Greatest Hits

Performer: Earth, Wind & Fire
Artist: The Emotions
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Earth Wind & Fire includes: Maurice White (vocals, drums, timbales, kalimba); Verdine White (vocals, bass, percussion); Philip Bailey (vocals, congas, percussion); Al McKay (guitar, percussion, background vocals); Johnny Graham (guitar, percussion); Roland Bautista (guitar); Andrew Woolfolk (flute, saxophone, percussion); Larry Dunn (piano, organ, synthesizer, programming); Fred White, Ralph Johnson (drums, percussion). Additional personnel includes: The Emotions, The Phoenix Horns. Producers include: Maurice White, Charles Stepney, Al McKay, Joe Wissert. Compilation producers: Maurice White, Leo Sacks. Engineers include: Robert Appere, Steve Crimmel, Richard Goodman. Recorded between 1973 and 1981. Includes liner notes by Mark Coleman. All tracks have been digitally remastered. This is part of Legacy's "Rhythm & Soul" series. Columbia's 1998 collection of Earth, Wind & Fire's Greatest Hits in many ways stands as the group's definitive compilation. Even though there have been more extensive overviews of the group's work, such as the triple-disc set The Eternal Dance, this is the first collection to contain all of the group's biggest hits on one disc. All but one ("Love Music") of the ten songs from 1978's The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire are included, while six of the ten songs from The Best Of, Vol. 2 are featured; the remaining two cuts on the 17-track collection are the minor early single "Kalimba Story" and the album cut "Gratitude." These are fine additions to the album, but the true meat of the collection lies in the hits -- "Shining Star," "That's the Way of the World," "Sing a Song," "Getaway," "Got to Get You Into My Life," "September," "Boogie Wonderland," "After the Love Has Gone," "Let's Groove," and so many others. They might not be presented in chronological order (the only flaw in this otherwise flawless collection), but it's a sheer delight to have all of the hits on one terrifically entertaining and valuable disc. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Earth, Wind & Fire was the brainchild of musical Renaissance man Maurice White, a successful ex-session drummer who recorded with everyone from Chuck Berry to John Coltrane. Essentially an R&B group, Earth, Wind & Fire expanded its sound to include elements of jazz, rock, funk, traditional African, Latin, and just about every other kind of music. The band was noted for its elaborate stage shows and quasi-mystical thematic influence, but avoided slipping into George Clinton-like self-parody by wisely choosing to emphasize its musicianship and sharp writing. It scored hit after hit throughout the 1970s, doing much to define the sound of that decade.

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