EWF Kennedy Center Honors Essay
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Celebrating America’s Greatest Band They have been called many things over the past 50 years starting with the Salty Peppers and ending with “The Mighty Elements of the Universe.” In between, they’ve been called America’s best band and the purveyors of the most unique sound in modern musical history. And now, the band that sprang from the mind of founder/producer/leader Maurice White while on a long plane ride back home from Japan after a tour with jazz legend Ramsey Lewis – Earth, Wind & Fire – can be called the recipients of the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors. They are only the fourth group – The Who (2008), Led Zeppelin (2012), Eagles (2016) – and the first black group so honored. (L-R) Ralph Johnson, Andrew Woolfolk, Al McKay, Philip Bailey, Maurice White, Verdine White, Johnny Graham, Larry Dunn, Fred White aka “The Classic Nine” in 1979. (Photograph by Bruce W. Talamon) 2 The band was founded in Chicago by drummer Maurice White in 1969 as the Salty Peppers and has spanned the musical genres of R&B, soul, jazz, pop, rock, funk, disco, Latin, African and gospel. They are one of the most successful and critically acclaimed bands of the twentieth century. Rolling Stone magazine has described them as "innovative, precise yet sensual, calculated yet galvanizing" and has also declared that the band "changed the sound of black pop.” Verdine White, Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson Band members have included Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Ralph Johnson, Larry Dunn, Al McKay, Andrew Woolfolk, Johnny Graham, Fred White, Roland Bautista, Ronnie Laws, Sheldon Reynolds, two female vocalists - Sherry Scott and Jessica Cleaves - and others. (L-R) Fred White, Ralph Johnson, Larry Dunn, Philip Bailey, Al McKay, Verdine White at the Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Concert at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, February 2016 3 2016 Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award The band has received 20 Grammy® nominations; they won six trophies as a group and two of its members, Maurice White and Bailey, won separate individual awards. Earth, Wind & Fire has 12 American Music Awards nominations and won four awards. They have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2000) and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame (2003), received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1995), and sold over 90 million albums worldwide. Five members of Earth, Wind & Fire were also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010: Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Larry Dunn and Al McKay. The music industry and fans have bestowed Lifetime Achievement honors from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (Rhythm & Soul Heritage Award – 2002), NAACP Image Awards (Hall of Fame – 1994) and the BET Awards (Lifetime Achievement Award – 2002). In February 2009, President Barack Obama invited Earth, Wind & Fire to perform at the White House for the first social event of the new administration. 4 5 Earth, Wind & Fire is known worldwide for the dynamic sound of their horn section, their energetic and elaborate stage shows, and the interplay between the contrasting vocals of Philip Bailey's soaring falsetto and Maurice White's tenor. The Kalimba (African thumb piano) is played on all of the band's albums. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the band had many hits, including "Shining Star", "That's the Way of the World", "Devotion", "Reasons", "Sing a Song", "Can't Hide Love", "Getaway", "Fantasy", "Love's Holiday", "September", "Boogie Wonderland", "After the Love Has Gone", and "Let's Groove.” Two Earth, Wind & Fire classic songs have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame: "That’s the Way of the World" (2004) and "Shining Star" (2007). (L-R) Don Myrick, Rahmlee Michael Davis, Michael Harris, Louis Satterfield The band’s list of accomplishments is simply staggering. They include 20 Grammy® nominations; they won six trophies as a group and two of its members, Maurice White and Bailey, won separate individual awards. Earth, Wind & Fire has 12 American Music Awards nominations and won four awards. They have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2000) and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame (2003), received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1995), and sold over 90 million albums worldwide. Five members of Earth, Wind & Fire were also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010: Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Larry Dunn and Al McKay. The music industry and fans have bestowed Lifetime Achievement honors from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (Rhythm & Soul Heritage Award – 6 2002), NAACP Image Awards (Hall of Fame – 1994), the BET Awards (Lifetime Achievement Award – 2002) and in 2016 received a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. In February 2009, President Barack