The history of the group starts with the instrumental outfit, The Nite-Liters which had originally been formed in 1963 in Louisville, Kentucky by Tony Churchill and Harvey Fuqua, and featured, in its heydey, besides Churchill on tenor sax and vibes, Charlie Hearndon on guitar, James Baker on keyboards, Robin Russell on drums, Robert "Lurch" Jackson on trumpet, Austin Lander on baritone sax, Leroy Taylor on bass, and, later, Carl McDaniel on guitar. (Earlier members included Johnny Graham, later of Earth, Wind & Fire) and Jerry Bell. Under this name the group had a few hits before the formation of New Birth proper. In 1969, Vernon Bullock had thought of creating an ensemble of groups for a touring company, and Harvey Fuqua and Tony Churchill soon took an interest. After discovering a male vocal group, The Now Sound, which featured Bobby Downs, Ron Coleman, Gary Young and an individual known as "Slim," and a female vocal group, known as Mint Julip, which featured Londee Loren, Tanita Gaines, Janice Carter and Pam Swent, they brought them together with The Nite-Liters and additional vocalist, Alan Frye and called the newly formed ensemble New Birth. The band came together in 1970 with their self-titled debut on RCA. Their second album, Ain't No Big Thing, But It's Growing, yielded a minor hit with their cover of Perry Como's "It's Impossible", in 1971.
Later that year, Bullock discovered a group from Detroit, Michigan called Love, Peace & Happiness which featured former Marvelettes singer Ann Bogan and brothers Leslie and Melvin Wilson. Finding that they had the spark that was missing from the New Birth ensemble, he paired them with the Nite-Liters and original members of New Birth, Londee Loren, Bobby Downs and Alan Frye. In 1972, the reorganized group (as a seventeen-piece ensemble) hit the R&B top ten with their cover of Bobby Womack and The Valentinos' "I Can Understand It", which paved the way for the band's future success. By the time the song hit the stores, however, Ann left to devote time to her family, leaving Londee Loren as the sole female member. Due to a brief dispute with their management company, their next hit, "Until It's Time for You to Go" featured, instead of the group members, future Supremes member Susaye Greene as lead vocalist.
In 1974, the group issued their hit album, It's Been a Long Time, which spawned the hits including the title track and their cover of the psychedelic single "Wildflower", which became a top ten hit in the UK singles chart. After the release of their sixth RCA album, Comin' From All Ends, the group split from RCA, Fuqua and their management company and signed with Buddah.
New Birth's Buddah debut, Blind Baby, featured the group's only number-one R&B single, a cover of the Jerry Butler classic, "Dream Merchant". After the release of the 1977 album, Behold The Mighty Army, the Wilson brothers split from the group following in-fighting and growing tensions in the group.
The group returned in 1979 James Baker, Tony Chruchill and Austin Lander introduce Jerry Bell as their new lead vocalist with Platinum City and in 1982 with the I'm Back album. Leslie Wilson had left the group to replace Jeffrey Osborne in L.T.D.. Jerry Bell left the group in 1981 to become the lead vocalist for Motown's Dazz Band.
The Wilsons toured with a new ensemble as New Birth in 1994, and released a few albums under the new name in the decade since. Drummer Robin Russell released a solo CD entitled Drum Beats in 2004 and Jerry Bell re-recored there hit "It"s Been Such A Long Time" 2010 for Lotus Records/ Bunglo/ Universal Records Music Group.
Since the group's initial split, their songs have been covered from the likes of Jamie Foxx, who sampled their cover of "Wildflower" for his 2005 hit, "Unpredictable". R&B group Something for the People sampled their "It's Been a Long Time" for their 1996 hit, "My Love is the Shhh". Rap artist Lil' Wayne sampled "You Don't Have to Be Alone" from their self-titled album in his song "La La" and Jerry Bell "It"s Been Such A Long Time 2010.
Singer Gary Young died in 2018.
