I Am (Earth, Wind & Fire album)

I Am
Studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire
Released June 9, 1979[1]
Recorded September 4–16, 1978
Studio Hollywood Sound Recorders
Sunset Sound Studio
Davlen Studio
(Los Angeles, California)
Genre R&B, soul, disco, funk
Length 37:36
Label Columbia, ARC
Producer Maurice White, Al McKay
Earth, Wind & Fire chronology
The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1
(1978)The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 11978		 I Am
(1979)		 Faces
(1980)Faces1980
Singles from I Am
  1. "Boogie Wonderland"
    Released: May 6, 1979
  2. "After the Love Has Gone" / "Rock That"
    Released: July 12, 1979
  3. "In The Stone"
    Released: October 14, 1979
  4. "Star" / "You and I"
    Released: December 6, 1979
  5. "Can't Let Go"
    Released: December 30, 1979
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
New York Times(favorable)[3]
MusicHound[4]
Robert ChristgauB+[5]
Rolling Stone(mixed)[6]
Smash Hits(favorable)[7]

I Am is the ninth studio album by the R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire, released on June 9, 1979 on CBS Records. The album features the singles "Boogie Wonderland" with The Emotions and "After the Love Has Gone". I Am has been certified double platinum in the US by the RIAA and platinum in the UK and in Canada by the British Phonographic Industry and Music Canada.[8][9][10]

Reception

"After The Love Has Gone" won a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus and "Boogie Wonderland" also won a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental Performance. "After The Love Has Gone" and an instrumental version of Boogie Wonderland also garnered Grammy nominations for Record Of The Year and Best Disco Recording respectively. Bandleader Maurice White was also Grammy nominated for Producer of the Year.[11]

"Wait" was sampled on Talib Kweli's track "Ghetto Show", which featured Common and Anthony Hamilton. It was included on his 2004 album The Beautiful Struggle.[12]

Track listing

Original release

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."In the Stone"Maurice White, Allee Willis, David Foster4:48
2."Can't Let Go"Billy Meyers, M. White, A. Willis3:28
3."After the Love Has Gone"D. Foster, Jay Graydon, Bill Champlin4:26
4."Let Your Feelings Show"M. White, A. Willis, D. Foster5:24
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Boogie Wonderland" (feat. The Emotions)Jon Lind, A. Willis4:48
6."Star"Eddie Del Barrio, M. White, A. Willis4:23
7."Wait"M. White, A. Willis, D. Foster3:39
8."Rock That!"M. White, D. Foster3:07
9."You and I"M. White, A. Willis, D. Foster3:34

[13]

2004 Reissue

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."In the Stone"Maurice White, Allee Willis, David Foster4:48
2."Can't Let Go"Billy Meyers, M. White, A. Willis3:28
3."After the Love Has Gone"D. Foster, Jay Graydon, Bill Champlin4:38
4."Let Your Feelings Show"M. White, A. Willis, D. Foster5:12
5."Boogie Wonderland" (feat. The Emotions)Jon Lind, A. Willis4:48
6."Star"Eddie Del Barrio, M. White, A. Willis4:23
7."Wait"M. White, A. Willis, D. Foster3:39
8."Rock That!"M. White, D. Foster3:07
9."You and I"M. White, A. Willis, D. Foster3:34
10."Diana"M. White, D. Foster4:08
11."Dirty (Interlude) (White)"M. White0:52
12."Dirty (Junior's Juke)"M. White, Alexander Dutkewych3:44

[14][15]

Note
  • The Emotions are Jeanette Hawes, Sheila Hutchinson-Whitt & Wanda Hutchinson-Vaughn

Unreleased Tracks

Two songs that were recorded during the I Am sessions—"September" and "Love Music"—were included on The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 in 1978. Two other tracks ("Diana" and "Dirty") were recorded during the I Am sessions but not released at the time; these were included on the 2004 reissue of the album. "Dirty" and another unreleased song recorded in the I Am sessions entitled "Where Do We Go From Here?" were re-recorded for EWF's 2003 album The Promise.

