The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1
Encyclopedia
The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 is a 1978 compilation album collecting the charting singles of Earth, Wind & Fire
. In addition to collecting previously charting songs, the album also presented two tracks which were a cover of the Beatles' song "Got to Get You Into My Life
" and the original track "September", both of which also became charting singles, the former also winning a Grammy Award
.
The compilation album itself placed on three Billboard charts, reaching #3 on Black Albums
, #6 on Pop Albums
. It reached #6 on the album charts in Britain. The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 has been certified
as 5X Platinum
.
The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 is ranked numbers 30 and 44 on Allmusic's list of the Top urban and R&B albums of all time respectively.
" recorded by the band for the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
had previously been published on the film's soundtrack, but "September" was new. Both of these songs also became charting singles. "Got to Get You Into My Life" reached #1 on the Billboard
Black Singles
chart, #9 on the Pop Singles
chart and #33 on the British singles charts, while "September" reached #1 on Black Singles, #8 on Pop Singles and #3 on the British charts. "Got to Get You Into My Life" also won a Grammy Award
for "Best Instrument Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)/Best Background Arrangement" for Earth, Wind & Fire's Maurice White
. Also, the Skip Scarborough
-penned "Love Music" was also a new album track. The album has been reissued with two bonus tracks: "Megamix 2000" and "Megamix."
describes this volume as "the best album" EWF "ever released", with "ten exquisitely crafted pop tunes in which all the passion and resonance of black music tradition are blended into a concoction slicker and more sumptuous than any white counterpart since Glenn Miller
."
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...
. In addition to collecting previously charting songs, the album also presented two tracks which were a cover of the Beatles' song "Got to Get You Into My Life
Got to Get You into My Life
"Got to Get You into My Life" is a song by The Beatles, first released in 1966 on the album Revolver. Written by Paul McCartney , it made prominent use of a brass section...
" and the original track "September", both of which also became charting singles, the former also winning a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
.
The compilation album itself placed on three Billboard charts, reaching #3 on Black Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
, #6 on Pop Albums
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. It reached #6 on the album charts in Britain. The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 has been certified
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
as 5X Platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
.
The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 is ranked numbers 30 and 44 on Allmusic's list of the Top urban and R&B albums of all time respectively.
Songs
The album collected a variety of songs, primarily charting hit singles, previously released by the band between 1975 and 1978. In addition to previously released songs, the album included several tracks which had never been on an Earth, Wind & Fire album before. Among them, a cover of the Beatles' song "Got to Get You Into My LifeGot to Get You into My Life
"Got to Get You into My Life" is a song by The Beatles, first released in 1966 on the album Revolver. Written by Paul McCartney , it made prominent use of a brass section...
" recorded by the band for the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (film)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a 1978 American musical film. Its soundtrack, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, features new versions of songs originally written and performed by The Beatles. The film draws primarily from two of their albums, 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club...
had previously been published on the film's soundtrack, but "September" was new. Both of these songs also became charting singles. "Got to Get You Into My Life" reached #1 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Black Singles
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart, #9 on the Pop Singles
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart and #33 on the British singles charts, while "September" reached #1 on Black Singles, #8 on Pop Singles and #3 on the British charts. "Got to Get You Into My Life" also won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for "Best Instrument Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)/Best Background Arrangement" for Earth, Wind & Fire's Maurice White
Maurice White
Maurice White is a Grammy Award–winning American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger. He is the older brother of Verdine White and Fred White and the leader and founder of the band Earth, Wind & Fire...
. Also, the Skip Scarborough
Skip Scarborough
Skip Scarborough was a Grammy Award-winning songwriter, best known for romantic ballads.-Biography:Born Clarence Alexander Scarborough in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he lived in Los Angeles most of his life....
-penned "Love Music" was also a new album track. The album has been reissued with two bonus tracks: "Megamix 2000" and "Megamix."
Critical reception
Although EWF would go on to other charting hits, this volume is described by Allmusic as "still...a strong encapsulation of EWF the funk innovators." It is for this reason, their reviewer notes, that even though new and more definitive greatest hits albums have been released, this one has been reissued and remastered, as "for the budget-minded and the disco-phobic, this still makes for an excellent listen." Music critic Robert ChristgauRobert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
describes this volume as "the best album" EWF "ever released", with "ten exquisitely crafted pop tunes in which all the passion and resonance of black music tradition are blended into a concoction slicker and more sumptuous than any white counterpart since Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
."
Original release
1999 reissue
Performance
- Philip BaileyPhilip BaileyPhilip Irvin Bailey is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter, percussionist and actor, best known as one of the longtime members of Earth, Wind & Fire. Together with Verdine White, B. David Whitworth, and Ralph Johnson he forms the heart of the current EWF line-up on...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, percussion - Roland BautistaRoland BautistaRoland Bautista is a guitar player who has played in the band Earth, Wind & Fire, and also with Tom Waits.-Career:Bautista played on the EWF album Last Days and Time and left the band soon after the album's release....
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Jessica CleavesJessica CleavesJessica Cleaves was lead singer for Friends of Distinction in the 1960s. Founded by Harry Elston and Floyd Butler, the Friends of Distinction also comprised Barbara Jean Love .Cleaves also performed and recorded with Earth, Wind & Fire, and for a brief time performed with...
