I've looked in the archives and not seen a Stevie Wonder Albums post, which he rightfully deserves so we can discuss favorite songs, memories, and stories about each album. I thought we can do something in the same vein scorp and Doc did for Prince. I want to Start with Music Of My Mind all the way through Characters.

really good.

I'm stuck on this one, though the later ones have something too.

Superwoman, Seems so long, I love every little thing about you,

powerful

Of his "classic" period, I hadn't bought this one. But I listened to it again and was pretty impressed. The jam at the end of "Keep On running" sold me. Will cop next time i hit the store.

which sounds a little "closed-in" (as in, not "wide-ranging" like the rest of the album)

Just listening how Buzz Feiten's guitar cuts through the mix on "Superwoman/where were you when I needed you" whereas Jeff Beck's guitar just withers and dies on "Lookin for another pure love" on "Talking book" is how far "Music of my mind" is above the later albums regarding "feel".

are in the second half of "Superwoman". One of the most exquisite pieces of music ever composed. My all-time favorite Stevie song, easily.


_______________________________________
"I whipped him with a switch and a belt. I never beat him. You beat someone with a stick." - Joe Jackson

Or maybe "coldest" would best describe it.
I'm thinking about the sloppy drums (questlove).
Or maybe I always end up thinking it's dark cause it ends on "Evil".

I love the ending of Love Having You Around. Where it slows down..."big ol' piece of cake."
then it slides right into "Superwoman".

Then "Girl Blue", "Seems So Long", "Keep On Running", "Evil"

Yeah, maybe "Where I'm Coming From" is close in mood.

I have always found Talking Book and Fullfillingness' First Finale to be his darkest albums, but that's just me. I know Finale came after a car accident that almost took his life, hence "They Won't Go When I Go." That accident was always blamed for the darkness of that album. And Talking Book came just after he split with Syreeta Wright and you can definitely feel the hurt in those songs. Even in the playfulness of Maybe Your Baby.

He let loose on this album.
With that ending of Sweet Little Girl LMAO.
Ahhh still has me dyin.


Anyways, this album is the one where I skip the most tracks, but i know this is when we really see Stevie funkin around with sound as not been seen/heard; different synths and combinations.
Talking Book was released the same year and you hear the progression (more synths...but i'll save for that specific album discussion).

"Don't make me get mad and act like a nigga!"

I know he got better on the others but this the one I enjoy the best.

To me this is the blueprint for all the superhero singer-songwriter-producer-musician....

"Superwoman" is just epic...

The start of the measuring stick for solo musical greatness greatness...

This album was my first REAL experience with Stevie. I had of course heard all of the "hits" and an album track here and there up to that point. I think I was 14. Bobby McFerrin actually introduced me to the album (his son and I were best friends growing up. We had a little music outfit and he built and soundproofed a studio for us in his basement. There is nothing the guy wouldn't do to support his children's musical aspirations). Anyway, his son, Taylor, and I were stuck on the transformation on Superwoman for what seems like months. We would sit in the computer lab at school with the disc in one of the computers and call every single person that came into the room over to hear that 20-30 seconds of synth magic. Most people just stood there with a blank expression on their faces as we sat there, beaming and smiling cheek to cheek waiting for thier jaw to drop. And when it didn't happen I would snatch the headphones off of their head and put them shits back on the table.

As a lovesick 20 something, I think I listened to Girl Blue and Seems So Long more than any two songs between the ages of 21-27. I went through a phase between 21-24 where I listened to pretty much NOTHING but Stevie. This album was always my favorite. It's like a favorite child: you love all of them like hell but whether you want to admit it or not, you do have a favorite, and Music of my Mind is my favorite child.

Studying Prince's earlier albums made me go back and study Stevie's earlier work too. As a teenager, i was looking for other artists who primarily did all of the music by themselves. I loved Stevie's harmonies, especially his vocal arrangements.

Music of My Music killed me because of Superwoman, in particular, the first part - Mary wants to be a superwoman. The background vocals on the chorus made me take the needle off the record and keep repeating those parts!

After fully digesting Superwoman, i found Stevie to be adventurous like Prince in his melodies and chord structures. He took you different places which each song yet it sounds cohesive to me.

It was also interesting to hear his take on "I Love Every Little Thing About You." I heard his version with Syreeta (from her album)and thought that one was funkier and rawer than the Music of My Mind version.

This album is where Stevie really caught fire, imo. Even a laid back joint like
"Tuesday Heartbreak" just has this irresistible feel to it... by the end you're
singing along joyfully as if the song is about love and laughter.

