E-mail a friendEarth, Wind & Fire
airdate May 18, 2009
Rolling Stone described Earth, Wind & Fire as the band that "changed the sound of Black pop." Formed in Chicago, IL, the group has fused multiple genres into their own unique sound and built a reputation for elaborate live shows. Since their breakthrough '75 multi-platinum album, "That's the Way of the World"—which reached the #1 pop spot and earned them their first Grammy—they've had numerous crossover hits and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This summer, they're co-headlining a 30-city concert tour.
Legendary musical group reflects on the early days of touring and what they still like about being on the road. (2:23)
Full interview. (11:38)
Earth, Wind & Fire
Tavis: The elements are here - Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Ralph Johnson - all, of course, the talented trio behind one of music's most popular, successful and enduring acts, Earth, Wind & Fire.
This summer, they are once again joining up with another legendary group, Chicago, for a 30-city U.S. tour. The tour kicks off June 5th in Orange Beach, Alabama, and runs until August the 1st. Here they are, from their double-platinum-selling DVD, Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire live at the Greek Theater.
[Music video clip]
Tavis: So, Ralph, y'all didn't get enough the first time, so you're one more again, huh?
Ralph Johnson: One more time. This'll be the third time we're doing this, and it was so successful the first two times we took it out. When we didn't tour without them, people were asking, "When are you going to do it again, when are you going to do it again?" So finally, here it is the third time around and we're very excited about it.
Tavis: What makes it work so well, Philip, to do it three times?
Philip Bailey: Well, this time we're doing some special things with - what's the relief organization?
Johnson: It's World Hunger.
Bailey: World Hunger.
White: World Hunger.
Bailey: Yeah, and so we are giving a digital (unintelligible) with three songs on it.
Tavis: Oh, that's right - three free downloads.
Bailey: Yeah, right.
Tavis: If you bring some canned goods to the show.
Bailey: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Tavis: That's cool.
Bailey: Yeah, so we're doing that. We covered one of their songs, they covered one of our songs, and then we did one original together.
Tavis: Right. In terms of the show itself, Verdine, what makes - you think of Earth, Wind & Fire, you can think of any number of other bands that could have asked or wanted to go on tour with you guys and do this kind of joint thing. What makes the combination of Earth, Wind & Fire and Chicago work together?
Verdine White: Well, first of all, originally we all met each other on the road and we hung out and went to their concert; they came to ours. And we said, we should do something together. And we got together, Philip got together with Robert Lamb, I got together with Jason, and it was just a perfect match. It was just wonderful, with the horns, the sound, same era. So I think it really had a lot to do with that.
Tavis: Tell me more about that, Ralph. Contrast those - contrast/compare, if you will, the sounds, the styles.
Johnson: Well, of course we're based in a very much R&B kind of thing, but you have two great groups with these massive song catalogues, but the thing that's also very interesting is that the horn section's in both bands. And so when you bring this together it's really quite a massive sound. It's quite a massive sound - especially when you start listening to all the hits that both groups have had over the years. It gets very interesting.
Tavis: To Ralph's point, Philip, the corpus of the elements is deep; Chicago's got some hits, as Ralph said earlier. So how do you figure out, on any given night, what's going to play?
Bailey: Well originally we started rehearsing and we didn't know if their rhythm section was going to play on some songs and our rhythm section was going to play on others, but we just started rehearsing and everyone was playing at the same time, and to our surprise no one was getting in each other's way. And so we have two rhythm sections playing at the same time, and it sounds like one band. It's just really big.
Tavis: One big band. (Laughter)
Bailey: One very big band.
Tavis: A very big band. Not that you guys ever get - I don't want to suggest, and if I'm wrong you can tell me - not that you ever get tired of playing the same songs night in and night out and you know what your fans want to hear. If I come see y'all, as I often do, you're going to have to give me some "September," because I got to hear that, "That's the Way of the World."
