Earth Wind and Fire - Can't Let Go Live 1980 Brazil

Most hardcore EWF purist consider the album All N All as their cutoff point but they missed out on the fantastic albums of "I AM, FACES, RAISE, and POWERLIGHT".
Here is EWF doing one of their most powerful love songs ever.

[@samthesham5294]

Maurice WHY did you Let go???😢😢😢😭😭😭I was 23 home on leave in Brooklyn from the army. Now l am 62 and this song is as Fresh as when l head it in 1979 on leave.

[@anthonyjones2521]

Thank u for ur service🙏🏾

[@SabianK]

I concur...I was 13 living in Queens and this song and this album resonated so much in my childhood ..it made me happy,made me think and it was just great music for a child to grow to...

[@karencoleman6442]

We as fans of Earth Wind &Fire will keep Maurice White in our hearts 💕 💞 as we listen to the music. 🎶 🎵

[@GiovanniCloud]

Well, geez. It's not as if he had a choice. He fought his Parkinson's for as long as he did and still did stuff behind the scenes with EWF and other musicians.

[@kenichiku]

RIP Maurice, You were a huge part of my youth.

[@2eaststar]

the best funky band on this planet

[@AfrodityJones]

Out of all the remixes and original, this will always my favorite rendition. I was a baby at this time, so these vids are the closest I get to the original nine lineup. Rest in power, Mr. Maurice White. My heart broke the day you passed.

[@djjerome]

Earth, Wind and Fire, the greatest band of all time, HANDS DOWN!!

[@stevewardlaw5718]

I AM is by far my favorite album along with this song

[@miguelflores1113]

Yea

[@miguelflores1113]

Yes

[@reginacooper7335]

I love this whole album!!

[@godstallchild7964]

Yes same here!!!

[@cehayes74]

💯 💯 💯 on that !!!

[@elsamendieta3001]

I loooooove this song.. every time I hear it, it takes me to another place!!!..EWF is the best band on Earth, Wind & Fire!!!!

[@jaylanga3215]

Ya! This is one of classic that "I cant let go". Love that song and make me cry. Emotions, thinkings.. my life, my son. It takes me far from me, inside me. Melodia, voz, vivacidade, energy, ritmo, sentimento, Art and message. I just cant let go My prefered Funky Band. EWF, my "venia" to you all. Respect to mr White, Maurice_RIP. Love u guys! ❤❤❤❤❤❤ Jay Langa, Moz, Maputo

[@johnfleming9125]

Best concert performers ever!!

[@robinjackson8554]

Maurice was the consummate band leader, frontman, singer/musician producer. He could do it all. He had the sweetest voice. EWF is truly one of the greatest bands on the planet. Many thanks to Maurice White's contribution to the American music scene and for formulating this great band, it was truly a gift!

[@trezlorenz]

Maurice and EWF are just pure gold!

[@JulioFrancis]

Eu queria muito ter vivido nessa época.

[@bubz75]

Greatest Soul Funk Band of ALL TIME!!!

[@MrDjmarkyb]

Descance em paz grande Mestre Maurice White!!! R.I.P.

[@vagnersilva5081]

Maurice White faleceu?

[@MrDjmarkyb]

infelizmente sim...

[@sergioaugusto7766]

Fui neste show no Maracanãzinho. Eu estava com 17 anos (Hoje 59)! Um tempo em que nos distraíamos sem ficarmos apavorados. Havia sim, um malandro em cada bairro, já hoje tem um malandro em cada poste. Tempo difícil o de hoje! ABRAÇOS E SAÚDE À TODOS!

[@nena_366]

Whewwwww chile!!!! This gave me chills!!! I love love love this song! RIP Maurice

[@kashirocks-lk2qn]

Johnny Graham damn handsome with that glasses 😎😎😎

[@Quad8track]

Such an incredible performance. 1980, this is the first I've heard of "hardcore EWF purist considering All-N-All their cutoff point". They continued to put out amazing material afterwards as well.

