Earth, Wind & Fire ~ Shining Star 1975 Funky Purrfection Version

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Earth, Wind & Fire were firmly ensconced in the Rocky Mountains to record their "That's The Way Of The World" LP that was to be a companion to the film of the same name.

The film was directed by Sig Shore and was his attempt to lift the veil on the music business and starred Harvey Keitel who played an A&R man who wanted to sign "The Group" (played by EWF) instead of the family bubblegum act the executives were forcing him to sign.

EWF had just completed the recording of Ramsey Lewis's "Sun Goddess" and went to Nederland, Colorado at the Caribou Ranch just outside of Boulder. One night while Maurice went out for a midnight walk he became entranced by a shining star that stood out from the rest was inspired to write their ode to positivity "Shining Star".

By the end of 1974 EWF had amassed several soul hits and had begun making inroads on FM rock stations after they toured with Uriah Heep, Santana and Weather Report. So when "Shining Star" was released, there were many fans who were ready for it and the song topped the Hot100 then R&B and the album chart becoming the first R&B band to have the biggest selling album and the biggest selling single that same week.

The movie did not fare as well, but Maurice had protected "That's The Way Of The World" by refusing to have it promoted as the "soundtrack LP" to maintain distance from the movie and did much better than the movie. Here is a link to the information about that movie https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/thats_the_way_of_the_world

This sounded sooo electric the first time I heard it on the radio in the am getting ready for school, truly inspirational music that motivated me and made my high school years bearable...how could i be sad with the hope the band was always offering and inspired me to push on. That last part where they repeat Shining Star for you to see what your life can truly be and the last time was a capella I felt like they were right in my living room and it startled me, gave me a chill but in a good way.

I had that song stuck in my head for so long and I thought it was time to remix the remix, this time with more instrumental passages. The first effort was a true Frankensteinian effort, I was sampling certain things to help the production and new arrangement work.
Category
Funky