Maurice White in Earth, Wind & Fire

A singer, songwriter, producer, and drummer were all lost at once on February 4, 2016 when Maurice White, the founder of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, passed away. White had been born in Memphis, Tennessee as the son of a doctor and grandson of a honky-tonk pianist. His family had made a move when he was young to the city of Chicago where he learned to sing gospel. As he grew, his passion for music did as well. White ended up attending the Chicago Conservatory of Music in the mid Sixties. While in school, he made connections with impactful bands of the time by working as a sessions drummer at Chess Records. Nearly four years later, he began to play with the Ramsey Lewis Trio. Then, in 1969, he decided to form his own band which he named the Salty Peppers.

Despite the creation of his own band and several other accomplishments that had lead up to this point, White had made a name for himself through several other undertakings as well. Throughout the existence of his band, White had also started a career as a producer that lasted throughout the Seventies. During this time he worked and created ties with the Emotions, Ramsey Lewis, and Deniece Williams, all of who were influential artists at the time. Unfortunately, by the early Nineties, White had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. From then on, he had quit touring with his bands for the sake of his own health. However, up until the day he passed away from the disease, White had continued to be involved in both the production and managing of the music produced by his band as well as others.

Earth, Wind & Fire is known today as an all American band that has created music of nearly every genre. R&B, soul, funk, jazz, disco, pop, rock, Latin, and African are all genres that have been incorporated into the dozens of albums that they have created. Although this band acquired major success and amounted to more than 90 million albums being sold, it is important to acknowledge who they were before their fame.

As mentioned previously, Maurice White had created a band called the Salty Peppers during his time in Chicago. White eventually uprooted himself from Chicago and made a huge move to Los Angeles where he eventually renamed his band as Earth, Wind & Fire. The name of the band had stemmed from White’s astrological chart and its absence of any water signs. Once no real success came from the first few albums the band released, White decided to refresh the band and completely change around the musicians that it consisted of. Into the band came White’s younger brother, Verdine, who was a bassist, singer Philip Bailey, keyboardist Larry Dunn, and guitarist Al McKay. With the new members, the band’s style changed drastically as they took to jazz, R&B, funk, soul, and pop. After signing with a new record label, the album Head to the Sky was released in 1973. This album lead to White’s first success with his band as more than 500,000 copies of the album sold.

Before this mass success of Earth, Wind & Fire, the band had released a self-titled album that consisted solely of seven tracks. The band that had created this album varied greatly from the band that found fame in later years. The founding members of this band had been Maurice White, Wade Fleming, Sherry Scott, and Don Whitehead. All four of these members shared vocal duties and piano playing equally on the album. Created upon their initial move to Los Angeles, this album was created to not only be impactful through its melodies and innovative style, but also through the messages and meaning that each individual song carried.

Earth, Wind & Fire’s debut album had been release during the time of the Civil Rights Movement when oppression and discrimination of African Americans in America was commonplace and accepted. The Civil Rights Movement had consisted of strategies, groups, and social movements in the United States whose intention was to end the racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans. As a response to this fight for equality, Earth, Wind & Fire’s debut album consisted of tracks that begged for love, forgiveness, and community in a time where hate and bigotry were encouraged. As a result, the band and fans ended up with an album whose general message of positivity and peace has lasted decades and remains relevant to this day.

After all of this buildup, here is the contents of the album:

“Help Somebody”

This song establishes the tone, genre, and vibe of the album right away. The incorporation of brass horns and piano give the song a sense stability and sharpness while the electric piano and funky melodies create a sort of edginess and flow. The tempo and beat of the song is kept by instruments that sound rather foreign. Because I have to describe them, I’ll describe the sounds as two wooden pieces clinking together and a wheel grinding. All of these elements together create a song that is innovative and upbeat all while remaining grounded by a beat that makes the track easy to listen to.

