Raise!
| Raise! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cover art by Shusei Nagaoka
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| Studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire | ||||
| Released | November 14, 1981 | |||
| Recorded | May, 1981 at ARC/George Massenburg Studio, West Los Angeles, California, and Sunset Sounds Recording Studio, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | R&B, soul, funk | |||
| Length | 38:08 | |||
| Label | ARC, Columbia | |||
| Producer | Maurice White | |||
| Earth, Wind & Fire chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Raise! | ||||
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| Back cover | ||||
| The back cover of Raise!
The back cover of Raise!
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Raise! is the eleventh studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire, produced by the band's leader Maurice White for Kalimba Productions, and released in 1981 on CBS Records. Raise! has been certified platinum in the US by the RIAA for sales of over a million copies and gold in the UK and Canada by the British Phonographic Industry and Music Canada respectively.[1][2]
Raise! was the bestselling R&B album of 1982.[3] The album featured the #1 R&B and # 3 Pop hit "Let's Groove". The single "Wanna Be With You" won EWF a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group.[4] Raise also marked the return to the band of rhythm guitarist Roland Bautista, last heard from on 1972's Last Days and Time.
Raise! would be the final EWF album to be released on ARC. The label would be discontinued by Columbia Records the following year.
Contents
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [5] |
| Rolling Stone | [6] |
| Robert Christgau | B+[7] |
Ken Tucker of Rolling Stone describes Raise! as a reflection of "street-gritty black pop" and that on "Let's Groove" and the fast, cutting "Lady Sun", the horn section screams like a car running a red light". Music critic Robert Christgau says that on the album, he felt "a show of strength was due".[8][9]
Track listing
| Side one | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Let's Groove" | Wayne Vaughn, Maurice White | 5:37 |
| 2. | "Lady Sun" | Beloyd Taylor | 3:39 |
| 3. | "My Love" | Wayne Vaughn, Maurice White | 4:35 |
| 4. | "Evolution Orange" | David Foster, O'Byrne, Maurice White | 4:37 |
| Side two | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 5. | "Kalimba Tree" | Maurice White | 0:25 |
| 6. | "You Are a Winner" | Beloyd Taylor | 4:09 |
| 7. | "I've Had Enough" | Philip Bailey, Greg Phillinganes, Brenda Russell | 4:36 |
| 8. | "Wanna Be With You" | Wayne Vaughn, Maurice White | 4:36 |
| 9. | "The Changing Times" | Beloyd Taylor | 5:54 |
Cover art
The album art was designed by Roger Carpenter and Raise! was illustrated by Shusei Nagaoka. The front cover of Raise! features a presumed Egyptian female figure. The name of the band is present on the front cover, but the title is not.
On the back cover there is an illustration of a female figure in a sarcophagus, which is also divided into a purple left side and a blue right side. The sarcophagus appears to be hyper-modern. The title of the LP is presented in the top left corner of the back cover.
Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Black Albums | 1 |
| Pop Albums | 5 |
| Year | Chart | Position[11] |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | United Kingdom | 11 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | "Let's Groove/I've Had Enough" | Club Play Singles | 3 |
| "Let's Groove" | Black Singles | 1 | |
| Pop Singles | 3 | ||
| "Wanna Be With You" | Black Singles | 15 | |
| Pop Singles | 51 |
Production
- Horns arranged by Billy Meyers (Tracks 1, 3, 7), & Jerry Hey (2, 4, 6, 8-9)
- Strings arranged by David Foster (Track 4), & Billy Meyers (1, 3, 7)
- Design & Art Direction by Mick Guzauski
- Engineers - Ken Fowler & Ron Pendragon
- Assistant Engineer - Stephen McManus
- Engineer [horns, string overdubs] - Mick Guzauski
- Engineer [vocal overdubs] - Tom Perry
- Mixed by Mick Guzauski & Tom Perry
- Illustration by Shusei Nagaoka
Performers
- Bass, production assistant - Verdine White
- Cello - Frederick Seykora, Jerome Kessler, Larry Corbett, Mary Louise Zeyen, Paula Hochhalter, Selene Burford
- Co-producer, writer, lead & backing vocals, percussion - Philip Bailey
- Concertmaster - Assa Drori, James Getzoff
- Drums, percussion - Fred White
- Guitar - Johnny Graham, Roland Bautista
- Keyboards - Billy Meyers, David Foster, Wayne Vaughn
- Piano, synthesizer, production assistant - Larry Dunn
- Saxophone - Tom Saviano
- Alto & tenor saxophones - Don Myrick
- Tenor saxophone - Andrew Woolfolk
- Synthesizer, vocoder - Michael Boddicker
- Trombone - Bill Reichenbach, Charles Loper, Dick Hyde, George Bohanon, Lew McCreary, Louis Satterfield
- Trumpet - Chuck Findley, Gary Grant, Jerry Hey, Larry G. Hall, Michael Harris, Oscar Brashear, Rahmlee Michael Davis
- Viola - Alan DeVeritch, Allan Harshman, Gareth Nuttycombe, Pamela Goldsmith, Virginia Majewski
- Violin - Anton Sen, Arkady Shindelman, Arnold Belnick, Betty LaMagna, Brian Leonard, Denyse Buffum, Endre Granat, Haim Shtrum, Henry Ferber, Irving Geller, Jerome Reisler, John Wittenbert, Mari Tsumura Botnick, Marvin Limonick, Myra Kestenbaum, Nathan Ross, Norman Leonard, Reginald Hill, Ronald Folsom, Sheldon Sanov, Thomas Buffum, William Hymanson, William Kurasch
- Additional backing vocals - Ms. Pluto
- Additional backing vocals, guitar - Beloyd Taylor
- Additional backing vocals, percussion - Ralph Johnson
- Drums, kalimba, lead & backing vocals, producer - Maurice White
Accolades
The information regarding accolades attributed to Raise! is adapted from rocklistmusic.co.uk.[12]
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NME | U.K | Albums of the Year | 1981 | 16 |
See also
- List of number-one R&B albums of 1981 (U.S.)
- List of number-one R&B albums of 1982 (U.S.)
- Billboard Year-End
References
- ↑ RIAA Certification for Raise!
- ↑ British Phonographic Industry certification for Raise!
- ↑ Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums of 1982
- ↑ www.earthwindandfire.com/bio_awards.html
- ↑ Allmusic review
- ↑ Rolling Stone review
- ↑ Robertchristgau.com
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Raise on discogs.com
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ rocklistmusic - 1981 NME Lists
