The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire

The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire is a compilation album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire issued in July 2002 by Columbia/Legacy. The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire has been certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.^[2][3]

The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire
Greatest hits album by Earth, Wind & Fire
Released	July 30, 2002
Recorded	1973–1983
Genre	R&B pop-soul[1]
Label	Columbia/Legacy
Producer	Maurice White, Al McKay, Charles Stepney, Joseph Wissert, Leo Sacks
Earth, Wind & Fire chronology
That's the Way of the World: Alive in 75 (2002) The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire (2002) Live in Rio (2002)

Overview

With the LP came a sampler which featured remixes of Can't Hide Love and Let's Groove. During October 2002 the remix sampler was issued as a single and got to No. 4 on the UK Dance Singles Chart.^[4][5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Blender	[7]
PopMatters	(favourable)[8]
Newsday	(favourable)[9]
SoulTracks	(favourable)[10]

Mark Anthony Neal of PopMatters proclaimed "The Essential Earth, Wind, and Fire, chronicles the best music of arguably the most popular R&B/soul band of the last three decades."^[8] Barry Walters of Blender, who gave a four out of five star rating, opined "the 34 tracks on The Essential encompass these funky spiritualists’ many sides, from preachy (“All About Love”) to sensual (“Can’t Hide Love”) to ecstatic (“Boogie Wonderland”)."^[7] With a 4.5 out of 5 star rating Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote "The single-disc Greatest Hits remains the choice for the casual and the curious listener due to its concise concentration of classics, but anybody who wants a thorough retrospective should choose this."^[6] Howard Dukes of SoulTracks also called the album "a collection that will definitely get the party started".^[10]

Track listing

Disc 1

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Originally from	Length
1.	"Mighty Mighty"	Maurice White, Verdine White	Open Our Eyes, 1974	3:02
2.	"Evil"	M. White	Head to the Sky, 1973	4:56
3.	"Devotion"	Philip Bailey, M. White	Open Our Eyes	4:49
4.	"Keep Your Head to the Sky"	M. White	Head to the Sky	5:09
5.	"Kalimba Story"	M. White, V. White	Open Our Eyes	4:01
6.	"Shining Star"	Bailey, Larry Dunn, M. White	That's the Way of the World, 1975	2:50
7.	"That's the Way of the World"	Charles Stepney, M. White, V. White	That's the Way of the World	5:45
8.	"Yearnin' Learnin'"	Bailey, Stepney, M. White	That's the Way of the World	3:39
9.	"All About Love"	Dunn, M. White	That's the Way of the World	5:30
10.	"Reasons"	Bailey, Stepney, M. White	That's the Way of the World	4:58
11.	"Sing a Song"	Al McKay, M. White	Gratitude, 1975	3:23
12.	"Can't Hide Love"	Skip Scarborough	Gratitude	4:09
13.	"Getaway"	Peter Cor, Beloyd Taylor	Spirit, 1976	3:45
14.	"Saturday Nite"	Bailey, McKay, M. White	Spirit	4:03
15.	"Ponta de Areia (Brazilian Rhyme)/Be Ever Wonderful"	Dunn, Milton Nascimento, M. White	All 'n All, 1977	6:00
16.	"Open Our Eyes"	Leon Lumkins	Open Our Eyes	5:03
17.	"Got to Get You into My Life"	John Lennon, Paul McCartney	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978	4:03

Disc 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Originally from	Length
1.	"September"	McKay, M. White, Allee Willis	The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1	3:35
2.	"Serpentine Fire"	Sonny Burke, M. White, V. White	All 'n All	3:50
3.	"Fantasy"	Eduardo DelBarrio, M. White, V. White	All 'n All	4:36
4.	"I'll Write a Song for You"	Bailey, Steve Beckmeier, McKay	All 'n All	5:22
5.	"Drum Song"	M. White	Open Our Eyes	5:09
6.	"In the Stone"	M. White, David Foster, Willis	I Am, 1979	4:25
7.	"Can't Let Go"	Bill Myers, M. White, Willis	I Am	3:28
8.	"After the Love Has Gone"	Bill Champlin, David Foster, Jay Graydon	I Am	4:25
9.	"Wait"	Foster, M. White, Willis	I Am	3:39
10.	"You and I"	Foster, M. White, Willis	I Am	3:31
11.	"Let Me Talk"	Bailey, Dunn, Ralph Johnson, McKay, M. White, V. White	Faces, 1980	4:08
12.	"And Love Goes On"	Dunn, Foster, Brenda Russell, M. White, V. White	Faces	4:04
13.	"You"	Foster, Russell, M. White	Faces	5:30
14.	"Let's Groove"	Wayne Vaughn, M. White	Raise!, 1981	5:32
15.	"Fall In Love With Me"	Wanda Vaughn, Wayne Vaughn, M. White	Powerlight, 1983	5:49
16.	"Side by Side"	Wayne Vaughn, M. White	Powerlight	5:31
17.	"Boogie Wonderland" (with The Emotions)	Jon Lind, Willis	I Am	4:48