In addition to the sonic elements of the song that make it so interesting, the lyricism that went into the song asserts the hopes and beliefs of the band. With lyrics like: “Reach out and help the weak man”, “The love you give might help somebody live”, and “Your helping hand will make you a better man” the album is obviously pushing for a better world where standing up for each other and being a good person is customary.

“Moment of Truth”

This track replicates the first song of the album in the way that the brass instruments create a surge of sound to introduce it. A funky melody is established and periodic swells of the horns create a dynamic track that is, if nothing else, fun to listen to. An interesting component of this song is the several vocalists that all seem to have equal part on the track. For example, no single vocalist leads. Instead, all work together to create harmony and balance in the song that manages to never overpower the instrumentals that are occurring at the time.

“Love Is Life”

Differing from the previous tracks, this track incorporates the brass instruments in a more subtle and calm way than before. Instead of intense floods of sound, this track has a much more laid back beat that is lead by a single symbol. As the vocalist on the track emphasizes certain portions of lyrics, the strength of the instrumentals increases to match.

Despite lacking the upbeat melodies that the other tracks hold, this track manages to hold its own by containing lyrics crucial to the interpretation of the album. The lyrics of this track tell of flowers being helped by a spring shower and birds protecting their young from the wild. These two examples are given to emphasize how people should be protecting their own and lending a helping hand to those in need. By ending with the words: “Give it all from the heart don’t wait, don’t wait ‘till tomorrow”, it is hard to misinterpret the true meaning of the song.

“Fan the Fire”

Electric guitar is a major component of this piece as it leads the entire track. Serving as the background of the song, a groovy rhythm is incorporated and maintained while the instrumentals whisper in the background and a lick on the guitar is created.

Aside from the dynamic instrumentals of this track, the lyrics speak to the idea of fanning a fire. This term refers to the idea that was basic to the civil rights movement: if you’re not helping you’re hurting.

“C’Mon Children”

This track exemplifies all of the elements  that worked together to create the entire album in their most basic form. The brass horns are solely used to introduce the track, the clinking beat is introduced next, then the drums, and then finally the groovy melody. Most of all, this track shows how powerful vocalists and their harmonies can be on a track by building the intensity of it with singing that is similar to yelling, and by detracting the intensity of the song by having vocalists whisper.

“This World Today”

With all of the same instruments as before, this track consists of a sound and style that is unlike anything else on the album. The vocalists on this track are more dynamic than ever before. With solos from each vocalist and harmonizing all throughout the song, the instrumentals basically revolve around the singing. Similar to other tracks, the surges in intensity of the instrumentals serves to help build upon the power coming from the vocalists and overall creates a track that is fascinating both instrumentally and vocally.

In addition to the sonic elements of the track, the lyrics manage to address the problems of the world just like the rest of the tracks. For this song specifically, the lyrics: “Man fighting man for no cause at all” and “Let man join hands the old and the young and let every heart now beat as one” tell of the unnecessary fighting and violence that occurs today and instead suggests that we all come together as one to create peace in the world for once. This message builds upon the overall meaning and influence of this album.

“Bad Tune”

At first I thought it was peculiar to end the album with a track such as this. However, after more thought, I think that it is genius. This track finalizes the album by showing all of the instrumental elements that had gone into the previous tracks. Listeners get a sampling of the horns, electric piano and guitar, regular piano and guitar, and other instruments that give the song a foreign sound. Furthermore, it is interesting how the pace of this track differs so greatly from those prior. Instead of one consistent tempo or beat, the track switches back and forth between being calm and slow to being energetic and upbeat.

Despite the exposure that the band had from previous creating and producing music, they were still generally inexperienced. The band had gone to a place called Hollywood Sound to record this album. The studio had been small and had been stuck between Heider Recording and David Hassinger’s Sound Factory. Despite this, the studio still had two live echo chambers for them to record in. During the recording of the album, members of the band said that they had to switch back and forth on what was incorporated. Instead of incorporating the guitar portion by one musician, they would switch it out and replace it with another musician’s efforts. Essentially, the recording process had been a ton of trial and error.

