Soul Strut 100: # 77 - Earth, Wind, and Fire (1971)

RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
edited May 2012 in The Soul Strut 100
I will slowly be unveiling the Top 100 Soul Strut Related Records as Voted by the Strutters Themselves.

# 77 - Earth, Wind, and Fire (1971)



Please discuss your reactions to this record. The thread will be archived later here.

About

Earth, Wind, & Fire is the self-titled debut album by the group Earth, Wind & Fire, released in 1971 on Warner Bros. Records. The lineup is quite different from the one that became famous during the mid-1970s. This edition of the group would be disbanded after its second album.
The music on this album is much tougher and more raw than the sound the group later became famous for. The vocals are very much a collaborative effort. Leads are freely traded, and many lines are sung by multiple voices. Leader Maurice White, who would front later editions of the group, is content to stay behind the drums here, blending his vocals with the rest. Young Leslie Drayton, who would later gain respect as a jazz man, handles the horn arrangements. "Love is Life", from this album, was a modest hit for the group.

After EWF scored multi-platinum success in the mid-70's, Warner Bros Records repackaged this LP along with the group's sophomore effort "Need of Love", as a double LP set entitled "Another Time".


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth,_Wind_&_Fire_(album)

Related Threads

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Media



  Comments


  • DJBombjackDJBombjack Miami 1,665 Posts
    RAJ said:

    The title sums this song up nicely. Have rated this album for a long time and will continue to do so.

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    THIS is the EWF that gets played on my turntable.

    Not the later version of the band who gave us "Boogie Wonderland" and endorsed Panasonic boomboxes.

  • finelikewinefinelikewine "ONCE UPON A TIME, I HAD A VINYL." http://www.discogs.com/user/permabulker 1,416 Posts
    just a reminder: I still add every record from the list (if available) to the "soultrut top 100" spotify list.

    you can find the list here:

    http://open.spotify.com/user/1121775350/playlist/54CR4Ce88uFkr6shaMHxVX

  • RishanRishan 454 Posts
    music = incredible

    skits = most annoying of all time

  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    Still have yet to have this cross my path in the field...I have a 45 from it however. Killer music...

  • BallzDeepBallzDeep 612 Posts
    one of those non-rare records that just doesn't turn up in the field.

  • strataspherestratasphere Blastin' the Nasty 1,035 Posts
    This album and The Need Of Love are the two lps I always considered to be their best output . If you want the two lps together you can pick up the double lp Another Time that Warner Brothers put out after they blew up on Columbia. The cover for that album is one of my personal favorites.
    Attached files

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    stratasphere said:
    This album and The Need Of Love are the two lps I always considered to be their best output . If you want the two lps together you can pick up the double lp Another Time that Warner Brothers put out after they blew up on Columbia. The cover for that album is one of my personal favorites.

    It should be mentioned that the track order was switched around on the Another Time reissue, but it's still the same songs with nothing subtracted.

    Also, I'm surprised that the first two albums are hard to find. Even in the mid-late eighties I remember Warners keeping those LPs in print. I vaguely recall seeing them in stores with that "SUPER SAVER" sticker on them. Unless you're fiending for the original green-label pressings.

  • pcmrpcmr 5,591 Posts
    BallzDeep said:
    one of those non-rare records that just doesn't turn up in the field.


  • LoopDreamsLoopDreams 1,195 Posts
    Love this album, though Need of Love sits closer to my heart, hope it makes it on the list. Such a redenculously solid group.

  • mattBmattB (FTB) Anywhere 673 Posts
    Great one. Such a difference to the getaway/boogie wonderland EW&F of the masses.

  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    Kalimba Funk.

  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,473 Posts
    stratasphere said:
    This album and The Need Of Love are the two lps I always considered to be their best output . If you want the two lps together you can pick up the double lp Another Time that Warner Brothers put out after they blew up on Columbia. The cover for that album is one of my personal favorites.

    I found this for $4 a few years ago and was stoked as hell about it.

  • dayday 9,611 Posts
    The_Hook_Up said:
    Still have yet to have this cross my path in the field...I have a 45 from it however. Killer music...

    I think I have a spare copy (sans poster) if you need it.

    HarveyCanal said:
    Kalimba Funk.

    I haven't listened to it in a long time, but is this the record with the kalimba joint? I thought that was another LP.

  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    day said:


    HarveyCanal said:
    Kalimba Funk.

    I haven't listened to it in a long time, but is this the record with the kalimba joint? I thought that was another LP.

    Bad Tune opens with kalimba.

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts

    I haven't listened to it in a long time, but is this the record with the kalimba joint? I thought that was another LP.

    They did the kalimba bit all the time. Even during the early years, they used it on the regular.

  • Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
    Hey,

    I love this LP, and my joint off of it is "Fan the Fire." This song is bananas and still moves me as much as it did the first time I heard it over 35 years ago.



    Peace,

    Big Stacks from Kakalak

  • CinisterCeeCinisterCee 863 Posts
    "Moment Of Truth" is the cut
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