The Best Of Earth Wind & Fire Vol. 1

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Now, before they became "The Greatest Band of All Time", they were just like any other classic band, starting with humble beginnings..."Maurice White" had a vision on how the group was going to be like....But before he could get there, and coming from "Ramsey Lewis Trio" fame and "Chess Records" session drummer, he, "Don Whitehead" (Keyboards, Vocals) and "Wade Flemons" (Electric Piano, Vocals), started a band called "The Salty Peppers"....Now I personally don't understand the name, but if you find a copy of their album, GRAB IT!!!! (And I will review it later)...

The Crown Jewel in the cover of "The Beatles", "Got To Get You Into My Life", in some peoples eyes is almost better than the original (I feel like it was kind of equal).....This was also included in the movie, "The Bee Gees" version of "Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", which was horrible!!!!!!!..... Trumpet – Bobby Bryant, Jerry Hey, Michael Harris, Oscar Brashear, Rahmlee Michael Davis, Steve Madaio

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Now, for those who don't know, this is not the Band that took the world by storm quite yet....The members consist of (besides White, Whitehead and Flemons): "Michael Beal" (Guitar), "Phillard Williams" (Percussion, Congas), "Chester Washington" (Reeds), "Alexander Thomas" (Trombone), "Leslie Drayton" (Trumpet), "Sherry Scott" (Vocals), and (in my opinion "Maurice's" anchor and ride to die Brother) "Verdine White" (Bass).... So, inspired by his Astrological Chart, "Uncle Maurice" (as I affectionately call him), gave birth to "Earth Wind & Fire"... Then there's the Ultimate, Ultimate, Ultimate, Ultimate Crown Jewel, "September"!!!!!!! This one right here is the jam of all jams!!!! "That's The Way Of The World" used to be their anthem (and in some people's eyes, it's still is).....But in the last 20 years, "September" has straight up taken over!!!!!!! The only thing I feel kind of brings the album down are the interludes...I know they became famous for them later, but right here, honestly, I don't believe they were ready....

You can tell that "Maurice" had a love for People and Community, because, songs like "Help Somebody", "C'mon Children" and "This World Today", showed what direction "Reese" was gravitating to...Well, it has the biggest HITS from their most Classic albums in "That's The Way Of The World", "Gratitude", "Spirit" and "All 'N' All" (I would have also included songs from "Head To The Sky" and "Open Our Eyes" as well, but I get it, it was a different time in how they did compilations)....Those albums solidified their legacy in Music (even though they would continue to add to it).... This rendition of the band was very, very "Jazz" heavy, so the "Self titled""Warner Bros" debut album (Produced by Joe Wissert) was very very "Jazz" heavy, but at the same time, the grooves were right on point.... Cello – Daniel Smith (4), Delores Bing, Jacqueline Lustgarten, Jan Kelley, John Walz, Kevan Torfeh, Larry Corbett, Miguel Martinez (2) The Crown Jewels of the album are "Fan The Fire" (which I believe is their 1st single), "Love Is Life" (which they also recorded as "The Salty Peppers", this one more "Jazzy" though) and the ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC Instrumental "Bad Tune", with "Maurice" showcasing one of my favorite Instruments of all time, the "Kalimba".... There was no way that I wasn't going to include "The Best Of Earth Wind & Fire Vol. I" into the Album Revolution...

Trombone – Benjamin Powell*, William Reichenbach*, Garnett Brown, George Bohanon, Louis Satterfield, Maurice Spears