It's Been a Long Time (New Birth album)

It's Been a Long Time
Studio album by The New Birth
Released	October 1973
Genre	R&B funk soul [1]
Length	39:56
Label	RCA
Producer	Harvey Fuqua
The New Birth chronology
Birth Day (1972) It's Been a Long Time (1973) Comin' from All Ends (1974)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]

It's Been a Long Time is the fifth studio album by American funk and R&B band The New Birth, released in October 1973 by RCA Records. ^{[3] [4]} It was produced by Harvey Fuqua. ^[2]

The album peaked at number 50 on the Billboard 200. Its two singles, "Wild Flower" and "It's Been a Long Time", peaked at 45 and 66 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. ^[5]

"Wild Flower" would go on to be one of the band's most successful songs and was performed frequently at concerts. ^[2] It has also been sampled by multiple artists, including on "Unpredictable" by Jamie Foxx. ^[6]

Critical reception

Andrew Hamilton of AllMusic gave the album a rating of four out of five stars, giving particular praise towards the vocal performances. ^[2]

Track listing

Track order sourced from Spotify. ^[7]

It's Been a Long Time track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"It's Been a Long Time"	5:54
2.	"Keep on Doin' It"	4:19
3.	"Wild Flower"	6:30
4.	"Ain't No Change"	4:39
5.	"I'd Spend My Whole Life Loving You"	3:30
6.	"Pains of Love"	5:18
7.	"Heaven Says"	4:26
8.	"Come on and Dream Some Paradise"	5:16
Total length:		39:56

Chart performance

Chart (1974)	Peak position [5]
US Billboard Top LPs	50
US Billboard Top R&B LPs	7

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions [5]
		US	US R&B
1974	"It's Been a Long Time"	66	9
	"Wild Flower"	45	17

References

1. "Accent ...On Records". The Evening Sun . June 3, 1974. Retrieved February 28, 2025– via newspapers.com.
2. Hamilton, Andrew. "It's Been a Long Time - New Birth". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
3. "Gold Triangle October Event". Tampa Times . October 24, 1973. Retrieved February 28, 2025– via newspapers.com.
4. "Jarrett 'Solo' Album Is Marvelous". Omaha World-Herald . November 30, 1973. Retrieved February 28, 2025– via newspapers.com.
5. "New Birth". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 31, 2013.
6. Gajewski, Ryan (February 5, 2022). "Donny Gerrard, "Wildflower" Singer, Dies at 75". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on January 14, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
7. "It's Been a Long Time - Album by The New Birth". Spotify . Retrieved February 28, 2025.

External links

• The New Birth – It's Been a Long Time on Discogs