An Ode to the Maurice White Sound
Do you remember? It’s the 21st night of September…
It’s officially Earth, Wind and Fire Day and in honor of my favorite music artists of all-time, I’ve decided to take a moment to pay homage to the baddest band of all-time.
While the likes of WAR, the Ohio Players, Parliament-Funkadelic, Con-Funk-Shun, Kool and the Gang, the Isley Brothers, Gap Band, the Commodores, the GAP Band, the Eagles, Chicago… The Elements stand apart and above the rest.
A few weeks ago Questlove provided a reminder, not that anyone should need it.
One thing the Coronavirus pandemic has given us is a social media gathering space among skinfolk and kinfolk alike to reminisce about how good Black music is and how good Black music makes you feel. D-Nice’s Club Quarantine is awesome and Verzus has brought us some great moments thanks to Swizz Beats and Timbaland. But for me, Questlove’s DJ sessions are the illest. Not only does Quest play music, but his sessions take you on a ride; learning new things and hearing new sounds that you never knew or heard; whether about an artist or a whole genre.
So, I was in my own utopia a few months ago when on the Roots Africa Day, Questlove dedicated his evening DJ session to my most beloved of music artists. Quest even did a night two. I stayed up way past my bedtime both nights, however the evening took me back to the day I fell in love at first listen.
An Ode to Black Radio and WDAS
Black radio is responsible for literally building the soundtrack of my life. As a kid growing up in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, hailing from South Jersey, that radio station was 105.3 WDAS-FM; affectionately known as DAS. Whether in the house, riding in the car or at a family gathering, DAS was always on the radio.
One day while riding with my parents, DAS was on and I heard a song that touched the very Africanisms coursing through my eleven-year-old veins. The rhythm, the soul and the musicianship were unlike anything I have ever heard up to that point. While I didn’t catch the name of the song, I did catch the name of the artist… it was Earth, Wind, and Fire.
I worked hard to piece together the fragments of the melody in my mind. But the best I could hope for was to find the song at a record store. My mom took me to the Pennsauken Mart, which is best described as an indoor flea market. There was a record store and it was there that I found a 70’s compilation CD, with classics from various artists.
They were there; track eight. The song was titled After the Love is Gone. Truth be told, I don’t remember if this was the song, I heard that day in the car, but I didn’t care because when I heard it in the car on the way back home, I knew it was the best thing I ever heard.
I sat still, intently listening to the lyrics, the melody, the crescendo, the horn solo. Not only was this song the best thing I ever heard but I quickly realized that it was a perfect ballad. As if I hadn’t heard the song enough in the car (I demanded in the form of a polite ask that my mom put the song on repeat), I played the song on my boombox in my room.
I loved everything about the song. The lyrics meant very little at the time, but they made sense according to the passion being communicated. The power coming from Philip Bailey’s vocals and Maurice White’s ad libbing matched the intensity of the band; particularly the Phenix Horns and Don Myrick’s solo on the song, but I digress. The pace and tempo traveled from a simple love ballad to a soul stirring sermonic selection.
After the Love is Gone was written by David Foster, Jay Graydon and Bill Champlin. The song was produced by Maurice White, the group’s founder and leader; the song was released as part of the I Am album in 1979. I was introduced to I Am a few months later when I discovered that After the Love is Gone didn’t fade out but actually continued into Let Your Feelings Show; peak Maurice White Sound. I’ll explain that sound in a minute.
Prior to I Am, Earth Wind, and Fire made good ballads, however, like fine wine, their ballads got better with time. During their early days, the music was about a message of unity and positivity. That message remained a foundation for the group, however, love ballads became a stronger staple as they evolved. For me, their breakout ballad was Reasons.
Reasons wasn’t their first ballad, but it surpassed everything prior to it.
The Maurice White Sound
After Reasons, other timeless ballads including Imagination, Love’s Holiday, I’ll Write a Song for You, Be Ever Wonderful and my personal favorite Can’t Hide Love. But After the Love is Gone holds a special place for me; the songwriting was excellent, the musicianship was top-notch and at the song, the album marks the absolute apex of the Maurice White Sound.
