“The Kennedy Center Honors celebrates icons who, through their artistry, have left an indelible stamp on our collective cultural consciousness,” stated Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein on the organization’s website. In the class of 2019 is Chicago’s own Earth, Wind and Fire.
The group was chosen as, “Earth, Wind & Fire’s hooks and grooves are the foundation of a seminal style that continues to shape our musical landscape,” with Billboard magazine reporting that they are the first African-American band to receive this honor.

They join a class that includes Linda Ronstadt, actress Sally Field, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and the revolutionary television program Sesame Street with a program honoring them that aired on CBS-TV.
Celebrating their 50th year in the business, let’s take a look back at their humble beginnings in Chicago.
In 1969, Maurice White, a former session drummer for Chess Records and former member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, joined two friends in Chicago, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead, as a songwriting team composing songs and commercials in the Chicago area. The three friends eventually got a recording contract with Capitol Records. Calling themselves “The Salty Peppers”, they went on to have a marginal hit single in the Midwestern area entitled “La La Time,” initially released on TEC Records, and re-issued in 1969 by Capitol.

Listen to “La, La, La (Part 1)” – https://youtu.be/qUuCAYP_uD0
Uh Huh Yeah b/w Your Love is Live (Capitol 2568) 1969
Listen to “Uh Huh Yeah” – https://youtu.be/mOxCYuutZ_A
Listen to “Your Love is Life” – https://youtu.be/UDgJPa3Zbnc

The Salty Peppers’ second single, “Uh Huh Yeah,” did not fare as well. Maurice moved on from Chicago to Los Angeles. He added to the band singer Sherry Scott and percussionist Yackov Ben Israel, both from Chicago, and then asked his younger brother Verdine how he would feel about heading out to the West Coast. On June 6, 1970, Verdine left Chicago to join the band as their new bassist. Maurice began shipping demo tapes of the band, featuring Donny Hathaway, around to different record labels with Maurice naming the band Earth, Wind and Fire, based on his astrological sign Sagittarius. His shopping landed them with Warner Bros. Records with their debut album released in 1971.

Of course, Earth, Wind & Fire went on to run off a string of hits in the 70s & 80s, topped by the #1 “Shining Star” in 1975. That was followed by “That’s The Way Of The World”, “Sing A Song”, “Got To Get You Into My Life”, “September”, “Boogie Wonderland”, “After The Love Has Gone”, “Let’s Groove” and “Fall In Love With Me”, among others.

On the Kennedy Center Honors program, Earth, Wind & Fire was honored with a medley of their hits performed by John Legend, the Jonas Brothers, Cynthia Erivo and Ne-Yo. If you missed the December 8 airing of the program, you can watch it at https://www.cbs.com/shows/kennedy_center_honors/