Maurice White was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1941, where he attended Booker T. Washington High School, alongside Booker T. Jones and David Porter, living with his grandmother. He moved to Chicago to join his mother and stepfather while he was still in his teens. He attended Crane Junior College and then studied at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. In 1962 he joined a Jazz group at the Junior College, that had been set up by Louis Satterfield (who played trombone in the group), Charles Handy (trumpet) and Don Myrick (alto sax). White, Satterfield and Handy went on to become session musicians at Chess Records.
Maurice White 2007
Photo: Eriik (Wikimedia Commons)
His first opportunity to play at a recording session came while he was still at the Conservatory. In 1963, he was asked to fill in at a Vee-Jay session for Betty Everett at which she recorded her first Vee-Jay hit “You’re No Good”. Imagine his excitement as a student, when his first session yielded a hit! He soon began working on many of the sessions at Chess, playing with all the main artists, which meant playing with Blues singers Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy and Willy Dixon, plus Junior Wells, Chuck Berry, Etta James and Sugar Pie DeSanto. As Chess expanded its artists roster into R&B music, he played drums on recordings with the Dells, Billy Stewart and two stand-out performers, Jackie Wilson (“Your Love Keeps Lifting Me (Higher and Higher)” and Fontella Bass (“Rescue Me”). He also went on tour with the Dells as drummer in their touring band.
In 1966, he joined the Ramsey Lewis Trio, replacing Isaac “Red” Holt, and stayed for three years, before leaving to form his own group, the Salty Peppers, which later became Earth, Wind & Fire. Before his departure, he played drums on Minnie Riperton’s solo album “Come To My Garden”. White later took up songwriting and record production, working with the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Deniece Williams, and the Emotions.
