not want to leave the name with his brother and Philip so he shut it down. That did not sit well with verdine and Phillip. When they restarted, Al and Larry did not want to come back. Not easy working with Maurice.

Loren cut it out🤣

He was into our history, culture, and was a very spiritual person. This witchcraft is nothing but a nonsensical and ridiculous rumor. Read his autobiography!

@@vickieadams6648 That's a very ignorant comment. The name of the band is taken from Astrological properties, I'm not into astrology, it once was thought to be a science but now really is a Mythology based largely upon Early astronomy by agrarian cultures.. But the 3 Elements, Earth Wind and Fire are also very important to Native American peoples as well.. Maurice White wasn't into " witchcraft " as you say, he had a deep knowledge of the Creator and the power of love and if you really listened to the music and Understood the lyrics you would have never have made such a judgemental statement. Sincerely Seth Ballou 🎵

I was actually listening to Blood Stone a few days ago.

What the hell is this incoherent bs!?

I do not think so. Earth, Wind, and Fire live sounded identical to the studio project. Not so with Bloodstone. Take it from a life long multi instrumental musician.

Not even close, Really....

I'm a fan of Bloodstone and one of their hits called My little lady was a favorite of mine that sounded like EWF. However no group was as versatile as EWF or could match their intensity and instrumental mastery. The instrumental jams, Power, Africano, Biyo,New world symphony, the Grammy winning Runnin' from the album All 'n All and others could not be conceived by their contemporaries. War, Mandrill, the Commodores, Billy Preston, Santana, and the Brothers Johnson( who won a Grammy for "Q") have made instrumentals also but it was only Santana who have matched EW&F's mass appeal. EW&F accomplished everything without sacrificing their Black identity and heritage! Their music remains universal and timeless.

That's a lie.

I agree with James. I am also a lifelong multi instrumentalist and EWF is one of the best shows I have ever seen including Kansas, Pink Floyd, BB King, Chicago, The Who, Steely Dan, Rush, Dixie Dregs, Yes, Commodores etc. Saw all of those bands and EWF was one of the best ever!

Read shinning star Phillip Bailey

@@athmanikumasi3565 I.m not reading anything. I've know the group personally since their old salty pepper days with Flemmons, Whitehead and Reese White, so I don't need to read anything loser.

@@bobnale5516 yeah I already know you're not reading anything. It shows in your childish responses and you know nothing of me to call me a loser. You sound like one. I suggested you read Shining Star because Phillip addresses that reason. So what you knew the salty peppers, I lump you in with them for that reason being that they were losers such as yourself; they quit on Reese and he had to scramble to put the original group together. Turned out for the better....loser. now go and celebrate your wicked 4th of July holiday American!

And “Last Days and Times”came out in 1972,not 71.