When discussing the major influences of the band, the Civil Rights Movement has to be mentioned again. The lyricism of the entire album is based entirely off of people coming together and finally having peace which is exactly what most people involved in the movement wanted. In addition to this, an influence that the band had mentioned was religion and Egypt. White had acknowledged that he always had wanted to bring his life and music to a higher plane. For him, spirituality and Egypt had done just that. To quote April Peavey from PRI, “Like Moses, leading his people from Egypt to the Promised Land, Maurice White led his fans to that higher plane”.

Even though the impact of Earth, Wind & Fire on music and culture is not well documented, it does not mean that they had none. Being a band that incorporated so many genres into one album, there is no doubt that their blend of foreign sounds with modern jazz and R&B was not replicated or changed somewhere in the world. In addition to this, the cultural impact the band had can easily be guessed. Because the album was preaching to peace and love in a time that was dark and depressing, there is no doubt that the album was what some people looked at as a place of refuge and as an example of what they would like the world to be.

Rest In Peace Maurice White

Merle Haggard Swinging Doors

The world lost yet another legend on April 6, 2016 when Merle Haggard passed away. Haggard had been known for producing a different type of country music, often referred to as Bakersfield Sound, for over 50 years. Despite his passing, Haggard is still greatly respected and known for his ability to combine introspective lyrics, such as stories about his previous incarcerations and of friends that have passed, with lyrics that convey both hope and humor. These lyrics, combined with the soulful instrumentalism of his songs, has made for decades of emotional and relatable tracks.

Haggard had grown up in Bakersfield, California during the Depression-era where he had lived with his family in a converted box car. When he was a child, his mother had been left to fend for their entire family after the passing of his father; because of this, he was left to his own devices and ended up growing into somewhat of a rebel. After being released from prison for offenses like truancy, phony checks, and grand theft auto, Haggard had managed to make money by working in the oil fields during the day and by playing guitar in local bars at night. By 1970, when he was just over the age of 30, Haggard had produced a running streak of hit albums and tracks after signing on with Tally Records and then again with Capitol Records. Throughout this period of success, Haggard became notorious for his Honky-Tonk vibes and resonant guitar melodies that built up the genre of Bakersfield Sound and brought rise of competition to the trendy Nashville Sound.

Bakersfield Sound is a strain of country music that was established in the early 1950’s, and began to grow within the following decade. During this time, Nashville Sound had been the genre of music that was dominating the country and western charts and proved to be the ultimate rival of Bakersfield Sound. Unlike Bakersfield Sound, Nashville Sound consisted of dramatic strings, annoyingly pleasant background singers, and a smoothness that is oddly reminiscent of modern day pop music. Bakersfield Sound’s traditional country style in comparison to the slick styles of Nashville Sound made it an obvious rebellion against such new-age music.

In the 1966 album, Swinging Doors, Haggard finds a way to incorporate his traditional country and honky-tonk vibes of Bakersfield Sound with jazz and a slight bit of rock to create an album that sounded completely unlike anything else from the time. Going against what was popular for his time, Haggard had stayed with his traditional approach to songwriting and continued to write about the sorrowful accounts of his life. When listening to the album, his voice hardly ever wavers and achieves maximum sentimentality, and therefore relatability, by doing so. While all of the lyricism is great and important, another element of this album to notice is its simple instrumentation. The main, if not only, instruments used for this album had been the guitar, bass, drums, and piano. These four instruments come together in each track to create an extremely dynamic album.

Moving on, here is a track-by-track analysis of Merle Haggard’s Swinging Doors:

“Swinging Doors”

Listening to this song, it is no wonder how it became Haggard’s first top 5 hit. The stereotypical wailing of the guitar mixed in with an upbeat and cheerful beat from the drums could lure in anybody no matter what their mood is. In addition to this relatable melody, the story of having a simple life with a lover are simply enticing to anyone who just wishes for a happy life.

