"...Fan The
Fire..."
Most folks know Maurice
White's mighty Soul and Funk machine EARTH, WIND & FIRE through their
Columbia Records output which almost immediately made huge inroads into the US
R&B charts - "Last Days And Time" and "Head To The Sky"
hit No. 15 and No 3 in 1973 whilst their 1974 platter "Open Our Eyes"
went all the way to number one. Later in 1975, 1977 and 1979 they hit those top
slots again and again – massive sales, global hits. You could safely say then
that EWF were huge right from the get go...
But spare a thought for
their other big label beginnings because that's what you're getting here -
their first two American albums on Warners Brothers issued in the spring and
winter of 1971 (no UK variants of either). And what utter musical blasts they are
– righteous Soul and Funk and Fusion before the big hair, the big offices and
the big limos. All this and a killer cover of a Donny Hathaway classic - you
could say I'm a convert. Let's get to the 'everything is everything' details...
UK released Friday, 12
October 2018 (19 October 2018 in the USA) - "Earth, Wind And Fire/The
Need For Love" by EARTH, WIND AND FIRE on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1358 (Barcode
5017261213587) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD that plays out as follows (61:56
minutes):
1. Help Somebody [Side 1]
2. Moment Of Truth
3. Love Is Life
4. Fan The Fire
5. C'mon Children [Side 2]
6. This World Today
7. Bad Tune
Tracks 1 to 7 are their
self-titled debut album in full "Earth, Wind And Fire" - released
March 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1905 (no UK issue). It peaked on
the US R&B LP chart at No. 24 (17 week stay).
8. Energy [Side 1]
9. Beauty
10. I Can Feel It In My
Bones [Side 2]
11. I Think About Lovin' You
12. Everything Is Everything
Tracks 8 to 12 are their
second studio album "The Need Of Love" - released November 1971 in
the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1958 (no UK issue). It peaked at No. 35 in the
USA.
You get the usual classy
card slipcase (jewel case within), a 20-page booklet that repros all the
original artwork and has typically in-depth new liner notes from Mojo
Magazine's main Soul and Jazz contributor - CHARLES WARING. The nine-ten piece
ensemble are pictured and you get platter-by-platter analysis of their
extraordinary career - right up to the sad passing of their Memphis founder
Maurice White in 2016 aged 74. But of course the big news for fans is the
availability of both albums and presented here in High Def with new Remasters
from BGO’s long-standing Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. This CD sounds
fantastic as befits the original Joe Wissert Productions. Let’s get to the
flames...
The moment the funky opener
"Help Somebody" hits the speakers, I can hear the uplight from the
mid Nineties euro CD - the ten-piece bopping and jabbing with real power.
"Moments Of Truth" feels like Kool & The Gang giving it some
y'all with a James Brown backing beat. Smooch-city comes at ya with "Love
Is Life", a tune that feels a tad forced despite its positivity message.
"Fan The Flame" features some Isley Brothers wild guitar soloing
while "C'mon Children" is full-on Sly & The Family Stone 1971
Funk. "Bad Tune" ends a good opening album gambit well, but there's
still a feeling that the group hasn't hit on that winning hook just yet.
Album number two opens with
nine-minutes of "Energy" - a very Jazz Fusion number with Oscar
Brashear providing the wild Miles Davis trumpeting. For sure it's going to be
an acquired taste as a girly voice tells us "...as we float through time
as energy, seeking no place, filling all space..." - you may want to light
that Joss Stick and slap that Prana slipmat on your Garrard. "Beauty"
feels far better - a pretty little blossom of Soul-Funky optimism - nice vocal
breaks throughout as the 'open up your heart' choruses build. Harmonica opens
"I Can Feel It In My Bones" - the kind of fuzzed-up guitar Funk that
shows up on those "Funk Drops" CD compilations where someone smarter
than you or I reminds us that we missed a 'What It Is' moment on Earth, Wind
& Fire's second album. While the six minutes of "I Think About Lovin'
You" benefits from Sherry Scott's lovely vocal turn, the tune feels a
little too dangerously close to pastiche and the album is saved by a spirited
cover version of that fabulous Donny Hathaway song "Voices Inside
(Everything Is Everything)" - here shortened to "Everything Is
Everything".
You wouldn't call these two
albums masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination - EWF feeling for a
direction more than finding one. But there's good to savour on here, and
presented in such a classy way and with such top Audio, is going to make fans
very happy indeed...
