1 Got to Get You into My Life - 4:03
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2 Fantasy - 3:46
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3 Can't Hide Love - 4:10
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4 Love Music - 3:55
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5 Getaway - 3:46
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6 That's the Way of the World - 5:46
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7 September - 3:36
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8 Shining Star - 2:50
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9 Reasons - 4:59
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10 Sing a Song - 3:23
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11 Megamix 2000 [*] - 7:38
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12 Megamix [Radio Edit][*] - 3:23
When it was originally released in 1978,
The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 was a succinct, ten-track collection of the group's best and biggest singles up to that point. The excellent
"September," a brand-new song, soon became a hit in its own right, and the non-LP
Beatles cover
"Got to Get You into My Life," recorded for the
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band film, also makes its first appearance on an
EWF album here, as does the track
"Love Music." EWF's commercial prime hadn't yet ended when this collection appeared; thus, it's missing several crucial latter-day hits, including the slinky funk of
"Serpentine Fire," the ballad
"After the Love Has Gone," and the disco smashes
"Let's Groove" and
"Boogie Wonderland." But even if it's an incomplete hits collection,
The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 still ranks as a strong encapsulation of
EWF the funk innovators. The singles gathered here constitute some of the richest, most sophisticated music the funk movement ever produced; when the absolute cream of the group's catalog is heard in such a concentrated fashion, the effect is dazzling. That's why
The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 was remastered and reissued along with the rest of
EWF's catalog, even though it's been supplanted by more extensive single-disc (
Greatest Hits), double-disc (
The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire), and triple-disc (
The Eternal Dance) anthologies. 1998's
Greatest Hits now stands as the definitive single-disc
EWF overview, but for the budget-minded and the disco-phobic, this still makes for an excellent listen. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi
- Composer - Al McKay
- Producer - Al McKay
- Engineer - Alan Hewitt
- Keyboards - Alan Hewitt
- Mixing - Alan Hewitt
- Producer - Alan Hewitt
- Programming - Alan Hewitt
- Composer - Allee Willis
- Director - Art Macnow
- Assistant Engineer - Cameron Marcarelli
- Arranger - Charles Stepney
- Producer - Charles Stepney
- Photography - Chris Walter
- Photography - David Gahr
- Arranger - Earth, Wind & Fire
- Composer - Eddie Del Barrio
- Engineer - George Calle
- Mixing - George Calle
- Producer - George Calle
- Art Direction - Howard Fritzson
- Songwriter - Jay Graydon
- Photography - Jim Shea
- Mastering - Joseph M. Palmaccio
- Producer - Joseph Wissert
- Production Assistant - Larry Dunn
- Liner Notes - Leo Sacks
- Producer - Leo Sacks
- Reissue Producer - Leo Sacks
- Composer - Louis Silas, Jr.
- Mastering - Mark Wilder
- Arranger - Maurice White
- Composer - Maurice White
- Drums - Maurice White
- Engineer - Maurice White
- Liner Notes - Maurice White
- Mixing - Maurice White
- Producer - Maurice White
- Vocals - Maurice White
- Engineer - Mauro DeSantis
- Mixing - Mauro DeSantis
- Producer - Mauro DeSantis
- Composer - Michael Mazzarella
- Engineer - Paul Klingberg
- Mixing - Paul Klingberg
- Producer - Paul Klingberg
- Liner Notes - Philip Bailey
- Director - Richard Salvato
- Artwork - Shusei Nagaoka
- Design - Steve Newman
- Horn Arrangements - Tom Tom 84
- String Arrangements - Tom Tom 84
- Liner Notes - Verdine White
- Production Assistant - Verdine White
- Composer - Wayne Vaughn
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