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| I am here to report on a completely undocumented supernatural tragedy. At some unknown moment in the last thirty years, a violent rip in the Soul-Funk Continuum allowed The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Volume One to take root in everyone’s CD collection and sucked every other Earth, Wind & Fire recording into oblivion. Musicologists are already reacting with horror at the discovery, fully aware that a single-disc best-of package, no matter how jammed with huge pop-funk grooves, is a scientifically inadequate representation of a superfunk supernova like Earth, Wind & Fire. How will they account for the deep, delicious album tracks on hit-spawning discs like Spirit and I Am? Who will answer for the solid, sprawling jazz/funk excursions of Open Our Eyes or Last Days and Time? None of the music on these two classics is found on Best of, Vol. 1. The big picture begins to emerge: This group was not a chart- busting flash-in-the-pan to be taken for granted as their greatest hits are thrown on at frat parties - EW&F was the tremendously visionary and prolific disco-funk leviathan of the Seventies funk explosion, whose spiritual messages, monstrous grooves and spectacular stage shows led millions to Boogie Wonderland. And with this glorious, funkified chapter of music history secure, we turn in our books to page one: Earth, Wind & Fire’s self-titled debut is released, 1971. Long before the primetime dazzle of "Shining Star" or "Fantasy," composer and percussionist Maurice White channeled smooth Motown R&B, James Brown chunk-a-funk, squealing guitars, gospel harmonies and his own afrocentric vibe into thirty minutes of absolutely exquisite soul-funk - groundbreaking, earthshaking and full of heart. Long underappreciated, Earth, Wind & Fire is a breezy, humble, little masterpiece. Maurice, brother Verdine and eight other musicians crafted seven beautiful pieces of music as catchy and compelling as anything EW&F has done since. If that sounds unlikely, click over to track two, turn the stereo up to eleven, grab hold of something and witness commanding horns, a hyper-elastic groove and subtly scorching vocals gel into a luminous cascade of organic funk. The band got something huge out of "Moment of Truth," something sweet and graceful and bright. "Fan the Fire" reaches equal levels of groove magic, again soaring on Sherry Scott’s penetrating vocal work. "Love is Life" and "This World Today" are enchanting soul ballads while "C’mon Children" builds towards a galloping, growling gospel-funk assault. The final track, a thoughtful funkstrumental that features their distinctive African hand drum the kalimba, functions as a "buckle-your-seatbelts" prologue for all that was coming. It works perfectly within the context of the group’s debut, as the other songs’ genuinely inspiring, hippie-vision lyrics evoke earth ("plant your pretty flowers, children"), wind ("somebody fan the fire"), and fire ("flame of love"). So let’s allow the pleasing, easy groovadelic vibe of Earth,Wind & Fire to begin repairing the broken link in the continuum, and try to forget this Best of thing ever happened. --David Beckman (email)
Tracks: 1. Help Somebody |
