Interview: Earth, Wind & Fire's Verdine White talks bass about:reader?url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/bass/intervie...

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Interview: Earth, Wind & Fire's

Verdine White talks bass
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Interview: Earth, Wind & Fire's Verdine White talks bass about:reader?url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/bass/intervie...

Verdine White holds it down and powers it forward with Earth,

Wind & Fire in Hollywood, Florida, 2010. © Sayre
Berman/Corbis

Verdine White is no stranger to compliments. As Earth,

Wind & Fire's one and only bassist for 42 years now, he's
used to fans stopping him to rave about a new album, a
new song or a recent gig. But lately, White has noticed the
sentiments have taken on a deeper, more emotional tone.

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"People thank us for just being who we are," he says. "All the
music we've made, the shows, making people feel good -
those are big moments in everybody's lives. And it's very
meaningful to hear those kinds of comments. That's why we
do what we do."

The accomplishments of Earth, Wind & Fire, now celebrating

their fifth decade in the business, are considerable: over 90
million albums sold, six Grammy wins (with 20 nominations),
the distinction of being the first African-American group to sell
out Madison Square Garden, along with induction into just
about every "hall of fame" invented.

And, of course, there are the songs: Shining Star, That's The
Way Of The World, Getaway, September, Mighty Mighty, Let's
Groove, Sing A Song - stone-cold classics, each and every
one, all of them driven by Verdine's exquisite bass playing, by
turns thunderous and supple, full-bottomed funk and high-
minded jazz.

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With a US tour about to begin and a brand-new EWF album on

the way, White sat down with MusicRadar to discuss his
approach to the bass, why brother Maurice is his biggest
musical influence, what gear he uses and how he really feels
about the group's vintage sartorial choices.

When the band first started, Maurice was the drummer.

How were his skills behind the kit?

"He was great. Maurice had a lot of experience as a drummer.

He played on hit records, and he knew what was needed. He
had a great sound, too. His knowledge of music is so vast.
Jazz, gospel, soul - you name it, he could play it."

You've played with a few different drummers in Earth,

Wind & Fire - Maurice, Fred White, Sonny Emory and now
John Paris. How have you adapted to each one?

"Well, they're all different, but the main thing I've had in
common with everybody is that we're all buddies. If the
drummer is you're buddy, you're going to play great. It was
always a hoot with Sonny, always a good time. John and I are
great friends. Fred is my brother, Maurice is my mentor. It's like
being married. The drummer and bass player have got to be
married; it can't just be a bunch of cats up there playing."

And, of course, Ralph Johnson on percussion, he's a

constant in the band.

"That's right. Exactly. And Ralph is like my brother, so that's

what I have in common with him. That's what I have with all
the drummers."

Growing up, who were your big musical influences?

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"I'd have to say Maurice. He was the one who really opened
me up to being a musician. And my father backed it up by
making sure I took lessons, which was so important. But
mainly, it was Maurice, because he gave me the opportunity to
hang around and see his friends and just learn, you know? My
bass teacher, Louis Satterfield, was another huge influence.
He really taught me so much."

Who were the bassists you listened to when you were

coming up?

"Then was James Jamerson. He was the guy I listened to for

electric bass - him and Louis. On upright bass, I listened to
Ron Carter, Richard Davis, Cleveland Eaton, Eddie Gomez,
Scott LaFaro - those were the main guys."

James Jamerson is such a mythic figure. What did you

glean from listening to him?

"It was just everything. All the Motown stuff, playing on the The
Supremes records and everything else he did. But if you want
to hear some great bass playing, listen to What's Going On by
Marvin Gaye. Superb bass playing, man. Superb, superb,
superb."

What made you decide to pick up the bass instead of a

guitar?

"It all started when I walked into a band room and saw an
upright bass. Right then, all at once, I just knew that I would
love it. It spoke to me. I remember telling Maurice - I must
have been 13 or so - that I wanted to play the bass, and he
was like, 'The bass?!' But I'm glad I did because otherwise I
wouldn't have had a job. All those drummers we just

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mentioned - Maurice, John, Sonny, Fred - I couldn't compete

with them. I'd never have been in the running. So playing the
bass gave me a job." [laughs]

Do you remember when you started popping and

slapping?

"It came later for me - around '75 or '76. I had my own distinct
style already. Larry Graham, he came up in the late '60s doing
that. He was the big guy for slapping and popping. But you
know, I recently saw something on PBS with Cab Calloway,
and his bass player was slapping and popping an upright bass
- and this was in the '40s! [laughs] It was something. The guy
was slapping and popping like Larry Graham and Louis
Johnson and all those cats. I never saw that. I had no idea. So
it was going on for a while."

You've been a Fender Jazz player for most of your career.

Why did you choose that model?

"At the time I started with it, that's what was around. There
weren't a whole lot of choices. There was Fender - and that
was before CBS bought Fender, when the basses were really,
really good. I still have a Jazz - two of 'em, actually - and I've
got a Precision, a Telecaster Bass… a lot. I've got about 30
basses, but they're all different companies. I've got a Yamaha
BB 3000, a Roger Sadowsky bass - which is a great bass, truly
good. I'm going to get another Sadowsky this summer. I
require basses that are handmade. Warwick - they've made
me a bass, too, and it's great."

