Greatest Hits [Legacy] [Earth, Wind & Fire] [074646577929]

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.
Personnel: Al McKay (vocals, guitar, percussion); Maurice White (vocals, drums, kalimba, timbales); Philip Bailey (vocals, congas, percussion); Verdine White (vocals, percussion); Beloyd Taylor (guitar, background vocals); Roland Bautista , Steve Lukather, Marlo Henderson (guitar); Dorothy Ashby (harp); Assa Drori, Jack Gootkin, Jerome Reisler, Winterton Garvey, Harris Goldman, Anton Sen, Ken Yerke, Judith Talvi, Carl LaMagna, Rosmen Torfeh, Joy Lyle, Leena Sherman, Marci Dicterow, Joseph Goodman, Henry Ferber, Gina Kronstadt, Jerome Webster, Sandy Seemore, Henry Roth, Pamela Gates, Sherman Bryana, Joseph Livoti, Ilka Talvi, Pavel Farkas, William Henderson , Sheldon Sanov, Ronald Clark, Haim Shtrum (violin); David Campbell , James Dunham , Barbara Thomason, Rollice Dale, Linn Subotnick, Linda Lipsett, Larry Woods , James Ross , Marilyn Baker, Virginia Majewski, Paul Polivinick, Denyse Buffum (viola); Jan Kelley, Dennis Karmazyn, Daniel Smith, Harry Shultz, Ronald Cooper, Delores M. Bing, Kevan Torfeh, Jacqueline Lustgarten, Miguel Martinez, Larry Corbett, John Walz, Marie Fera (cello); Andrew Woolfolk (flute, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, percussion); Don Myrick, Fred Jackson, Jr. , Herman Riley, Jerome Richardson (saxophone); Michael Harris, Rahmlee Michael Davis (trumpet, flugelhorn); Chuck Findley, Elmer Brown, Gary Grant, Jerry Hey, Oscar Brashear, Steve Madaio, Bobby Bryant (trumpet); Arthur Maebe, David Duke , Richard Perissi, Marilyn Robinson, Barbara Korn, Sidney Muldrow (French horn); George Bohannon, Garnett Brown, Benjamin Powell, Bill Reichenbach Jr. , Charles Loper, Maurice Spears, Louis Satterfield, Lew McCreary (trombone); Thomas "Snake" Johnson (tuba); Larry Dunn (piano, organ, synthesizer, programming); George Del Barrio, Eduardo del Barrio, Rick Kelly, Maxine Lewis, Jerry Peters, Skip Scarborough, Steve Porcaro, Azar Lawrence, Wayne Vaughn, Billy Myers, David Foster, Charles Stepney (piano, keyboards, synthesizer); Fred White , Ralph Johnson (drums, percussion); Zakir Hussein (tabla); Richard Lepore (timpani); Harvey Mason, Sr. , Paulinho Da Costa (percussion); Wanda Hutchinson, Sheila Whitt, Jeanette Hawes, The Emotions (background vocals).
Liner Note Authors: Mark Coleman; Leo Sacks.
Recording information: 1973-1981.
Photographers: Michael Putland; Simon Fowler.
Arrangers: Tom Tom 84; Earth, Wind & Fire; Charles Stepney.
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