Maurice White – the founder and leader of funk pioneers Earth, Wind, and Fire
Born in Memphis on December 19th, 1941, White grew up in the Foote Homes Projects with his grandmother. As a student at Booker T. Washington High School, he became friends with fellow Memphis legend Booker T. Jones and the two started what may have been each’s first band. In his teenage years, White moved to Chicago where his mother and stepfather were living and enrolled at the Chicago Conservatory of Music.
By the mid-1960s, he was working for the legendary Chess Records as a session drummer for artists such as Etta James, Muddy Waters, and the Impressions. While at Chess, he met jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis and soon joined his trio as a drummer. He played on nine of the Ramsey Lewis Trio’s celebrated ‘60s albums and won a Grammy for the track “Hold It Right There.” While in the Trio, he was introduced to the kalimba (an African thumb piano), which would become a crucial instrument in future Earth, Wind, and Fire songs.
In 1969, White left the Trio and formed a songwriting team with two of his friends, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead. White soon relocated the band to Los Angeles later in the year and in 1970 Maurice’s younger brother Verdine moved to L.A. to join the group as a bassist. Based on the elements of Maurice White’s astrological sign, the band’s name was soon changed to Earth, Wind, & Fire.