What was the Maurice White Sound? The Maurice White Sound is all about the groove. What’s the groove? The fusion of funk, jazz, rock, R&B, and Afro-Brazilian polyrhythms with the musicianship of a classically trained ensemble and the souls of Black folk. September is peak Maurice White Sound.
I had the pleasure of reading Maurice White’s book where he detailed the exchange with songwriter Allee Willis over the lyrics to September. If you, don’t know about Allee Willis, you should find out. She wrote hits for Patti Labelle, The Poynter Sisters, George Benson and others. She also contributed to the I Am album in a major way. She wrote or co-wrote In the Stone, Can’t Let Go and the infamous Boogie Wonderland.
A phrase or chant that Maurice used in a number of songs was bah de yah. I think I first heard it in Brazilian Rhyme sang by Philip Bailey. I’ll touch on that later.
Allee Willis couldn’t stand the phrase. But Maurice… the genius of Maurice reminded her of what his sound was all about (from the words of Allee Willis):
“The, kind of, go-to phrase that Maurice used in every song he wrote was ‘ba-dee-ya.’ So right from the beginning he was singing, ‘Ba-dee-ya, say, do you remember / Ba-dee-ya, dancing in September.’ And I said, ‘We are going to change ‘ba-dee-ya’ to real words, right?’ And finally, when it was so obvious that he was not going to do it, I just said, ‘What the f*** does ‘ba-dee-ya’ mean?’ And he essentially said, ‘Who the f*** cares?’ I learned my greatest lesson ever in songwriting from him, which was never let the lyric get in the way of the groove.”
Part of what made the groove the groove were the horns. What truly made the Maurice White Sound distinctive from all other sounds wasn’t simply the horns but Earth, Wind and Fire’s horn section; the Phenix Horns.
Other groups had horn sections… the Commodores, Kool and the Gang and others. But the Phenix Horns; Michael Harris, Don Myrick, Louis Satterfield and Rahmlee Michael Davis, were your horn sections favorite horn section. Their origin stems from a band called The Pharaohs. The horn arrangements prove their levels of greatness. On All ’N’ All, The Phenix Horns are on full display. Their contribution on songs like Serpentine Fire, Fantasy, Jupiter, and Magic Mind is why All ’N’ All is a flawless album. Every album after, whether or not the content held up to the standard, the horns couldn’t be denied.
The Phenix Horns were so good, Phil Collins asked them to help him launch his solo career. The Phenix Horns were the best; better than Chicago’s horn section, better than Tower of Power’s Horn section… better than James Brown’s horn section (and it pains me to say that because James Brown’s horn section is legendary). The Phenix Horns were everything.
… In addition to the horns, there was the Kalimba , often heard in the earlier days and probably my favorite instrument, the Fender Rhodes… a 73 Rhodes, but I digress.
The Maurice White Sound is a high energy sound that séances you to the dance floor, the middle of your living room floor or the imaginary floor in your head as you drive while bopping your head to the beat. This sound produced the moans and chants i.e. “bah de yah,” that we all know so well. It’s a sound where once the polyrhythms have captured the pleasure points of your orbitofrontal cortex, lyrics no longer matter whereas the groove has taken over the song and has taken over you.
The Maurice White Sound sounds good because it feels good. That’s the groove.
You might think that the Earth, Wind and Fire Sound is the Maurice White Sound. That’s only half true. The Maurice White Sound became the sound of the group, but it wasn’t always their sound. The Maurice White Sound was between 1977 and 1983, where Maurice White was the lead producer of Earth, Wind and Fire. Those albums include All ’N’ All, I Am, Faces, Raise, Powerlight and Electric Universe.
Sadly for the Maurice White Sound, the apex of the sound was early in its existence. All ’N’ All was by far the best album of this era with I Am pulling up in the rear. Faces and Raise were good albums also, but didn’t provide commercial success. In fighting and the new sounds of the 1980’s doomed Powerlight and Electric Universe from the start.
