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Gratitude (Earth, Wind & Fire album)

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Gratitude
Live album by
Earth, Wind & Fire
ReleasedNovember 11, 1975
Studio
Genre
Length66:22
LabelColumbia/Legacy
ProducerMaurice White, Charles Stepney, Joe Wissert (Live shows)
Earth, Wind & Fire chronology
That's the Way of the World
(1975) 		Gratitude
(1975) 		Spirit
(1976)
Singles from Gratitude
  1. "Sing a Song"
    Released: November 1975
  2. "Can't Hide Love"
    Released: March 1976

Gratitude is a double live album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, issued in November 1975 by Columbia Records.[1] The album spent six weeks atop the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and three weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart.[2][3] Gratitude has also been certified Triple Platinum in the US by the RIAA.[4]

Overview

[edit]

Co-produced by Maurice White and Charles Stepney, Gratitude consists mostly live tracks together with some newly recorded songs. A 1999 reissue features two interludes together with a live medley of Serpentine Fire, Saturday Nite, Can't Hide Love and Reasons. With this said medley recorded on February 11, 1978, via CBS, at Natalie Cole's live TV variety special.[1][5]

Singles

[edit]

With the LP came "Sing a Song" which rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and No. 5 on the Hot 100 chart.[6] [7] Another single, "Can't Hide Love", got to No. 11 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart.[8] "Can't Hide Love" was also nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Arrangement For Voices.[9]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Village Voice(B)[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[12]
Spin(favorable)[13]
NME(favorable)[14]
DownBeat[15]
New York Times(favorable)[16]
Uncut[17]
Chicago Tribune(favorable)[18]
Pittsburgh Post Gazette(favorable)[19]

With a four out of five star review Kit Aiken of Uncut called Gratitude "a kicking live album".[17] DownBeat also gave a three out of five stars rating, saying "Gratitude is excellent filler".[15] Henry Edwards of the New York Times said "All of the music is carefully tooled, zestfully polished, relentlessly good‐natured rhythmic dance music, an amalgam of rhythm‐and‐blues, jazz and middle‐of‐the‐road pop that the group gleefully shouts, croons, squeals and growls. There's showmanship galore here, but strip that showmanship away and one discovers that Earth, Wind & Fire's music is built around one persistently repeated chord‐and not the world's most interesting chord either."[16] Will Smith of the Omaha World Herald scribed "Gratitude by Earth, Wind & Fire has the soul that so many so-called soul groups lack. The nine-man group manages to keep the interest level high on this two-record set with the inclusion of jazz tinges."[20] Alex Henderson of Allmusic, in a 4.5 out of 5 star review found that "Gratitude is one of EWF's finest accomplishments."[10]

Cliff White of NME called Gratitude "Proof at last that EWF deserve all the acclaim that's been heaped on them in the last couple of years..Now we get to hear them at their very best and it's suddenly apparent that they knock most other "progressive" black groups into a cocked hat.[14] Mike Kalina of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette claimed Gratitude "features a variety of superb rhythm and blues material with plenty of jazz overtones. The group's lyrics may not be the most innovative but they all fit perfectly into the patchwork of funk the group weaves. The musicianship of the group cannot be beat nor can the feeling that this group - my favorite in the R&B idiom - puts out."[19] Tony Green of Spin exclaimed "A frightfully accomplished funk hit machine flexing its muscles live is truly a beautiful thing. And few had as much flex-worthy musical mass as these crossover kings. The White brothers melded proto-Afrocentricism with self help optimism, filling out their sound with Jazz leanings and swelling summer breeze ballads. An album that's capable at any moment of landing an emotional killer blow."[13] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune found "an Ellingtonian fusion of styles on this live masterpiece."[18]

EWF went on to win a Rock Music Award in the category of Best Soul Album for Gratitude. The album's title track was also Grammy nominated in the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[21][9]

Track listing

[edit]

Original release

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Introduction by MC Perry Jones"Perry Jones0:21
2."Africano/Power"Larry Dunn (“Africano”), Maurice White5:56
3."Yearnin' Learnin'"Philip Bailey, Charles Stepney, Maurice White4:16
4."Devotion"Philip Bailey, Maurice White5:07
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Sun Goddess"Jon Lind, Maurice White7:41
6."Reasons"Philip Bailey, Charles Stepney, Maurice White8:23
7."Sing a Message to You"Maurice White1:19
Side three
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."Shining Star"Philip Bailey, Maurice White, Larry Dunn4:55
9."New World Symphony"Maurice White, Verdine White9:28
10."Sunshine*"Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Al McKay4:24
Side four
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Sing a Song*"Al McKay, Maurice White3:23
12."Gratitude*"Philip Bailey, Maurice White, Larry Dunn, Verdine White3:23
13."Celebrate*"Philip Bailey, Charles Stepney, Maurice White3:06
14."Can't Hide Love*"Skip Scarborough4:10

[1]

