MAURICE WHITE, 74 Died Feb. 4, 2016.
Drummer, songwriter, producer and founding member of Earth Wind & Fire. Born in Memphis, moved to Chicago as a teen and worked as a session drummer at Chess Records, recording for such acts as Etta James, Muddy Waters, the Impressions and the Dells.
Played on nine albums for Ramsey Lewis starting in 1966. In 1969, he went to Los Angeles and formed the Salty Peppers which evolved into Earth Wind & Fire with his brother Verdine (and later brother Fred) and Philip Bailey.
Some of their big hits:
Mighty Mighty (#4 R&B, #22 Pop)
Shining Star (#1 R&B and Pop) the song that really broke them into the public eye.
That's the Way of the World (#5 R&B, #12 Pop)
Sing A Song (#1 R&B, #5 Pop)
Got To get You Into My Life (#1 R&B, #9 Pop)
September (#1 R&B, #8 Pop)
Boogie Wonderland (#2 R&B, #6 Pop)
Maurice retired in 1992 and produced for the Emotions, Deniece Williams, Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond.
Earth Wind & Fire were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 and Vocal group hall of Fame in 2004. Maurice was inducted into the Songwriting Hall of Fame in 2010.
One of my all-time favorite groups.
Being an account of some things I'm interested in, what I'm doing, and reflections on my past, especially music.
Listen to this man. Seven years of college, you know. Trying to reason with 2020 and, now, 2022.
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