| Flowers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 1976 | |||
| Studio | P.S. Recording Studios, Chicago, Illinois | |||
| Genre | R&B, soul | |||
| Length | 28:40 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Maurice White, Charles Stepney | |||
| The Emotions chronology | ||||
| ||||
Flowers is a studio album by the American girl group The Emotions, released in 1976 by Columbia Records. [1] The album reached No. 5 on the Billboard Top R&B albums chart. [2] Flowers has been certified Gold in the US by the RIAA. [3]
The group's first LP on Columbia Records, Flowers was produced by Charles Stepney and Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire. The album was reissued with an 8-page booklet, liner notes and a bonus track in 2012.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [1] |
| Rolling Stone | (favourable) [5] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [6] |
| Village Voice | B [7] |
| Melody Maker | (favourable) [8] |
With a B grade Robert Christgau of the Village Voice wrote "Earth, Wind & Fire's girl group--literally. Whether it's Jeanette, Sheila, or Wanda who sounds like Diana Ross at a higher level of consciousness, the effect is exquisite." [7] Amy Hanson of Allmusic, in a 3 out of 5 star review, opined "Revamping their classic girl group soul sounds to incorporate the more eclectic nuances of (Maurice) White's production, the resultant brassed-up disco proved to be on target." She added " With fellow Earth, Wind & Fire members Verdine and Fred White adding their unmistakable chops to the sound, the Emotions ultimately emerged with an absolutely stunning brew that kept their powerful vocal harmonies well spotlighted, while adding more than a little funk to the sound." [4] Jim Arundel of Melody Maker also called Flowers "an incredibly short but definitely sweet album." [8]
The album's title track got to No.16 on the US Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and No.2 on the NZ Top 40 Singles chart. [9] [10] Another single, "I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love", reached No. 4 on the US Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs chart and No.13 on the US Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart. [11] [12]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love" | Wanda Hutchinson, Jeanette Hawes | 4:01 |
| 2. | "Me for You" | Clarence McDonald, Fritz Baskett | 4:17 |
| 3. | "You've Got the Right to Know" | Wanda Hutchinson | 2:36 |
| 4. | "We Go Through Changes" | Wanda Hutchinson, Henry Hicks, Jr. | 0:55 |
| 5. | "Special Part" | Deniece Williams, Clarence McDonald, Lani Groves | 3:52 |
| Total length: | 15:41 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "No Plans for Tomorrow" | Wanda Hutchinson, Henry Hicks, Jr. | 3:44 |
| 7. | "How Can You Stop Loving Someone" | Wanda Hutchinson | 4:14 |
| 8. | "Flowers" | Maurice White, Al McKay | 4:28 |
| 9. | "God Will Take Care of You" | Civilla D. Martin, Walter S. Martin | 0:33 |
| Total length: | 12:59 | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Flowers" (Single Version) | 3:43 |
| Chart (1976) | Peak [2] |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Top LPs | 45 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Soul LPs | 5 |
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop | US R&B [13] | US Dan [14] | NZ | UK Pop [15] | ||
| 1976 | "Flowers" | 87 | 16 | — | 2 | — |
| "I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love" | 51 | 13 | 4 | 40 | ||
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American musical group. Their style and sound span over various music genres such as jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin, and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of over 90 million records worldwide.
The Emotions are an American soul/R&B vocal group from Chicago. The group started out in gospel music but transitioned into R&B and disco music. The Emotions were named by VH1 as one of the 18 most influential girl groups of all time.
Maurice White was an American singer, band leader, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey.
Raise! is the eleventh studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released on November 14, 1981, by ARC/Columbia Records. The album spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard Top R&B albums chart and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart. Raise! has been certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA, Gold in the UK by the BPI and Gold in Canada by Music Canada.
Spirit is the seventh studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released on September 28, 1976, by Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 2 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Soul Albums charts. Spirit has also been certified Double Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
I Am is the ninth studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire released in June 1979 on ARC/Columbia Records. The LP rose to number 1 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. I Am has been certified Double Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA, Platinum in the UK by the BPI and Platinum in Canada by Music Canada.
"Best of My Love" is a song by American band the Emotions from their fourth studio album Rejoice (1977). It was composed by Maurice White and Al McKay of Earth, Wind & Fire, and produced by White and Clarence McDonald.
Rejoice is an album by American vocal group the Emotions issued in June 1977 by Columbia Records. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart and No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart. Rejoice has also been certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
"Serpentine Fire" is a single by Earth, Wind & Fire which was issued in October 1977 by Columbia Records. The single rose to numbers 1 and 13 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs and Hot 100 charts, respectively.
The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 is the first greatest hits album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire issued in 1978 by Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 3 & 6 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums and Billboard 200 charts respectively. The album has been certified Quintuple Platinum in the US by the RIAA, as well as Platinum in the UK and Canada, by the BPI and Music Canada, respectively.
Touch the World is the fourteenth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1987 on Columbia Records. The album reached No. 3 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart and No. 33 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. Touch the World was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.
Sunbeam is the fifth studio album of the girl group The Emotions issued in April 1978 on Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 12 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 40 on the Billboard 200 chart. Sunbeam has also been certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.
"Thinking of You" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in January 1988 on Columbia Records as the third single from their fourteenth studio album, Touch the World (1987). It reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and number three on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.
Electric Universe is the thirteenth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1983 on Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 8 on the US Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 40 on the US Billboard 200 chart. Electric Universe also reached No. 17 on the Swedish Pop Albums chart, No. 18 on the UK Blues & Soul Top British Soul Albums chart, No. 20 on the Japanese Pop Albums chart and No. 22 on both the Dutch Pop Albums and Swiss Pop Albums charts.
Heritage is the fifteenth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in February 1990 on Columbia Records, and was their final release of new music for the label. The album reached No. 19 on the US Billboard Top R&B Albums chart and No.18 on the UK Blues & Soul Top British Soul Albums chart. Heritage also got to No. 31 on the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart and No. 39 on both the Finland Suomen virallinen albumilista and the German Pop Albums chart.
"Wanna Be with You" is a song by R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire issued as a single in December 1981 by ARC/Columbia Records. The single rose to No. 15 on the US Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart, No. 7 on the UK Blues & Soul Top British Soul Singles chart and No. 40 on the RPM Canadian Pop Singles Chart.
"I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love" is a song recorded by R&B group the Emotions for their 1976 album, Flowers. It was released a single by Columbia Records, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.
Come into Our World is a studio album by the girl group The Emotions issued in October 1979 on ARC/Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 35 on the US Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 36 on the UK Blues & Soul British Soul Albums chart. Come into Our World was also produced by Maurice White who went on to be Grammy nominated in the category of Producer of the Year Non-Classical.
"Magnetic" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1983 on Columbia Records as the first single from their thirteenth studio album, Electric Universe (1983). It reached No. 10 on the US Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, No. 36 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart and No. 23 on the UK Blues & Soul Top British Soul Singles chart. "Magnetic" also reached No. 16 on the Belgian Pop Singles chart and No. 18 on the Dutch Pop Singles chart.
"Side by Side" is a song by the band Earth, Wind & Fire released as a single in April 1983 on Columbia Records. The song reached No. 15 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart.
