Reasons (Earth, Wind & Fire song)
Encyclopedia
"Reasons" is a love ballad
by Earth, Wind & Fire
from their sixth album, That's the Way of the World
. The album was the group's most successful and contained their first hit, "Shining Star". The 1975 album served as the soundtrack
for the 1975 Harvey Keitel
film That's the Way of the World
that featured the group.
The song features the falsetto
singing of Philip Bailey
who continued to perform the song as part of the band's touring repertoire decades later. Although it never charted, "Reasons" has endured. The song, which was written by Bailey, Charles Stepney
, Maurice White
has appeared on dozens of albums, including almost all of Earth, Wind & Fire's greatest hits and compilation album
s.
/Tavares
mold. Over twenty years later, one album guide described it as one of the group's seminal hits.
(1978), The Eternal Dance
(1992), Greatest Hits Live
(1996), Earth, Wind & Fire: Greatest Hits
(1998), The Ultimate Collection
(1999), The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire
(2002), and That's the Way of the World: Alive in 75
(2002). The version on the 1975 studio album That's the Way of the World
was 4:59, while the version on the 1975 Gratitude album was 8:23. Most early albums use one of these two lengths, but later career live albums have different length versions.
"Reasons" has been covered by artists such as The Manhattans
on The Manhattans
(1976) and Nelson Rangell
on Far Away Day (2000). On the 2007 Earth, Wind & Fire tribute album
, Interpretations: Celebrating the Music of Earth, Wind & Fire
, Musiq Soulchild covered the song during the period that he was known and credited as Musiq. Reasons has also been sampled by Master P
on Intro/17 Reasons featured on his album 99 Ways to Die. The song has also been sampled in "Muscle Grip" from X-tra Naked
by Shabba Ranks
, "Budsmokers Only" from E 1999 Eternal by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
, "More Reasons" from Purple Haze
by Cam'ron
, "Seasoned" from Charlie Hustle: The Blueprint of a Self-Made Millionaire
by E-40
and "2 Step
" by Fly Gypsy.
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
by Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...
from their sixth album, That's the Way of the World
That's the Way of the World
-1999 reissue:-Covers and samples:"Reasons", the album's breakout love ballad, has been covered by Stanley Turrentine, Ramsey Lewis, Maxi Priest and other artists. "Reasons" has also been sampled by Master P on Intro/17...
. The album was the group's most successful and contained their first hit, "Shining Star". The 1975 album served as the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
for the 1975 Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
film That's the Way of the World
That's the Way of the World (film)
That's the Way of the World is a 1975 film produced and directed by Sig Shore, starring Harvey Keitel, and features the music of R&B/Funk group Earth, Wind and Fire . The film depicts the music business and the life of record executives...
that featured the group.
The song features the falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
singing of Philip Bailey
Philip Bailey
Philip Irvin Bailey is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter, percussionist and actor, best known as one of the longtime members of Earth, Wind & Fire. Together with Verdine White, B. David Whitworth, and Ralph Johnson he forms the heart of the current EWF line-up on...
who continued to perform the song as part of the band's touring repertoire decades later. Although it never charted, "Reasons" has endured. The song, which was written by Bailey, Charles Stepney
Charles Stepney
Charles Stepney was a producer, arranger, songwriter and musician famous for his Orchestral Psychedelic soul sound with Chicago's Cadet/Chess records in the 1960s/1970s and afterwards with Earth, Wind & Fire....
, Maurice White
Maurice White
Maurice White is a Grammy Award–winning American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger. He is the older brother of Verdine White and Fred White and the leader and founder of the band Earth, Wind & Fire...
has appeared on dozens of albums, including almost all of Earth, Wind & Fire's greatest hits and compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
s.
Reviews
Allmusic.com describes the song as a georgeous ballad. When reviewing the album, Rolling Stones Gordon Fletcher described the song as among their ballads cut from The Four TopsFour Tops
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet, whose repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, hard rock, and showtunes...
/Tavares
Tavares (band)
Tavares are a successful American R&B, funk and soul music group, composed of five Cape Verdean-American brothers from New Bedford, Massachusetts.-Band members:...
mold. Over twenty years later, one album guide described it as one of the group's seminal hits.
Other releases, covers and samples
Among the albums that include the song are Gratitude (1975), The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1
The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 is a 1978 compilation album collecting the charting singles of Earth, Wind & Fire. In addition to collecting previously charting songs, the album also presented two tracks which were a cover of the Beatles' song "Got to Get You Into My Life" and the original...
(1978), The Eternal Dance
The Eternal Dance
The Eternal Dance is a compilation album of American R&B group Earth, Wind & Fire released on September 8, 1992 by Columbia/Legacy.- Track listing : *previously unreleased **portions previously unreleased ***additional unreleased intro...
(1992), Greatest Hits Live
Greatest Hits Live (Earth, Wind & Fire album)
Greatest Hits Live is a Live album by Earth, Wind & Fire released in 1996 on Rhino Records. It was also released as "Plugged In and Live" on Maurice White's Kalimba Records.- Track listing :...
(1996), Earth, Wind & Fire: Greatest Hits
Earth, Wind & Fire: Greatest Hits
-References:...