[@cellsdoni5968]

Up until about 83, when their commercial success began to wane. I don't know if you noticed one change in personnel 3 years prior. Ultra funkster guitarist Al McKay left the group saying he didn't care for the direction (style) the group was heading in. So Roland Bautista (who was an original member during the early 70's) returned and re-added his axe flavor. While noting that, I liked the projects he was involved in. Maurice White said himself that "FACES" was not a commercial success but was just as good or great, musically. I agree with him. FACES was a beautiful album with the idea, I think, of linking the past with the coming future. MW was always trying to upgrade their sound. It was the first time I heard them record a song in an odd time signature (Sail Away, w/Philip Bailey leading) I could go on about how admirable this album was but I think you got it. But now in saying all of this, I am still and will always be passionate about "All 'N All." My weaning years were spent grooving to this project, girlfriends, rites of passage, etc. Yeah, that soft spot for EWF is strong from the mid to late 70's for a number of reasons. But FACES is wonderful. If they decided to cut their recording career off in 1980, I would have understood (even though I liked "Let's Groove!!")

[@Quad8track]

@@cellsdoni5968 I really enjoyed reading your post. Yes, Faces is a great album but not their best. Seems like too many ideas thrown in the pot. I like the title track 'Faces'. That song is incredible. The song 'Back On The Road' sounds like Chicago's 'Saturday In The Park'.

[@cellsdoni5968]

@@Quad8track Yes, you are spot on with "Back On The Road." Has its own special kind of funk!! And it does have a similar 'sentiment' to "Saturday In The Park", I agree. They had a number of hits I like as well, one being this that you mentioned as well as "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" I remember mostly hearing those from the late 60's but also dove into the single, "If You Leave Me Now", from '76. I actually learned how to play and sing this tune around the early part of the new millennium but failed to keep it up, due to family issues . . . long and complicated. I've had some health concerns as well affecting my vocal ability. So getting back into it all is going to be a bit difficult but hopefully not impossible. Only time will tell. I love music, it's done so much for me in helping to keep my sanity when things look as though they want to fold and collapse. Been a life saver, not just then and of recent but all throughout my life. In the mean time, I'll keep diggin' into the likes of Earth, Wind & Fire, Chicago, Chic, Isleys, all of the old groups, et. al., and some of the recent ones. I encourage you to do the same to keep gettin' that vibe!!

[@WESTSTAND63]

Very very sad in what has been a terrible start to the year for musicians........and good ones at that, dying. RIP Maurice White. xxx

[@mansourkhodjamansour1719]

un groupe exceptionnel j'adore wow rip brother Maurice white

[@rafaelbeaumont830]

My friend Tory Winter bought my first Earth Wind and Fire for me. Since then, the gentlemen have a magical effect on me. I personally met them in March 1979 in AHOY Rotterdam.

[@christiangarcia9245]

A genius band!! The greatest ever!!

[@miguelflores1113]

Amazing!

[@justmanofg12]

1:24 to 1:32 so much energy!!!LOVE IT SO MUCH 🤙

[@rafaelbeaumont830]

My friend Tory Winter bought my first Earth Wind and Fire for me. Since then, the gentlemen have a magical effect on me. I personally met them in March 1979 in AHOY Rotterdam. My first son is called Rahmlee Michael Davis, named after their first trumpetist

[@jamessydnor7591]

Yes sirrrrr!!! All the young band members, Southern U.,Bethune Cookman, PV, Norfolk St , Jackson St.... etc ... Y’all please bring this music back. It’s gotta be some of y’all who want to do this again

[@bubz75]

My favourite ewf jam

[@realhonestobversations9757]

As evident by this video, music, GREAT music, does something to people. Doesn't matter the language, race, creed, color, location, or whatever, it just speaks to all in a universal language. Just look at this!

