at a glance...

Hometown: Saginaw, MI
First recordings: 1961

Personnel:
Stevie Wonder -pianos, drums, harmonica, organ, clavichord, clavinet, Arp & Moog synthesizers, vocals, songwriting, production
Colin Moulding -songwriting, bass, vocals
Chuck Sabo -drums
Prairie Prince -drums
Holly Partridge -backing vocals
Nick Davis -production

Related artists:
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, George Benson, W.G. "Snuffy" Walden, Michael Sembello

Berry Gordy enjoyed the power he had over his acts, but once Marvin Gaye busted out with What's Going On, BG knew he had to loosen the leash a little bit on his other stars, too. Stevie had been one of the most antsy in the whole Motown stable, and they finally just let him do whatever the hell he wanted to do. What he did was change music, and Motown, forever with this album. Just 21 when it was released, the artist formerly known as Little Stevie Wonder played every instrument on every track (excepting a great guitar solo on one song and a minor trombone solo on another), sung every single heart-rending vocal track, and reinvented himself as Big Stevie Wonder, Genius.

There's so much richness to the sound of this album - thankfully remastered better this time, as opposed to the traditionally crappy Motown remasters of years past - that it's easy to just get caught up in its lush soundscapes. This is still Tamla-beat R&B and pop-funk, but it's something much more; it's complex and interesting in all the right ways. No one sings like Stevie; no one plays harmonica like Stevie; no one one-man-bands it better than Stevie. And yes, Mr. 'Prince' Rogers Nelson, I'm a-talkin' to you too, although I know how much you love Stevie. In fact, listen to this record and hear Prince's bag of tricks that seemed so radical in the '80s: distended two-chord drones, songs that morph half-way through into their own antithesis, etc. Then please listen again and hear the whole Thriller album sound in the songs "Keep On Running" and "Girl Blue."

But save the third listen, and every subsequent one, for grooving on Stevie's lyrics. No, none of these songs are as polished or as deep as his later, more famous stuff; the only overtly semi-political song here is "Evil," which he turns out to be against. But take the lyrics on this album as a whole and they stand as a fascinating document of a pop star turning into a legend. The opening verse of "Love Having You Around" should be taught to all the wack songwriters of today: "Every day I want to fly my kite/Every day I want to fly my kite/Every day I want to get on my camel an' ride." Hell, if it ain't gonna make sense, at least make it entertaining; but the thought of Stevie driving a camel around the streets of Detroit is a hoot anyway. D'Angelo's latest album proves that he has studied the way "Superwoman" turns from a third-person social commentary to a first-person declaration of confused strength to a bitter condemnation: "Where were you when I needed you last winter?" And then there's the hilarious spoken-word blues breaks in "Sweet Little Girl," where Stevie puts on an ignorant accent to coo sick little nothings like: "What if you knew I was gonna put my harmonica down just to make love to you? Come on, baby, the woofer's waiting on ya."

Priceless. Weird. Historical. Necessary.

If you like Stevie Wonder, check out:
Stevie Wonder Innervisions
Stevie Wonder Talking Book
Stevie Wonder Fulfillingness' First Finale
Stevie Wonder Songs In The Key Of Life
Prince Sign 'O' the Times
The Beach Boys Pet Sounds
Sly and the Family Stone Anthology
Marvin Gaye What's Going On?
Badly Drawn Boy The Hour of Bewilderbeast

-- Matt Cibula