Note

  • * indicates studio recording

1999 Legacy reissue (CK 65737)

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Introduction by MC Perry Jones"Perry Jones0:21
2."Africano/Power"Larry Dunn (“Africano”), Maurice White5:56
3."Yearnin' Learnin'"Philip Bailey, Charles Stepney, M. White4:16
4."Devotion"Philip Bailey, Maurice White5:07
5."Sun Goddess"Jon Lind, Maurice White7:41
6."Reasons"Philip Bailey, Charles Stepney, Maurice White8:23
7."Sing a Message to You"Maurice White1:19
8."Shining Star"Philip Bailey, Maurice White, Larry Dunn4:55
9."New World Symphony"Maurice White, Verdine White9:28
10."Musical Interlude #1" 0:15
11."Sunshine"Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Al McKay4:24
12."Sing a Song"Al McKay, Maurice White3:23
13."Gratitude"Philip Bailey, Maurice White, Larry Dunn, Verdine White3:23
14."Celebrate"Philip Bailey, Charles Stepney, Maurice White3:06
15."Musical Interlude #2" 0:27
16."Can't Hide Love"Skip Scarborough4:10
17."Live Bonus Medley: Serpentine Fire/Saturday Nite/Can't Hide Love/Reasons"Reginald "Sonny" Burke, Verdine White, Maurice White, Al McKay, Philip Bailey, Skip Scarborough, Charles Stepney6:13

[5]

Note

  • ”Live Bonus Medley” Recorded Live on February 11, 1978, at Hollywood Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood, California for a 1978 TV Variety Special starring Natalie Cole.

Personnel

[edit]

Production

[edit]
  • Earth, Wind & Fire - arrangers (all tracks)
  • Maurice White - audio mixing, remix producer (17), original recording producer (All tracks), original album producer
  • Joe Wissert - producer (original recording - live tracks), original album producer
  • Charles Stepney - arranger (studio tracks), producer (original recording - studio tracks), original album producer
  • Leo Sacks - producer (reissue), audio mixing (17)
  • Joy Gilbert - project director
  • Richard Salvato - director, direction
  • Art Macnow - direction
  • Howard Fritzson - art direction
  • Steve Hall - mastering
  • Mark Wilder - mastering
  • Paul Klingberg - remix producer, audio mixing (17)
  • George Massenburg - recording engineer (all tracks), mixing
  • Cameron Marcarelli - assistant engineer, mixing assistant (17)
  • Shusei Nagaoka - artwork
  • Steve Newman - design
  • David Redfern - photography, inlay photography
  • Michael Cimicata - packaging manager[1][5]

Charts and certifications

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Singles

[edit]
Year Single Chart Position
1976 "Can't Hide Love" Black Singles 11
Pop Singles 39
"Sing a Song/Gratitude" Club Play Singles 1
"Sing a Song" Black Singles 1
Pop Singles 5

Certifications

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Country Award
US (RIAA) Triple Platinum[4]

Accolades

[edit]
Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Various writers United States Albums: 50 Years of Great Recordings[citation needed] 2005 *
Rickey Vincent United States Five Star Albums from "FUNK: The MUSIC, the PEOPLE, and the RHYTHM[citation needed] *
National Association of Recording Merchandisers and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame United States The Definitive 200[28] 2007 141
New Book of Rock Lists United States The 50 Best Number One Albums (1955–93)[29] 1994 *
* denotes an unranked list

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e Earth, Wind & Fire: Gratitude. Columbia Records. November 11, 1975.
  2. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Gratitude (Billboard 200)". billboard.com.
  3. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Gratitude (Top Soul Albums)". billboard.com.
  4. ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire: Gratitude". riaa.com. RIAA.
  5. ^ a b c d Earth, Wind & Fire: Gratitude (1999 Reissue). Legacy/Columbia Records. 1999.
  6. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Sing A Song (Hot Soul Songs)". billboard.com.
  7. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Sing A Song (Hot 100)". billboard.com.
  8. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Can't Hide Love (Hot Soul Songs)". billboard.com.
  9. ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire". grammy.com. The Recording Academy. 23 November 2020.
  10. ^ a b Henderson, Alex. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Gratitude". allmusic.com. Allmusic.
  11. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Gratitude". robertchristgau.com. Village Voice.
  12. ^ Earth, Wind & Fire: Gratitude. Rolling Stone Album Guide.
  13. ^ a b Green, Tony (November 2003). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Gratitude". Spin Magazine. Vol. 19, no. 11. p. 62.
  14. ^ a b White, Cliff (February 7, 1976). "Earth Wind & Fire: Gratitude" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. New Musical Express. p. 20.
  15. ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire - Gratitude" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. DownBeat. April 22, 1976. p. 30.
  16. ^ a b Edwards, Henry (December 14, 1975). "Hark! The Pop Cash Register Rings". The New York Times.
  17. ^ a b Aiken, Kit (September 1999). "Albums: Elemental journey". Uncut. No. 28. p. 86. ProQuest 1674210132.
  18. ^ a b Kot, Greg (October 26, 1997). "LEARNING FROM SCRATCH". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune.
  19. ^ a b Kalina, Mike (January 28, 1976). "Music Makers". newspapers.com. Pittsburgh Post Gazette. p. 9.
  20. ^ Smith, Will (December 12, 1975). "New Sounds". newsbank.com. Omaha World Herald.
  21. ^ "Mccartney, Ronstadt top in annual rock awards". Montreal Gazette. 1976. Retrieved December 29, 2011.
  22. ^ "Results: RPM Weekly". Library and Archives Canada. 17 July 2013.
  23. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  24. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire, TLP". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  25. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire, BLP". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  26. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1976". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  27. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1976". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  28. ^ Definitive 200 - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Archived 2008-08-01 at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ New Book of Rock Lists rocklistmusic.co.uk
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