Disc 3 - from Limited Edition 3.0 (2008)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Originally from	Length
1.	"Sun Goddess"	M. White, Lind	Gratitude	7:41
2.	"Celebrate"	M. White, Bailey, Stepney	Gratitude	3:06
3.	"Spirit"	M. White, Dunn	Spirit	3:12
4.	"On Your Face"	M. White, Stepney, Bailey	Spirit	4:33
5.	"Imagination"	M. White, Stepney, Bailey	Spirit	5:16
6.	"Runnin'"	M. White, Dunn, del Barrio	All 'n All	5:51
7.	"Jupiter"	M. White, V. White, Dunn, Bailey	All 'n All	3:11
8.	"System of Survival"	"Skylark"	Touch the World	5:01

2014 reissue

Disc 1

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Originally from	Length
1.	"Mighty Mighty"	M. White, V. White	Open Our Eyes	3:03
2.	"Devotion"	Bailey, M. White	Open Our Eyes	4:50
3.	"Keep Your Head to the Sky"	M. White	Head to the Sky	5:10
4.	"Kalimba Story"	M. White, V. White	Open Our Eyes	4:02
5.	"Shining Star"	Bailey, Dunn, M. White	That's the Way of the World	2:50
6.	"That's the Way of the World"	Stepney, M. White, V. White	That's the Way of the World	5:47
7.	"Reasons"	Bailey, Stepney, M. White	That's the Way of the World	4:59
8.	"Sing a Song"	McKay, M. White	Gratitude	3:24
9.	"Can't Hide Love"	Scarborough	Gratitude	4:11
10.	"Getaway"	Cor, Taylor	Spirit	3:45
11.	"On Your Face"	Bailey, Stepney, M. White	Spirit	4:34
12.	"Saturday Nite"	Bailey, McKay, M. White	Spirit	4:01
13.	"Got to Get You into My Life"	Lennon, McCartney	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	4:03
14.	"September"	McKay, M. White, Willis	The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1	3:35
15.	"Serpentine Fire"	Burke, M. White, V. White	All 'n All	3:51
16.	"Fantasy"	DelBarrio, M. White, V. White	All 'n All	4:38
17.	"I'll Write a Song for You"	Bailey, Beckmeier, McKay	All 'n All	5:24
18.	"Drum Song"	M. White	Open Our Eyes	5:09

Disc 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Originally from	Length
1.	"Boogie Wonderland" (with The Emotions)	Lind, Willis	I Am	4:49
2.	"In the Stone"	M. White, Foster, Willis	I Am	4:25
3.	"Can't Let Go"	Myers, M. White, Willis	I Am	3:29
4.	"After the Love Has Gone"	Champlin, Foster, Graydon	I Am	4:39
5.	"You and I"	Foster, M. White, Willis	I Am	3:33
6.	"Let Me Talk"	Bailey, Dunn, Johnson, McKay, M. White, V. White	Faces	4:08
7.	"And Love Goes On"	Dunn, Foster, Russell, M. White, V. White	Faces	4:05
8.	"You"	Foster, Russell, M. White	Faces	5:31
9.	"Let's Groove"	Wayne Vaughn, M. White	Raise!	5:39
10.	"Fall in Love with Me"	Wanda Vaughn, Wayne Vaughn, M. White	Powerlight	5:52
11.	"Magnetic"	Martin Page	Electric Universe, 1983	4:22
12.	"Dance Dance Dance"	Taylor, M. White	Rock & Rule soundtrack, 1986; released as a digital single in 2012	3:13
13.	"System of Survival"	"Skylark"	Touch the World, 1987	5:00
14.	"Sunday Morning (Radio Mix)"	Sheldon Reynolds, M. White, Willis	Millennium, 1993	4:12
15.	"Pure Gold"	Bobby Avila, Issiah Avila, Tony Tolbert, James Harris III, Terry Lewis	Illumination, 2005	4:41
16.	"The Way You Move"	Patrick Brown, Carlton Mahone, Antwan Patton	Illumination	4:17
17.	"My Promise"	Siedah Garrett, Austin Jacobs, Darrin Simpson	Now, Then & Forever, 2013	3:22

Personnel

• Maurice White – vocals, kalimba, timbales, drums, producer, compilation producer
• Verdine White – vocals, bass, percussion
• Philip Bailey – vocals, congas, percussion
• Larry Dunn – piano, organ, synthesizer, programming
• Ken Yerke – violin
• Harris Goldman – violin
• Rollice Dale – viola
• Dennis Karmazyn – cello
• Harry Schultz – cello
• Fred Jackson Jr. – saxophone
• Herman Riley – saxophone
• Jerome Richardson – saxophone
• Tommy Johnson – tuba
• Harvey Mason – percussion
• Paulinho Da Costa – percussion
• Beloyd Taylor – background vocals
• Joe Wissert – producer
• Charles Stepney – producer
• Al McKay – producer
• Leo Sacks – compilation producer^[2]

Accolades

The following accolades attributed to The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire.^[11]

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Blender	U.S.	500 CDs You Must Own: Rhythm & Blues	2003	Alphabetical order