The Career of Earth, Wind & Fire Quiz

Answer: The astrological elements affecting the band leader's zodiac sign

Band leader and founder, Maurice White, was born on December 19th, which made him a Sagittarius. White knew his sign's main elemental influence was Fire, with minor influences of Earth and Air. He decided to do a riff on this zodiac theme, and liking the sound of "Wind" more than "Air", he came up with "Earth, Wind & Fire". (This also explains why he left out the fourth element, "Water").

The band also goes by the initials EWF.

Answer: True

The band was originally called "The Salty Peppers", when it consisted of Maurice White, Don Whitehead and Wade Flemons as musicians and songwriters in the city of Chicago. "La La Time" and "Uh Huh Yeah" were two of the band's early songs, which achieved only moderate success. Under Maurice White's continued leadership, the band underwent a transformation and moved to Los Angeles, adding new members, Sherry Scott, Yackov Ben Israel, Verdine White (Maurice's brother) and Donny Hathaway.

It was then that Maurice White decided to change the name of this new version of the group to "Earth, Wind & Fire". Finally, White added more new talent to the transformed band: Michael Beale, Chester Washington, Leslie Drayton, and Alex Thomas.

Many different talents have come and gone since then over the years.

Answer: Sub-Saharan Africa

The kalimba belongs to the bar percussion family, and though it is known as a thumb piano, it can be played by using other fingers as well. Original versions of this instrument had keys made of bamboo. Over the years, these have been replaced by metal strips.

The kalimba was played by the founder of the group, Maurice White, who also established a production company called "Kalimba Productions" in 1975.

Answer: Earth Wind and Fire

The self-titled first album initially actually did omit the "and" in the title, but it eventually was released only without the customary comma punctuation between the elements of the group's name. It came out in February 1971 in the US, to critical acclaim. EWT followed that LP with "The Need of Love", which was also well-received and had a US R&B top-40 hit, "I Think About Lovin' You". Nevertheless, the band hadn't set the public on fire yet, despite their name change. Earth, Wind & Fire did record the soundtrack for the Indy film, "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasss Song" in 1971, but it was not their first effort.

Answer: Caribou Ranch Studio (Colorado)

The Caribou Ranch Studio was situated in the small town of Nederland, Colorado. The Caribou Ranch Studio in Colorado was initially a ranch in the Rocky Mountains. Joe William Guercio opened the recording studio on the site in 1972. Various artists recorded at Caribou studio, including The Beach Boys, Sheena Easton, Elton John, Amy Grant, Supertramp and U2, to name just a few and not in any particular order. A fire destroyed most of the studio in 1985, and the facilities were not rebuilt.

Abbey Road is famous for producing the albums by The Beatles. West Grand Boulevard is the original location of Motown Records, with artists such as The Supremes, The Four Tops, The Jackson Five and Marvin Gaye. Decca was an old recording company, dating back to the age of the crooners. Its Pythian Temple Studio in New York produced several rock hits, such as "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and the Comets, and was in use until the late 1950s.

Answer: Shining Star

"Shining Star" featured on the album "That's the Way of the World" and was the first major hit for Earth, Wind & Fire. It reached the number-one spot on both the U.S. Hot 100 and R&B charts. The group went on to win two more Grammy awards in the 1970s with the singles "Got to Get You into my Life" and "After the Love Has Gone", both were for "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals".

Answer: Ballads

Earth, Wind & Fire frequently published compilation albums, mostly avoiding the use of obvious titles for this type of collection, like "The Best of..."
In 1996, Columbia Records published Earth, Wind & Fire's "Elements of Love: Ballads", including the tracks "Keep Your Head to the Sky", the Brazilian themed "Punta Areia", "Spirit" (a tribute to the band's producer Charles Stepney, who died in 1976), and the Grammy-winning "After the Love Has Gone".

Answer: He had contracted Parkinson's disease

White did not announce his health problems publicly until 1999, when he confirmed that he had been suffering from Parkinson's since the late 1980s. Thankfully, he had been able to keep the symptoms largely under control, and continued to contribute creatively to EWF, even taking part in public appearances and ceremonies honoring the band through the early 2010s.

Answer: Mary J. Blige

The album featured some of the group's biggest hits. The cover versions of "That's the Way of the World" by Dwele and "Fantasy" by Meshell Ndegeocello were nominated for Grammys for the Best Urban and Best Alternative Performance respectively. Chaka Khan, Angie Stone and Kirk Franklin covered "Shining Star", "Be Ever Wonderful" and "September" respectively for the tribute album. Mary J. Blige did not appear on the album.

Answer: Bill Clinton and Barack Obama

The appearances were for a State Dinner offered by Bill Clinton to honor delegates from Morocco in June 2000 and a Governor's Ball in 2009. EWF gave its 40th anniversary world tour in 2011, featuring three of the founding members. Though the tour was called "World" tour, it included only cities in the US.