Spirit (Earth, Wind & Fire album)

As Charles Stepney died in the midst of its recording sessions, Maurice White went on to mostly arrange and produce the album. The LP was thus entitled Spirit in dedication to Stepney.[5]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[6]
New York Times	(favourable)[7]
Stereo Review	(favourable)[8]
Music Week	(favourable)[9]
Village Voice	(B)[10]
Billboard	(favourable)[11]
Rolling Stone	(favourable)[12]
Vibe	[13]
Variety	(favourable)[14]

Craig Werner of Vibe called Spirit "one of the group's defining moments" and "soul for the ages".[13] Billboard found that the album's "arrangements, songs, sweet floating vocal harmonies and punching instrumental phrases are all best described as impeccable".[11] Alex Henderson of Allmusic called the record "outstanding".[6] Music Week proclaimed that the album is "crammed with excellent tunes".[9] Variety described the album as "another solid rhythm and blues session" where "a couple of instrumentals break up a lot of smooth, polished vocal instrumental trips."[14] John Rockwell of The New York Times also declared that "what is most interesting about Maurice White and his musicians..is their refusal to be locked into any stylistic format" upon the album.[7]

Spirit was nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Album.[15] A song from the album called Earth, Wind and Fire was also Grammy nominated in the category of Best Instrumental Composition.[16]

"Getaway" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart.[17] The single also rose to No. 12 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Disco Action Top 30 charts.[18][19] "Saturday Nite, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[20][21] The song also reached No. 12 on Billboard's Disco Action Top 30 chart and No. 17 on the UK Pop Singles chart.[22][23]

• Vocals - Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Verdine White
• Piano, Keyboards - Larry Dunn, Jerry Peters
• Organ - Larry Dunn
• Moog synthesizer - Larry Dunn
• Guitar - Al McKay, Johnny Graham
• Bass - Verdine White
• Congas - Philip Bailey
• Kalimba - Maurice White
• Timbales - Maurice White
• Drums - Fred White, Ralph Johnson, Maurice White
• Percussion - Fred White, Ralph Johnson, Al McKay, Andrew Woolfolk, Verdine White, Philip Bailey, Harvey Mason
• Saxophone - Don Myrick, Andrew Woolfolk
• Trombone - George Bohanon, Louis Satterfield, Charles Loper
• Bass Trombone - Lew McCreary
• Trumpet - Oscar Brashear, Charles Findley, Michael Harris, Steve Madaio
• French horn - David Duke, Arthur Maebe, Sidney Muldrow, Marilyn Robinson
• Tuba - Tommy Johnson
• Concertmaster - Charles Veal
• Harp - Dorothy Ashby
• Cello - Ronald Cooper, Marie Fera, Dennis Karmazyn, Harry Shlutz
• Viola - Marilyn Baker, David Campbell, Denyse Buffum, Rollice Dale, James Dunham, Paul Polivnick, Lynn Subotnick, Barbara Thomason
• Violin - Asa Drori, Winterton Garvey, Harris Goldman, Carl LaMagna, Joy Lyle, Sandy Seemore, Haim Shtrum, Ken Yerke[5]

• 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)[5]