Earth Wind & Fire - Spirit - 180g LP

Product no.: PC34241

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Earth Wind & Fire - Spirit - 180g LP
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AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head

Speakers Corner / Columbia - PC 34241 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl - 

AAA 100% Analogue - Limited Edition

Audiophile Mastering - Pressed at Pallas Germany

 Speakers Corner 30 Years pure Analogue

Mastering is excellent, beautifully pressed on quiet vinyl, the mastering is tonally balanced with strong bass never blooming or masking the fine detail. Midrange is focused but never bright while compression is absent, giving the music a warmly organic presentation. TheAudiophileMan

With That's the Way of the World having enjoyed multi-platinum success, Earth, Wind & Fire had a lot to live up to when the time came for another studio project. And the soul powerhouse didn't let anyone down (either commercially or creatively) on the outstanding Spirit, which boasted hits ranging from the optimistic "On Your Face" and the passionate funk classic "Getaway" to the poetic ballad "Imagination." Philip Bailey is as charismatic as ever on "Imagination" and the gorgeous title song. Maurice White's message and vision (an interesting blend of Afro-American Christianity and Eastern philosophy) was as positive and uplifting as ever, and as always, EWF expressed this positivity without being Pollyanna-ish or corny. And even if one didn't take EWF's calls for unity, hard work, self-respect, and faith in God to heart, they had no problem with their solid grooves.

The wise saying "spiritus ubi vult spirat" ("the spirit blows where it wills") is interpreted by Earth, Wind & Fire with impressive clarity. Gentle sounds and modest gestures are foreign to the colorful Afro group, who in their live performances welded together ancient Egyptian Pharaonic mysticism with urban street life. That this spirit, which is found in the LP title and blows all the way through it, was guaranteed not only by the exuberant wind section in the group’s early years. With regard to rhythm, too, the band rolls out almost everything to pave the floor with powerful disco patterns, not forgetting the elegant and finely controlled falsetto, which adds further pep. Out of all this came the highly cultivated and expressive vocals as in "Imagine", carefully balanced ballads ("Burnin’ Bush"), as well as a powerful sound that is so good for dancing to, as in the memorable number "Saturday Nite". An extremely wide range of musical genres was brought together by Earth, Wind & Fire in a big-band sound that is "innovative yet popular, precise yet sensual, calculated yet galvanizing" - Rolling Stone 

There’s a lot of people out there who, when they here the word ‘funk’ lose interest. For many people, funk can be a bit niche in musical terms, some see it as being a sort of nerdy version of soul and R&B. Full of life, showmanship and groove, sure, but also offering little in general melodic terms and maybe there’s a few questions to be answered in terms of songwriting quality or even broad appeal. Yet, for those people who scrunch up their nose to funk, they will gladly spend a lot of time listening to Earth, Wind & Fire…a funk band. So what’s so special about EW&F?   Their musical professionalism, melodic creativity and the sheer innovation in terms of arrangement stand head and shoulders over many of their colleagues in the funk genre. The fact the the band enjoys folding in other genres into their songs, such as jazz, smooth soul, gospel, pop, rock, psychedelia, blues, folk, African music and disco helps too. There’s also a sparkling showmanship, a skill with a ballad and a mystical edge, a sort of spiritual underlying theme to all of their music. At their best EW&F were truly and eye poppingly spectacular.

To get to this point, the band had just release a soundtrack That’s the Way of the World, a self-penned LP. While the film bombed this LP scored. The cash from its success allowed EW&F to build its spectacular live show and establish its famed brass section, the Phoenix Horns. Also Maurice White took over the arranging after long-term group member, Charles Stepney, who tragically died of a heart attack.   Spirit, which played on the band’s positive and uplifting quasi-religious, mystical bent, featured a host of excellent songs such as On Your Face, Getaway and the poetic ballad Imagination. The band were on top form, especially Philip Bailey’s excellent vocal performance.

Mastering is excellent, beautifully pressed on quiet vinyl, the mastering is tonally balanced with strong bass never blooming or masking the fine detail. Midrange is focused but never bright while compression is absent, giving the music a warmly organic presentation.

