I'm Ready (Bryan Adams song)

"I'm Ready" is a song by the Canadian musician Bryan Adams. It was written by Adams and collaborator Jim Vallance. The song was first released in 1979, by Ian Lloyd (formerly of The Stories), on his solo album Goose Bumps. Vallance played the drums on this recording. In 1983 Adams himself recorded the song for his third album, Cuts Like a Knife, as a straightforward rock song with electric guitar and synthesizer. Adams co-produced his version with Bob Clearmountain, who also mixed it.

The song became a hit for Adams in 1998, after its inclusion on his 1997 album MTV Unplugged. Patrick Leonard was producing these sessions, and selected I'm Ready to be included in the show. For this concert, the song was re-arranged as an acoustic ballad with string orchestrations added by Michael Kamen, who had previously worked on some of Adams' biggest hits, and played by students of the Juilliard School. Furthermore it features a Low whistle played by Davy Spillane. In 1998 the song was released as the second single from the Unplugged album, after "Back to You". The music video was directed by Nigel Dick, although footage of the original performance was also shown on MTV, prior to the single being released. This version is also included on the two Best-of-compilations The Best of Me and Anthology.

In 2001, "I'm Ready" was re-released in Italy with new lyrics, now entitled "Io Vivo (In Te)". The new Italian lyrics were written by Zucchero Fornaciari. Zucchero also produced the new version, basically using the Unplugged recording, and recording new vocals on top of it (notice the audience and some of Bryan's original vocals still audible on the track). Also featured is additional percussion, added by Martyn Philips using Pro Tools. Philips, along with Randy Staub engineered "Io Vivo (In Te)"; the latter also mixing the track (originally mixed by Bob Clearmountain). The single uses the same picture and colour scheme as the original release of "I'm Ready", only using a different font.

Different mixes following Unplugged

There are some slight differences between the available Unplugged versions of "I'm Ready":

- I'm Ready (Unplugged), 4m29s, on the album MTV Unplugged
This version does not fade out at the ending, but skips straight into the next track ("Fits Ya Good");

- I'm Ready (Live), 4m30s, on the album Anthology and on the CD single "I'm Ready"
This is the same version as the Unplugged album version, only slightly longer in duration and it fades out at the end;

- I'm Ready (Unplugged) (Edit), 4m26s, on the album The Best Of Me and on the CD single "Io Vivo (In Te)"
This version fades out sooner than the one on Anthology, omitting Bryan saying "Thank you very, very much". Some editions of The Best of Me may feature the 4m30s version;

- I'm Ready (Radio Edit), 4m03s, on the promotional CD single of "I'm Ready"
This version is an edited mix from the Unplugged version, cutting out the chorus twice at the end of the song (on all other versions the chorus is heard five times, in different variations), although it does not omit Bryan saying "Thank you very, very much". Only issued as a promotional release, and not available on any albums as of 2010.

- Io Vivo (In Te), 4m26s, on the album The Best Of Me (Italian edition) and on the CD single "Io Vivo (In Te)"
Same edit as used on the album The Best Of Me, only with re-recorded vocals in Italian, added percussion, and the audience muted at the end. Remix by Randy Staub.

References