"Fantasy"
[Written by Eduardo del Barrio, Maurice White & Verdine White]
Arguably Earth Wind and Fire have been responsible for more examples of enduring smooth soul than any other band of the last forty years. They are currently resurgent on the vintage soul and adult contemporary airwaves and their influence on the music of today can be found both far and wide.
Despite all that, this is the first time Earth Wind and Fire have featured as the purveyor of a Smooth Soul Survivor. The recording to bring them here is the three time Grammy award winner ‘Fantasy'. It comes from the band's ninth album release, ‘All N All' that was produced by Joe Wissert and featured arrangements by Chicago soul mainstays Tom Tom Washington and Eumir Deodato. The disc went triple platinum and peaked at #3 on the pop charts in the winter of 1977.
"Fantasy"
[Written by Eduardo del Barrio, Maurice White & Verdine White]
Arguably Earth Wind and Fire have been responsible for more examples of enduring smooth soul than any other band of the last forty years. They are currently resurgent on the vintage soul and adult contemporary airwaves and their influence on the music of today can be found both far and wide.
Despite all that, this is the first time Earth Wind and Fire have featured as the purveyor of a Smooth Soul Survivor. The recording to bring them here is the three time Grammy award winner ‘Fantasy'. It comes from the band's ninth album release, ‘All N All' that was produced by Joe Wissert and featured arrangements by Chicago soul mainstays Tom Tom Washington and Eumir Deodato. The disc went triple platinum and peaked at #3 on the pop charts in the winter of 1977.
Earth Wind and Fire was formed by the brothers Maurice and Verdine White. Maurice White was the driving force behind the project that was destined to evolve into a super-group of the seventies and eighties. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee on December 19, 1941 and had already toured with Santana and Weather Report before moving to Chicago to work as a session drummer for the Okeh and Chess labels. His brother, bass player Verdine, was around from the start and collaborated on many of the compositions that became hits for the band. It was Verdine and Maurice White, in conjunction with Eduardo Del Barrio, a composer and keyboard player with a flair for a smooth afro Latin groove, who penned ‘Fantasy'.
A key development of Earth Wind and Fire came from the chance encounter that Maurice had with Philip Bailey in Denver, Colorado. When, a year after this meeting, Bailey left college he joined up with Earth Wind and Fire, which by then had relocated to Los Angeles. Bailey's falsetto tones served to complement the existing sound of the band and in turn helped develop their truly distinctive style.
Another significant liaison came from Maurice Whites association with Charles Stepney. Stepney had started out as a vibraphone player with his own jazz trio. He met up with Chuck Barksdale of The Dells who at the time were performing at Club Pigalle on Chicago's north side. As a consequence of this chance encounter Stepney began providing the orchestral arrangements for recordings that The Dells made on the Chess label. He also became a significant arranger and producer for Chess and as well as his association with The Dells also worked with Minnie Riperton. Having met White at Chess, Stepney became his main collaborator for his Earth Wind and Fire projects. Through his work with The Dells and Earth Wind and Fire his stature as a producer increased and he was busy lining up deals with Michael Jackson and Barbara Streisand when he died in May 1976 at only age 43.
Maurice White also famously worked with Ramsey Lewis on his 1974 single ‘Sun Goddess'. Released under the banner of Ramsey Lewis and Earth Wind and Fire it was Ramsey Lewis's Columbia debut recording and reached #20 in the R & B charts of early 1975. In addition, that mistress of the sophisticated sample Angie Stone used ‘Sun Goddess' as the basis for the track ‘Visions' on her 1999 debut album ‘Black Diamond'.
The discography of Earth Wind and Fire is generously scattered with smooth sumptuous gems and there is none better in this respect than ‘Fantasy'. As well as figuring on a clutch of compilation and ‘best of' collections the track has been the vehicle for a number of soul, jazz and disco related covers. Keyboard player Tom Grant includes it on his 1995 release ‘Instinct' while Earth Wind and Fire's contribution to smooth soul is recognised by the 1997 album ‘Smooth Jazz Plays the Songs Of Earth Wind and Fire'. This also includes the Tom Grant version.
Some might say that disco died in the seventies. Fact is that 90's disco, or dance, as it became known, has certainly lived on. One of the best exponents of this genre was Italian band Black Box, which covered ‘Fantasy' on the 1990 release ‘Dreamland'. This version can be found on a whole host of dance compilations that were released right through the nineties. That early convert to crossover jazz Maynard Ferguson includes ‘Fantasy' on his 1978 album ‘Carnival' and also from the seventies, Buddy Rich, on the lookout for a younger and more populist audience, features the number on his recording ‘The Buddy Rich Band'. A reggae version from Kotch appears on his 1993 long player ‘Eastern Cay' while a smooth jazz interpretation is included on an album titled ‘Fantasy Band' that showcases playing and compositions by Chuck Loeb.
Finally, an absolutely excellent example is that by Daryle Chinn on his 1996 Mo Jazz recording that features Gerald Albright on sax, Norman Brown on guitar and, to add a touch of authenticity, Earth Wind and Fire vocalist Philip Bailey. This track can also be found on the 1996 compilation ‘Jazz Fusions Four'.
All in all ‘Fantasy' is an extremely worthy Smooth Soul Survivor.
By Denis Poole