Earth, Wind, & Fire “Faces”

[Dr. Cheese]

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kHHeIQmyUetXv98T1bX00gQ8t7gSp6mCY

This is an interesting album. It was released in 1980 and broke EWF's streak of platinum albums. It would go gold, however. I remember hearing it in college and thinking I did not hear a sure fire hit on it. That said, I have listened to it a few nights in a row, and it may be one of the best produced albums I have ever heard. The horn arrangements are incredible. All of the instruments are so clear. Maurice White and Phillip Bailey are at the top of their game as vocalists. Finally, I absolutely love they way Verdine White sounds on Faces. His tone with that Jazz Bass is one of my all time favorites. He favors the bridge, but he still has lots of bottom. It makes me think of my American Geddy Lee, too bad I cannot do justice to Verdine with it. He is mixed prominently, but not excessively. Dude is also tight and totally locked with the groove. Although Faces did not produce classic hits, Verdine's bass work here is perfection, in my opinion.

 

[FilterFunk]

I remember loving the single "Let Me Talk." I don't know why I never bought the album. I'm going to listen to the whole thing on YouTube; thanks for the link!

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I remember loving the single "Let Me Talk." I don't know why I never bought the album. I'm going to listen to the whole thing on YouTube; thanks for the link!

It's a double album, so really listening is a deep dive.​

 

[FilterFunk]

It's a double album, so really listening is a deep dive.​

I'll make time for EWF!

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Looking back 42 years, Faces was really the peak of the slick, Afro-Latin influenced Funk that made EWF one of the world's biggest bands. The year before Faces, Sugar Hill Gang scored with Rapper's Delight, the first Rap track to become a major hit. By 1982, sequencers, drum machines, and synthesizers, drastically scaled down the number of humans playing music on recordings (it almost wiped out bass guitars for a while.) Change was in the air even if we did not know it yet.

 

[Rich Fiscus]

26475858[/URL], member: 39659"]Looking back 42 years, Faces was really the peak of the slick, Afro-Latin influenced Funk that made EWF one of the world's biggest bands. The year before Faces, Sugar Hill Gang scored with Rapper's Delight, the first Rap track to become a major hit. By 1982, sequencers, drum machines, and synthesizers, drastically scaled down the number of humans playing music on recordings (it almost wiped out bass guitars for a while.) Change was in the air even if we did not know it yet.

I always felt like EWF had more of a jazz feel to their arrangements that really set them apart from their contemporaries. That's not terribly surprising, since Maurice White and Louis Satterfield had a jazz combo before becoming Chess session musicians. Satterfield became a monster bass player, who Verdine White has said taught him everything he knows. His playing with Muddy Waters on Electric Mud was a huge influence on John Paul Jones. A lot of Muddy Waters fans and blues purists hate it, but whether it's good or bad Muddy Waters, it's a fantastic band, and Satterfield was all kinds of funky on bass.

I'm not sure he got any work on trombone until the spot eventually opened up in EWF.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I always felt like EWF had more of a jazz feel to their arrangements that really set them apart from their contemporaries. That's not terribly surprising, since Maurice White and Louis Satterfield had a jazz combo before becoming Chess session musicians. Satterfield became a monster bass player, who Verdine White has said taught him everything he knows. His playing with Muddy Waters on Electric Mud was a huge influence on John Paul Jones. A lot of Muddy Waters fans and blues purists hate it, but whether it's good or bad Muddy Waters, it's a fantastic band, and Satterfield was all kinds of funky on bass.

I'm not sure he got any work on trombone until the spot eventually opened up in EWF.

Of course, Maurice White got his first big break with the Ramsey Lewis trio. The Jazz roots of EWF are deep, but Latin influence in their music is very profound too. Check these out:

 

[Rich Fiscus]

Of course, Maurice White got his first big break with the Ramsey Lewis trio. The Jazz roots of EWF are deep, but Latin influence in their music is very profound too. Check these out:

Oh there's definitely a Latin feel. It's just got a really jazzy groove most of the time.

Also I'm enjoying Faces. I downloaded it from Apple Music and I've listened to half of it so far.

 

[jerry]

As it happens a lot of the times a thread here makes me re-visit an album I've neglected for too long a time. Excellent choice Cheese and Al McKay's rhythm work still is some of my favorite guitar playing ever.
I have a fever and it calls for more Kalimba!

 

[JimK]

Pretty sure I bought the LP...still at my mom's house. Probably 40 years since I played it. I kinda recall I wasn't a fan of this. Not for a lack of "hits". Just something wasn't there? I need to revisit.
Powerlight was the last EWF album I bought...except for those earliest ones that I missed out on when they were released.