Last Days and Time

Last Days and Time was produced by Joe Wissert and recorded at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California.

The album includes covers of Bread's "Make It with You" and Pete Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?".{{cite web|title=Earth, Wind & Fire: Last Days and Time|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/release/3824|website=secondhandsongs.com}}

The song, "Mom", reached No. 39 on the Cashbox Top R&B Singles chart.

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/last-days-and-time-mw0000318254|title=Earth, Wind & Fire: Last Days and Time|author=Ruhlmann, William|publisher=Allmusic|website=allmusic.com}}

| rev2 = Billboard

| rev2score = (favourable){{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQ8EAAAAMBAJ|title=Billboard Album Reviews|page=24|volume=84|issue=47|date=November 18, 1972|magazine=Billboard}}

| rev3 = Village Voice

| rev3Score = C+{{cite web|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=6768|title=Earth, Wind & Fire: Last Days and Time|author=Christgau, Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|publisher=Village Voice|website=robertchristgau.com}}

| rev4 = Los Angeles Daily News

| rev4score = (favourable){{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/valley-news/59449322/|title=Earth, Wind & Fire: Last Days and Time|page=37|date=November 17, 1972|author=Jr. Goode, Ovid|publisher=Los Angeles Daily News|newspaper=Valley News|via=newspapers.com|access-date=May 7, 2025}}

| rev5 = Record Mirror

| rev5Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/70s/79/Record-Mirror-1979-11-17.pdf#search=%22maurice%20white%22|title=Earth, Wind & Fire: Last Days and Time|page=16|issue=46|volume=26|author=Sexton, Paul|date=November 17, 1979|publisher=Record Mirror|website=worldradiohistory.com}}

| rev6 = Variety

| rev6Score = (favourable){{cite magazine |id={{ProQuest|1032460809}} |title=Record Review: Riders, Merman, J. Smith, Groucho, Edition, R. Williams, New Seekers, Brewer- Shipley, Michell Top LP's |magazine=Variety |volume=269 |issue=6 |date=20 December 1972 |page=48 }}

| rev7 = The Plain Dealer

| rev7Score = (favourable){{cite web|url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=&sort=YMD_date%3AA&page=1&fld-nav-0=YMD_date&val-nav-0=Feb%201990%20-%20Dec%201990&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22Earth%2C%20Wind%22&docref=image/v2%3A122AFBBA107AC9E4%40EANX-K12-131B538E3A24E03C%402447939-131AB8F66F3B0130%4044-131AB8F66F3B0130%40|title=R&B|author=Hill, Edward|page=45|date=February 16, 1990|publisher=The Plain Dealer|website=newsbank.com}}

| rev8 = Sounds

| rev8score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Sounds/IDX/Sounds-1980-01-19-S-OCR-IDX-35.pdf#search=%22earth%20wind%22|title=Horrors From The Wax Museum|page=35|author=Lazell, Barry|date=January 19, 1980|publisher=Sounds|via=worldradiohistory.com}}

}}

Barry Lazell of Sounds gave Last Days and Time, in his words "an early set never before available in the (UK)", a 3 out of 5 stars review."

Variety called the album "pulsating". William Ruhlmann of Allmusic in a 3/5 stars review proclaimed, "Earth, Wind & Fire were nothing if not ambitious, and by the time of their third album they had forged an individual sound by absorbing nearly everything that had gone before them in the previous ten years. It was as if they were trying to encapsulate every eclectic foray pursued by Motown, from catchy, rhythmic pop to churning funk, and even from Stevie Wonder singing borrowed folk songs like "Blowin' in the Wind" (here, Philip Bailey did "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?") to the schmaltzy, string-filled pop that spelled legitimacy to Motown. Not only that, they wanted to incorporate Sly & the Family Stone's horn-filled, gutbucket R&B and some of the fusion style of Weather Report. On Last Days and Time, they succeeded in pulling all that into their orbit". Billboard found "Earth, Wind & Fire's dynamic soul rock style is the main ingredients" of the album.

