This concert is from 1998, well past their prime years, but key members like Maurice White (lead singer and main songwriter) and Philip Bailey (the other lead singer) were still in the band. I'm not sure of White's role here though. Around 1996, White started showing signs of Parkinson's Disease, and only sometimes performed in concerts with the band. Perhaps someone more familiar with his voice can say whether he's singing here or not. White remained involved with the band until he passed away in 2016 at the age of 74.
The band issued a new album in 1997. But you wouldn't know it from this concert. Pretty much all the songs are hits from the band's best selling years in the 1970s and early 1980s. (By the way, if anyone knows the title of the track 6 instrumental, please let me know so I can add in that info.)
The music here is unreleased (although some grey market releases of this have emerged). The sound quality is excellent.
This album is 57 minutes long. It seems it was tightly edited by the BBC to fit just under one hour, to make an hour-long radio show time slot. There's virtually no banter or wasted time between songs.
01 September (Earth, Wind & Fire)
02 Shining Star (Earth, Wind & Fire)
03 Can't Hide Love (Earth, Wind & Fire)
04 Sun Goddess (Earth, Wind & Fire)
05 In the Stone (Earth, Wind & Fire)
06 Instrumental (Earth, Wind & Fire)
07 talk (Earth, Wind & Fire)
08 That's the Way of the World (Earth, Wind & Fire)
09 I'll Write a Song for You (Earth, Wind & Fire)
10 After the Love Has Gone (Earth, Wind & Fire)
11 Sing a Song (Earth, Wind & Fire)
12 Getaway (Earth, Wind & Fire)
13 Boogie Wonderland (Earth, Wind & Fire)
14 Fantasy (Earth, Wind & Fire)
15 Let's Groove (Earth, Wind & Fire)
https://pixeldrain.com/u/BJovCvYf
alternate:
https://bestfile.io/en/user/files/k4E1wdoCTbVHIWL/edit
The cover photo is from a concert in Berlin some time in 1998.
Thanks, I've gotta check this one out!! After loving 'the elements' since 1975, I finally got to see them here in Vegas in 2023! Then I caught their annual residency twice in 2024, and I'll be at one of their local (for me) shows in October. Yes they have only 3 original members now, but the show is still great and the party is still bumping. I'm hoping you will be able to post more EW&F in the future. Thanks again, G.
ReplyDeleteI have a 1981 show from them I plan on posting as well.
DeleteThat's great. Thanks, Paul. I listened to the instrumental track and I don't recognize it as an EWF song, so it's just a percussion jam/interlude.
DeleteRegarding the download, bestfile asked for a login, which was odd, so I got it via pixeldrain. Thanks again!
EWF played the same interlude in Montreux 1998; the DVD "Live At Montreux" has the title "Solo Percussion (Daahoud)". Daahoud is an instrumental by Clifford Brown and Max Roach Quintet from 1954, however EWF's interlude is mainly percussions, very little of the original melody.
DeleteThanks for that info Timo, I was wondering what Daahoud meant, as written on the song list of the DVD.
Delete1997/1998 was a very interesting time for EW&F since they performed with two dancers on stage. For me it detracted from the music; visually they seemed to be overly polished and choreographed. But the music is wonderful, as always.
I would also affirm the prior comment about E, W & F in their more recent years as demonstrated with the Grammy Tribute show- the musicianship was stellar.
ReplyDeleteinteresting........The song Reasons is not on this one........Still great though
ReplyDeleteShould the song Reasons be there? Was it played in that show?
DeleteI listened to all of the songs and no, Reasons wasn't played in what you posted. I think it was just surprise that the song wasn't part of this boot, since they seem to always play it live.
DeleteI did see (or hear) that before Sun Goddess, there's 1:48 minutes of one of the guitarists playing a short solo version of Voodoo Chile by Hendrix. That part could be separated from the main part of the song, but only if you feel that's necessary.
Getaway includes a bass solo by Verdine White, which also may have been a dual bass solo with Verdine and Morris Pleasure. At least that's what happened in Montreaux 1998 DVD.
Anyway, thanks so much for this great boot!
Thanks for the info. But does anyone know if Maurice White was at this exact show? Can you hear his voice or not?
DeleteI couldn't tell if Maurice was at this exact show, by listening to the tracks. However, the Live at Montreux 1997 DVD, which includes 7 bonus tracks from that venue in 1998, does not credit Maurice as performing with the band and he is not pictured in any of the photos. Also, I did not see him on stage when I watched the full DVD last night. It appears that he was not regularly touring with the band at this time; particularly on international tours, I would guess.
Delete