All 'n All

All 'n All is the eighth studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1977 by Columbia Records. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. All 'n All has also been certified Triple Platinum in the US by the RIAA, Gold in Canada by Music Canada and Silver in the UK by the BPI.

All 'n All was produced by Maurice White for Kalimba Productions. His inspiration for the album was a month-long trip to Argentina and Brazil.

Singles
"Serpentine Fire" reached number one on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Another single, "Fantasy", peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and number 14 on the UK Pop Singles chart. "Fantasy" also earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Song.

Critical reception


The Guardian:

"Maurice White began his career as a drummer, and his band can sound like one enormous kit, where every crash and beat has its funky place." The newspaper added, "'I'll Write a Song for You' is superior schmaltz; and the whole shebang is punctuated beautifully by Milton Nascimento's Brazilian Rhyme."

Rolling Stone:

Joe McEwen wrote, "As on past Earth, Wind and Fire records, All 'n All is filled with leaded brotherhood platitudes, Star Trek sci-fi and stiffly poetic love songs. This sounds overwrought and depressing (and maybe it is). But there's a catch: I like the record, for like much current black music, All 'n All elicits a schizophrenic response. If the album represents some of the worst in black music, it also has more than its share of the best."

The Los Angeles Times:

"All n All includes only two ballads and for a change both are as nifty as the R&B rockers. EW&F's finest collection."

The Village Voice:

Robert Christgau gave a B+ grade and wrote "Focusing soulful horns, high-tension harmonies, and rhythms and textures from many lands onto a first side that cooks throughout. Only one element is lacking. Still, unsympathetic as I am to lyrics about conquering the universe on wings of thought, they make me shake my fundament anyway."

AllMusic:

Alex Henderson described the album as a "diverse jewel".

Record Mirror:

Barry Cain, giving All n' All a four out of five stars, claimed that "the spirit of Maurice White reigns supreme" on the album. He goes onto say that "The singer, writer, and producer casts his giant bird like shadow across every note, every peerless piece of slickery, every eye - blinking device. If anyone can claim to be the Fellini of funk It's Maurice White." Cain added, "It's an EW&F album and I like it. Unashamedly."

Stereo Review:

Phyl Garland went onto say that "the music is delightfully earthy in its appeal, an aural collage of rich vocal and instrumental textures underscored by highly danceable rhythms that never surrender to triteness. Though the very name of this group partakes of astrological symbolism, and though the lyrics of their songs often hint of galactic mysteries, the nine men who compose Earth, Wind & Fire play a kind of music that might be called neo-progressive soul, for it is a full light-year beyond what most groups are doing these days, soaring to celestial heights while sending out waves of mundane thrills."

The New York Times:

John Rockwell proclaimed that "All 'n All shows Maurice White and his cohorts pushing their music ever more in a febrile jazz‐rock direction. There are parallels, here, to white rock groups like Queen and Yes, but the very sophistication and single‐mindedness of Earth, Wind and Fire's vision sets it apart from the bulk of rock‐and‐roll."

Chicago Tribune:

Monroe Anderson wrote that "the soul group's latest album release, All 'N All (Columbia), is a rare blend of poetry, passion, and artistic progression." Anderson added that "All 'N All is a nice indication that EW&F is trying to expose its fans to other forms of American music and take them across international and cultural borders."

As an album, All 'n All won a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus. From the album, "Runnin" also won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental. Additionally, All 'n All was nominated for an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Soul/R&B Album.

Personnel

 * Dorothy Ashby – harp
 * Phil Ayling – flute
 * Philip Bailey – vocals, percussion, congas
 * Blanche Belnick – violin
 * Roger Bobo – tuba
 * George Bohanon – trombone
 * Oscar Brashear – trumpet
 * Garnett Brown – trombone
 * Ronald Clark – violin
 * Ronald Cooper – cello
 * Paulinho Da Costa – percussion
 * Eduardo del Barrio – piano
 * Eumir Deodato - horn arrangement, string arrangement (7, 10)
 * Warren Dewey - additional recording engineer
 * David Duke – French horn
 * Larry Dunn – assistant producer, piano, Moog synthesizer, Oberheim synthesizer
 * Chuck Findley – trumpet
 * Norman Forrest – viola
 * Harris Goldman – violin
 * Jack Gootkin – violin
 * Janice Gower – violin, concertmaster
 * Johnny Graham – guitar solo (5), additional guitars
 * Terry Harrington – flute
 * Michael Harris - trumpet solo (9), additional trumpets
 * Ruth Henry – violin
 * Fred Jackson Jr. – flute
 * Ralph Johnson – drums
 * Jan Kelly – cello
 * Richard Klein – French horn
 * Paul Klingberg – audio mixing (12–14)
 * Renita Koven – viola
 * Betty LaMagna – violin
 * Carl LaMagna – violin
 * Mary D. Lindquist – violin
 * Linda Lipsett – viola
 * Art Macnow – direction
 * Steve Madaio – trumpet
 * Cameron Marcarelli – mixing assistant (12–14)
 * George Massenburg – recording engineer
 * James M. McGee – French horn
 * Al McKay – guitar solo (9), additional guitars
 * Abe Most – flute
 * Don Myrick – saxophone solo (9), alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
 * Susan Ranney – acoustic bass
 * Alan Robinson – French horn
 * Gale Robinson – French horn
 * Marilyn Robinson – French horn
 * Jack Rouben - assistant recording engineer
 * Meyer Rubin – acoustic bass
 * Leo Sacks – audio mixing (12–14), reissue producer
 * Richard Salvato – direction
 * Sheldon Sanov – violin
 * Louis Satterfield – trombone
 * Skip Scarborough – piano
 * Haim Shtrum – violin
 * Daniel Smith – cello
 * Barry Socher – violin
 * Lya Stern – violin
 * David Stockhammer – violin
 * Barbara Thomason – viola
 * Tom Tom 84 - horn arrangement, string arrangement
 * Marcia Van Dyke – violin
 * Fred White – drums
 * Maurice White – audio mixing (12–14), original recording producer, vocals, drums, kalimba
 * Verdine White – assistant producer, vocals, electric bass
 * Mark Wilder – mastering
 * Andrew Woolfolk – tenor saxophone

Accolades
(*) designates lists that are unordered.