The Christian Science Monitor has an article: Stevie Wonder takes over the White House - Obamas don’t mind discussing Stevie wonder's upcoming concert at the White House on February 25. The concert will be broadcast the following day on PBS.
Started me musing this morning about Stevie Wonder, and how it seems he's been a part of my life for a very long time.
My introduction to Stevie Wonder, was to "Little Stevie Wonder".
One of the first 45 records I ever bought with my skimpy allowance money was "Fingertips, Part2"
"Fingertips" is a 1963 number-one hit single recorded live by "Little" Stevie Wonder for Motown's Tamla label. Wonder's first hit single, "Fingertips" was the first live, non-studio recording to reach number-one on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the United States.
Written by Wonder's mentors Clarence Paul and Henry Cosby, "Fingertips" was originally a Jazz instrumental recorded for Wonder's first studio album, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie Wonder. The live version of the song was recorded in June 1962 during a Motor Town Revue performance at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois. Containing only a few stanzas of lyrics, "Fingertips" is essentially an instrumental piece, meant to showcase Wonder's talents on the bongos and the harmonica.
After leading the audience in a call and response routine ("Everybody say 'yeah!'"), Wonder leaves the stage and the band goes into its exit music. This turns out to be a false ending however, as Wonder appears back onstage for an encore, returning to his harmonica, bongos, and the vocal microphone. The other musicians were not aware Wonder would stage an encore even though he had just sung lyrics that said he would; as a result, bassist Larry Moses can be heard on the recording yelling out "What key? What key?" (The song's key is C minor).
The live version of "Fingertips" was released in May 1963 as a two-part single, with Part 2 (with the encore) as the A-side. By August, the single had reached the top of both the Billboard Pop Singles and R&B Singles charts. "Fingertips" was Motown's second number-one pop hit (following The Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman"), and launched the 13-year-old Wonder into the pop music stratosphere. The single's success helped Wonder's live album, Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius, reach number-one on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, making him the youngest artist to accomplish that feat.
There were other young performers around as I grew up. Frankie Lymon and the Teeenagers, and his brother Lewis among them.
Can still sing all the words to "Why Do Fools Fall in Love".
But Fingertips was something special. Never thought my friends and I would be dancing the bop and snapping our fingers to a harmonica, which was certainly not an "in" rock and roll instrument.
But Little Stevie's enthusiasm and rhythm was infectious, and I still have fond memories of going with my girlfriends to see him perform at the Apollo.
His career could have ended tragically, as did those of many early R&B rockers, but young Stevie would grow into a brilliant composer, songwriter, producer and entertainer in the ensuing years.
Named at birth Stevland Hardaway Judkins, the man we now know and love as Stevie Wonder
was born on May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan, United States. The product of a premature birth, the blood vessels at the back of his eyes had not yet reached the front, and an aborted growth spurt caused the retinas to detach.[7] The medical term for this condition is known as Retinopathy of prematurity, or "ROP", and while it may have been exacerbated by the oxygen pumped into his incubator, this treatment was not the primary cause of his blindness.
When Wonder was 4, his mother left his father and moved herself and her children to Detroit, Michigan. Wonder took up piano at age 7, and had mastered it by age 9. During his early childhood he was active in his Church choir. He also taught himself to play the harmonica and the drums, and had mastered both by age ten. Wonder also learned to play the bass during his early years.
After the success of Fingertips, young Wonder went on to record singles and an album or two. I think the single I bought was "I Was Made to Love Her", in 1967.
But it was his growth and transformation into an intellectual/political/socal commentator that made Stevie Wonder's music part of my classic collection.
Part of this had to do with Stevie's successful internal battle in Motown to control his own music.
Wonder independently recorded two albums, which he used as a bargaining tool while negotiating with Motown. Eventually the label agreed to his demands for full creative control and the rights to his own songs, and Wonder returned to Motown in March 1972 with Music of My Mind, an album which is considered a classic of the era.[citation needed] Unlike most previous artist LPs on Motown, which usually consisted of a collection of singles, B-sides and covers, Music of My Mind was an actual LP, a full-length artistic statement, and began a string of five albums – released over a period of less than five years – that make up what is generally considered Stevie Wonder's classic period.[citation needed] Music of My Mind marked the beginning of a long collaboration with synthesiser pioneers Tonto's Expanding Head Band (Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil).
October 1972's album Talking Book featured the #1 pop and R&B musical hit "Superstition", which is one of the most distinctive and famous examples of the sound of the Hohner clavinet keyboard.[11] The song, originally intended for rock guitarist Jeff Beck, features a rocking groove that garnered Wonder an additional audience on rock radio stations. Talking Book also featured "You Are the Sunshine of My Life", which went to #1 on the pop charts. It has been argued that Wonder touring with The Rolling Stones on their 1972 American Tour, was a major factor behind the success of both "Superstition" and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life".Between them, the two songs won three Grammy Awards.
Political considerations were brought into greater focus than ever before on his next album, Innervisions. The album featured "Higher Ground" (#4 on the pop charts) as well as "Living for the City" (#8). Both songs reached number 1 on the R&B charts. Popular ballads such as "Golden Lady" and "All in Love Is Fair" were also present, in a mixture of moods that nevertheless held together as a unified whole.[citation needed] Innervisions generated three more Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.[2] The album is ranked #23 on Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
I will never forget the impact of hearing "Living for the City".
The song begins with Wonder describing the life of a boy born in "hard time Mississippi". His family is poor, but his parents work hard and encourage him, in spite of the dreadful conditions they live in, which include lack of food and money, and racism. As the track progresses, the tension and anger build in Wonder's voice, matching the growing frustrations of the subjects in the song.
A spoken interlude midway through the song has the young boy, now a young man, arriving in New York City for a new beginning. He is tricked into transporting drugs, arrested and sentenced to 10 years in jail. The tension in Wonder's voice boils over at this point into an angry growl, but then subsides again as he ends the song on a positive note. In commercial radio airplay, the spoken dialog is usually edited out, possibly because the word "nigger" is used as he is thrown into a jail cell. Also, the last two verses, following this scenario, are omitted as well. The song ends, during the wordless instrumental break, leaving the listener, hanging, on which note is the song going to end on.
The spoken interlude can be seen as an electro-acoustic experiment, exploring the composer's main sensory input. Stevie Wonder's growling voice reveals the inner rage that has been building throughout the song. "Living for the City" still holds a substantial edge in social commentary.
He went on to release his classic Songs in the Key of Life in 1976, and I would not be able to choose a favorite cut, so will simply play "As"
I could probably write 20 diaries about Stevie and his music, but will simply post a few more tidbits for fans:
Obama and Stevie Wonder
And I'll close with "Signed Sealed Delivered"
His official website has lots to explore, as do many fan sites like this one from the UK.
So what's your favorite Stevie Wonder album or single?