Raise!
Raise! is the eleventh studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire issued in October 1981 by ARC/Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart and No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart. Raise! has been certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA, Gold in the UK by the BPI and Gold in Canada by Music Canada.
Overview
Raise! was produced by bandleader Maurice White. The album spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard Top R&B albums charts.Raise! marked the return to EWF of rhythm guitarist Roland Bautista, who last played upon 1972's Last Days and Time. The LP was also reissued in 2015 with seven bonus tracks.
Singles
Off the album came the single "Let's Groove" which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A song called "I've Had Enough" also got to No. 29 on the UK Pop Singles chart.Another song entitled "Wanna Be With You" rose to No. 15 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart. Wanna Be With You also won a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group.
Critical reception
With a 4 out of 5 stars rating Ken Tucker of Rolling Stone called Raise! "city music" which "reflects the current wave of street-gritty black pop".Hugh Wyatt of The New York Daily News described the LP as "a real gem". The Philadelphia Inquirer gave a 3 out of 5 star rating calling the album "a session of class music, fortified by strong melodies and appealing lyrics". With a seven out of ten rating Fred Dellar of Smash Hits found that "White's production is impeccable; the vocals float and flare, the horns urge you onto the dance-floor and the rhythms make you stay there". Richard Williams of The Times wrote "Paring away the overachievement of Faces, EW&F return to something like their best form".
Variety noted that "breathtaking production and a perscussive, non stop fusion of funk and rock power light up the entire album". Barney Hoskyns of NME said "Raise! is a thundering collection of the best noises around, urgent, controlled and meticulously glossy. Horns pump and spurt in golden ecstasy, percussion stamps and cracks through the usual mass of nibbling guitars and synthesizers, and White's voice is as strong and soaring as ever".
The Village Voice's Robert Christgau proclaimed EWF "turn their sparkling harmonies and powerful groove into a pure, contentless display of virtuosity". As well J.D. Considine of the Baltimore Sun wrote "Raise! puts Earth, Wind & Fire back on the rock and roll road".
Music critic Nelson George also placed Raise in his ballot for the 1981 Village Voice Pazz and Jop poll.
Track listing
Personnel
- Maurice White – lead vocals, background vocals, kalimba, drums
- Philip Bailey – lead vocals, background vocals, percussion
- Ms. Pluto – additional background vocals
- Michael Boddicker – vocoder, synthesizer, keyboards
- Verdine White – bass played by, additional background vocals
- Selene Burford – cello
- Larry Corbett – cello
- Paula Hochhalter – cello
- Jerome Kessler - cello
- Frederick Seykora – cello
- Mary Louise Zeyen – cello
- Assa Drori – concertmaster
- James Getzoff – concertmaster
- Ralph Johnson – drums, percussion, additional background vocals
- Fred White – drums, percussion
- Roland Bautista – guitar
- Johnny Graham – guitar
- Marlo Henderson - guitar
- Beloyd Taylor – guitar, additional background vocals
- Larry Dunn – keyboards, piano, synthesizer, synthesizer programming
- Greg Phillinganes - keyboards
- David Foster – keyboards
- Billy Meyers – keyboards
- Wayne Vaughn – keyboards
- Paulinho Da Costa - percussion
- Don Myrick – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
- Tom Saviano – additional saxophone
- Andrew Woolfolk – tenor saxophone
- Bill Reichenbach – trombone
- Charles Loper – trombone
- Dick Hyde – trombone
- George Bohanon – trombone
- Lew McCreary – trombone
- Louis Satterfield – trombone
- Chuck Findley – trumpet
- Gary Grant – trumpet
- Jerry Hey – trumpet
- Larry G. Hall – trumpet
- Michael Harris – trumpet
- Oscar Brashear – trumpet
- Rahmlee Michael Davis – trumpet
- Alan DeVeritch – viola
- Pamela Goldsmith – viola
- Allan Harshman – viola
- Virginia Majewski – viola
- Gareth Nuttycombe – viola
- Arnold Belnick – violin
- Denyse Buffum – violin
- Thomas Buffum – violin
- Henry Ferber – violin
- Ronald Folsom – violin
- Irving Geller – violin
- Endre Granat – violin
- Reginald Hill – violin
- William Hymanson – violin
- Myra Kestenbaum – violin
- William Kurasch – violin
- Betty LaMagna – violin
- Brian Leonard – violin
- Norman Leonard – violin
- Marvin Limonick – violin
- Jerome Reisler – violin
- Nathan Ross – violin
- Sheldon Sanov – violin
- Anton Sen – violin
- Arkady Shindelman – violin
- Haim Shtrum – violin
- Mari Tsumura-Botnick – violin
- John Wittenbert – violin
- Philip Bailey – co-producer
- Tony Calvert - reissue producer
- Roger Carpenter - art direction, design
- Larry Dunn – production assistant
- David Foster – string arrangements
- Ken Fowler – recording engineer
- Mick Guzauski – recording engineer, audio mixing
- Jerry Hey- horn arrangements
- Stephen McManus – assistant engineer
- Billy Meyers – horn arrangements, string arrangements
- Shusei Nagaoka – illustration
- Ron Pendragon – recording engineer
- Tom Perry – recording engineer, audio mixing
- Maurice White – original recording producer
- Verdine White – production assistant
Charts
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1981 | "Let's Groove/I've Had Enough" | US Billboard Dance Club Songs | 3 |
| 1981 | "Let's Groove" | US Billboard Hot Soul Songs | 1 |
| 1981 | "Let's Groove" | US Billboard Hot 100 | 3 |
| 1981 | "Let's Groove" | UK Pop Singles | 3 |
| 1981 | "Let's Groove" | Dutch Singles | 5 |
| 1981 | "Let's Groove" | Belgian Singles | 9 |
| 1982 | I've Had Enough" | UK Pop Singles | 29 |
| 1982 | "Wanna Be With You" | Billboard Hot Soul Songs | 15 |
| 1982 | "Wanna Be With You" | Billboard Hot 100 | 51 |
| 1982 | - | - | - |