Friday, May 27, 2011

Old Stuff Friday - The Soul Corner - Stevie Wonder

The Soul Corner takes requests and this week we got one for the great Stevie Wonder, whom of course we were going to get to at some point. I am from Detroit after all, and Stevie is one of my mainest of main men. He's a gifted giant of a musician, and a talented writer, philanthropist, community leader, singer, producer, and a great American. He's in the Bob Dylan / Ray Charles stratosphere, in a league of his own.

So we can't highlight just one song as we generally try to do here.

Stevie's most creative period was 1972-76 when he released 5 classic concept albums that took Motown and R&B to heights not achieved before or since. The Beatles and Stones might have put 5 in a row out this good, we could argue the point, but that's about it. This run was and remains a staggering achievement. The musical and thematic reach of these records cannot be overstated.

We could write a book on this period, but we'll settle for 5 quite varied songs to ever so partially tell the story.

We'll go in chronological order, starting with Music of My Mind, which along with Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, took Motown to far more personal and experimental terrain. This vid is a later live version of "Superwoman" from that record. It was a bold step forward for Stevie, far from the standard Motown sound. I love this vocal, especially at the song's conclusion. You've heard thousands of break up songs in your life, but few with this kind of raw emotion.



Next up, from Talking Book, the great "Superstition", which took Stevie and Motown to rock radio, and used the Hohner clavinet keyboard to great effect:



Following on that was Innervisions with one of my personal favorites "Livin for the City", an unflinching tour of urban black America at a time long before CNN or Spike Lee or any understanding of that world for a great deal of America:



Fulfillingness' First Finale came next, what a great name for a record by the way, which included "Boogie On Reggae Woman", just as Bob Marley was catching on the US. But unlike Eric Clapton or Johnny Nash, Stevie didn't water it down just crassly looking for a hit. Stevie took the innovative beat, bent it, experimented and transformed it into something even more fresh and exciting. This is one of the great all time jams:



And last but certainly not least in this quintuplet of genius, was the double record Songs in the Key of Life, one of those pieces of nearly unparallaled American artistry that everyone needs to own a copy of. The choice here is "Pastime Paradise", a bold experimental song that broke a ton of new ground and influenced everything after it from prog rock to hip hop. It's an incredible piece of music.



Rock, soul, R&B, experimental, progressive, love ballads ("You Are the Sunshine of My Life"), a classic ode to a child coming into the world ("Isn't She Lovely"), Stevie did it all and then some in these 5 records in just 4 years. He was at the top of his game -- composing , producing, writing profound lyrics, and playing nearly every instrument. Wow. The Soul Corner bows down to the uniquely talented and peerless Stevie Wonder.

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