Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire were kindred spirits even before they began touring together, periodically, in 2004. Both hail from the Windy City and fused elements of the jazz, R&B and rock that was in the air into their respective sounds — different in direction but certainly similar in spirit. The live shows have certainly proven that, with genuinely galvanizing moments when the two troupes join forces to create a brassy musical monster playing each other’s songs. So it’s not surprising the members of Chicago — which hits the road again with EWF for a 15-date run starting March 23 in Jacksonville, Fla. — feels their friends’ pain over Thursday’s passing of Maurice White. Keyboardist-vocalist Robert Lamm shared his thoughts with Billboard:
I may have met him earlier than I remember, ’cause I don’t remember everything, but when the two bands were getting together in 2004 to go out and tour for the first time together Maurice came to rehearsals, which were lengthy, a few weeks in California. I just walked over to him and I said, “Maurice, I’m Robert. First of all, may I give you a hug?” And he was a little shocked but I just needed to do that, just because I felt really, like, a lot of gratitude and a lot of love for the guy based on his music and the spirit of what you get when you listen to Earth, Wind & Fire, what we always got from the first time we listened to them.
Earth, Wind & Fire Co-Founder Maurice White Dies at 74
The first time I actually got into it was when our band was recording at Caribou Ranch (in Colorado) and I think Earth, Wind & Fire was contemplating coming up to record there, and I listened to “That’s The Way of the World” and it just blew my mind, the depths of that pocket, of that groove. It was just otherworldly. I always thought (White) was a genius. HIs concept, taking basically an R&B band and making it much more interesting and much more sophisticated, kind of hidden behind the “Let’s all have fun and dance,” was brilliant. I think the music was much more interesting than what most R&B was at the time, in the ’70s. I just think it was sort of revolutionary in that genre.
I know (Chicago trombonist) Jimmy Pankow, when he was a teenager and just starting to play, he went to see Ramsey Lewis somewhere in Chicago and Maurice was the drummer. And Jimmy told him that story, “Hey, I saw you when you were with Ramsey” and that kind of blew Maurice’s mind to even think that we had some awareness of him way back when.
I’ve had the unique experience of touring with Earth, Wind & Fire and standing on the stage with the guys and actually singing some of Maurice’s songs, and it’s totally fun. I feel so honored to do it. He’s kind of like a great spirit, in a way. It’s kind of like an orchestra playing Mozart; the spirit of Mozart hangs over every performance, I’m sure, with a damn good orchestra, and I think the same with Earth, Wind & Fire. His presence was the songs and they way they’re rendered, still.
— As told to Gary Graff