Paul Sexton of Record Mirror in a 1979 3/5 stars review wrote, "Musical historians and EW&F fans alike will welcome the release, for the first time in this country, of EW&F's first CBS album...Maurice White was still the wallah, even in those days, but the band hadn't really established their sound, although the material they used was not enormously different. The lush production, and White's domination of the vocals are not there, and there's greater reliance on other people's material. Such as, curiously enough David Gates "Make It With You" and even more unlikely, Pete Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?." Edward Hill of the Plain Dealer said "Released a year after What's Going On, the disc used jazz-like instrumental experimentation expanding on Gaye's vision of the coming desolation." Ovid Goode Jr. of The Los Angeles Daily News declared "There are many groups around today capitalizing on the rock-jazz sound which has become so popular. The only problem is that many of the groups are beginning to sound alike, both in their styles and in their material. However, take the same two ingredients, rock and jazz, add a pound of soul and a whole new sound is born, reflected in the music of Earth, Wind and Fire. The group's first album on Columbia, Last Days and Time, sprouts forth with a fresh sound that sets it apart from many of the ho-hum aggregations around today. The album consists of eight moving tunes".

Producer Jimmy Jam became a fan of EWF after listening to Last Days and Time.{{cite web|date=June 19, 2002|title=EWF HONORED: 27 years of blowing up the spot, vets pay tribute|url=http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur7120.cfm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109014029/http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur7120.cfm|archive-date=2009-01-09|publisher=eurweb.com}} Hip Hop artist Nas was also inspired by the LP's cover art while British singer Gabrielle named the album as one of her favorites.{{cite web|author=Markman, Rob|date=June 19, 2012|title=NAS IS LIKE 'AN OLD BLUES MAN' ON LIFE IS GOOD ALBUM COVER|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1687832/nas-life-is-good-album-cover/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516135653/http://www.mtv.com/news/1687832/nas-life-is-good-album-cover/|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 16, 2016|website=mtv.com|publisher=MTV}}{{cite web|author=Smith, Andrew|author2=Sandall, Robert|author3=Faithfull, Marianne|date=June 2, 1996|title=The choice is yours|url=https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Newspapers&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=81&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=29&docId=GALE%7CFP1802931488&docType=Article&sort=Pub+Date+Forward+Chron&contentSegment=ZSUN-MOD1&prodId=STHA&pageNum=2&contentSet=GALE%7CFP1802931488&searchId=R6&userGroupName=alberta_portal&inPS=true|website=gale.com|publisher=The Sunday Times|page=197 & 198}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Time Is on Your Side

| writer1 = Roland Bautista, Maurice White, Verdine White

| length1 = 3:41

| title2 = Interlude

| writer2 = Maurice White

| length2 = 0:23

| title3 = They Don't See

| writer3 = Mark Davis

| length3 = 3:31

| title4 = Interlude

| writer4 = Maurice White

| length4 = 0:23

| title5 = Make It with You

| writer5 = David Gates

| length5 = 3:26

| title6 = Power

| writer6 = Maurice White

| length6 = 8:14

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| title7 = Remember the Children

| writer7 = Roland Bautista, Maurice White, Verdine White

| length7 = 4:03

| title8 = Interlude

| writer8 = Maurice White

| length8 = 0:52

| title9 = Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

| writer9 = Pete Seeger

| length9 = 4:52

| title10 = I'd Rather Have You

| writer10 = Skip Scarborough

| length10 = 4:40

| title11 = Mom

| writer11 = Maurice White, Verdine White

| length11 = 5:49

}}

• Maurice White – vocals, drums, kalimba
• Verdine White – vocals, bass, percussion
• Philip Bailey – vocals, congas, percussion
• Jessica Cleaves – vocals
• Roland Bautista – acoustic and electric guitars
• Larry Dunn – piano, organ, clavinet
• Ronnie Laws – flute, soprano and tenor saxophones
• Ralph Johnson – drums, percussion

• Producer – Joe Wissert
• Engineers – Kent Nebergall and Al Schmitt
• Remix – Al Schmitt
• Mastered by Johnny Golden and Bob MacCloud Jr. at Artisan Sound Recorders (Hollywood, CA).
• Design – Mati Klarwein
• Photography – Roland Charles

Album

Singles

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{{Earth, Wind & Fire}}

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Category:Earth, Wind & Fire albums

Category:1972 albums

Category:Albums produced by Joe Wissert

Category:Columbia Records albums

Category:Albums with cover art by Mati Klarwein

Category:Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders