Alex Henderson

Earth, Wind & Fire
Raise!  [Expanded Edition]

Earth, Wind & Fire went down in history as one of the top soul/funk bands of the 1970s, selling millions of albums and headlining stadiums and coliseums all over the world. It’s hard to imagine the 1970s without “Shining Star,” “Fantasy,” “Reasons,” “September,” “Boogie Wonderland” and many other gems that took both R&B radio and pop/Top 40 radio by storm during that decade. And although EWF didn’t sell as many albums in the 1980s as they sold in the 1970s, 1981 was a great year for the Los Angeles-based powerhouse (originally from Chicago). Produced by EWF founder/leader Maurice White and released by Columbia Records/CBS Records (now Columbia Records/Sony Music) in November 1981, Raise! was EWF’s eleventh studio album and was the most successful of the albums they recorded during the 1980s. Part of Raise!’s success can be attributed to the single “Let’s Groove,” an infectious funk/dance gem that soared to #1 R&B, #3 pop and #3 dance/club in Billboard in the United States (where it sold more than one million copies) and was also a #3 pop smash in the UK. “Let’s Groove” was a major hit in many other countries as well, reaching #2 in France and New Zealand, #5 in the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland, #7 in Canada, #9 in Belgium and #10 in Spain.

Raise! was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales exceeding one million copies in the U.S., where it climbed to #1 on Billboard’s R&B albums chart and #5 on Billboard’s pop albums chart—and in the UK, Raise! was certified gold by the British Phonograph Institute (BPI) for sales of over 100,000 units. 

Raise! is a diverse album, ranging from the exuberant funk of “Lady Sun,” “You Are a Winner” and “Evolution Orange” to comfortable medium-tempo grooves such as “My Love” and the single “Wanna Be with You” (which peaked at #15 on Billboard’s R&B singles charts in the U.S.). Meanwhile, on “The Changing Times,” EWF favors uptempo funk with a rock edge. 

Although Columbia never released “I’ve Had Enough” as a single in the U.S., the energetic, danceable song (which features Philip Bailey on lead vocals) was a single in the UK and became a #29 pop hit there. Bailey co-wrote “I’ve Had Enough” with keyboardist Greg Phillinganes and singer Brenda Russell, who at the time, was best known for her 1979 hit “So Good, So Right.”

Bailey’s distinctive falsetto vocals have been an integral part of EWF since 1972, when the Denver native joined EWF with their third album, Last Days and Time. Bailey was not part of EWF’s original lineup: founded by White in Chicago in 1969, the pre-Bailey version of EWF recorded two albums for Warner Bros. Records (Earth, Wind & Fire and The Need of Love, both released in 1971) before breaking up—and when White assembled a new EWF in 1972, Bailey (who turned 64on May 8, 2015) was among the people he recruited. From 1972 on, White and Bailey shared EWF’s lead vocals—and on Raise!, both of them are featured prominently.

Back in 1981, Raise! was released as a nine-track LP. But this reissue expands Raise! to a 16-track CD with bonus tracks that range from three different versions of “Let’s Groove” (including an instrumental version) to the 7” single versions of “Wanna Be with You,” “I’ve Had Enough” and “The Changing Times.”

EWF have had their share of lineup changes along the way, and in addition to White and Bailey, the participants on Raise! include younger brother Verdine White on bass, Fred White (another sibling) on drums and percussion, Larry Dunn on keyboards, Roland Bautista and Johnny Graham on guitar and Andrew Woolfolk on tenor saxophone. The late Don Myrick, who was part of the Phenix Horns (EWF’s horn section in the 1970s and early 1980s), is heard on alto and tenor saxophone. Maurice White and Myrick went way back: they knew one another in the 1960s, when Myrick was active in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, or AACM—a Chicago-based organization known for promoting avant-garde jazz in the Windy City. White, in fact, had strong ties to Chicago’s jazz community: in his pre-EWF days, he played drums in the Ramsey Lewis Trio. And singer Sherry Scott, who was part of the pre-Bailey EWF and was featured on their ethereal 1971 hit “I Think About Loving You,” is a long-time AACM member.

Interviewed in May 2015, Maurice White (who is now 73) reflected on EWF’s evolution and where the band was musically in 1981.

“Raise! was not really a departure—it was a continuation of EWF-type songs,” White explains. “The message reflected the times we were living in, particularly addressing the current climate of change. The album tapped into the future and the past musically. The use of technology like synthesizers evoked a sense of the future. Instrumentally, other songs utilized signature sounds that were already established by us in the past.”

Thirty-four years after Raise!’s initial release, “Let’s Groove” continues to be one of the hits that EWF are best known for. “Let’s Groove” has been covered by artists ranging from Australian group CDB in 1995 to singer Marcia Hines in 2006, and it has been sampled by a long list of rappers. Asked to comment on the song’s longevity, White responds: “Simplicity of the melody and the lyrics, the futuristic sound of the vocoder and a traditional dance beat made it easy for people to sing along and made them want to dance. It had an infectious chorus. I didn’t know it was going to be a hit when we recorded it, but you never know what will grab the public’s attention. It’s still a catchy tune.”

No less than 46 years have passed since White founded the first lineup of EWF, who were originally called the Salty Peppers. White had been overseeing EWF for 12 years when Raise! came out, and when one looks back on the band’s long and impressive history, it is evident that 1981 was a very productive year for Earth, Wind & Fire.

—Alex Henderson, June 2015

Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Salon.com, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, AlterNet, JazzTimes, Jazziz, The Raw Story, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, The New York City Jazz Record, Jazz Inside Magazine and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) also contributed several thousand CD reviews to the popular Allmusic.com website and The All Music Guide’s series of music reference books.