Expanding The Palette

We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago….

The first Columbia Records LP for the band Earth, Wind & Fire shows a group honing their sound and expanding the colors that they would work with.

Although the band welcomed new members Phillip Bailey, Larry Dunn,Ralph Johnson  and Jessica Cleaves…it would also be the last LP for Ronnie Laws and guitarist Roland Bautista (he would return in the 1980s.)

Maurice White wrote or co-wrote a bunch of the tracks including “Power” which is an incredible piece that closes side one. Ronnie Laws stands out on both sax and flute and Larry Dunn works the Fender Rhodes and clavinet both quietly and funky. Bautista delivers a nice solo as well.

“Time is On Your Side” is another funky number that shows where the band might be headed. But it’s the choice and style of the covers that deliver a stunning twist.

Bailey’s falsetto goes to work on “Make It With You”, a mellow hit for Bread that becomes a soulful stroll…and Bailey again gives us a slow jam version of “Pete Seeger’s “Where Have All The Flowers Gone”. Who would have ever thought thses songs would work for EWF?

The critics dug this and it sold fairly well, but as William Ruhlmann noted…”It seemed as they were trying to encapsulate every eclectic foray pursued by Motown, from catchy rhythmic pop to churning funk…but also incorporate Sly The Family Stone’s horn-filled gutbucket R&B and some of the fusion style of Weather Report. On this album they succeeded in pulling all that into their orbit, but they hadn’t yet managed one crucial thing: they hadn’t learned to write hits. That would come next”

• Maurice White – vocals, drums, kalimba
• Verdine White – vocals, bass, percussion
• Philip Bailey – vocals, congas, percussion
• Jessica Cleaves – vocals
• Roland Bautista – acoustic and electric guitars
• Larry Dunn – piano, organ, clavinet
• Ronnie Laws – flute, soprano and tenor saxophones
• Ralph Johnson – drums, percussion^[17]