– vocals - Rhamlee Michael Davis – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, flugelhornFlugelhornThe flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus... - Larry DunnLarry DunnLarry Dunn is a keyboardist, musical director and one of the founding members of the music group Earth, Wind, & Fire. Dunn, along with other members of Earth, Wind & Fire were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.-Career:...
– keyboards - Johnny Graham – guitar, percussion
- Michael HarrisMichael Harris (trumpeter)Trumpet player in the Phenix Horns, which played for Earth, Wind & Fire and Phil Collins.- References :...
– trumpet, flugelhorn - Alan Hewitt (musician) – keyboards
- Ralph JohnsonRalph Johnson (musician)Ralph Johnson is an American musician. Johnson serves as the percussionist and vocalist for the R&B band, Earth, Wind & Fire....
– drums, percussion - Ronnie LawsRonnie LawsRonald Wayne "Ronnie" Laws is an American jazz, blues and funk saxophonist. He is the younger brother of jazz flautist Hubert Laws.-Biography:...
– soprano saxophoneSoprano saxophoneThe soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
, tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening... - Al McKayAl McKayAl McKay is a guitarist, songwriter, producer and former member of the American funk band Earth, Wind & Fire. Al used to lead his own group Al McKay's L.A...
– guitar, percussion - Don MyrickDon MyrickDon Myrick was a saxophonist.He played alto, tenor and soprano sax and was a member of Earth Wind & Fire's original horn section, The Phenix Horns Esq. from 1975 through 1982. Previously, Myrick had been a member of the musical group The Pharaohs...
– saxophone - Louis Satterfield – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Dick Smith – guitar
- Fred White – drums
- Maurice WhiteMaurice WhiteMaurice White is a Grammy Award–winning American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger. He is the older brother of Verdine White and Fred White and the leader and founder of the band Earth, Wind & Fire...
– vocals, drums, percussion - Verdine WhiteVerdine WhiteVerdine White is the bassist for Earth, Wind & Fire and the younger brother of fellow band member Maurice White. White is known for his high energy and dancing while playing his bass guitar during Earth, Wind & Fire concerts.-Early life:...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Andrew Woolfolk – saxophone, flute
Production
- Philip BaileyPhilip BaileyPhilip Irvin Bailey is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter, percussionist and actor, best known as one of the longtime members of Earth, Wind & Fire. Together with Verdine White, B. David Whitworth, and Ralph Johnson he forms the heart of the current EWF line-up on...
– liner notesLiner notesLiner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:... - George Calle – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, audio engineer, audio mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Mauro DeSantis – producer, engineer, mixing
- Larry DunnLarry DunnLarry Dunn is a keyboardist, musical director and one of the founding members of the music group Earth, Wind, & Fire. Dunn, along with other members of Earth, Wind & Fire were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.-Career:...
– production assistant - Earth, Wind & FireEarth, Wind & FireEarth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...
– arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents... - Howard Fritzson – art dDirection
- David Gahr – Photography
- Jay GraydonJay GraydonJay Graydon is a Los Angeles songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, singer, producer, arranger, and recording engineer. He is the winner of two Grammy Awards with twelve Grammy nominations, among them the title "Producer of the Year" and "Best Engineered Recording". Jay Graydon has mastered many...
– songwriter - Alan Hewitt – programming, producer, engineer, mixing
- Paul Klingberg – producer, engineer, mixing
- Art Macnow – director
- Cameron Marcarelli – assistant engineer
- Al McKayAl McKayAl McKay is a guitarist, songwriter, producer and former member of the American funk band Earth, Wind & Fire. Al used to lead his own group Al McKay's L.A...
– producer - Shusei NagaokaShusei Nagaokais a Japanese illustrator. He is best known for his music album cover art in the 1970s and 1980s. Artists for whom he illustrated covers include Electric Light Orchestra; Earth, Wind & Fire; Caldera, and Pure Prairie League.-Selected work:...
– artwork - Steve Newman – design
- Joseph M. Palmaccio – mastering
- Leo Sacks – producer, liner notes, reissue producer
- Richard Salvato – director
- Jim Shea – photography
- Charles Stepney – arranger, producer
- Tom Tom 84 – horn arrangements, string arrangements
- Chris Walter – photography
- Maurice WhiteMaurice WhiteMaurice White is a Grammy Award–winning American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger. He is the older brother of Verdine White and Fred White and the leader and founder of the band Earth, Wind & Fire...
– arranger, producer, engineer, liner notes, sixing - Verdine WhiteVerdine WhiteVerdine White is the bassist for Earth, Wind & Fire and the younger brother of fellow band member Maurice White. White is known for his high energy and dancing while playing his bass guitar during Earth, Wind & Fire concerts.-Early life:...
– liner notes, production assistant - Mark Wilder – audio masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Joseph Wissert – producer
Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Black Albums | 3 |
| Pop Albums | 6 |
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
6 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | "Got to Get You into My Life" | Black Singles | 1 |
| Pop Singles | 9 | ||
| 1979 | "September" | Black Singles | 1 |
| Pop Singles | 8 |
External links
- Song samples and lyrics, hosted with permission by MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....