Transcript
oliver wang
Hello, everyone. This is Oliver from Heat Rocks. So, when we recorded our episode with Ali Shaheed Muhammad about Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, the other album that he had given us to choose from—and he didn’t realize that we had to choose between them; he thought we were gonna talk about both albums—was Earth, Wind & Fire’s All ‘n All. Which, if I’m being really honest here, was the album that Morgan really wanted us to get into. And we felt like it was only fair, because Ali had prepped some thoughts about that Earth, Wind & Fire album and because Morgan is so excited to talk about it, we would take a little bit of time to let these two geek out. I would join in this conversation, except I realized the only song off this album I know is “Brazilian Rhyme”, and I don’t know anything else off of All ‘n All, so I’m just gonna turn this over to Morgan and Ali to get into. I hope y’all enjoy this.
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“Brazilian Rhyme (Beijo)” from the album All ‘n All by Earth, Wind & Fire. [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue then fades out.]
morgan rhodes
I mean, everyone that listens to this show knows that Earth, Wind & Fire’s my favorite all-time band. They know, you know, where this started—my relationship with my dad and this was his favorite band. “Spirit” is near and dear to my heart. Right? But there’s something about All ‘n All. Of course, we know it’s their eighth studio album, 1977, inspired by a trip to Brazil and Argentina. But I remember being at a friend’s house and hearing “I’ll Write a Song for You”. And I was just a little kid like, “Oh my god.”
music
“I’ll Write a Song for You” from the album All ‘n All by Earth, Wind & Fire. We’ll write a song of love, yeah [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue then fades out.]
morgan
What did you love mostly about the band? I could go on and on about what I loved, but what about this band influenced you and why this album?
ali shaheed muhammad
There are two albums that have shaped me, as—not only just finding my musical voice, but it just breathed the spirit of music into me. The other album—I’ll just briefly mention it—is called Journey to the Light by Brainstorm.
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“Journey to the Light” from the album Journey to the Light by Brainstorm. We can show you We can show you the way This day [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue then fades out.]
ali
I talk about that record so much. And I don’t mention All ‘n All, because that was another album that really spoke to me. And for the same reasons that Journey to the Light did. It’s obvious that Earth, Wind & Fire have these very spiritual elements—you know—to their songs. And there are a lot of layers. You know, things that are on the surface and then there’s other things that you really just have to dig deep and hope that you could talk to these guys and be like, “What was the thinking behind it?” You know? Because you know, I’m hearing these lyrics and I’m feeling a way about it, but just for a confirmation of it. But you know, “Serpentine Fire” is just like this groove and it’s just like what are they talking—?! It just sounds glorious. [Hums a few bars.] “Oh yeah, oh—” It’s like, what?!
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“Serpentine Fire” from the album All ‘n All by Earth, Wind & Fire. Morning glory All about the serpentine fire Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue then fades out.]
ali
I heard that and was just like, “What? I don’t even understand.” And the groove of it, it’s just so funky! But then, you know, they come right behind with “Fantasy”, and it’s just—even the way that “Fantasy” blends in, like when it comes in. It’s not even a full—like “Serpentine Fire” doesn’t really go off; it just kind of like—it transitions. And to me, it’s like a—almost like a DJ blend, but without a blend. And it’s—so, that to me is like, “Oh, this is a journey!”
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“Fantasy” from the album All ‘n All by Earth, Wind & Fire. [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue then fades out.]
ali
And I heard that at the age of eight, and at that time, my life was… it was a bit dark. My mother had started dating someone who was a monster. And I’ll just leave it at that. He was a monster. And so, the music, for me, was the light. The music, for me, was—prior to this monster, I knew of greater good. And you know, with this darkness coming in, I needed something to remind me of that “prior to”. And so, this album—you know, just even in “Fantasy”, you know, just what it means. And I took it to—not just it being something fantasy-based, but it’s real as long as you align your mind—you know, to see what you’re dreaming, and to see that it can be real. And so, when surrounded in that dark environment, to me it was just a matter of seeing the light. You know? This was just that album for me. And it’s a musical journey. You know?
morgan
Absolutely. And I think Earth, Wind & Fire—as a band, and particularly this album—is something that’s so beautiful to think about having the experience of listening to as a child, because it was a way for me to experience the emotion of joy that I didn’t know that music—I was too young to know—you know, to really process—to connect music with joy. But I just remember being joyful. And I remember watching my father, you know, experience joy with this album. That’s why Earth, Wind & Fire is so precious to me. A lot of these songs feel like prayers. And to continue the worship experience—worship is continuous. You know, it ends when—you know, they say the spirits gives you utterance, and it begins and ends in the same way. And that’s the way that Earth, Wind & Fire’s albums always felt to me. It’s just one, continuous prayer. Later on in life—I mean, if you would’ve asked me as a child, automatically, “I’ll Write a Song for You”, “Love’s Holiday” would’ve been my favorites. And then, I fell in love with “Runnin’”.
