Listening to Now: Earth, Wind & Fire - "Got To Get You Into My Life"

By Richard K. Barry

I was thinking about this song today. I'm not sure why. I remember when Earth, Wind & Fire came out with it in 1978. I didn't realize then it was a Beatles song first. 

The original was written by Paul McCartney, though it is credited as a McCartney-Lennon collaboration. It was first released on the album Revolver in 1966, but didn't make a ton of noise then. In a 1980 Playboy interview, however, Lennon called the song one of McCartney's best.

According to allmusic, “Got To Get You Into My Life” is enormous fun and a heartfelt Stax tribute from Paul McCartney. There’s no denying the tune’s catchy, and the faux-soul arrangement is spot-on." And by "Stax tribute" they mean in part the way that horns are used in the original, which helped define the Stax sound.

In 1978, Earth, Wind & Fire covered the song for the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band soundtrack, giving it another life. It reached No. 1 on the Soul singles chart and No. 9 on the Hot 100 singles chart.

The song won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) and also got a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Absolutely on the Best Instrumental Arrangement. 

It seems appropriate that a song intended as an homage to soul music would get better notice by a bona soul/R&B act - not that there was anything wrong with the Beatles' version. 



(Cross-posted at Listening to Now.)