Obama invited Earth, Wind & Fire to perform at the White House for the first social event of his administration. On May 24, 1975, EWF became the first black act to top Billboard magazine’s 200 pop albums chart and Hot 100 pop singles chart simultaneously with “That’s The Way of the World” and “Shining Star” respectively. The band is also known as having been the first African-American act to sell out 100,000 tickets at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden and to receive the MSG Gold Ticket Award. Beginnings (1969–1971) In 1969, Maurice White, a former session drummer for Chess Records and former member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, 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 Records; they called themselves the "Salty Peppers" and had a marginal hit in the Midwestern area called ”La La Time” . The Salty Peppers' second single, "Uh Huh Yeah", did not fare as well, and Maurice moved from Chicago to Los Angeles. He then added to the band singer Sherry Scott and percussionist Yackov Ben Israel, both from Chicago, and then asked his younger brother Verdine how he would feel 7 about heading out to the West Coast. On June 6, 1970, Verdine left Chicago to join the band as their new bassist. Maurice began shopping demo tapes of the band, featuring Donny Hathaway, around to different record labels and the band was thus signed to Warner Bros. Records. Formation and early years (1971–1973) Maurice's astrological sign, Sagittarius, has a primary elemental quality of Fire and seasonal qualities of Earth and Air (Sagittarius in the northern hemisphere occurs in the fall, whose element is earth, and in the southern hemisphere, it is spring, whose element is air. Hence the omission of Water, the fourth classical element). Based on this, he changed the band's name to "Earth, Wind & Fire". Maurice held further auditions in L.A. adding Michael Beale on guitar, Chester Washington on reeds, and Leslie Drayton on trumpet; Drayton also served as the group's musical arranger. Trombonist Alex Thomas and electric pianist/vocalist Wade Flemons completed the then ten-man lineup. The band's eponymous debut album, Earth, Wind, & Fire, was released in February 1971 to critical acclaim, as was November 1971's The Need of Love. Both albums were produced by Joe Wissert and a single, from The Need of Love called “I Think About Lovin’ You”, with Sherry Scott on lead vocals, provided EWF with their first Top 40 R&B hit. In 1971, the group also recorded the soundtrack of the Melvin Van Peebles film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. (L-R) Verdine White (bass); Wade Flemons (electric piano, vocals); Sherry Scott (vocals); Michael Beal (guitar, harmonica); Maurice White (drums, vocals, percussion, kalimba); Leslie Drayton (trumpet), Alex Thomas (trombone); Don Whitehead (acoustic and electric piano, vocals); Phillard Williams aka Yackov Ben Israel (percussion, congas); Chester Washington (saxophone) The soundtrack was recorded at Paramount Recording Studios in Los Angeles and released on Stax Records (which was based in Maurice White’s hometown of Memphis). The band developed a growing popularity on college campuses but, despite this, some members of EWF started to 8 become restless and the band broke up after having been together less than six months. With only Verdine remaining, Maurice decided to re-form the group. In 1972, Maurice added vocalist Jessica Cleaves, a former member of the R&B group The Friends of Distinction, Ronnie Laws on flute and saxophone, guitarist Roland Bautista, keyboardist Larry Dunn, percussionist Ralph Johnson, and vocalist and Denver native Philip Bailey to the group. Warner Brothers didn't know how to promote this new combo as the only other funk band on their label was Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. Earth, Wind & Fire – SOUL! (PBS) January 10, 1973 9 The band successfully auditioned for managers Bob Cavallo and Joe Ruffalo. Cavallo's management of John Sebastian led to a series of gigs as the opening act for the pop/folk singer and The Lovin' Spoonful founder. A performance at New York's Rockefeller Center introduced EWF to Clive Davis, then the president of Columbia Records. Davis was very impressed with the band's performance and bought their contract from Warner Bros. Their debut album on CBS/Columbia Records, Last Days and Time, featured mostly original material, but Bailey had recommended that the band cover the Pete Seeger song Where Have All The Flowers Gone? and the elements also remade the Bread hit "Make It with You". The album also includes the Maurice-penned composition "Power", an up-tempo eight-minute instrumental. In stark contrast to the ballads, Power features extended fuzz guitar and soprano saxophone solos set against a pulsating funk beat. Classic period (1973–1980) The album Head to the Sky was released in the spring of 1973 and gave the group their first two legitimate hit singles, Evil, co-written by Maurice and Philip, and Keep Your Head To The Sky, both of which reached the top 30 and the top 60 on the R&B and pop charts, respectively.