Fire (Ohio Players album)

Fire
Studio album by Ohio Players
Released	November 1974
Recorded	Paragon Studios (Chicago, Illinois)
Genre	Funk, soul, rock
Length	36:27
Label	Mercury
Producer	Ohio Players
Ohio Players chronology
Climax (1974) Fire (1974) Honey (1975)
Singles from Fire
"Fire" Released: November 1974 "I Want to Be Free" Released: 1975

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B[2]
Džuboks	mixed[3]

Fire is the sixth studio album by the Ohio Players and the second released through the Mercury label.

History

Fire is the third of five Ohio Players albums that were also available in quadraphonic (4-channel stereo), released as an 8-track tape in the U.S. and on vinyl in Japan. DTS Entertainment released the quad mix as a DTS Audio CD in 2001.

The album's lead single "Fire" was serving in the mid-2010s as the theme song to the US television series Hell's Kitchen. Fire topped both the Billboard Pop Albums chart and the Billboard R&B Albums chart (where it held for five weeks) in early 1975.

Track listing

All tracks are written by James Williams, Clarence Satchell, Leroy Bonner, Marshall Jones, Ralph Middlebrooks, Marvin Pierce, William Beck

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Fire"	4:36
2.	"Together"	3:08
3.	"Runnin' from the Devil"	4:48
4.	"I Want to Be Free"	6:56

Side two

No.	Title	Length
5.	"Smoke"	5:59
6.	"It's All Over"	4:15
7.	"What the Hell"	5:38
8.	"Together/Feelings" (listed as "Together (Reprise)" on back cover)	1:11

Personnel

• James "Diamond" Williams – drums, chimes, percussion, lead & background vocals
• Billy Beck – piano, organ, Fender Rhodes piano, Clavinet, ARP, percussion, lead & background vocals
• Marvin "Merv" Pierce – trumpet, flugelhorn, valve trombone & background vocals
• Marshall "Rock" Jones – Fender bass
• Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner – guitar, percussion, lead & background vocals
• Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks – trumpet, trombone & background vocals
• Clarence "Satch" Satchell – baritone sax, tenor sax, soprano sax, flute, percussion, lead & background vocals

Production

• Ohio Players – producers
• Barry Mraz, Lee Hulko – engineers
• Jim Ladwig – art director
• Len Willis – designer
• Stan Malinowski – photography

Charts

Chart (1974–75)	Peak [4]
U.S. Billboard Top LPs	1
U.S. Billboard Top Soul LPs	1

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions
		US [4]	US R&B [4]
1974	"Fire"	1	1
1975	"I Want to Be Free"	44	6

See also

• List of number-one albums of 1975 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B albums of 1975 (U.S.)

References

1. Henderson, Alex. Fire review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: O". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 10, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
3. Vrdoljak, Dražen. "Ohio Players - Fire". Džuboks (in Serbian) (11 (second series)). Gornji Milanovac: Dečje novine: 24.
4. "US Charts > Ohio Players". Allmusic. Retrieved 2013-03-30.

External links

• Fire at Discogs