The song might be titled “Easy,” but don’t let it fool you. The Commodores were one of the hardest working bands in the game. Their famed co-lead vocalist, keyboardist, saxophonist, and writer Lionel Ritchie turns 71 today and we’ll celebrate with something EVERYONE can sing along with.
Growing up in my house, there were a handful of songs in the regular rotation at any given time, and from as early as I can remember, “Easy” was almost always one of them. It’s a song that endures. It doesn’t matter that you don’t remember every single word, or that you’ve paid very little attention to the fact that it’s a break-up song as you’ve gleefully howled it with all your windows down. It does exactly what Lionel Ritchie intended when he wrote it: crossover. Not just genres and decades, but emotions altogether. The beauty of “Easy” is that it’s whatever you need it to be, whenever you need it.
It’s not all that unexpected when you consider it’s from the same gentlemen who brought us “Brick House,” “Sail On,” and “Lady (You Bring Me Up),” just three of their major hits with wildly different sounds, two of which are among their nine Grammy nominations. When Lionel Ritchie split from The Commodores in 1982 after 14 years, he himself went on to become one of the best-selling musicians of all time, with hundreds of millions of albums sold worldwide and songs so catchy I dare not even name those earworms.
But “Easy” stands apart from all of the hits in the Commodores’ catalog and Lionel’s, too. In this live performance at the 1978 American Music Awards, the sequins’ glare might initially distract you from the fact that every single person on-stage is playing an instrument, and all but one is singing as well. From their inception, most members of the Commodores had multiple musical roles. There’s also a totally unexpected key change and guitar solo in this soul classic, and on paper, absolutely nothing about “Easy” sounds quite right, but watch it fall together with such… well, ease… that before long, you’re harmonizing, too.
I would have loved to share “Easy” with you on an actual Sunday morning, but we’ll let it slide today. Cue this one up again tomorrow and keep the laid back vibes going all weekend long for our national treasure, Lionel.
𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘:
“Why in the world would anybody put chains on me?
I’ve paid my dues to make it”