Uses in other media

"Let Your Feelings Show" was featured in the Fame episode "Heritage".[16]

"In the Stone" was used in the 2002 movie Drumline.[17]

"In the Stone" was also the opening theme from the Brazilian TV show from SBT, Porta da Esperança, hosted by Silvio Santos.

"In the Stone" was performed by Rickey Minor and The Tonight Show Band on June 7, 2010, during Minor's first night as the show's bandleader.

"In the Stone" was used as the opening theme for the ATN-7 Sydney "Midday At The Movies" program around 1982.

"In the Stone" was used in the opening credits for the Swedish TV-comedy Lorry.

"In the Stone" was used for the opening of its newscasts on KLAS-TV in Las Vegas from 1979 to 1981.

"Rock That" was used for the opening of its telecasts of the Los Angeles Dodgers on flagship KTTV Channel 11 during the early to mid 1980s.

Charts

Album – Billboard
Year Chart Position
1979 Pop Albums 3
Black Albums 1
YearChartPosition[18]
1979United Kingdom5
Year Single Chart positions[19][20]
US Hot 100 US R&B US Dance UK Singles
1979 "Boogie Wonderland" (featuring The Emotions) 6 2 14 4
"After the Love Has Gone" 2 2 - 4
"In the Stone" 58 23 - 53
"Star" 64 47 - 16
"Can't Let Go" - - - 46

Personnel

Credits are adapted from Allmusic[14] and the album’s Liner Notes[13][15]

Production

  • Design by Roger Carpenter
  • Illustration by Shusei Nagaoka
  • Mastered by Michael Reese
  • Producer - Maurice White (Original, Reissue), Leo Sacks (Reissue), Paul Klingberg (additional on 10, 12)
  • Engineer - Tom Perry, George Massenburg
  • Assistant Engineers - Craig Widby, Ross Pallone
  • Mixing - Mark Wilder (11), George Massenburg
  • Concertmaster - Janice Gower
  • Horn Arrangements - Jerry Hey (1, 3, 7-8, 10-12), Tom Tom 84 (2, 4, 6-7, 9), Benjamin F. Wright (5)
  • String Arrangements - David Foster (1, 3, 8, 10), Tom Tom 84 (2, 4, 6-7, 9), Benjamin F. Wright (5)

[14][15]

Accolades

The information regarding accolades attributed to I Am is adapted from Acclaimed Music[21]

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Mojo 1000, the Ultimate CD Buyers Guide U.K 100 Soul Albums Everyone Should Own 2001 33
Melody Maker U.K Albums of the Year 1979 8
NME U.K Albums of the Year 1979 16

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Rock On The Net: Earth, Wind & Fire". Rock On The Net. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  2. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r6512/review
  3. ↑ "The Pop Life". nytimes.com.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ White, Cliff. "Albums". Smash Hits (July 26 – August 8, 1979): 25.
  8. ↑ Music Canada certification for I Am Archived 2012-09-05 at Archive.is
  9. ↑ RIAA Certification for I AM Archived 2015-10-16 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ British Phonographic Industry Certification for I AM Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ Grammy awards and nominations on earthwindandfire.com Archived 2009-03-07 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ "Earth, Wind & Fire music sampled by others".
  13. 1 2 Earth, Wind & Fire. “I Am” (Album Notes). ARC / Columbia. 1979.
  14. 1 2 3 "Earth, Wind & Fire - I Am". allmusic.com. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
  15. 1 2 3 Earth, Wind & Fire. “I Am” (Expanded Edition). ARC / Columbia-Legacy. 2004.
  16. ↑ "Maurice White". IMDb.
  17. ↑ "Drumline (2002)" – via www.imdb.com.
  18. ↑ "I Am". chartstats.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
  19. ↑ Allmusic (Earth, Wind & Fire > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles)
  20. ↑ "ChartArchive - Earth, Wind And Fire". 24 July 2012. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012.
  21. ↑ "I Am on acclaimedmusic.net".
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