Earth, Wind & Fire hit the music scene like a true force of nature in the early 1970s, combining RnB, funk, jazz, and pop with spectacular stage shows to become one of the most successful crossover bands ever. Locking the progressive songwriting, soaring vocals, and syncopated horns in place was Chicago-born bassist Verdine White.
Classically trained on upright, White also combined the jazz influence of his older brother – EWF founder Maurice White – and five years of bass guitar lessons with Chess Records session man Louis Satterfield to create his own melodically hip, rhythmically sound style.
“Back then, I just wanted to hear bass, bass, bass!” White told Bass Player. “But once I realized the song was king, I didn’t worry so much about the bass notes. My playing became more focused and melodic.
“I thought Energy, from our second album, was a real breakthrough song for me, even though it was a 10-minute avant-funk jam.”
For the November 2005 issue of Bass Player, White sat down to discuss his top five Earth Wind & Fire basslines, ranging from a fill-at-will Beatles cover to a dancefloor anthem.
1. Shining Star (That's the Way of the World, 1975)
“Shining Star was straight from the minds of Maurice, Philip Bailey, and Larry Dunn. I suggested a second bass part that sort of answered the vocals; the inspiration came from Stanley Clarke's School Days, which had just come out. I was also experimenting with octaves and 10ths, played with my thumb and index finger, and I got to use that in the hook.”
2. Can't Hide Love (Gratitude, 1975)
“Can't Hide Love was the genius of the late, great producer Charles Stepney. Had he lived longer, he would have been the next Quincy Jones. Charles gave me the opening chromatic lick from Bb to F, which I played in the 1st position on the A and D strings, with an open D in there. Then he told me to come up with the rest of the part myself, so I just followed the changes.
“When we performed the tune live years later, I was playing the opening wrong, so I had to go back and relearn it from the record.”
3. Got to Get You Into My Life (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978)
“We got a call from George Martin to do the song for the Sgt. Pepper movie, so we went to Sam Goody’s on the way to the airport and got the sheet music. Maurice came up with the concept of doing it as a Chicago-style shuffle on the plane. It's still one of the biggest tunes in our shows.
“We recorded in a small, funky studio in Denver, in a day; Ralph Johnson played drums. The session was loose, and you can hear me freeing up and adding things as the track goes along. Will Lee always tells me it's his favorite track.”
4. Fantasy (All 'n All, 1977)
“Fantasy is one of my favorite basslines. I don't know how I came up with it; doing the session was like floating in space. We cut it first with just Maurice on drums, myself, and Larry Dunn on keyboards; it was such a complicated song we couldn't do it with a lot of people.
“That whole album was probably the hardest and most intense we've ever done; it was our first without Charles Stepney and, consequently, the one where we all grew up a great deal.”
5. Boogie Wonderland (I Am, 1979)
“Boogie Wonderland was cut in the middle of the I Am album. We had from noon to 6pm on a Saturday to record it, but we had been in the studio all night Friday working on another song, so by the time we returned and got ready to go on Saturday, it was 5pm!
“Somehow we were able to come up with our parts and finish the track in an hour. In the middle of one of the verses you can hear me going up instead of down; I had gotten lost and was trying to find my place again!”