[@yoshiemaro]

Original EWF❗❗❗Maurice very cool《*≧∀≦》 It is to cry past love

[@kendallkeith]

When I hear EWF I feel like I was born in the wrong time line era.

[@tubagee]

I too am a EWF fan salvooch . This is so spiritual and exciting . Did you see them back in the day in 1976 when they had the pyramids on stage . This was after Gradidtude came out and they toured in the summer . They did getaway as an encore !!!!!! I wish i had that show .

[@headedsomewhere]

I've always considered myself a EWF purist, but I never thought the cutoff point for them was All n All, I love I AM, FACES, and the other mentioned, and have always thought of I AM as my fave album til I got older and listened again to Spirit, soooooo

[@AuntieCheri]

Incredible!!!

[@AbstractMan23]

WOW, amazing stuff. please post more!

[@markesertalkink8723]

Do you see what music does to people? No language barrier, music, just GREAT music by the baddest band in the HISTORY of music. Fuck the overrated Beatles. These guys were it!!!!! And Phillip is killing those Congo’s. Nice. I also saw him play the hell out of a Kalimba on a tour with him and Chaka Kahn. Incredible is all I can say!

[@alitawilliams7954]

my favorite tune 😃

[@littlenige]

One of the greatest bands that ever lived! Only thing for me which is something I will never like - when live performances are at a supersonic speed. I know this track was fast to begin with, but I've lost count of the times I've listened to 'live' versions of tunes I like only to find the feel and groove of the song (especially with soul music) is destroyed by the speed with which it is played.

[@cellsdoni5968]

Drummer Fred White (Maurice's brother) was known for driving the beat when they played live, and even in some recording sessions. But he wasn't the first and not the last to do it. Stewart Copeland (rock group, The Police) did the same thing.

[@gweapon0127]

Awesome video

[@jdunn85]

very underated song by EWF but when this song first came out the DJ on WDAS played it back to back..that neve happen EVER on the radio!!!

[@jamessydnor7591]

Genius.... you mean to tell me: Nobody from Jackson St , Southern, Bethune-Cookman, Norfolk St... A&T.... wanna put those band skillz on display and bring this back??????

[@robmorrison1043]

I AM to me was Maurice Whites pinnacle in production and arrangement, its EW&F Sargent Pepper album. All of MW musical ideas in production,horns, arrangement and vocals all came together in a complex and sophisticated MASTERPIECE! It was also Maurice's first album with David Foster and Allie Willis. It waa such a fruitful period that a real good song like Diana was left off I Am. Faces to me has the most complex and sophisticated horn arrangements i have ever heard. To this day, when i listen to the album i pick up new focus instruments i missed. It was a double album with some REALLY good songs, but it was not promoted right by the record company and the industry was starting to change. In many interviews, Maurice says Faces was his favorite EW&F album. I can see how after I Am, Faces was a nice continuation of where Maurice's head was at! Pound for pound, my favorite 2 albums, back to back!

[@MrDjmarkyb]

amo! show de bola, muito legal!

[@daniboy28]

as for the so-called cutoff by the purists, they completely missed what turned out to be great albums. I AM, Faces, Raise, Powerlight; all great albums....

[@phillipwattsjr.4714]

Yes. I AM was my official jump-on point(my father played that 8-track front to back every day) and I enjoyed the follow-ups as well. Of course as I got older, I would backtrack to their older work (including the thankless days at Warner Brothers) and enjoyed them just as much.

[@franciscorocha6075]

Buen grupo!!

[@KuklaTamarka]

Как же сексуально❤❤❤

[@thesafespaceyt]

1:04 😍

[@user-sn3mm1de5x]

うーむ、いつもより、早いかな？凄いカッコイイ、世の中にはもっと上手いボーカルいるかも知れないけど、ノリとリズム的にやっぱり一番好きなボーカルだなー。流石ドラマー

[@afonsofirmo5689]

Tendi nada !