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“Runnin’” from the album All ‘n All by Earth, Wind & Fire. [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue then fades out.]
morgan
What’s your favorite track from this album? I gotta ask.
ali
My favorite track is “Runnin’”. I mean, I could hear that song—like, that song could just play for 12 hours straight, and I’m like—I would be good. I have that song on loop just like for hours at times, just ‘cause it’s a journey. You know? And for me, the music that resonates with me the most are songs that are a journey. Every song is not a journey, as much as people may say that and may have a feeling of the case. And this song to me is. It just—you know, again, going back to that—you know—eight-year-old child in that situation, it was just like when you hear those voices [sings a bar], I’m like I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know where I am, but I have just been transported away from this place.
music
“Runnin’” from the album All ‘n All by Earth, Wind & Fire. [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue.]
ali
It starts off in one place, but then when he goes to that [sings a few notes] like it’s like a transition.
music
[Volume increases.] [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue.]
ali
I’d never heard anything like that before.
music
[Volume increases.] [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue then fades out.]
morgan
I mean, Earth, Wind & Fire just has classics upon classics. And the way that they strung all these genres together that you’re talking about—everything together, that they slipped in stuff, you couldn’t separate one thing from the other. And just the vocals, it’s like Maurice White and Philip Bailey’s the one-two punch. And Maurice is a drummer, so all the percussive elements were just so on point. I just appreciate you, brother, for having that album in mind. ‘Cause it's so precious to me as this band—as this band is, and always will be.
ali
Yeah, thank you! I just wanted—you know, first of all, you know, you had—we had discussed a while ago, you know, of me coming here. And I’m happy that, you know, it came at the time, especially. You know, when we’re just—history is showing us something great and different. You know? And so, to be able to come now means more to me, because I’m actually talking about songs that not only have helped to shape me as a musician, but as a person. And I think that these two albums are so relevant to today, where we are right now. You never know how a conversation is going to get transmitted. You know? And how it will land on other people. But I know that with this invite, this is a special—like, what you guys do is really special. You know? And I wanna make sure that when people listen to this music, it gives you a bit more of an insight into me. You know? I don’t speak a lot. And there are a lot of layers. And the bulk of them are spiritually-based. It’s belief in love. Belief in harmony. I’m happy to be able to speak about this. You guys have given me a—a one extra.
morgan
I’m so glad! I feel like when someone tells me they like Earth, Wind & Fire—I feel like I can see their heart. And they’re either hardcore musicians and fans of musicianship, and I can appreciate that too, because they speak about the true musicianship of Earth, Wind & Fire which is undoubtable. Or they speak about the spirituality of Earth, Wind & Fire. And so, it is what I was telling you, man—that like this band was the first band that I can remember as a kid that showed me how to access joy, musically. Because I saw it being joy for other people. I didn’t know I was gonna make my living in music. I didn’t know I was gonna fall in love with music this way. But if I can trace the genesis of this, it’s Earth, Wind & Fire.
music
“I’ll Write a Song for You” from the album All ‘n All by Earth, Wind & Fire. You, oh, you, you, for you, you, you We have a magic box [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue.]
morgan
God bless Earth, Wind & Fire. I’m thankful for that band and what they’ve given me access to, emotionally. And I—like, again, and I said I would just appreciate you picking it, ‘cause any opportunity to talk about Earth, Wind & Fire just makes me happy.
ali
Now I know. [They laugh.]
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[Volume increases.] … write a song of love Sounds, they never dissipate They only recreate [Music fades out.]
sound effect
Cheerful ukulele chord.
speaker 2
Comedy and culture.
speaker 3
Artist owned—
speaker 4
—audience supported.
About the show
Hosted by Oliver Wang and Morgan Rhodes, every episode of Heat Rocks invites a special guest to talk about a heat rock – a hot album, a scorching record. These are in-depth conversations about the albums that shape our lives.
Our guests include musicians, writers, and scholars and though we don’t exclusively focus on any one genre, expect to hear about albums from the worlds of soul, hip-hop, funk, jazz, Latin, and more.
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