From I AM
Written by Maurice White, David Foster & Allee Willis
“I Am was like our Abbey Road. It really scored pop” (Verdine White). “I think of it as a milestone album, whole careers came out of it. It was like, ‘listen to I Am and see what you can steal’. All the pieces came together” (Maurice White).
This is the record of Boogie Wonderland, After The Love Is Gone, In The Stone. Earth, Wind & Fire’s music was everywhere, surely one of the hottest acts in the world around that time. The mix of r&b and quality pop finds one of its heights with this album. David Foster and Maurice White co-wrote the bulk of the album with help from lyricist Allee Willis. Read what the singer recently had to say about it: “David Foster and I went to Carmel, I had a home in Carmel, then, and sat at the piano for a week. And we wrote all the songs in three days. Those songs were channeled to us from a higher source, I’m sure”. We don’t know which source sent them those gems but I Am is an absolute pleasure to listen to today exactly like it was in 1979. We have picked Wait as a very good example of its beauty. It is a lovely ballad with a strong Foster influence, especially his prominent piano and cool rhythms mixed with Maurice White’s splendid vocals and the strings and horns arranged by Tom Tom 84 and Jerry Hey. This music just can’t grow old, it’s so positive, it just makes you wanna smile and dance. There’s also one more song, Diana, that was written by White and Foster and recorded during the I Am sessions and that should be released soon as part of a new EW&F compilation cd.
Earth, Wind & Fire have also recently released a new cd, entitled The Promise, that keeps the great tradition going, always with the White brothers, Philip Bailey and Ralph Johnson sharing their music gifts to the world.
Listen
[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/archives/clips/wait.mp3|titles=Wait|artists=Earth Wind and Fire]
Lead Vocals: Maurice White
Keyboards: David Foster & Larry Dunn
Bass: Verdine White
Guitars: Al McKay & Johnny Graham
Drums: Fred White
Pecussions: Ralph Johnson
Back Vocals: Philip Bailey and Maurice White
Horns: Andrew Woolfolk, Don Myrick, Louis Satterfield and Rahmlee Michael Davis
Arranged by Maurice White & David Foster
Produced by Maurice White
Lyrics
I’ve been waiting so long,
Just watching the phone, for you.
To wait, it takes,
Love that’s for real
And all, that I feel, inside to do.
I come prepared, to look in your eyes
And walk side by side,
With you baby, baby.
Listen for tender words, I’d like to say
Like I love you today, and I’ll wait
For you.
It’s crazy, if you think, we’re just friends.
Loving when, infatuation ends.
The wait for you, baby it now begins.
You sigh, when I come close to your heart.
You cry, from the start,
Please wait for me.
Your mind, shows, places you go,
And things you don’t know.
Someday you’ll grow.
Climbing a moutain high,
Your love I desire.
Inside my heart cries for you.
Baby, we’re more, than friends
I know, the wait will end.