Recorded At – Wally Heider Recording Studio,  The Burbank Studios ,– Hollywood Sound Recorders
Bass Trombone – Lew McCreary
Cello – Dennis Karmazyn, Harry Shlutz, Marie Fera, Ronald Cooper
Drums, Percussion – Fred White, Ralph Johnson
French Horn – Art Maebe, David Duke, Marilyn Robinson, Sidney Muldrow
Guitar – Johnny Graham
Guitar, Percussion – Al McKay
Harp – Dorothy Ashby
Percussion – Harvey Mason
Piano – Jerry Peters
Piano, Organ, Synthesizer  – Larry Dunn
Producer – Charles Stepney
Producer, Vocals, – Maurice White
Saxophone – Don Myrick
Saxophone, Percussion – Andrew Woolfolk
Trombone – Charles Loper, George Bohanon, Louis Satterfield
Trumpet – Chuck Findley, Michael Harris, Oscar Brashear, Steve Madaio
Tuba – Tommy Johnson
Viola – Barbara Thomason, David Campbell, Denyse Buffum, James Dunham, Linn Subotnick
Violin – Assa Drori, Carl LaMagna, Haim Shtrum, Harris Goldman, Joy Lyle, Kenneth Yerke
Vocals, Bass, Percussion – Verdine White
Vocals, Congas, Percussion – Philip Bailey
    1. Getaway

    2. On Your Face
    3. Imagination
    4. Spirit
    5. Saturday Nite
    6. Earth, Wind & Fire
    7. Departure
    8. Biyo
    9. Burnin' Bush

Earth\u0020Wind\u0020\u0026amp\u003B\u0020Fire\u0020\u002D\u0020Spirit\u0020\u002D\u0020180g\u0020LP

                               
25 Years pure Analogue
This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head
 
Are your records completely analogue?
Yes! This we guarantee!
As a matter of principle, only analogue masters are used, and the necessary cutting delay is also analogue. All our cutting engineers use only Neumann cutting consoles, and these too are analogue. The only exception is where a recording has been made – either partly or entirely – using digital technology, but we do not have such items in our catalogue at the present time
 
Are your records cut from the original masters?
In our re-releases it is our aim to faithfully reproduce the original intentions of the musicians and recording engineers which, however, could not be realised at the time due to technical limitations. Faithfulness to the original is our top priority, not the interpretation of the original: there is no such thing as a “Speakers Corner Sound”. Naturally, the best results are obtained when the original master is used. Therefore we always try to locate these and use them for cutting. Should this not be possible, – because the original tape is defective or has disappeared, for example – we do accept a first-generation copy. But this remains an absolute exception for us.
 
Who cuts the records?
In order to obtain the most faithful reproduction of the original, we have the lacquers cut on the spot, by engineers who, on the whole, have been dealing with such tapes for many years. Some are even cut by the very same engineer who cut the original lacquers of the first release. Over the years the following engineers have been and still are working for us: Tony Hawkins, Willem Makkee, Kevin Gray, Maarten de Boer, Scott Hull, and Ray Staff, to name but a few.
At the beginning of the ‘90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the reissue policy was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC Compact Classics, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and others, including of course Speakers Corner, all maintained a mutual, unwritten code of ethics: we would manufacture records sourced only from analogue tapes. 
 
Vinyl’s newfound popularity has led many other companies to jump on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source from which to master: CDs, LPs, digital files and even MP3s. 
 
Even some who do use an analogue tape source employ a digital delay line, a misguided ’80s and ‘90s digital technology that replaces the analogue preview head originally used to “tell” the cutter head in advance what was about to happen musically, so it could adjust the groove “pitch” (the distance between the grooves) to make room for wide dynamic swings and large low frequency excursions. Over time analogue preview heads became more rare and thus expensive. 
 
So while the low bit rate (less resolution than a 16 bit CD) digital delay line is less expensive and easier to use than an analogue “preview head”, its use, ironically, results in lacquers cut from the low bit rate digital signal instead of from the analogue source! 
 
Speakers Corner wishes to make clear that it produces lacquers using only original master tapes and an entirely analogue cutting system. New metal stampers used to press records are produced from that lacquer. The only exceptions are when existing metal parts are superior to new ones that might be cut, which includes our release of “Elvis is Back”, which was cut by Stan Ricker or several titles from our Philips Classics series, where were cut in the 1990s using original master tapes by Willem Makkee at the Emil Berliner Studios. In those cases we used only the original “mother” to produce new stampers. 
 
In addition, we admit to having one digital recording in our catalogue: Alan Parsons’ “Eye in the Sky”, which was recorded digitally but mixed to analogue tape that we used to cut lacquers. 
 
In closing, we want to insure our loyal customers that, with but a few exceptions as noted, our releases are “AAA”— analogue tape, an all analogue cutting system, and newly cut lacquers.
 
60 Years Pallas
 
Audiophile Vinyl - Made in Germany  For over 60 years the family business in the third generation of the special personal service and quality "Made by Pallas" is known worldwide. Our custom PVC formulation produces consistently high pressing quality with the lowest surface noise in the industry. Our PVC complies with 2015 European environmental standards and does not contain toxic materials such as Lead, Cadmium or Toluene. Our vinyl is both audiophile and eco-grade! 

 

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