You know what we want to hear. So not that you guys ever get sick of playing the same songs, but does a tour like this with another group allow you to just change it up a bit and give you a break from having to do what you are asked to do every night?
Bailey: It does. It does, and it gives us a break of doing it - it gives us the opportunity to do it a different way. Like what we said, like with the double horn section, they're bringing different nuances to the song that are ordinarily not there, and we to their songs. So it's fun in that way, and the show pretty much goes by really fast -
Johnson: It really does.
White: Yeah.
Bailey: - when we're on the stage together, because there's so much happening until you just kind of get on the boat and ride, as it were.
Tavis: I was just talking to an artist recently, Verdine, who just finished not long ago her very first big tour. She's young, she's been out there for a minute, but she just did her first big tour and I was thinking as I was talking to her, I said, the elements have done this for so many years now, man, they forgot what that first tour was all about.
Do you recall when you guys first really started to go out on tour, and can you compare and contrast what you still like about the touring thing all these years later?
White: Well, the first time we were going out we were at the Holiday Inn, so that was way back in the day.
Johnson: Which was a long way from the Ritz-Carleton.
White: A long way away from Ritz-Carleton.
Tavis: And Ritz-Carleton's better?
Johnson: Oh, by far.
White: By far. (Laughter) Don't leave out the Four Seasons.
Johnson: And don't leave out the W's.
Tavis: Yeah, okay, okay, okay, okay. So now y'all know where to find them on the road. (Laughter)
White: Exactly.
Tavis: If you're trying to stalk them for an autograph, you know where to find them.
White: Well, yeah, in the beginning, of course, you're learning as you go along. You are feeling your way through it. And then as you become more grounded and more centered in it, you actually get a chance to kind of know really where your boundaries are.
Nowadays you know what time to go to bed, what time the next concert's going to be. And then you also have your own path that you do on the road. Philip plays golf, I'm into yoga, Ralph's into tennis. So we all kind of have our own things that kind of keeps us grounded out there.
Johnson: There was a period in touring that we referred to as the station wagon days because long before there were SUVs and stretch limos and what have you we were driving ourselves from gig to gig. And I know, because I was one of the designated drivers.
White: Yeah, he was the driver. (Laughter)
Tavis: And how did you -
Johnson: Too bad frequent flyer miles weren't in back then.
Tavis: Ralph, how did you end up the designated driver?
Johnson: Well, first off, I love to drive. I love to drive so it's not a problem. So whenever we needed a driver I would jump right behind the wheel.
White: And man, let's tell the truth. (Laughter)
Tavis: Uh-oh.
Bailey: Okay.
White: Okay.
Bailey: I'd get lost, and Verdine can't drive.
White: I can't drive. (Laughter) I drove one time and they stopped me at the gas station and said, "Get in."
Bailey: And we said, "That's it."
White: "That's it."
Bailey: That's enough.
White: They let me drive one time.
Tavis: So Verdine can't drive.
White: Can't drive.
Tavis: Philip gets lost. I guess Maurice was composing music in the back.
White: Yeah, right - he was being cool.
Bailey: Exactly.
Tavis: He was being cool.
[Crosstalk]
Bailey: He said he already did this. (Laughter)
Johnson: It was our turn to (unintelligible).
Tavis: Yeah, Maurice said, "I'm too cool to drive."
[Crosstalk]
Tavis: That's funny - so Ralph did all the driving.
White: Exactly.
Johnson: Well, I didn't do all the driving because there were other individuals in the band that loved to drive, too.
Tavis: You did your share, though.
Johnson: I certainly did my share.
White: But we got there, though, too.
Johnson: Yes, we did.
Tavis: That's a beautiful thing. I went back, and I've known you guys for so many years, but I went back for this conversation because I was curious to see when you all really, really broke through. And it was album number four. It wasn't the first, the second - it was really "That's the Way of the World" album, that fourth album that really, really broke you guys through in terms of mainstream exposure and everybody knowing who you guys were.