A Note on The Charles Stepney (or Step) Sound
Before the ascendance of the Maurice White Sound, the group’s early albums (Earth, Wind and Fire, The Need of Love, Last Days and Time, and Head to the Sky) were produced by Joe Wissert. The albums that marked the assent of the group (Open Our Eyes, That’s the Way of the World, Gratitude, and Spirit) were co-produced by Maurice White and Charles Stepney. I affectionately call that assenting period the era of the Charles Stepney Sound.
The Charles Stepney Sound came into being with Open Our Eyes after Maurice added producer Charles Stepney to focus the groups’ sound. Prior to the Open Our Eyes album, the group was getting its grounding but had yet to separate themselves from the pack so to speak. Maurice desired a mentor while leading the group. Charles Stepney was that and more.
The Charles Stepney sound was different from what Maurice would create independently, although it inspired him. What I affectionately call the “Step Sound,” was a bluesy and soulful grittiness that was part street, part church/negro spiritual and all real content. The hook and sound of That’s the Way of the World captures that probably the best from any song.
That’s the way of the world / Plant your flower and you grow a pearl / Child is born with a heart of gold / Way of the world makes his heart so cold
I shared that All ’N’ All was a flawless album, and it is. But That’s the Way of the World, in my humble opinion, is there best studio album. The group followed that up with Gratitude. The Gratitude album is the best Earth, Wind and Fire album there is. I could write so much about Gratitude. But I’ll save that for another time.
Sadly, the Maurice White Sound was birthed by the transition of Charles Stepney. Stepney is responsible for ushering the group into its eventual crossover appeal. Midway through the production of Spirit, Stepney passed away due to a heart attack at the age of 45; the group dedicated the album to him.
A Note about “The Voice”
Every Earth, Wind and Fire album is an experience. The elements that went into making an Earth, Wind and Fire album was what made those albums special. There were interludes that only lasted 30 seconds or so, there was always an instrumental/jazzy-like tracks, maybe a spiritual or uplifting song, and then there was Philip Bailey singing the album’s signature ballad.
Run through the ballads and your find flawlessness on everyone; Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Head to the Sky, Clover, Devotion, Reasons, Imagination, I’ll Write a Song for You. Rarely if ever can a live rendition of a song eclipse the studio original. But Philip Bailey accomplished that twice with Devotion and Reasons; those are the only versions we acknowledge. It’s why Gratitude is such a magnificent album, but I digress.
Fantasy isn’t a ballad per se, but it’s a featured song like the others I mentioned, and Philip Bailey made it a classic with his signature falsetto.
That falsetto has stood the test of time.
Not only the ballads, but Philip Bailey most invaluable contribution to our lives are the extras; those special moments and arrangements that aren’t lyrics or even part of a song. A perfect example is where Philip credits the late Phenix Horn member, Don Myrick, for his solo on the live version of Reasons where he asks the crowd, “he plays so beautiful don’t you agree?” So iconic was the moment that Randy Watson had to ask the same question of the audience during the Black Awareness benefit about his band Sexual Chocolate.
The other notable ad lib comes on the All ’N’ All album.
The Beijo interlude aka the Brazilian Rhyme maybe one of the greatest songs of all-time and it’s all because of the one phrase that is steeped in the africanisms that built jazz, blues and gospel; that phrase Allee Willis couldn’t stand: the Bah-De-Yah. The groove of the interlude takes you on a futuristic ride. Throughout the near 90 second track Philip’s manipulating of the phrase places the listener in a trance where you can lose a sense of where you are and what you’re doing.
On the second night of that Questlove tribute, he shared the legend that the interlude was part of a song meant for All ’N’ All, but it wasn’t added. That actual song can be found here. The song is just perfect. It should have been on the album… honestly, All ’N’ All is a complete and perfect work of art without the complete song, but it should have been on there.
Philip Bailey is responsible for bringing Maurice White’s vision to life. There is no Charles Stepney Sound or Maurice White Sound with all the band members. But Philip Bailey’s voice is chief signature of the band. We must give him his flowers now while he’s still with us.
