Earth Wind Fire - That’s Way Of The World

Earth Wind And Fire's "That's The Way Of The World" is a true gem from 1975, which I always think of as the song Lenny Kravitz ripped off for his 1991 hit "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over".

LP version (about 5:44)

The LP version is plentiful on CD, and the good news is that I didn't hear any bad-sounding versions.

I found three different analog transfers, all from good source tapes, with reasonable EQ, great dynamic range, and no trace of noise reduction.

The first is on Columbia's Best Of Vol. 1 (1986). This is a great-sounding disc, start to finish - probably my favorite EWF collection. The same analog transfer is used on

• Time-Life's 2-CD Body Talk Vol. 16 Sweet Nothings (1997; differently-EQ'd digital clone)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Body And Soul Vol. 2 Love And Tenderness (1998; differently-EQ'd digital clone)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Legends Of Soul Vol. 10 Earth Wind And Fire (2002; differently-EQ'd digital clone)

The second is on Columbia's Pop Classics Of The '70s (1989), which has a little more bass than Best Of. This disc is spotty, track-to-track, but sounds quite nice here. The fade is a tiny bit shorter than Best Of.

The third is Columbia/Legacy's 3-CD The Eternal Dance (1992). I've heard noise reduction on some of the tracks on this disc, but this one sounds OK. The fade is a second or two shorter than the above two. The track before this one has a tiny bit of overlap with this one. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Madacy's Rock On 1975 Midnight Blue (1998; digitally exactly 1.8 dB louder and fixed the overlapping-track problem)

You won't be disappointed with any of these, but I voted for Columbia's Best Of Vol. 1 (1986) for the LP version.

45 version (about 3:07)

I have the 45 version on Time-Life's Solid Gold Soul Vol. 31 Old School Love Affair (2001), and the odds are pretty good that you don't because this CD is pretty uncommon. If I had to put money on the line, I'd bet that this disc is a differently-EQ'd digital clone of MCA's 3-CD Soul Train 25th Anniversary (1995), which I don't have.

I tried recreating the 45 from the LP version. While I'm confident that it can be done, I don't have the skill or the patience to pull off one particular edit. There's a cross-fade right after the word "yeow" at 1:56, as it goes into the guitar solo. To complicate matters, two extra drum beats are added over the cross-fade, so that the beat doesn't drop out entirely. If you want to really attempt it, the cross-fade would be from the portion of the LP version at 2:21 ("yeow", timing from Best Of) into 2:33 (before guitar solo starts).

I gave up, naturally.

I did check out the track listing on that Soul Train collection (it's dy-no-MITE!), and it's much cheaper than the rare Time-Life disc at this point.

I'm going to recommend MCA's 3-CD Soul Train 25th Anniversary (1995) for the 45 version, even though I've never heard it and don't own it. I should probably buy it.

Thanks, Andy - good to know!

And thanks to Tom O., I can confirm that Time-Life's Solid Gold Soul Vol. 31 Old School Love Affair (2001) is a differently-EQ'd digital clone of MCA's 3-CD Soul Train 25th Anniversary (1995).

Thanks, guys!