And when people talk about the seeds of neo-soul, "You've Got It Bad" is EXACTLY
that.
Even the ballads here like "You & I" and "I Believe" are killer.
Then, of course, we have the hits "You Are The Sunshine of My Life" and
"Superstition". Stevie had hit that stride where everything he touched was gold.

has to be the happiest sounding song about heartbreak ever recorded. seriously. that shit puts me in such a good mood. I don't think any artist can get that much, just like PURE JOY out of their music like Stevie could...

You jammin to the beginning of the song and he starts off "Tuesday Heartbreak".....what? lol

His ballads are goddamn TEMPLATES, and You and I definitely is undeniable in that sense.
Of course Superstition got the classic Rock folks turning their heads and saying "that guy rocks" all of the sudden.
Really started stepping into his own at this point.
And don't forget one of the major times Stevie was directly political in Big Brother. "i live in the ghetto, you come 'round election time". Ha! Get em Stevie.
And then ends the song on a random part, "you killed all our leaders! i can't even do nothing to you, you'll cause your own nation to fall" and goes right back into that happy-go-lucky music with no other words to listen to. Sonned!!!

Lastly, You Got It Bad and even Looking For Another Pure Love, shyt no one knows how to classify how good these joints are.
Just ridiculously seductive.
i kinda see why yall say pre-"neosoul" sound, especially with heavy use of electric piano, but to me i just hear great-soundin left-field shyt that no one really brought back (at the time of the term of "neosoul" anyways, more like late 2000s IMO.) From the synths, to the background vocals on the chorus of "...Pure Love".
Hypnotic.

like that shit is OUT OF CONTROL. Definitely one of my favorite Stevie Wonder songs and probably one of my favorite songs of all time. Its a shame there doesn't seem to be any live recordings of him doing that song.

the only thing i'd like to point out now is the drumming, particularly the cymbals.

Song is smooth ...

Song is smooth...!!! Very underrated

Yes..

They won't go when I go is awesomes!!

I think this my favorite. obviously it fluctuates.... but there is just something about this
album.... the non remaster version that is.


werd.

Whats wrong with the remaster?

I'm sure it's due to the fact that I grew up listening to the vinyl / non-remastered, which has an earthly sonic depth. I was recently introducing someone to this album and I listened to the re-master and decided not to have them listen until I could find the original release.

Something really tinny about the re-master.


werd.

does it even matter?

It's chock full of potent songs...

Bird of Beauty
Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away
Ain't No Use
CREEPIN' !!!!!
You Haven't Done Nothin'
Please Don't Go
Boogie On Reggae Woman
Smile
Too Shy To Say
They Won't Go When I Go


I mean damn

If I could listen to only album for the rest of my life, this would be it. My parents had the vinyl. I sat with the liner notes/booklet and my life was changed forever.

I finally found a copy last weekend and am sitting here really listening to it for the first time while reading the lyric booklet. Amazing.

^^^^^the double album that EVERYONE aims for....

It's just that simple...

Really made me research and go back and listen to other Stevie albums.

is in the video for the secret life of plants, which of course was bonus footage from the movie.


werd.

The title track is one of numerious examples which portrays his genuis.

V.

I love this album to death. Always will. From the length to the cover art. This album just holds so many great memories for me.

I played the hell out of that album as a kid....This shaped my musical taste alongside MJ's Off The Wall, P-Funk's Mothership Connection and those JB party singles ("Doing It To Death"??? shiiiiiit.......)

There are better Stevie albums...But as a kid, that shit mattered little...I knew what I liked....

One of my personal favorites albums of all time.

Perfect length with so many straight up jams and memorable songs.

This is his funnest album to me and gets the most replay.

Ain't Gonna Stand for It and All I Do get me going to this day.

Man from I love you too much until Overjoyed is just straight up good music. The first and last song I can do without. I'd listen to Part Time Lover before It's Wrong though. At least he's singing in a dope tone on Part Time Lover.

It's kind of sad that this record doesnt get the mention. It's got some amazing melodies and songs, as well as cool synthersizer work by him. I guess his 70s work was so powerful that it overshadowed all the good stuff he made with this one.

I really like Galaxy Paradise.

One of a Kind is a helluva song

"You Will Know"
I love "Free" too

. . .the start of his hot streak.

Because it is.


``i know you are fake. . . 'cause man, i'm the same.``

http://austinato.bandcamp.com

as i browsed this thread.


Yo.
Do Yourself A Favor?
The sonic precursor to Superstition (lyrical companion to Jesus Children of America?)
If there is an underrated song that I would ever remake, it would be that joint.
Shoo, too much fonk for Motown that he had to leave (which is actually his first post-Motown album).

INCREDIBLE ballads, including, of course, I Never Dreamed....

But the last track, Sunshine In Their Eyes, had a lot going in it.
He makes it cool to switch up the track multiple times while listen to each scenario too.
"Wit is the tune/are we all doomed?" in every fast/happy part, then slows down to explain a scenario of someone who's lost the sunshine in their eyes.
"Father Bills gone fighting in a place where he's a stranger/But could men die a stranger in every war?"



Bottom line is, Stevie was effin POETIC throughout this whole album.

Solid album.

for me it's the blueprint for the four albums that followed. you can hear the seed of everything that was to come. indispensible album for any stevie fan

. . .the borderline ignoring of Where I'm Coming From has to do with its issues going in and out of print through the years?

Just a quick search on Amazon right now and the cheapest copy is a second hand one for over $20.

Do you think this contributes to the album being overlooked?


``i know you are fake. . . 'cause man, i'm the same.``

http://austinato.bandcamp.com

because it's overlooked is exactly the reason it needs to be lauded more by those in the know :) i'm sure it's easy to find on the blogs for those who want to check it. oh yeah - it's on spotify and itunes too, so it's easy as (click) to find.

Look Around.... giving me chills right now

sometime last year. took like 5 seconds to find. I think people just ignore it because everyone focuses on the other albums, which is understandable, but damn they are missing out, I love tracks like "Think Of Me As Your Soldier" and "Never Believed You'd Leave In Summer".

While "Where I'm coming from" was the "freest" album Wonder had done up to that point, it still has the Motown-house band and string-orchestras and stuff playing on it. "Music of my mind" meanwhile represents the start of Wonder as a virtual one-man orchestra (well, there are *some* additional musicians but not much) with the syntheseizers and all that would characterize his most beloved period.

Of course, none of that has anything to do with the quality of the songs/music and I think "Where..." is just as good-if not better-than "Music..." and not necessarily worse than "Talking Book" either. However, it's more of a transitional album and those have a tendency to be overlooked.

EDIT:OF course, there's also a great symbolic value in "Music of my mind" being the first album releases after he turned 21 and his contract changed and he had full artistic freedom...

music of my mind marks the start of the Tonto's Expanding Headband involvement too. those 'solo' records were more like trio records with the co-helm skills of Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff.

>Malcolm Cecil
>

Very underrated talent.


``i know you are fake. . . 'cause man, i'm the same.``

http://austinato.bandcamp.com

it's a better album than Music Of My Mind and, as mentioned, the ballads are killer.

"If You Really Love Me" is one of my favorite Stevie songs so I will def check for it.

It's a very important album in the context of what was to follow and predates the contract renegotiation so Stevie wouldn't be able to veto unreleased material/takes from that time being issued. Someone get Harry Weinger/UME on this...

Doesn't have the gravitas of his lauded 70s work.

...come anywhere close to that?
Was having this convo with some folks a while back.
Can you think of anyone who honestly had a better 4 year run?
Can you think of anyone who honestly had a better 5 album run?
During the middle of what is arguably the greatest decade of American music no less.


"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams

PRINCE

Prince
Dirty Mind
Controversy
1999
Purple Rain

MARVIN GAYE

What's Goin' On
Trouble Man
Let's Get It On
I Want You
Here, My Dear

MICHAEL JACKSON (almost 5)

Off The Wall
Thriller
Bad
Dangerous

>PRINCE
>
>Prince
>Dirty Mind
>Controversy
>1999
>Purple Rain
>
>MARVIN GAYE
>
>What's Goin' On
>Trouble Man
>Let's Get It On
>I Want You
>Here, My Dear
>
>MICHAEL JACKSON (almost 5)
>
>Off The Wall
>Thriller
>Bad
>Dangerous


Damn...that's a mean list...Don't know if I would include MJ in that stretch...As much as I dug Dangerous (I think that album is underrated...) it's not on the level of Off The Wall or Thriller...Hell, Bad (I know it's regarded as a classic) was never my full on cup of tea...But I respect the vision and love more than a few of the songs like "Liberian Girl," "Keep It In The Closet" and "Remember The Time"...

Maybe if you include the Jackson's Triumph MJ would have that EPIC album run...

