1. Moment Of Truth

2. Beauty

3. Where Have All The Flowers Gone

4. Interlude, No. 3

5. Build Your Nest

6. Caribou

7. Reasons

8. See The Light

9. Yearnin' Learnin' (live)

10. Sunshine

11. Earth, Wind & Fire

12. Imagination

13. Departure

14. Be Ever Wonderful

15. Love's Holiday

16. Beijo (Interlude)

17. Love Music

18. Rock That!

19. You And I

20. In Time

21. Pipe Organ (Interlude)

22. Lady Sun

Track 1 from Earth, Wind & Fire (1971)

Track 2 from The Need Of Love (1971)

Tracks 3 and 4 from Last Days And Time (1972)

Track 5 from Head To The Sky (1973)

Track 6 from Open Our Eyes (1974)

Tracks 7 and 8 from That's The Way Of The World (1975)

Tracks 9 and 10 from Gratitude (1975)

Tracks 11, 12 and 13 from Spirit (1976)

Tracks 14, 15 and 16 from All 'n All (1977)

Track 17 from The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 (1978)

Tracks 18 and 19 from I Am (1979)

Tracks 20 and 21 from Faces (1980)

Track 22 from Raise! (1981)

I love going through an act's discography in chronological order and seeing their sound develop. Their musicianship is really impressive on the early albums, but their sound is a little more raw and funky and a little more like War on those first 5 albums before they blew up with "Shining Star" and became hitmakers. And I dig how even as their sound got more ornate and cinematic, they'd still throw in jazzy complex things like the 7/8 groove on "See The Light" or the 11/8 part of "Caribou." I mused on Twitter the other day that it seemed like a weird coincidence that Earth, Wind & Fire released a song called "Caribou" in 1974, the same year Elton John released his album Caribou. But it turns out it wasn't a coincidence, as someone pointed out that both records were recorded at Caribou Ranch, a Colorado studio built by Chicago producer James William Guercio where a lot of hit records were made in the '70s and '80s.

"Reasons" and "Love's Holiday" weren't charting singles but have appeared on the band's best-of compilations and have become R&B radio staples. "September" was one of the three new songs on the band's best-selling album, the The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 compilation, so I included the new song that wasn't a single, "Love Music." Most bands that have a song that shares the name of the band write that song pretty early on, sometimes naming the band after the song, but I think Earth, Wind & Fire might be the only one who put a self-titled song on their 7th album (the closest I've seen of anyone else is They Might Be Giants, who didn't do it until their 3rd album). 

Obviously, EWF has been sampled a lot throughout hip hop history, and not just the hits. "Moment of Truth" was sampled by LL Cool J, the Jungle Brothers, and Kid 'N Play. "Beijo (Interlude)" was interpolated by Joe on Big Punisher's "Still Not A Player." "Reasons," which has become kind of a wedding song standard, was sampled on Cam'ron's "More Reasons" and E-40's "Seasoned." And Timbaland sampled "Sunshine" on multiple tracks, including Jay-Z's "Jigga What, Jigga Who." 

Andrew Woolfolk, who played saxophone in the band's horn section from Head To The Sky through to the mid-'80s, died in April of this year. And of course founder Maurice White died in 2016. But Philip Bailey and Verdine White continue to lead the band and they've pretty much never stopped (I remember working with a few members of the band when they were taping a promo for a TV appearance maybe 8 or 9 years ago). EWF hasn't released an album of new material since 2013, but last year their single "You Want My Love" became the band's biggest R&B radio hit in over 20 years. 

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