Spirit (Earth, Wind & Fire album)

Spirit
Studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire
Released September 1976
reissue 2001
Recorded April–May 1976, Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood
Genre Funk
Length 36:29
reissue 49:58
Label Columbia
Producer Maurice White, Charles Stepney
Earth, Wind & Fire chronology
Gratitude
(1975)Gratitude1975		 Spirit
(1976)		 All 'N All
(1977)All 'N All1977
Singles from Spirit
  1. "Getaway"
    Released: July 7, 1976
  2. "Saturday Nite"
    Released: November 13, 1976
  3. "On Your Face"
    Released: April 6, 1977

Spirit is the seventh studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire, released in September 1976 by Columbia Records. The album reached number 2 on the Billboard Pop and R&B Albums Chart and has been certified double platinum in the US by the RIAA.[1][2] Maurice White fully took over the arranging and production duties for the band after Charles Stepney died during the sessions for Spirit

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
New York Times(favourable)[4]
Warr.org[5]
Music Hound[6]
Robert Christgau(B)[7]
Billboard(favourable)[8]

Billboard magazine in its review found that the album's "arrangements, songs, sweet floating vocal harmonies and punching instrumental phrases are all best described as impeccable".[8] The New York Times also described Spirit as an LP which crosses "any stylistic formats" of music.[4]

Spirit was nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Album. The album cut Earth, Wind and Fire was also Grammy nominated for Best Instrumental Composition.[9]

Track listing

Original release

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Getaway"Peter Cor, Bernard “Beloyd” Taylor3:47
2."On Your Face"Charles Stepney, Maurice White, Philip Bailey4:33
3."Imagination"C. Stepney, M. White, P. Bailey5:15
4."Spirit"Larry Dunn, M. White3:12
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Saturday Nite"Al McKay, M. White, P. Bailey4:02
6."Earth, Wind & Fire"Skip Scarborough, M. White4:40
7."Departure"L. Dunn, M. White0:27
8."Biyo"M. White, A. McKay3:37
9."Burnin' Bush"Jerry Peters6:46

[10]

2001 reissue

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Getaway"Peter Cor, Bernard “Beloyd” Taylor3:47
2."On Your Face"Charles Stepney, Maurice White, Philip Bailey4:33
3."Imagination"C. Stepney, M. White, P. Bailey5:15
4."Spirit"Larry Dunn, M. White3:12
5."Saturday Nite"Al McKay, M. White, P. Bailey4:02
6."Earth, Wind and Fire"Skip Scarborough, M. White4:40
7."Departure"L. Dunn, M. White0:27
8."Biyo"M. White, A. McKay3:37
9."Burnin' Bush"Jerry Peters6:46
10."Saturday Nite (Alternate Mix)"M. White, A. McKay, P. Bailey4:55
11."Seraphim"M. White, A. McKay, P. Bailey, L. Dunn2:06
12."Imagination (Angels Mix)"C. Stepney, M. White, P. Bailey1:02
13."Departure (The Traveler)"L. Dunn, M. White3:37
14."African Symphony"L. Dunn, M. White1:52

[11][12]

Personnel

Credits are adapted from Allmusic[11] and the album’s Liner Notes[10][12]

Production

  • Producers - Maurice White (Original recording), Charles Stepney (Original recording), Leo Sacks (Reissue)
  • Arrangers - Jerry Peters (8-9), Charles Stepney (1-3, 5-7), Tom Tom 84 (4)
  • Engineer, Remix - George Massenburg
  • Audio Mixing - Paul Klingberg (10-14), Leo Sacks (10-14), Maurice White (10-14)

Charts

Album – Billboard
Year Chart Position
1976 Black Albums 2
Pop Albums 2
Singles – Billboard
Year Single Chart Position
1976 "Getaway/Saturday Nite" Club Play Singles 9
"Getaway" Black Singles 1
Pop Singles 12
"On Your Face" Black Singles 26
"Saturday Nite" Black Singles 4
Pop Singles 21

[11]

References

  1. ↑ Spirit - Charts on Allmuisc.com
  2. ↑ "RIAA Certification for Spirit".
  3. ↑ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Spirit". allmusic.com.
  4. 1 2 "The Pop Life". nytimes.com.
  5. ↑ "Earth, Wind & Fire". www.warr.org.
  6. ↑ "Music Hound review".
  7. ↑ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Spirit". robertchristgau.com.
  8. 1 2 "Billboard's Top Album Picks". Billboard Magazine. 88 (41). October 9, 1976. ISSN 0006-2510.
  9. ↑ "earthwindandfire.com/bio_awards". Archived from the original on 2009-03-07.
  10. 1 2 Earth, Wind & Fire. “Spirit” (Album Notes). Columbia. 1976.
  11. 1 2 3 "Earth, Wind & Fire - Spirit". allmusic.com. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  12. 1 2 Earth, Wind & Fire. “Spirit” (Remastered). Legacy’s Rhythm Soul Series. Columbia / Legacy. 2001.
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