Contextualize that for me, Philip. I don't know nowadays that people get the kind of time, four records into a career, with a - talk to me about this.
Bailey: That's right, that's right. Well, back then the record companies, their whole idea or concept was to support you and hope that 100,000 records would grow the second record into 200,000, and so forth. They didn't really want you to have a massive hit because they didn't look at it as you building a stable base.
And for us, man, it was - we were fortunate to come along at the time where CBS, Sony - which is Sony now - was very, very supportive of helping us build a career.
White: Right, and it was building blocks up to those records, like Philip had said. We had had "Open Our Eyes" previously, we had had "Head to the Sky," "Last Days in Time." So these records were like building blocks and you could actually feel us building up to the "That's the Way of the World" record because each record was almost like a previous of the next album coming out.
Johnson: I was going to say the president of the label at the time was Clive Davis, and Clive was very, very hands-on with us and really, he was a big fan of the group and he just made sure we had everything we needed to move forward. And as Verdine said, one album, 100,000 here, 200,000 here, finally you'd break through and you'd be on your way.
Tavis: Speaking of being fans of the group, President Barack Obama gives an interview to "Rolling Stone," confesses that one of his favorite groups is Earth, Wind & Fire, that you all are on his iPod. Next thing I read, y'all in the White House again, performing this time for President Obama. Does the White House ever get old? Y'all have done it so many times now.
Johnson: Well, I don't know about so many times. We have done it twice. We did it for President Clinton, and then -
Tavis: Imagine that, Bill Clinton liking R&B. Imagine that, Clinton liking Black artists.
Johnson: And then most recently, of course, with our new president - President Obama. And it was quite an event.
Tavis: That was a tribute for Stevie, was it not?
White: No, that was -
Johnson: No, Stevie came in after us.
Tavis: Came in after you guys.
White: Right, we were the Sunday night, he was the Tuesday night.
Tavis: Tuesday, yeah.
White: And it was great, the East Room was fantastic. And really, actually, once we got there it was very intimate. They were very gracious to us, they -
Tavis: Verdine, it's intimate, but can you get funky? Could you move like you -
White: Oh, we were getting -
Tavis: Can you move in the East Room?
White: We were getting down, now. We were (unintelligible) because all the governors, they wanted everybody to dance. So all the governors were dancing, the president was dancing, as well as Mrs. Obama. So it was just a really great experience for us.
Tavis: Philip, I want to come back to you right quick. We were talking about how different the industry was then than now. After all these years of being in his business, let me ask you an insider question - what most troubles you now about the business that has fed you all these years? And of course you fed it, but -
Bailey: I think the thing that's probably most troubling is the fact that folks coming in now and starting their careers, they love their careers as much as we did. They have visions of having longevity as much as we did. And it's very sad that all the components are just - well, we don't know where they are, actually. We really don't know where they are.
I'm not going to say they're not there, but they're definitely changed and an artist can have a big success for one record and sell millions of records, and then you never hear of them anymore.
Tavis: Well, thankfully that didn't happen to y'all.
White: No, no, no, no. Amen.
Tavis: Thank God for Jesus, yeah. The elements are still doing their thing and they're going to be doing it this summer along with Chicago. I saw it once before - it's a great show. So if you get a chance to check out Earth, Wind & Fire with Chicago this summer, the tour starts pretty shortly here, goes all the way through the first part of August, so check them out on the road.
Y'all got so many fans, I ain't got to encourage folk to do that anyway. Ralph, always good to see you.
Johnson: Good to see you, sir.
Tavis: Verdine, love you, nice to see you.
White: Good to see you, too, man.
Tavis: Philip, pleasure to have you here all the time.
Bailey: Thank you.
Tavis: Tell Maurice - how's Maurice doing, by the way?
White: Maurice is good, Maurice is good.
Tavis: He's doing good? Tell him we all love him.
White: We will.
Tavis: All right.
Back to May 18, 2009