The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 is a 1978 compilation album collecting the charting singles of Earth, Wind & Fire. In addition to collecting previously charting songs, the album also included three new tracks for the band: a cover of The Beatles' song "Got to Get You Into My Life" and the original track "September", both of which also became charting singles, the former also winning a Grammy Award, and "Love Music."
The compilation album itself placed on three Billboard charts, reaching No. 3 on Black Albums, No. 6 on Pop Albums. It reached No. 6 on the album charts in Britain. The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 has been certified as quintuple platinum in the US by the RIAA for sales of over 5,000,000 copies. The album has also been certified platinum in the UK and in Canada by the British Phonographic Industry and Music Canada respectively.
The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 is ranked numbers 30 and 44 on AllMusic's list of the Top urban and R&B albums of all time respectively.
Video The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1
Songs
The album collected a variety of songs, primarily charting hit singles, previously released by the band between 1975 and 1978. In addition to previously released songs, the album included several tracks which had never been on an Earth, Wind & Fire album before. Among them, a cover of the Beatles's song "Got to Get You Into My Life" recorded by the band for the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band had previously been published on the film's soundtrack, but "September" was new. Both of these songs also became charting singles.
"Got to Get You Into My Life" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Black Singles chart, No. 9 on the Pop Singles chart, and No. 33 on the British singles charts, while "September" reached No. 1 on Black Singles, No. 8 on Pop Singles, and No. 3 on the British charts. "Got to Get You Into My Life" also won a Grammy Award for "Best Instrument Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)/Best Background Arrangement" for Earth, Wind & Fire's Maurice White. Also, the Skip Scarborough-penned "Love Music" was also a new album track. The album has been reissued with two bonus tracks: "MegaMix 2000" and "MegaMix (Radio Edit)."
Maps The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1
Critical reception
Although EWF would go on to other charting hits, this volume is described by AllMusic as "still...a strong encapsulation of EWF the funk innovators." It is for this reason, their reviewer notes, that even though new and more definitive greatest hits albums have been released, this one has been reissued and remastered, as "for the budget-minded and the disco-phobic, this still makes for an excellent listen." Music critic Robert Christgau describes this volume as "the best album" EWF "ever released", with "ten exquisitely crafted pop tunes in which all the passion and resonance of black music tradition are blended into a concoction slicker and more sumptuous than any white counterpart since Glenn Miller."
Samples
Love Music was sampled by Ghostface Killah on his track Good featured on his 2006 album More Fish. "September" has been sampled by Crystal Waters on her track "Say...If You Feel Alright" from her 1996 album Crystal Waters.
Track listing
Original release (ARC/Columbia - 35647)
1999 Legacy reissue (CK 65735)
Personnel
Credits are adapted from Allmusic and the album's Liner Notes
Performance
- Philip Bailey - vocals, congas, percussion
- Rhamlee Michael Davis - trumpet, flugelhorn
- Larry Dunn - Moog synthesizer, piano, organ played by
- Johnny Graham - guitar, percussion
- Michael Harris - trumpet, flugelhorn
- Alan Hewitt - keyboards (11)
- Ralph Johnson - drums, percussion
- Al McKay - vocals, guitar, percussion
- Don Myrick - additional saxophone
- Louis Satterfield - trombone
- Dick Smith - guitar
- Charles Stepney - piano
- Fred White - drums
- Maurice White - vocals, drums, kalimba
- Verdine White - vocals, bass played by, percussion
- Andrew Woolfolk - soprano saxophone, flute
Production
- Earth, Wind & Fire - musical arrangements (3, 6, 8-10)
- Philip Bailey - liner notes
- George Calle - producer, recording engineer, audio mixing (12)
- Mauro DeSantis - producer, recording engineer, audio mixing (12)
- Larry Dunn - production assistant (2)
- Howard Fritzson - art direction
- David Gahr - Photography
- Alan Hewitt - music programming, producer, recording engineer, audio mixing (11)
- Paul Klingberg - producer, recording engineer, audio mixing (11)
- Art Macnow - director
- Cameron Marcarelli - assistant engineer (11)
- Al McKay - producer
- Shusei Nagaoka - artwork
- Steve Newman - design
- Joseph M. Palmaccio - mastering
- Leo Sacks - producer (11), reissue producer, liner notes
- Richard Salvato - director
- Jim Shea - photography
- Charles Stepney - producer, musical arrangements (3, 5-6, 8-10), synthesizer programming
- Tom Tom 84 - horn arrangements, string arrangements (2, 4, 7)
- Chris Walter - photography
- Maurice White - producer (1-11), musical arrangements (1), recording engineer, audio mixing (11), liner notes
- Verdine White - production assistant (2), liner notes
- Mark Wilder - audio mastering
- Joseph Wissert - producer
Charts
Certifications
References
External links
- Song samples and lyrics, hosted with permission by MTV
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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