Last Days and Time


Last Days and Time is the third studio album by American R&B group Earth, Wind & Fire, released in October 1972 on Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 15 on the US Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 9 on the UK Blues & Soul Top British Soul Albums chart.

Overview

Last Days and Time was produced by Joe Wissert and recorded at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California.
Producer Jimmy Jam became a fan of EWF after he listened to Last Days and Time. Hip Hop artist Nas was also inspired by the LP's cover art.

Critical reception

Variety called the album "pulsating". William Ruhlmann of Allmusic gave a three out of five star rating and proclaimed "Earth, Wind & Fire were nothing if not ambitious, and by the time of their third album they had forged an individual sound by absorbing nearly everything that had gone before them in the previous ten years. It was as if they were trying to encapsulate every eclectic foray pursued by Motown, from catchy, rhythmic pop to churning funk, and even from Stevie Wonder singing borrowed folk songs like "Blowin' in the Wind" to the schmaltzy, string-filled pop that spelled legitimacy to Motown. Not only that, they wanted to incorporate Sly & the Family Stone's horn-filled, gutbucket R&B and some of the fusion style of Weather Report. On Last Days and Time, they succeeded in pulling all that into their orbit". Billboard noted that "Earth, Wind & Fire's dynamic soul rock style is the main ingredients" of the album. Paul Sexton of Record Mirror in a 1979 review gave a three out of five star rating and wrote "Musical historians and EW&F fans alike will welcome the release, for the first time in this country, of EW&F's first CBS album from 1973. Not the first time on vinyl - by the way - there were a couple of even earlier efforts. Maurice White was still the wallah, even in those days, but the band hadn't really established their sound, although the material they used was not enormously different. The lush production, and White's domination of the vocals are not there, and there's greater reliance on other people's material. Such as, curiously enough David Gates Make It With You and even more unlikely, Pete Seeger's Where Have All The Flowers Gone. White wrote or co-wrote four numbers here including the instrumental Power and Mom one of the highlights. But formative is the word - the album's interesting rather than fulfilling, but at a budget price, maybe you can afford to take that chance". Ovid Goode Jr. of The Los Angeles Daily News declared "There are many groups around today capitalizing on the rock-jazz sound which has become so popular. The only problem is that many of the groups are beginning to sound alike, both in their styles and in their material. However, take the same two ingredients, rock and jazz, add a pound of soul and a whole new sound is born, reflected in the music of Earth, Wind and Fire. The group's first album on Columbia, "Last Days and Time," sprouts forth with a fresh sound that sets it apart from many of the ho-hum aggregations around today. The album consists of eight moving tunes".

Singles

The song, "Mom", reached No. 39 on the Cashbox Top R&B Singles chart.

Covers and samples

covered Bread's "Make It With You" and Pete Seeger's "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" upon the album.
Saxophone Interlude was sampled by Digable Planets on the song Swoon Units from their album Reachin'. Remember the Children was also sampled by DJ Quik on the song America'z Most Complete Artist from his 1992 album Way 2 Fonky.

Track listing

Personnel

Album
YearChartPosition
1973US Billboard Top Soul Albums15
1973US Billboard 20087
1979UK Blues & Soul Top British Soul Albums9

Singles
YearSingleChartPosition
1973"Mom"Cashbox R&B Singles39
1973"Mom"--
1973---
1973---