What about gear? How have you changed your setup over
the years?

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"I've got a rack of things now, all kinds of outboard gear. I've
got flangers, tuners, a Marcus Miller preamp - he sent me one
to use; it's the same one he uses on stage. Because the halls
we play are so different - one night it might be an arena, the
next night it's a theater - it's hard to get the sound the same
each time. Out of all the instruments, the bass can be the
hardest to get consistently right.

"For amps, I'm using SWR. I used to use Acoustic amps on

stage, but in the studio I played through an Ampeg B15. And I
still use that, the B15. I never tried doing any wild kind of
things or experiments. Once I captured my sound, I stayed
with it. I never went in for anything nutty or crazy." [laughs]

Let's talk about some of the classic songs. On Shining

Star, how long did it take you to work out your parts?

"Not too long. Maurice came up with the beat; he worked out
Shining Star in the studio. Later on, I came up with the thirds.
Like I did on the song Fantasy, I doubled my bass - a lot of
times, I like two or three different bass tracks. I have one basic
track and another where I lay down, you know?"

The horns really lead the music on the song Getaway. Did
you have to approach that track differently?

"I don't really think about that, to tell you the truth. On that
song, the brass came later. I don't think about the brass; I just
play the song and hold it down."

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Getting a leg up in New Orleans. White says his energetic

performance skills "came naturally." © Brad Edelman/Corbis

You do that on Sing A Song - you hold down the bottom,

but you still power it forward. You get some cool licks in,
almost like a background singer.

"Yeah, yeah, it's like that. Sure. You know, when you've got a
great rhythm section and the people you're working with are so
good, it kind of all does it by itself. You know what I mean?"

Were a lot of the band's '70s recordings live off the floor,
or were the songs built up in pieces?

"They were sections. We didn't record all of us together, us

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and the horns. We couldn't - there was no way. We'd do the

rhythm section first and bring the horns in later."

Has anything changed over the years with how you demo
and record?

"We don't demo. We just go in and record. Back in the day we

demoed - we'd listen to the songs and figure them out.
Because studio time was expensive, you had to demo and
know what you were doing. You couldn't afford not to. Now, we
just go in. I think demos are a waste of time. There might be a
bare bones of a tune, but that's it. If we don't like the tune, we
won't do it."

You're such an energetic performer on stage. How do you

manage to hold down the fort while being everywhere at
once?

"That came naturally, a lot of it. But we were working on it, too.
I had to learn choreography and get it together. Over the
years, it's evolved. But yeah, you have to hold it down, keep
the root of the songs live. If you don't do that, it all falls apart."
[laughs]

Which of the band's songs gave you the most trouble in

the studio?

"Hmm… Maybe Rock That! from the I Am album. I had to go

back and listen to it for a few days before I recorded it. Some
tunes sound better after you've played them than when you're
listening to them. I still hear some songs on the radio and go,
'Damn, I wish I could have done that better.' [laughs] It
happens."

"But I'll tell you, there was a song we did on the soundtrack to

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Sweet Sweetback [1971's Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss

Song], and I really butchered it, man, I ruined it! [laughs] In
fact, there's a really bad note that's still on it. I was young at
the time we did that. In those days, we couldn't go back and
redo things, you know? That was the first soundtrack that an
African-American group had done. I have a copy of the album.
I went back and listened to it, and I was like, 'Oops! There it is,
that bad note…'" [laughs]

Are there any new bass players who have impressed you?

"There's a lot of great kids out there today, man. A lot. We

have more and better bass players today than ever. In the last
50 years, the bass has progressed more than any other
instrument. There's so many good players. When I go to the
conventions, I can't believe what I hear. They've got 50 years
to pull from, everybody from Graham to Marcus, Nathan,
Stanley... myself… That's a big foundation for them to build
on."

There's a new album on the horizon. What can you say

about it right now?

"We're putting the finishing touches on it. The album's going to

be called Now, Then & Forever, and it's going to be a two-disc
set. The first disc will be new material, and on the other it's
going to be previous material with curators commenting on the
songs. Clive Davis, Lenny Kravitz, Raphael Saadiq - different
people like that. It's going to be cool."

Is the new song Guiding Lights indicative of what the

album will sound like?

"Yeah, but even better. The new stuff sounds like Earth, Wind

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& Fire, so that's why we like it." [laughs]

OK, the outfits. Seriously, now, when you look back at

album covers and photos, do you say, "Yeah, those
clothes were the coolest" or do you say, "Oh my God,
what were we thinking?"

"I say, 'It's cool,' because the workmanship was great.

Sometimes the '70s get a bad rap for being a little cheesy, and
it's been the stuff of parody, but when really look at the
wardrobes, it was great. Really great workmanship. Every era
has its time - that's the thing to remember."

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