"Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs That's the Weight of the World)" Review

In honor of it being the 21st night of September, it's time to catch up on Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs That's the Weight of the World), director Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson's documentary about the seminal 1970s R&B/soul/funk band that influenced many artists including Prince, Michael Jackson, and even Stevie Wonder.

Focusing on founder Maurice White, who was abandoned by his mother at age 5, an event that would color his personal and professional relationships forever, the doc traces his interest in music which led him to move from his birthplace of Memphis to Chicago where he became a session drummer for Chess Records and then joining noted jazz figure Ramsay Lewis's trio. Wanting to express himself more, he left the prestigious jazz gig and formed what would eventually become Earth, Wind & Fire.

It was initially a bumpy start as White and company struggled to find a focus that would cross over. One show opening for Parliament-Funkadelic resulted in such a musical beatdown by the headliners that one EWF member jumped over to P-Funk, the band members who were still around after White reshuffled the lineup were haunted by the grooves, and mastermind George Clinton would taunt them for a decade about it. But they took the lessons they learned and evolved to the point where their massive breakout hit, "Shining Star", was the inspiration for Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" (which later became the music for Will Smith's "Wild Wild West"), a tidbit that shocks an off-camera Questlove during the Wonder interview.

White also realized they needed a SHOW to go with the music and he hired the Tony Award-winning choreographer of The Wiz to stage the show and magician Doug Henning to create illusions like a levitating his half-brother/bassist Verdine White while he played. Fortunes were spent on elaborate costumes in an Afro-Futurist style, but eventually the costs of putting on such as an extravaganza took a toll on the operation, much to the chagrin of the band members who weren't being paid very much considering. White's complicated personal life and business distractions drove further wedges between family and colleagues.

While Questlove does an OK job of laying out the life and legacy and influences EWF had, the overall pacing feels a bit slow and the coverage superficial at times. Since White died of Parkinson's disease in 2016, only archival footage and audio is available and his brief was clearly not to tear down the reputation and renown of seminal artist and his band. While flawed, Earth, Wind & Fire is a good primer of one of the Seventies biggest acts.

Score: 6/10. Catch it on HBO Max.