Never mind George Clinton: Earth, Wind & Fire’s Maurice White brought funk to the masses

“Earth, hot air and no fire.”

That’s how George Clinton, founder of influential funk groups Funkadelic and Parliament, famously critiqued the sound of Earth, Wind & Fire in 1975.

Insulting? Sure, but the Los Angeles band’s founder, Maurice White, died Thursday knowing that Clinton was wrong. He and Earth, Wind & Fire left a body of elemental work that rendered such an assessment moot.

That P-Funk indictment was part of a rant during “Let’s Take It to the Stage.” As a hardened groove plowed below, Clinton called out the hit-makers who were charting at the time. He seemed to forget that White, who got his start as a session man for Chess Records, was just as well versed in the ways of rhythm.

Granted, Clinton was an equal-opportunity critic. He addressed the Georgia band Brick, then running the charts with “Dazz,” with a question: “How’s your loose booty? Laughing at you -- let me tighten it up.” He called out Sly and the Family Stone as “Slick & the Family Brick,” dubbed Kool & the Gang “Fool & the Gang.”

“Everybody funking and don’t know how,” sang Clinton. “They shoulda seen the bull when he funked the cow.”

Then he insulted Earth, Wind & Fire as being devoid of heat. How could a band formed by a Memphis-born musician -- a childhood friend of Booker T. Jones, no less -- whose early career featured stints on record with Muddy Waters, Sonny Stitt, Sugar Pie Desanto and Fontella Bass be found lacking?

Professional jealousy?

The above scene from Charles Burnett’s unsung 1977 film “Killer of Sheep” offers a glimpse at one way that Earth, Wind & Fire weaved its way into the fabric of American life. Where Clinton’s gang was seldom on the radio and usually flying way over the heads of audiences, White imagined a funk groove that found its way into households, one bedroom or living room dance party at a time. Who needed songs about coke, PCP and LSD when you could celebrate something as simple as falling in love as a star shines above?

With White’s brother Verdine rolling out slap-bass groove, a bunch of percussionists and brass that included a horn player who doubled as a guitarist, Earth, Wind & Fire ascended from the world of L.A. session players and pick-up gigs and landed at the top of the charts.

Hot air? With all due respect, Dr. Funkenstein must have been hallucinating.

Specifically, hit the 3:20 mark on the above YouTube clip of Earth, Wind & Fire performing “Fantasy” in 1977. The funk is so tight it propels them into the air like a trampoline.

No fire? “Let’s Groove” landed near the top of the charts with a Vocoder intro, a disco beat and a futuristic tone that resonated across America. Perhaps Clinton had a point about Earth, Wind & Fire co-opting his outer space themes, but who said the funk was fair? Plus, “Boogie Wonderland.”

To put Clinton’s take-down in context, though, the “Let’s Take It to the Stage” lyrics also include an attack on the inventor of funk, James Brown. Clinton dubbed him “James Clown.”

randall.roberts@latimes.com

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