''All 'n All'' is the eighth studio album by the American band

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million r ...

, released in November 1977 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. The album reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard''

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine that ranks contemporary R&B, R&B and hip hop music, hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. Th ...

chart and No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. ''All 'n All'' has also been certified

Triple Platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in the US by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

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in Canada by

Music Canada Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It ...

and

Silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

in the UK by the BPI. ''All 'n All'' was produced by

Maurice White Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter, and producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, and served as the ...

for Kalimba Productions. His inspiration for the album was a month-long trip to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Singles

" Serpentine Fire" reached number one on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Soul Songs chart and number 13 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. Another single, "

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

", peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and number 14 on the UK Pop Singles chart. "Fantasy" also earned a Grammy nomination for

Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record four times, while B ...

Critical reception

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'' found that "Maurice White began his career as a drummer, and his band can sound like one enormous kit, where every crash and beat has its funky place." He added "I'll Write a Song for You is superior schmaltz; and the whole shebang is punctuated beautifully by Milton Nascimento's Brazilian Rhyme". Joe McEwen of

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

found that "As on past Earth, Wind and Fire records, All ‘n All is filled with leaded brotherhood platitudes,

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vario ...

sci-fi and stiffly poetic love songs. This sounds overwrought and depressing (and maybe it is). But there’s a catch: I like the record, for like much current black music, All ‘n All elicits a schizophrenic response. If the album represents some of the worst in black music, it also has more than its share of the best." The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' wrote "All n All includes only two ballads and for a change both are as nifty as the R&B rockers. EW&F's finest collection".

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

of the

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

gave a B+ grade and wrote "Focusing soulful horns, high-tension harmonies, and rhythms and textures from many lands onto a first side that cooks throughout. Only one element is lacking. Still, unsympathetic as I am to lyrics about conquering the universe on wings of thought, they make me shake my fundament anyway." Alex Henderson of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

described the album as a "diverse jewel". With a four out of five star rating Barry Cain of

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

claimed that on All n' All "the spirit of Maurice White reigns supreme. The singer/writer /producer casts his giant bird like shadow across every note, every peerless piece of slickery, every eye - blinking device. If anyone can claim to be the

Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most ...

of funk It's Maurice White." Cain added "It's an EW&F album and I like it. Unashamedly." Phyl Garland of

Stereo Review ''Sound & Vision'' is an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review'' ...

said "The music is delightfully earthy in its appeal, an aural collage of rich vocal and instrumental textures underscored by highly danceable rhythms that never surrender to triteness. Though the very name of this group partakes of astro-logical symbolism, and though the lyrics of their songs often hint of galactic mysteries, the nine men who compose Earth, Wind & Fire play a kind of music that might be called neo-progressive soul, for it is a full light-year beyond what most groups are doing these days, soaring to celestial heights while sending out waves of mundane thrills."

John Rockwell John Sargent Rockwell (born September 16, 1940) is an American music critic, dance critic and arts administrator. According to ''Grove Music Online'', "Rockwell brings two signal attributes to his critical work: a genuine admiration for all k ...

of ''

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'' proclaimed "All 'n All shows Maurice White and his cohorts pushing their music ever more in a febrile jazz‐rock direction. There are parallels, here, to white rock groups like

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and

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, but the very sophistication and single‐mindedness of Earth, Wind and Fire's vision sets it apart from the bulk of rock‐and‐roll." Monroe Anderson of ''

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'' also found that "The soul group's latest album release, All 'N All (Columbia), is a rare blend of poetry, passion, and artistic progression." Anderson added "All N All is a nice indication that EW&F is trying to expose its fans to other forms of American music and take them across international and cultural borders." As an album, ''All 'n All'' won a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus. "Runnin" also won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental. Additionally, ''All 'n All'' was nominated for an

American Music Award The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Produ ...

in the category of Favorite Soul/R&B Album.

Track listing

Original release

1999 Legacy reissue (CK 65738)

Personnel

Dorothy Ashby Dorothy Jeanne Thompson (August 6, 1932 – April 13, 1986), better known as Dorothy Ashby, was an American jazz harpist, singer and composer. Hailed as one of the most "unjustly under loved jazz greats of the 1950s" and the "most accomplish ...

– harp *Phil Ayling – flute *

Philip Bailey Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, Wi ...

– vocals, percussion, congas *Blanche Belnick – violin *Roger Bobo – tuba *

George Bohanon George Roland Bohanon, Jr. (born August 7, 1937) is a jazz trombonist and session musician from Detroit, Michigan. In the early 1960s, he participated in Detroit's Workshop Jazz ensemble, with Johnny Griffith, Paula Greer, David Hamilton, Lefty ...

– trombone *

Oscar Brashear Oscar Brashear (born August 18, 1944) is an American jazz trumpeter Garnett Brown Garnett Brown (January 31, 1936 – October 9, 2021) was a jazz trombonist who worked with The Crusaders, Herbie Hancock, Lionel Hampton, Earth Wind and Fire and others. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, he graduated from the University of Arkan ...

– trombone *Ronald Clark – violin *Ronald Cooper – cello * Paulinho Da Costa – percussion *

Eduardo del Barrio Eduardo Gutiérrez del Barrio, known professionally as Eddie del Barrio, is an Argentinian composer, arranger, songwriter, and pianist. He is a founding member of the jazz fusion band Caldera. He has collaborated with Earth, Wind & Fire, Stan Ge ...