“If I Could Be Him”

The demure beat laid out by the drums establishes a simple and peaceful melody for this track. This minimalism in instrumentals focuses attention solely on the vocals and lyricism of this song that speak of a love triangle that has been created. With a story as common and hard-hitting as such, this song was one to gain a good amount of attention on the album.

“The Longer You Wait”

Again, the relatability of the lyrics within this song as well as the ease at which you can listen to it make this track a winner. Back with an upbeat and guitar-driven melody, people that are both ecstatic and depressed could easily enjoy this modest track.

 “I’ll Look You Over”

Piano and background vocalists are a major component of this track. The melodic scales of the piano finally introduce listeners to the influences of jazz that Haggard was known for incorporating into his music. Additionally, the background vocalists force Haggard’s voice to become more dynamic and melodic than ever before. Overall, this track expands even further on Haggard’s talents.

“I Can’t Stand Me”

Speaking of showing off his talent, this track exemplifies Haggard’s incorporation of rock and roll within his music. The intense drumming and wailing of the guitar work together to create the familiar beats and tones of the genre while also managing to create a track that anyone could easily jam out to.

“The Girl Turned Ripe”

Doing a total 180^o from the previous track is this song. While the upbeat vibes and light lyrics remain the same, the instrumentalism turns into straight Honkey-Tonk that is emphasized greatly by the large amounts of guitar picking that are done in this track.

“The Bottle Let Me Down”

This track had been yet another great him from this album. Despite how depressing the lyrics are, the truth is that they are extremely relatable to anyone who has ever tried to drink away their problems. As dark as this topic is, this track is still able to attract listeners by featuring the wailing guitar that country music is known for and mixing it with a very passive melody.

“No More You and Me”

Yet another track that displays Haggard’s skill. His vocals are slightly varied in this track to create a more dynamic melody without instrumentation; but then, in the times of silence, guitar flares create a sudden accent in the song that is unlike any other that is heard in the album.

“Somebody Else You’ve Known”

Even though this track isn’t one of the most popular or unique from the album, the energetic guitar flares and simple lyrics create a song that is cheerful and easy on both the ears and hearts of listeners.

“High on a Hilltop”

Even though most songs on this album are relatively upbeat and cheerful, this would have to be the one exception. In no way does this mean it is a bad song; however, the guitar in this track establishes a very slow moving melody that seems almost sorrowful. Along with this, Haggard’s vocals remain sturdy and unwavering throughout the piece which creates an overall somber mood for the track.

“This Town’s Not Big Enough”

When I think of traditional country music, this track is an example of what would come to mind. This track returns the album to a cheerful mood by incorporating an exceptionally bouncy beat from the drums along with the classic guitar scales of old country.

“Shade Tree”

This track is the one to finish out the album on a high note. The jazz influences are back in this track with the heavy piano melodies and vocals that seem to swing back and forth. This track truly leaves listeners off with an example of how dynamic Haggard was in both his musical styles and talents.

While the lasting impacts of Merle Haggard on the music industry and culture surrounding it may not be easily identifiable, they are certainly there. During the 60’s, when Haggard was acquiring all of his fame, his music had been identified as Bakersfield Sound. This genre had been battling the popular Nashville Sound in the music charts at the time and began to prove that the classic Honky-Tonk inspired country music would always be loved and relevant in the music industry. By being able to do as well, if not better, than the slick country-pop music of the time, a new genre was formed and showed that new is not always better. With the genre of Bakersfield Sound that Haggard had worked to create came a new generation of musicians that were becoming inspired. Amongst this generation is none other than George Strait, a famous country musician. Strait claims that the lyricism, catchy tunes, and powerful performances of Haggard are what inspired him to grow up to be just like “Hag”.

With a new generation of musicians that aspire and look up to Haggard, it is safe to say that the principles and styles that made up his music will continue to live on in modern day country music and in the hearts of those who listen to it.

Rest In Peace Merle Haggard