Earth, Wind and Fire: ‘...We’ve Stayed True to Our Roots’

If Earth, Wind and Fire started today, no other band would sound like them.
But they did not. Maurice White formed the groundbreaking band nearly 40 years ago.
Catch them on their decades-long journey at Niswonger Performing Arts Center in Greeneville, Tenn., on July 20. Hear a band built on innovative musicality. See a band renowned for showmanship.
Longtime Earth, Wind and Fire bass guitarist Verdine White said the band has remained relevant because of their tenacious attention to the aforementioned and more.
“The public likes it, and we’ve stayed true to our roots,” White said last week by phone from Dallas, Texas. “The older generation told the younger generation. [Presidential candidate Barack] Obama said in Rolling Stone that he loves Earth, Wind and Fire.”
Formed around 1970 by Maurice White after he split from the Salty Peppers, Chicago-based Earth, Wind and Fire features a sound hewn on funk, rock, and rhythm and blues. Boy, did they simmer.
Listen to their self-titled debut album from 1970. Heat boiled in their sound.
“Music hit me right in the belly,” Verdine White said. “We were young. And it turned out good. The whole world picked up on it.”
Though not right away.
As their forefathers in sound Sly and the Family Stone were cooling by 1975, Earth, Wind and Fire soared when “Shining Star” topped pop, rock, and rhythm and blues singles charts in May of ’75. It was their first Top 10 single, first number one and also led to the band’s first of eight Grammy Awards.
“That got us to the general public,” White said. “Also, the music was progressing, and the music was reaching a lot more people. You never had a group do that before.”
Indeed, no other group had topped as many singles charts beforehand with one song. More vital to the band’s longevity, they had found their sound.
“We have a band sound,” White said. “Once you find your sound, you work within it. You know it when you first hear it on the radio.”
Maybe it was their 1978 remake of the Beatles’ “Got to Get Me Into Your Life,” a Top 10 hit. More likely, 1979’s “Boogie Wonderland,” which proved the band’s dip into disco. A fan did not have long to wait to hear Earth, Wind and Fire on the radio.
“Oh man, disco was huge, but it only really lasted for about 18 months,” White said. “We didn’t really think of [‘Boogie Wonderland’] as disco. It has the beat, but if you could hear it without the drums, it’s not really disco.”
Perhaps not, but Earth, Wind and Fire’s shows sure embodied the disco era. Strobe lights. Lasers. Pyrotechnics. Hop into a time capsule, venture back to those years and bring your shades.
Earth, Wind and Fire popped the flash.
“That was the 1970s,” White said. “Kiss was doing the same thing. It was a great extravaganza. We can’t do the pyro now because of fire ordinances, but it was great.”
Was, were and very much still are great applies to Earth, Wind and Fire. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, White said they are in the planning stages of recording their 24th album.
Who knows, maybe a ninth Grammy awaits. Perhaps another “Shining Star” resides in their future. Regardless, as in their 1970s infancy, Earth, Wind and Fire takes life one show at a time, White said.
“They’ll all have a good time. We’ll make you feel great,” White said. “We’ll see you down in Tennessee.”

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .

IF YOU GO
Who: Earth, Wind and Fire
When: July 20, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Niswonger Performing Arts Center, 212 Tusculum Blvd., Greeneville
Tickets: $45 in advance, $50 at the door
Info: (423) 638-1679
Web: http://www.earthwindandfire.com