[@cedenson1ify]

totally agree with you....

[@charleswilliams8248]

Still hot 🥵!

[@ronnthebigchiefron3914]

Sadly this was al McKay last proformence with ewf left shortly after they didn't sound the same without him

[@bradleythomas27]

I believe this is the concert thats been released as "Rio After Dark" on CD

[@afonsofirmo5689]

Eu estava lá.

[@salvooch4]

This is great stuff...thanks for posting. These old EWF concert videos are the best. Do you have more from this show??? I saw them so many times growing up...its just a good feeling watching and reliving the experience of vintage EWF concerts.

[@sleeeeeeeper]

素晴らしい

[@MrLEEJUNFAN1000]

This is their best body of work !

[@small_ed]

What a fun tune! Very cool. Who is the mystery lady at 0:59? R.I.P. Maurice W.

[@michaelwelps6607]

She's 60 now dude

[@loubamour]

@@michaelwelps6607 xDDDD

[@small_ed]

@@michaelwelps6607 lol...actually, she looks almost like a young Jennifer Aniston

[@archiejackson2315]

Dag I wish I could said I witnessed the Elements of Earth back in the day

[@tubagee]

does anyone have the 1976 show on dvd ?? when they came out the pyramids . they did all the songs from the gratittude album . Let me know .

[@Charles-tt3dr]

You're right a lot of E,W&F fans dismissed the I Am album. The Earth Wind & Fire purist accused E,W&F of going disco on that album!

[@AlexZorach]

Charles 91771 I think that's sad, this is one of my favorite songs of theirs. I think Faces is my favorite album of theirs too. One thing that I think makes EW&F so amazing is how they kept their unique style, yet while going through so many different eras and styles of music, like disco, 80's music, and then even the newer albums from the 2000's with a modern hip-hop feel. I love their old stuff too, but I think they're good in all their eras.

[@1980Triumph]

+Charles 91771 Shame because it only had one disco track and even then who says that disco is a bad thing. There is good and bad in all styles of music.

[@small_ed]

+Charles 91771 Unfortunate. "I Am" is what started it all for me...

[@1980Triumph]

small ed - I Am is the record that completely sold me on EWF, In The Stone was something I always wanted to hear.

[@goldenchick85]

+Charles 91771 My mother likes I Am, but pretty much dismisses everything that they did afterwards. I actually like Faces and Powerlight.

[@qxiz5164]

1:28 when you see a pile of ants on the floor

[@lippypongstockings8356]

soooo fast! I adore this song but I wish the tempo were slower to really showcase the beauty of this piece. RIP Maurice.

[@daniboy28]

I think what makes this song is the stomping tempo! High energy funk....

[@phillipwattsjr.4714]

A lot of R&B/Soul/Funk groups did that. I remember Otis Redding hiking up the tempo of "Try A Little Tenderness" in every show, and the label execs kept urging him not to, but he hiked it up anyway!

[@1980Triumph]

@salvooch4 i'll upload soon

[@logisticaunilav2434]

Showw

[@michaeld.nichols2552]

Pay metheny. Group

[@user-wl7dj9mn6e]

あれ？ この動画 Live原盤レコードより遅い再生スピードになってない？ 再生スピード弄ってない？ 最初上がっときの動画よりスピード遅くなってない？ 再生スピードおかしよね？ 遅くなってる こんなに原盤おそくないよ？

[@KuklaTamarka]

Что-то хор плохо справляется😮😅 Или мониторы не настроены для бэк-вокала.

[@someonesomeone7423]

Is it me or does maurice sound flat?

[@ewaf88]

@0:59 Looks like the young lady was getting a bit too excited

[@michaelwelps6607]

You call that excited? Its like tapping your feet to the song

[@alitawilliams7954]

my favorite tune 😃

[@alitawilliams7954]

my favorite tune 😃

[@alitawilliams7954]

my favorite tune 😃