>PRINCE
>
>Prince
>Dirty Mind
>Controversy
>1999
>Purple Rain
>
>MARVIN GAYE
>
>What's Goin' On
>Trouble Man
>Let's Get It On
>I Want You
>Here, My Dear
>
>MICHAEL JACKSON (almost 5)
>
>Off The Wall
>Thriller
>Bad
>Dangerous

MJ is the dude but Bad and Dangerous weren't that great

>PRINCE
>
>Prince
>Dirty Mind
>Controversy
>1999
>Purple Rain
>
>MARVIN GAYE
>
>What's Goin' On
>Trouble Man
>Let's Get It On
>I Want You
>Here, My Dear
>
>MICHAEL JACKSON (almost 5)
>
>Off The Wall
>Thriller
>Bad
>Dangerous


and i agree that the other artists you listed above (Prince, Marvin, MJ had equally amazing runs (although i'd say if we can bend the rules and add the Jacksons "Destiny" album...my favorite of theirs, and 'Triumph' in the mix and i'd be ok with dropping Dangerous. You could even potentially move the Prince lever up a few albums if you really wanted to, but i think what you have above is a good call on his purpleness.

i agree with W.C. on adding Earth Wind & Fire for sure, as well as So Whats mention of the Beatles...i mean cmon, those cats were on an incredible roll....

a few others i'd probably throw in the hat to consider...

The Police (they only did 5 and i consider them all 'gotta haves')
Teena Marie had a really impressive run of 5 as well coming outta the gate...

and....at the risk of causing some to roll their eyes..i'm ALSO gonna throw my girl Meshell into the mix of the convo....HER run in MY opinion, while obviously not having the POPULAR MASS impact of the major artists above...for ME album wise, Meshell's run of albums DO have the rare quality, raw passion, consistency, craft and artistry that warrants a nod as well. yeah i AM biased. she's my favorite. i admit it. but good interesting shit is good interesting shit, regardless of whether or not its sold a zillion or not...


•
have you listened to
her stuff?
v
http://www.freemyheart.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Meshell-Ndegeocello/26602832142?ref=mf

RIP David Williams:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Williams_(guitarist)&oldid=524196869

...yeah...stevie's 5 album run there in the 70s was just a MONSTER! :)

>Can you think of anyone who honestly had a better 4 year run?

Prince - 1982 through 1987. and maybe The Beatles - 1965/66 through 1969/70.

>Can you think of anyone who honestly had a better 5 album
>run?

Prince: 1999, PR, ATWIAD, Parade, SOTT

I'd add Earth Wind and fire too it ...73-77

Head to the Sky
Open our eyes
That's the way of the world
Spirit
All n all

Can't leave this one out. I love this album.

I've never heard Conversation Peace, and like SoWhat, I'm scared to hear it.

like "what are albums that you are legitamatelly scared to hear"

Anyone...anyone???

But for real there are some jams on there. And although a b-side, "Feeding off the Love of the Land" sounds like a missing cut from Hotter Than July

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dGuwVHxcMM

There was another thread where folks were discussing 80's Stevie vs. 70's Stevie. In my opinion, the reason we don't like 80's Stevie is really his reliance on the kurzweil workstation- everything had that tinny, digitized pop sound. Jungle Fever however finds Stevie pushing the technology he acquired in the 80's to new heights, and while there is still the more single-source oriented sound to his work on this album, there is a lushness that reminds us of his work from the mid-70's...and hearing tracks from this album live with a full band, you see that Stevie never lost it...

"Greatest Hits" or something, so that we can talk about those, particularly the transcendent, resplendent pleasures that are "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", "I was Made to Love Her", "Shoo Be Doo Be Doo Be Doo Da Day", and open mic night's favorite song, "My Cherie Amour"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking_Back_%28Stevie_Wonder_album%29

Looking Back, also known as Anthology, is a triple LP anthology by American soul musician Stevie Wonder, released in 1977 on Motown Records. Since its release in 12-inch triple LP format, it has not been reissued and is considered a limited edition. The album chronicles 40 songs from Wonder's first Motown period, which precedes the classic period of his critically acclaimed albums.

Between 1963 and the end of 1971, Wonder placed over 25 songs on Billboard Hot 100. Twenty-four of those — including such radio staples as "Fingertips, Pt. 2", "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", "I Was Made to Love Her", "For Once in My Life", "My Cherie Amour", and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" — appear on Looking Back. Wonder's recordings in the '60s stand apart from most Motown acts partially because he was paired with producers and writers who very rarely worked with the Temptations, Supremes, etc. In his early years, Wonder was often produced by Clarence Paul and/or William Stevenson and, during the golden years, by Henry Cosby. Then in 1970, Wonder started producing himself, beginning with Signed, Sealed & Delivered. Most of his singles were written by Wonder himself in tandem with a variety of others, or by Ron Miller. The hits alternated between stomping barn-burners and mid-tempo, understated ballads.