– piano *

Eumir Deodato Eumir Deodato de Almeida (; born 22 June 1942) is a Brazilian pianist, composer, arranger and record producer, primarily in jazz but who has been known for his eclectic melding of genres, such as pop, rock, disco, rhythm and blues, classical ...

- horn arrangement, string arrangement (7, 10) *Warren Dewey - additional recording engineer *David Duke – French horn *

Larry Dunn Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boon ...

– assistant producer, piano, Moog synthesizer, Oberheim synthesizer *

Chuck Findley Charles B. Findley (born December 13, 1947 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania) is an American trumpet player known for his diverse work as a session musician. He also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone. His technical abilities ...

– trumpet *Norman Forrest – viola *Harris Goldman – violin *Jack Gootkin – violin *Janice Gower – violin, concertmaster *Johnny Graham – guitar solo (5), additional guitars *Terry Harrington – flute * Michael Harris - trumpet solo (9), additional trumpets *Ruth Henry – violin *Fred Jackson, Jr. – flute * Ralph Johnson – drums *Jan Kelly – cello *Richard Klein – French horn *Paul Klingberg – audio mixing (12-14) *Renita Koven – viola *Betty LaMagna – violin *Carl LaMagna – violin *Mary D. Lindquist – violin *Linda Lipsett – viola *Art Macnow – direction *Steve Madaio – trumpet *Cameron Marcarelli – mixing assistant (12-14) *

George Massenburg George Y. Massenburg (born Baltimore, Maryland c. 1947) is a Grammy award-winning recording engineer and inventor. Working principally in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Macon, Georgia, Massenburg is widely known for submitting a paper to ...

– recording engineer *James M. McGee – French horn *

Al McKay AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

– guitar solo (9), additional guitars *

Abe Most Abe Most (February 27, 1920 – October 10, 2002) was a swing clarinetist and alto saxophonist who is known for his performances and recordings of the works of Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman. He began his career in 1939 as a member of Les Brown (ban ...

– flute *

Don Myrick Donald Myrick (April 6, 1940 – July 30, 1993) was an American saxophonist. A member of The Phenix Horns, he is best known for his work with Earth, Wind & Fire and Phil Collins. He played alto, tenor, and soprano sax as a member of Earth, Wind ...

– saxophone solo (9), alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone *Susan Ranney – acoustic bass *Alan Robinson – French horn *Gale Robinson – French horn *Marilyn Robinson – French horn *Jack Rouben - assistant recording engineer *Meyer Rubin – acoustic bass *Leo Sacks – audio mixing (12-14), reissue producer *Richard Salvato – direction *Sheldon Sanov – violin *

Louis Satterfield Louis Edward Satterfield (April 3, 1937 – September 27, 2004) was an American bassist and trombonist. Satterfield was a member of both The Pharaohs and the Phenix Horns. He also collaborated with prominent artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire, ...

– trombone *

Skip Scarborough Clarence Alexander "Skip" Scarborough (November 26, 1944 – July 3, 2003) was an American songwriter, best known for romantic ballads. Biography Scarborough was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He lived in Los Angeles most of his life. He died o ...

– piano *Haim Shtrum – violin *Daniel Smith – cello *Barry Socher – violin *Lya Stern – violin *David Stockhammer – violin *Barbara Thomason – viola *Tom Tom 84 - horn arrangement, string arrangement *

Marcia Van Dyke Marcia Van Dyke (March 26, 1922 – November 11, 2002) was an American violinist and actress. She was featured in a cover story in the January 19, 1948, issue of ''Life'' magazine. Early years The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward S. Van Dyke, sh ...

– violin * Fred White – drums *

– audio mixing (12-14), original recording producer, vocals, drums, kalimba *

Verdine White Verdine Adams White (born July 25, 1951) is an American musician, best known as a founding member and bassist for the band Earth, Wind & Fire. White was placed at No. 19 on Rolling Stone's list of The 50 Greatest Bassists of All Time. Early lif ...

– assistant producer, vocals, electric bass *Mark Wilder – mastering *

Andrew Woolfolk Andrew Paul Woolfolk II (October 11, 1950 – April 24, 2022) was an American saxophonist. Woolfolk was a longtime member of the band Earth, Wind & Fire from 1973 to 1985, and from 1987 to 1993. He also collaborated with artists such as Deniece ...

– tenor saxophone

Charts and certifications

Charts

Albums

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

Accolades

The information regarding accolades attributed to ''All 'n All'' is adapted from

Acclaimed Music Acclaimed Music is a website created by Henrik Franzon, a statistician from Stockholm, Sweden in September 2001. Franzon has statistically aggregated hundreds of published lists that rank songs and albums into aggregated rankings by year, dec ...

. (*) designates lists that are unordered.

References

{{Authority control 1977 albums Earth, Wind & Fire albums Albums produced by Maurice White Columbia Records albums Albums with cover art by Shusei Nagaoka

Singles

Critical reception

Track listing

Original release

1999 Legacy reissue (CK 65738)

Personnel

Charts and certifications

Charts

Albums

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

Accolades

See also

References