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I Am!/ Earth, Wind and Fire 1979: I Am Arc/Columbia FC35730 Produced by Maurice White Arrangements by Tom Tom 84, Jerry
Hey, Ben Wright, David Foster Engineering by George Massenburg and Tom Perry Re-Mixing by George Massenburg Assisant Engineers-Ross
Pallone and Craig Widby Recorded at Holly Sound Recorders, Sunset Sound Studios & Davlen Studios Mastering by Mike Reese
at the Mastering Lab, Hollywood, CA Illustration by Shusei Nagaoka; Design by Roger Carpenter Earth, Wind and Fire Maurice
White-vocals, drums, kalimba Philip Bailey-vocals, congas, percussion Verdine White-bass Larry Dunn-keyboards John Graham-guitar
Al McKay-guitar Fred White-drums Ralph Johnson-percussions Andrew Woolfolk-tenor saxophone EWF Horns Don Myrick-Saxophones
Louis Satterfield-Trombone Rahmlee Michael Davis-Trumpet Featuring: The Emotions on Boogie Wonderland Jeanette Hawes, Wanda
Hutchinson, Sheila Whitt Featuring: Marlo Henderson-Guitar, Jerry Hey-Trumpet, Steve Lukather-Guitar Steve Madaio-Trumpet,
Sidney Muldrow-Horn, French Horn, Billy Myers-Keyboards Steve Porcaro-Synthesizer, Sheldon Sanov-Violin, Janice Gower-Concert
Master Bill Reichenbach-Trombone, Jerome Richardson-Saxophone, David Foster-Keyboards Eduardo Del Barrio-Piano, Keyboards,
George Bohannon-Trombone, Oscar Brashear-Trumpet, Elmer Brown-Trumpet, Paulinho Da Costa-Percussion
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Overall*****: Following up a masterpiece like All-N-All, as well
The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire (Vol. I) which included several of EW&F's best singles to date and meeting the expectations
of the millions of fans that had picked up Earth, Wind and Fire fever was not an easy task.
However, it's been noted in different publications since then that some members of EW&F felt, things really came together
musically for the group at that point. I AM from start to finish is intriguing. Beginning with the introduction of the first
track "In the Stone". The horn section is in full form, playing as if the Pharoah himself will make a guest appearance, only
instead of Pharoah, it's salsa over funk. The album touches on several music genre's from there, including light rock, ballad,
funk, the opera of Boogie Wonderland (which is mistaken for disco),swing, rock-jazz fusion, big band-Broadway fusion built
on R&B. It seems that the emphasis was to expand on the EW&F sound while taking a more commercial approach. What great
melodies!
What stood out the most at the time though was that the only EW&F member to partake in writing any of the new music
was Maurice White. David Foster and Allee Willis CO-wrote a good deal of the compositions for "I Am" along with White. EW&F
guitarist Al McKay Co-Produced Boogie Wonderland with White. Despite, the success these three experienced in this project,
their were nay-sayers who thought the well may have run dry for EW&F and it was just a matter of time before, they ended
their journey towards excellence.
Faces album
Part 4.) The Ultimate Funk of Earth, Wind & Fire Review Site and Discography (1970-1984)
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CLICK ON TITLES
Album: I Am: Released June 7th, 1979. #1 Billboard R&B charts. #3 Billboard National Album charts.
Singles: 1. Boogie Wonderland/ Boogie Wonderland (Instrumental): Released April 29th, 1979. # 2 Billboard R&B charts.
#6 Billboard Hot 100 Singles. 2. After The Love Is Gone/ Rock That! (Instrumental): Released July 5th, 1979. #2 Billboard
R&B Charts. #2 Billboard Hot 100 Singles. 3. In the Stone/ You and I: Released September, 1979. #23 Billboard R&B
charts. #58 Billboard Hot 100 singles. 4. Star/ You and I: Released December 1979. #47 Billboard R&B charts. #64 Billboard
Hot 100 singles.
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