Top 5:Non-EWF Earth Wind & Fire Tracks

Aaaaaaaand we're back!


I've been studying the vocals of Philip Bailey this month so I thought it would be fitting to make the subject of my next entry into the Top 5 series one on Earth Wind & Fire.

There's a catch, though. I wanted to pick songs that weren't on their records.

So, my personal rules as to what qualified was pretty simple: the song has to feature at least 3 band members playing on it and/or one of the vocalists singing lead. And nothing from any of their solo records. As usual, these are in no particular order.

That said, here we go!!!

                                            And Then - Weather Report

This one is a bit of an anomaly. Actually, the whole album was considered quite strange when it come out in 1978. The only reason I can really think of that both Deniece Williams and Maurice White appear on this track is because all parties involved were signed to White's American Recording Company (ARC) lable, a subsidiary of Columbia.




                                And I Do - Abraham Laboriel

Philip Bailey owns this song. It actually sounds more like an EWF song than what they were doing at the time...




                         Love's What's Happenin' - The Emotions

From Larry Dunn's opening synth solo all the way until the fade, this one grooves HARD. There are various breaks, feel changes and even time signature changes on this and the band remains tight!


                                The Paper - Deniece Williams

While her sophomore record wasn't as commercially successful as her debut (both produced by Maurice) Deniece's Songbird album was ripe with great songs and performances. The Paper was the closing song on this project and it's epic. 8 minutes in length, various tempo changes and horn solos, The Paper (about the ending of Williams' first marriage) is basically a minor blues with a bridge. But everyone involved manages to wring the maximum amount of emotion from the form. And it's just good to hear Maurice playing drums!


                       Tequila Mockingbird - Ramsey Lewis

This has always been a favorite of mine. Larry Dunn's song (and MiniMoog) along with the contributions of Verdine White, Al McKay, Philip Bailey and former EWF bandmate Ronnie Laws make this a groovy and unique experience (dig the changes Ronnie has to navigate at the end of his solo).


I left off a few obvious choices (Sun Goddess, Free, Best Of My Love, etc...) but hopefully I've hipped you to a few songs that you haven't checked out before.

I'll be back with another Top 5 list next week! Until then...


Be Good,
DLW