(1998), The Ultimate Collection
The Ultimate Collection (Earth, Wind & Fire album)
The Ultimate Collection is a compilation album by the band Earth, Wind & Fire released on Concept Records in 1999.-Track listing:#"Boogie Wonderland" 4:49#"Shining Star" 2:50...
(1999), The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire
The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire
The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire is a compilation album of American R&B group Earth, Wind & Fire. It contains several songs recorded between 1973 and 1983, and all the tracks were digitally remastered. It was released on July 30, 2002 by Columbia/Legacy as a double-disc set, part of The Essential...
(2002), and That's the Way of the World: Alive in 75
That's the Way of the World: Alive in 75
That's the Way of the World: Alive in '75 is a live album by the R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire. The album contains live renditions of songs from the albums Head to the Sky, Open Our Eyes and That's the Way of the World. That's the Way of the World: Alive in '75 was released in April 2002 on...
(2002). The version on the 1975 studio album That's the Way of the World
That's the Way of the World
-1999 reissue:-Covers and samples:"Reasons", the album's breakout love ballad, has been covered by Stanley Turrentine, Ramsey Lewis, Maxi Priest and other artists. "Reasons" has also been sampled by Master P on Intro/17...
was 4:59, while the version on the 1975 Gratitude album was 8:23. Most early albums use one of these two lengths, but later career live albums have different length versions.
"Reasons" has been covered by artists such as The Manhattans
The Manhattans
The Manhattans are an American popular R&B vocal group, with a string of hit records spanning four decades. Their best known million-selling songs being "Kiss and Say Goodbye" and 'Shining Star' in 1980...
on The Manhattans
The Manhattans (album)
The Manhattans is the self-titled album by R&B vocal group The Manhattans, released in 1976 on the Columbia label. The Manhattans was the group's third Columbia album; the previous two had sold respectably to the R&B market, but failed to garner any significant crossover attention...
(1976) and Nelson Rangell
Nelson Rangell
Nelson Rangell is an American velvet-smooth jazz musician and composer originally from Castle Rock, Colorado. Although Rangell is known for his work with the tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, his primary instrument is the piccolo flute, which he began playing at the age of 15...
on Far Away Day (2000). On the 2007 Earth, Wind & Fire tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
, Interpretations: Celebrating the Music of Earth, Wind & Fire
Interpretations: Celebrating The Music Of Earth, Wind & Fire
Interpretations: Celebrating the Music of Earth, Wind and Fire is a tribute album to the R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire. The album was the first album to be released on the revived Stax label.-Reception:...
, Musiq Soulchild covered the song during the period that he was known and credited as Musiq. Reasons has also been sampled by Master P
Master P
Percy Robert Miller , better known by his stage name Master P or his business name P. Miller, is an American rapper, actor, entrepreneur, investor, and producer. He is the founder of the popular label No Limit Records, which went bankrupt and was relaunched as New No Limit Records through Koch...
on Intro/17 Reasons featured on his album 99 Ways to Die. The song has also been sampled in "Muscle Grip" from X-tra Naked
X-tra Naked
X-tra Naked is a studio album released by Shabba Ranks, this album is possibly the most successful Shabba Ranks released, as in 1993 the album won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.-Track listing:# Ting-A-Ling# Slow and Sexy# Will Power...
by Shabba Ranks
Shabba Ranks
Shabba Ranks is a Jamaican dancehall musician.He was one of the most popular dancehall artists of his generation. He was also one of the first Jamaican deejays to gain worldwide acceptance, and recognition for his 'slack' lyrical expressions and content, when "ridin' di riddim"...
, "Budsmokers Only" from E 1999 Eternal by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is an American Hip-Hop/R'n'B band from Cleveland, Ohio formed in 1991. It originally consisted of rappers Layzie Bone, Flesh-n-Bone, Bizzy Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Wish Bone. Rapper Eazy-E of the group N.W.A signed Bone Thugs-N-Harmony to Ruthless Records in 1994, when Bone...
, "More Reasons" from Purple Haze
Purple Haze (album)
Purple Haze is the fourth studio album by Harlem rapper Cam'ron. It was released on December 7, 2004. The release of this album was delayed several times from November 2003, the first single "Get Em Girls" was released a year prior to the actual album release...
by Cam'ron
Cam'ron
Cameron Giles , better known by his stage name Cam'ron or "Killa Cam", is a Grammy-nominated American actor. He is the founder of the hip-hop group The Diplomats , and also of The U.N. group....
, "Seasoned" from Charlie Hustle: The Blueprint of a Self-Made Millionaire
Charlie Hustle: The Blueprint of a Self-Made Millionaire
Charlie Hustle: The Blueprint of a Self-Made Millionaire is the fifth studio album by American rapper E-40, released November 9, 1999 on Jive and Sick Wid It Records. The album features production by Ant Banks, Bosko, Battlecat, Clint "Payback" Sands, Rick Rock and Studio Ton. It peaked at number 2...
by E-40
E-40
Earl Stevens , better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and investor from Vallejo, California. He is also part of the rap group The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. His solo debut album, Federal, was released in November 1992, after The Click's debut...
and "2 Step
2 Step
"2 Step" is the second single from Unk's album Beat'n Down Yo Block! It was released in 2007. It has an accompanying dance, called the "2 Step". The video co-directed by Dale "Rage" Resteghini and Will Horton was released on February 23, 2007 on Yahoo! Music...
" by Fly Gypsy.