Discography
As The Nite-Liters
* Nite-Liters (RCA Records, 1970)
* Morning, Noon & the Nite-Liters (RCA, 1971) US #167, US Black Albums #31
* Instrumental Directions (RCA, 1972) US #198, US Black Albums #41
* Different Strokes (RCA, 1972)
* A-Nal-Y-Sis (RCA, 1973) US Black Albums #34
Love, Peace & Happiness-
* Love Is Stronger (RCA, 1971)
* Here 'Tis (RCA, 1972)
As New Birth
* The New Birth (RCA, 1971)
* Ain't No Big Thing, But It's Growing (RCA, 1971) US #189, US Black Albums #50
* Comin' Together (RCA, 1972) US Black Albums #40
* Birth Day (RCA, 1973) US #31, US Black Albums #1
* It's Been a Long Time (RCA, 1974) US #50, US Black Albums #7
* Comin' From All Ends (RCA, 1974) US #56, US Black Albums #20
* Blind Baby (Buddah Records, 1975) US #57, US Black Albums #17
* Love Potion (Warner Bros. Records, 1976) US #168, US Black Albums #22
* Behold the Mighty Army (Warner Bros. Records, 1977) US #164, US Black Albums #28
* Disco (RCA, 1977)
* Reincarnation (RCA, 1977)
* Platinum City (Capitol Records, 1979)
* I'm Back (1982)
* God's Children (PNEC Records, 1998)
* I Am Blessed (Trio Records, 2004)
* Lifetime (Orpheus Records, 2005)
[edit] Singles
Year Title Chart Positions
U.S. Pop Singles U.S. Black Singles
1971 "It's Impossible" 52 12
"K-Jee" 39 17
1972 "(We've Got to) Pull Together" - 27
"Afro-Strut" 49 24
"I Don't Want to Do Wrong" - 41
1973 "I Can Understand It" 35 4
"Until It's Time for You to Go" 97 21
1974 "I Wash My Hands of the Whole Damn Deal, Part I" 88 46
"It's Been a Long Time" 66 9
"Wildflower" 45 17
1975 "Comin' From All Ends" - 76
"Dream Merchant" 36 1
"Grandaddy (Part I)" 95 28
1976 "The Long and Winding Road"
It's Been A Long Time
The New Birth Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tell me, girl, how long has it been
I'm so glad to see you 'cause I really love you
You were my only friend
You for me and me for you
Oh, listen, baby
You for me and me for you
It's been such a long time, girl, I still love you
I guess I always will
But in my silent nights, I long to hold you tight
It's you I really need
You for me and me for you
Listen baby
You for me and me for you
Yeah, yeah
Oh, no, no girl
I've been missin' you, baby
Yes, I have
Here's what you got to do
You got to do for me
You got to understand me
I got to understand you
You got to hang on in there
You got to hang on in there, baby
Understand me
And I will understand you
I need you, need you, need you
I need you, baby
Whenever I feel like this, baby
The only thing I can say to you
Ooh baby, ooh baby, yeah
Cause it ain't no heart no (Incomprehensible) sometime
Oh, Lord, (Incomprehensible)
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Ooh baby, you know I love you
You've got to sit down
And make a little love to me, baby
You've got to understand me, baby
And I'll understand you
I need you
I need you, you, you, you, you, baby
Let me say, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hang on, hang on, hang on
It's been too long
Hang on, hang on, hang on
It's been too long
Hang on, hang on, hang on
It's been too long
Hang on, hang on, hang on
It's been too long
Give me a little love
Cause I can't help myself
I said give me a little love
Baby, do a little love, oh, oh
Give me a little love
Love, baby, do it, baby, do it
Baby, do it, do it, do it, baby
Do it, do it, do it, baby
Do it, baby, do it, oh Lord
Do it, you know why
You know why, oh, oh, good
Won't you?
Won't you?
Won't you?
Won't you?