Before the long-awaited Wonder box set, At the Close of a Century, was issued, this triple-album set was the ultimate Wonder collection. It contains every major hit and many other vital singles from 1962–1971, showing his evolution from Ray Charles' disciple to assembly-line hitmaker to individualistic artist. Unlike its other anthologies, which have been carved down from three-volume vinyl LPs to double-disc sets, Motown simply deleted this one altogether, although vigilant collectors may be able to obtain it through used record stores. It wouldn't be until 1999's At the Close of a Century that another Stevie Wonder anthology would be released.

This compilation marks the first release of Stevie Wonder's 1967 original recording of "Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)," which was a 1973 hit for Aretha Franklin.

In a contemporary review, Russell Gersten of The Village Voice wrote that, although it suffers from some poorly chosen material and omissions, the album is ultimately an "essential record" that "requires a bit more imagination and knowledge to appreciate than most anthologies, but the raw ingredients are there. Wonder worked in an era of excesses, and his fight to find meaning is—in its own modest way—uplifting." The newspaper's Robert Christgau shared a similar sentiment and said that Looking Back is at the same time "flawed, long overdue, and essential." He included it in his 1980 list of singles and albums recommended for "a basic record library".

In a retrospective review for Allmusic, writer Rob Bowman gave Looking Back five stars and said that Wonder's songs from the 1960s were unique from most other Motown artists because he had a hand in writing them and his producers rarely collaborated with acts such as the Temptations or the Supremes. J. D. Considine, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992), gave the album four-and-a-half out of five stars and felt that it is a significantly better compilation than Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1971) because of how it highlights both his studio albums up to that point and several non-LP singles.


Track listing
Side one

"Thank You (For Loving Me All the Way)" - (2:30)
"Contract on Love" - (2:02)
"Fingertips - Part 2" - (2:52)
"Workout Stevie, Workout" - (2:40)
"Castles in the Sand" - (2:10)
"Hey Harmonica Man" - (2:35)
"High Heel Sneakers" - (2:58)


Side two

"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" - (2:53)
"Nothing's Too Good for My Baby" - (2:38)
"Blowin' in the Wind" - (3:45)
"Ain't That Asking for Trouble" - (2:47)
"I'd Cry" - (2:22)
"A Place in the Sun" - (2:52)
"Sylvia" - (2:33)

Side three

"Down to Earth" - (2:48)
"Thank You Love" - (2:50)
"Hey Love" - (2:44)
"Travelin' Man" - (2:54)
"Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" - (3:06)
"I Was Made to Love Her" - (2:35)
"I'm Wondering" - (2:52)


Side four

"Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" - (2:44)
"You Met Your Match" - (2:36)
"I'd Be a Fool Right Now" (New 1977 mix) - (2:53)
"Alfie" - (2:58)
"More Than a Dream" - (3:20)
"For Once in My Life" - (2:16)

Side five

"Angie Girl" - (2:56)
"My Cherie Amour" - (2:54)
"I Don't Know Why (I Love You)" - (2:43)
"If I Ruled The World" - (3:31)
"Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" - (2:57)
"Never Had a Dream Come True" - (2:59)
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" - (2:46)


Side six

"Heaven Help Us All" - (2:59)
"I Gotta Have a Song" - (2:32)
"Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" - (2:56)
"If You Really Love Me" - (2:53)
"Something Out of the Blue" - (2:58)
"Do Yourself a Favor" - (5:58)

I must admit that having that record has sort of prevented me from checking out any Stevie-albums before "Signed, sealed..." which is a shame because I'm sure there are some hidden gems; I need to rectify that one day but I always assumed you got "all" the good pre-70's Motown shit on comps (a victim of rockist propaganda perhaps?) which I later found out wasn't true for other acts like Marvin, Smokey Robinson/Miracles and Four Tops. I'm sure Stevie is no exception...

"I'm Wondering", for example...I can't even describe how much I feel that record. Somewhere between the multitracking ,the Funk Bros. backing track, and the story in the lyrics...love, love, love.

Blowin in the Wind , I Was Made To Love Her, Traveling Man, I Gotta Have a Song, Do Yourself a Favor, Sign Sealed Delivered...

He did some great stuff.

Thank you for setting this post up...great discussion!!