The Genius of Earth, Wind and Fire
What we love about many musical acts is that they rarely, if ever, change their sound; they sound just like they did the moment we fell in love with them. We remember Earth, Wind and Fire for songs like Head to the Sky, Shining Star, and September. But what stands out even more than the groove itself of those songs, is that those songs show the evolution of one of American’s greatest musical talents… if not the greatest.
They are the group that inspired Stevie Wonder to write I Wish after hearing Shining Star… Yes, that Stevie Wonder. In fact, those who know will tell you that the Songs In The Key of Life and Spirit albums are forever linked together due to their release date and content centered on love and liberation.
Maurice White hired David Copperfield to add visual illusions to its live shows; to compete with George Clinton and P-Funk’s live show. George Clinton acknowledged them as the rival to P-Funk by referring to them in Let’s Take it to the Stage as “Earth, Hot Air, and No Fire.”
Earth, Wind and Fire stands out because their sound continuously evolved; changing literally from album to album. No two albums sound alike. For example, Head to the Sky sounds different from Open Our Eyes; Open Our Eyes sounds different from That’s The Way of the World. By the time you reach Spirit, when compared with Head to the Sky, Earth, Wind and Fire sound like two different groups.
Where George Clinton had two groups, Parliament and Funkadelic, Earth, Wind and Fire had one group with various sounds. To be fair, Parliament-Funkadelic was the same group play two genres of music but their sound never changed. That’s no knock on the P-Funk. I love P-Funk. But the evolution of Earth, Wind and Fire’s sound is what makes them special.
All my favorite groups, Maze, The Whispers, WAR, Parliament-Funkadelic, Roy Ayers and Ubiquity, are all great because you know what you’re gonna get with their music. Maybe production changed here and there but the music was the same… really great music. But Maurice White never stayed stagnant with the group’s sound. Where he found success, he pushed further. There is no Maurice White Sound without his constant pushing.
What’s so impressive is that to do that took guts. It’s very difficult when your fans have come to know a certain sound and that sound is paying the bills. To evolve in sound and remain relevant with your Fan base — and expand that fan base — is a testament to Maurice’s leadership and vision, as well as to the quality and ability of the musicians and songwriters.
… and the Maurice White Sound produced the hits.
The Maurice White Sound catapulted Maurice’s profile. He co-produced for the Emotions, Denice Williams, Jennifer Holliday, Ramsay Lewis and Barbara Streisand. He was even asked by Warner Brothers to produce Prince’s first album. For a moment in time, the Maurice White Sound was the sound.
The Inevitable Future
These days, DAS has adapted with the times.
Earth, Wind and Fire is played a little less. Thankfully, the digital age has ushered in the opportunity to download albums, create playlist and share them. My kids maybe too young to understand the iconic elements I’ve already introduced them to, but the seeds are planted within them, so that one day when they hear a song, they can yearn to learn more.
My daughters absolutely love Fantasy. Whenever I play Earth, Wind and Fire, my kids hum the tunes… probably because I play them all the time. But when you’re a parent, a critical piece to teaching your children about life, is teaching them good music.
So long as they ride in my car, they gonna get that good music.
Maybe an icon of their day will playback the classics of the group as Questlove did; reintroduce them to what I introduced to them. Maybe, just maybe, one of them will ask me about these elements. They may never ask… they’re gonna hear this music tho; in the car, in the house, at family functions and at their weddings. If I am blessed to be around to see their children, guess who’s gonna hear it next?
So on this, the 21st day of September in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, I think fondly of the Elements. I am thankful for Maurice White and his life. I am thankful that folks like Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Larry Dunn and Ralph Johnson are still with us. I am thankful for the music. I am thankful for Black radio. I am thankful to have been born into the sacredness of what we call Blackness.
Earth, Wind and Fire is a heavy portion to the soundtrack of my life and although this essay flirts with 3,500 words, there aren’t enough words to capture my affection for these musicians and how I feel when one of their songs hits my ears.
You could call me a fan or biased. But I’d prefer that you call me a child of DAS and the Maurice White Sound.
