Artist:Earth, Wind & Fire
Song:That's The Way Of The World
Album:Greatest Hits
Earth, Wind & Fire's mix of R & B, funk & jazz and their crazy stage costumes made them one of the most popular groups of the 70s. Maurice White started out in Chicago as a session drummer for Chess Records. In 1967 he joined the Ramsey Lewis group. He started the group The Salty Peppers in 1969. They had some regional success but in 1970 White renamed the band Earth, Wind & Fire and moved to Los Angeles. They released a couple of albums on Warner Bros. Though critically acclaimed, the albums didn't sell. White dismantled the band only retaining his bassist brother Verdine White. Eventually the band came together with the addition of vocalist Philip Bailey & guitarist Al McKay. But the key addition was White's old buddy from Chess Records Charles Stepney. Stepney produced The Dells and he seemed to add a certain polish to the EW&F sound. The group did the music to the 1975 film That's The Way Of The World. The film tanked but the soundtrack put EW&F at the top of the charts with hits like Shining Star & That's The Way of The World. Just as EW&F was beginning to make their mark, Charles Stepney died of a heart attack on May 17, 1976 at age 43. EW&F continued to have success but there's no question that Stepney's death hurt their music as they started to go more towards disco. This comp has all their hits. White disbanded EW&F in 1983 and would reunite occasionally but the group has never been able to recreate their success of the 70s. But a lot of that music still holds up very well today. Here's Earth, Wind & Fire performing That's The Way Of The World in 1981.
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