Won't you?
The New Birth's song "It's Been A Long Time" is a sweet, soulful love song about two people who have been apart for a while and are reuniting. The lyrics express the singer's excitement and joy about seeing his partner again after a long time, and how their love for each other still remains strong. He expresses his need for her and how he longs to hold her tight. The song also speaks to the importance of understanding and communication in a relationship, as the singer makes a plea for his partner to hang on and work through any issues they may have.
The song is filled with emotional yearning and passion, with the repeated refrain "You for me and me for you" driving home the message of mutual love and devotion. The repeated plea to "hang on" emphasizes the importance of commitment and perseverance in a loving relationship. Overall, the song has a smooth, groovy sound, with tight harmonies and a funky bassline that makes it impossible not to move to.
Line by Line Meaning
Been such a long time, since I saw you
It has been a long time since I last saw you
Tell me, girl, how long has it been
Can you tell me how long it has been since we last saw each other?
I'm so glad to see you 'cause I really love you
I am very happy to see you because I truly love you
You were my only friend
You have always been my only friend
You for me and me for you
You have always been there for me, and I have always been there for you
Oh, listen, baby
Please listen to me
You for me and me for you
You have always been there for me, and I have always been there for you
It's been such a long time, girl, I still love you
Even though it has been a long time, I still love you
I guess I always will
I think I will always love you
But in my silent nights, I long to hold you tight
When I am alone at night, I wish I could hold you tightly
It's you I really need
It is you that I truly need
You for me and me for you
We have always been there for each other
Listen baby
Please listen to me
You for me and me for you
We have always been there for each other
Yeah, yeah
Yes, that's right
Oh, no, no girl
Oh no, girl
I've been missin' you, baby
I have missed you, baby
Yes, I have
Yes, I really have
Here's what you got to do
Here's what you need to do
You got to understand me
You need to understand me
I got to understand you
I need to understand you
You got to hang on in there
You need to hang in there
You got to hang on in there, baby
You need to hang in there, baby
Understand me
Please understand me
And I will understand you
And then I will understand you
I need you, need you, need you
I really need you
I need you, baby
I need you, baby
Whenever I feel like this, baby
Whenever I feel like this, baby
The only thing I can say to you
The only thing I can say to you is this
Ooh baby, ooh baby, yeah
Oh baby, oh baby, yeah
Cause it ain't no heart no (Incomprehensible) sometime
It's not always easy to keep our hearts intact
Oh, Lord, (Incomprehensible)
Oh Lord, (Incomprehensible)
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Ooh baby, you know I love you
Oh baby, you know I love you
You've got to sit down
We need to sit down and talk
And make a little love to me, baby
And make love to me, baby
You've got to understand me, baby
You need to understand me, baby
And I'll understand you
And then I will understand you
I need you
I need you
I need you, you, you, you, you, baby
I need you, baby
Let me say, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Let me just say, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hang on, hang on, hang on
Hang on, hang on, hang on
It's been too long
It has been too long
Give me a little love
Show me a little love
Cause I can't help myself
Because I can't help myself
I said give me a little love
I said show me a little love
Baby, do a little love, oh, oh
Baby, just show me a little love, oh, oh
Love, baby, do it, baby, do it
Love, baby, just show it, baby, just show it
Baby, do it, do it, do it, baby
Baby, just do it, do it, do it, baby
Do it, do it, do it, baby
Do it, do it, do it, baby
Do it, baby, do it, oh Lord
Do it, baby, do it, oh Lord
Do it, you know why
Do it, you know why
You know why, oh, oh, good
You know why, oh, oh, good
Won't you?
Won't you?
Won't you?
Won't you?
Won't you?
Won't you?
Won't you?
Won't you?
Won't you?
Won't you?
Lyrics © SONGBOOK MUSIC LLC D/B/A QUAZICAL MUSIC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: James Baker, Melvin Lee Wilson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind