History

WILDFLOWER is one of the most performed songs in the history of Canadian popular music. Over 30 years it has sold multiple million copies in more than sixty versions. It's been honored with a BMI Millionaire's Award and SOCAN Classic and Crystal Awards. It is the song that launched David Foster's career.

WILDFLOWER's success is an unlikely tale of luck, pluck, timing and tenacity. With its compassionate lyric and unforgettable melody, WILDFLOWER endures shifts in musical trends like chamomile growing in cracks in the sidewalk.

WILDFLOWER is sung at weddings, funerals and graduations. It has been performed at the Olympics. It was featured in a film on prostitution in the ghetto and is the theme for a New York stage production about homelessness and heroin addiction. It was featured on the TV series NEW YORK UNDERCOVER, whose writers didn't know it was written by a cop.

In 1972 in Victoria, Canada, a rookie policeman wrote a poem for his girlfriend while driving home in his police car. Dave "the Cop" Richardson gave the poem to his friend David Foster, a young aspiring young musician looking for material for his new band, SKYLARK. Foster passed it along to Skylark guitarist Doug Edwards who set it to music. It was the first song Edwards had ever composed.

Doug Edwards plays the much imitated guitar track, with its distinctive intro and solo, on the original Skylark version of WILDFLOWER. The arrangement is built around the first take of the song ever recorded,  which featured only Edwards' guitar played through a Leslie, bass played by Steve Pugsley and drums played by Duris Maxwell.

Producer/engineer Eirik "the Norwegian" Wangberg hit the 'record' button and captured a performance that was to become legendary. Skylark's WILDFLOWER went to Number Eight on the Billboard Top Ten and sold over a million copies.  It has since been recorded by countless artists including Johnny Mathis, The New Birth, The O'Jays,  The Neville Brothers, Hank Crawford, Gary Morris and Color Me Badd. See recordings for a complete list.

Lisa Fischer sang it on her Grammy Award winning debut album. It was the only English song on a Cantonese album called WILDFLOWER by Hong Kong super star Sandy Lam.

Tupac Shakur sampled WILDFLOWER on his last album, ALL EYEZ ON ME, and in recent years it has been sampled by many successful  urban music artists, including Jamie Foxx on the title track of UNPREDICTABLE, and Kanye West and Paul Wall on DRIVE SLOW which was released on both LATE REGISTRATION and THE PEOPLE'S CHAMP.

Country singer Blake Shelton sang WILDFLOWER  at the David Foster tribute concert DAVID FOSTER AND FRIENDS to be broadcast on PBS and released as a CD/ DVD in Fall 2008.