Charles Stepney was an American musician and producer renowned as a pianist, vibraphonist, arranger, and composer. He began performing in local clubs in the 1950s and made his first recordings with the Johnny Pate Trio Plus Three in 1957. Stepney studied music theory at Wilson Junior College and gained recognition when Ramsey Lewis recorded his composition "Close Your Eyes and Remember" on a Chess LP, later collaborating with Lewis on albums including Sun Goddess, which reached number 12 on the Billboard Top 200 in early 1975. He arranged and produced for The Dells, worked with Minnie Riperton on Come To My Garden (1970) featuring "Les Fleurs," and contributed as producer, arranger, and songwriter to Earth, Wind & Fire albums That's The Way Of The World, Gratitude, and Spirit, as well as co-producing The Emotions’ Flowers (1976). Stepney died of a heart attack on May 17, 1976, at age 45. In the early 2010s, previously unreleased home studio recordings from the late 1960s and 1970s were discovered by his daughters and eventually released in 2022 as Step on Step.
