Maurice White

Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American musician, best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey.

Described as a "visionary" by Vibe and a "mastermind" by Variety, White was nominated for a total of 22 Grammys, of which he won seven. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire, and was also inducted individually into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. White also worked with musical acts such as Deniece Williams, Cher, The Emotions, Barbra Streisand, Ramsey Lewis, and Neil Diamond.

Maurice White was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on December 19, 1941. He grew up in South Memphis, where he lived with his grandmother in the Foote Homes Projects and was a childhood friend of Booker T. Jones and David Porter. Along with Jones, White formed a "cookin' little band" while attending Booker T. Washington High School. He also made frequent trips to Chicago to visit his mother, Edna, and stepfather, Verdine Adams, who was a doctor and occasional saxophonist. During his teenage years, White moved to Chicago where he studied at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, and played drums in local nightclubs. In 1962 he joined The Jazzmen, a student jazz trio at Crane Junior College in Chicago, Illinois formed by Louis Satterfield on trombone, Charles Handy on trumpet, and Don Myrick on alto saxophone. The Jazzmen later became the Pharaohs. Satterfield, White, and Handy became studio musicians at Chess Records in Chicago. At Chess, he played the drums on records of Etta James, Chuck Berry, Rotary Connection, Betty Everett and Junior Wells. Along with the likes of Sonny Stitt, Muddy Waters, the Impressions, the Dells, Willie Dixon, Sugar Pie DeSanto and Buddy Guy. White also played the drums on Fontella Bass's "Rescue Me" (with Satterfield on bass), Billy Stewart's, "Summertime", Betty Everett's You're No Good and Little Milton's We're Gonna Make It".

In June 1966, he left Chess and the Pharaohs to join the Ramsey Lewis Trio, replacing Isaac "Red" Holt as the group's drummer. Holt and bassist Eldee Young left to form Young-Holt Unlimited. Young was also replaced by Cleveland Eaton. As a member of the Trio, Maurice first played on 1966's Wade in the Water. A song from that album called "Hold It Right There" won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal or Instrumental. White later played the drums on 1966's The Movie Album along with 1967's Dancing in the Street and Goin' Latin. He also performed on the Trio's 1968 LPs Up Pops Ramsey Lewis, Mother Nature's Son and Maiden Voyage. Around this time, he encountered the African thumb piano (kalimba), in a Chicago drum store. A tune entitled "Uhuru", from the Trio's 1969 album Another Voyage, marks the first recording of White playing the kalimba.

In 1969, White joined his two friends, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead, to form a songwriting team who wrote songs for commercials in the Chicago area. The three friends got a recording contract with Capitol Records and called themselves the Salty Peppers. They had a moderate hit in the Midwest area with their single "La La Time", but their second single, "Uh Huh Yeah", was not as successful. White then left the trio, moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, and altered the name of the band to Earth, Wind & Fire. With the band's new name reflecting the elements in his own astrological chart.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.