Questlove’s stellar new documentary Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs That’s the Weight of the World) shines a long overdue spotlight on one of the greatest R&B/funk acts of all time, and the genius of bandleader Maurice White. It traces the story
from their earliest days in 1960s Chicago all the way to the present, utilizing stunning archival footage, and new interviews with the surviving band members.
But a nagging sense of déjà vu rang through my head as I watched it for the first time, as if I’d somehow seen a version of this movie before. It wasn’t until they reached the David Foster era of the 1980s that I realized I was thinking of an entirely other band: Chicago, who were the focus of their own documentary, 2016’s Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago.
At first, comparing the careers of the two groups might seem absurd. They occupied very different corners of the 1970s musical universe, Chicago was a true collective of talent while EWF was built around the vision of a single person, and the critics adored one and largely had disdain for the other. But when you dig deeper, there are so many parallels between the bands that it’s almost eerie. We can feel your skepticism, but stick with us while we break this out.
Straight From the Windy City
Chicago and Earth, Wind, & Fire, both came from the Chicago music scene of the late Sixties, drawing deep inspiration from jazz. The original lineups were both very large (11 people in EWF, seven in Chicago), and both groups eschewed the trends of the day by incorporating a horn section. A key difference is that there’s no singular Maurice White figure in Chicago. Guitarist Terry Kath, bassist/vocalist Peter Cetera, and keyboardist/singer Robert Lamm were the key creative forces in Chicago.
The Caribou Ranch Connection
Chicago manager/producer James William Guercio built the remote recording studio Caribou Ranch near the Colorado ghost town of Caribou in 1972. Chicago went there to record in an environment free of distraction in 1973, and the serene surroundings helped them craft the hits “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day,” “Just You ‘n’ Me,” and “(I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long.” At nearly the same exact time, Earth, Wind, & Fire went to Caribou Ranch to record Open Our Eyes and That’s the Way of the World. The city kids were struck by the brightness of the stars above the ranch. “We were up in the mountains, and the stars were so close, like you could reach up and just pull a star out of the sky,” White says in the EWF doc via archival footage. “That stimulated an idea to write a song called ‘Shining Star.'” It was their first Number One hit. (In the Chicago documentary, Caribou Ranch is presented more like a giant playground where they could do massive amounts of cocaine in peace.)
Ruling the Mid-1970s
Both groups reached their commercial peak at the same moment in the mid-1970s, churning out hits like “If You Leave Me Now,” “Sing a Song,” “Baby, What a Big Surprise,” “September,” and “Old Days” that were inescapable when Gerald Ford occupied the White House. These won’t all be familiar titles to millennials, but if you have clear memories of the bicentennial, you likely know them by heart.
A Reluctant Turn to Disco in 1979
At the peak of the movement in 1979, Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire both felt they had no choice but to create a disco song in order to stay relevant. EWF teamed up with the Emotions and scored a massive smash with “Boogie Wonderland. “That is our one and only offering to the disco scene,” EWF percussionist Ralph Johnson told Questlove, practically as an apology. Chicago had very similar misgiving about their disco song “Street Player,” which stiffed as a single, but found a new life in the 1990s when it was sampled by the Bucketheads. With both groups, their entire disco era is centered around a single song in 1979 with a very long afterlife.
David Foster Creates Hits, Discord
The parallels get downright bizarre when songwriter-producer David Foster enters the story of both groups at roughly the same time. And in both documentaries, he’s presented as a Faustian figure who offers them tremendous chart success at the cost of group solidarity and their musical identity. When Foster comes into the EWF story for the 1979 LP I Am, he works exclusively with Maurice White. “We played lesser and lesser roles,” says EWF singer Philip Bailey. “We were definitely like a session musician. You just come in and do your part, sing on this, sing on that…I felt unappreciated and betrayed.”
Foster himself speaks in both films, and offers no apologies for his methods. “In the studio, with the guys in the band, I was a control freak,” he told Questlove. “I never hesitated to tell anybody to play something different or to play this or you’re playing the wrong chord. The fan thing went out the window the moment the red light went on.”
Foster signed up with Chicago for 1982’s Chicago 16. And once again, he worked almost exclusively with the face of the group, Peter Cetera. “We just clicked and it became fortunate and unfortunate all at the same time,” Foster says in Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago. “We became a power couple within the group.”
That power couple created the comeback hits “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” and “You’re the Inspiration,” but this severely alienated the others, especially the horn players, and turned Cetera into such a big star that he left the band. “Peter started to feel invincible,” trumpet player Lee Loughnane says in the doc. “He started to feel empowerment.”
The Face of the Band Leaves
In 1985, strung out from the road and eager to focus on his solo career, Cetera quit Chicago. Ten years later, White left the EWF touring lineup after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. These were both devastating blows since the public saw them each as the face and voice of the groups, even though there were other very talented singes and songwriters in the bands. EWF filled the void by moving Philip Bailey to the forefront, where he’s effortlessly handled White’s vocal parts alongside his own for the past 30 years. Chicago, meanwhile, just brought in Rudy Cardenas as their fifth faux-Cetera.
A Core Unit of OGs Steer the Ship
Throughout all the years of turmoil and change, bassist Verdine White, singer Philip Bailey, and drummer Ralph Johnson have been at the center of Earth, Wind, & Fire. When fans buy a ticket, they know these three will be flying the flag. And Bailey’s voice has been a key part of the EWF sound since 1972. Chicago, meanwhile, had singer-keyboardist Robert Lamm, and the three-man horn section of Lee Loughnane, James Pankow, and Walter Parazaider from the founding in 1967 until 2018. Lamm was essentially the Bailey in this scenario since he sang many of the classics, and his presence gave the group a real sense of legitimacy. But over the past six years, Parazaider, Pankow, and Lamm left the group for health reasons — Parazaider died this month at 81 — leaving Loughnane as the last legit member. That means they are now one trumpet player short of being their own tribute band.
Hitting the Road, Often Together
In the 1990s, both EWF and Chicago found it impossible to land new songs on the radio or fill large venues on their own. They relied heavily on the summer amphitheater circuit to sell tickets, and usually shared the bill with another act. In 2004, they finally toured together. It was such a huge success they went back out in 2005, 2009, 2015, 2016, and 2024. For their fans, it’s an irresistible double bill packed with horns, vintage R&B jams, Number One hits cooked up at Caribou Ranch, David Foster ballads, even more horns, and priceless memories from the Seventies. And they often came together for a super jam extended encore where they toggled between hits like “25 or 6 to 4” and “Shining Star” as if they were always one big group.
Click here to read the full article.
