Album: Innervisions
Artist: Stevie Wonder
Born: Saginaw, Michigan
Released: August 1973
Genre: Soul
Influenced: Michael Jackson, Prince, Scritti Politti, De La Soul, Common, Erykah Badu
Where to start with Stevie Wonder? Innervisions was his sixteenth album, at the age of just 23. Like many of the great soul voices of the 70s, he started out as a hit-making song & dance man for his label until Motown gave him more artistic freedom. This process really started for Wonder with 1971's Music of My Mind, one of the first soul records to use synthesisers (lead track Superwoman is stunning and arguably his most groundbreaking work). Wonder was not just a sonic innovator but also played all the instruments (drums, Moog bass, clavinet, synthesisers, guitar) and sung his own songs, an essential part of his crossover appeal to a white rock audience. 1972's Talking Book was the album that brought his music to a wider public, especially the unmistakable clavinet funk of Superstition. Innervisions was another leap forward, seeing Wonder tackle a wider range of themes in his songs, while also revealing his deep spirituality. His strong faith in God would not by shaken by the horrific accident he suffered just a few days after Innervisions' release, if anything it served to strengthen it, and Wonder would continue to be one of the most successful and creative recording artists of the 70s. His warmth, humanity and talent comes through on so many clips, but this is my favourite from Soul Train.
Too High and its strong anti-drugs message always strikes me as a strange choice as opener, but maybe Wonder wanted to make clear from the outset that the inner visions he wants to explore on this album are not of the psychedelic kind. Visions has a dreamy, mellow feel and sees Wonder spell out his hopes for a more equal world where racial hatred is banished, but there's an uncertainty and fragility in the words and singing. Living For The City injects a quick change of pace, painting the picture of a boy from Mississippi growing up in a family struggling to make its way in the world, against a backdrop of synthesisers and driving bass. The cinematic feel to the song is enhanced by an interlude, in which the boy comes to New York and is unfairly busted and sent down for drugs possession, causing Wonder to growl uncharacteristically at the injustice. All this anger fades on Golden Lady, a beautiful love song, while Higher Ground gets side 2 off to a funky start, that wah-wah clavinet again put to good effect as Wonder sings about how his faith keeps him positive. Jesus Child Of America continues the spiritual theme, as Wonder details the destructive power of deceit and drugs, while All In Love Is Fair has a mournful, lovesick feel. Innervisions ends on a high, with the Latin-infused Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing, blessed with stunning vocals and skits, and He's Misstra Know-It-All, a slow-building song about a con artist (supposedly Nixon) that finishes in a grand finale of hand claps. This album, and Stevie Wonder's happy birthday song (always a fixture in my house growing up), will always have a special place in my heart.
Where to start with Stevie Wonder? Innervisions was his sixteenth album, at the age of just 23. Like many of the great soul voices of the 70s, he started out as a hit-making song & dance man for his label until Motown gave him more artistic freedom. This process really started for Wonder with 1971's Music of My Mind, one of the first soul records to use synthesisers (lead track Superwoman is stunning and arguably his most groundbreaking work). Wonder was not just a sonic innovator but also played all the instruments (drums, Moog bass, clavinet, synthesisers, guitar) and sung his own songs, an essential part of his crossover appeal to a white rock audience. 1972's Talking Book was the album that brought his music to a wider public, especially the unmistakable clavinet funk of Superstition. Innervisions was another leap forward, seeing Wonder tackle a wider range of themes in his songs, while also revealing his deep spirituality. His strong faith in God would not by shaken by the horrific accident he suffered just a few days after Innervisions' release, if anything it served to strengthen it, and Wonder would continue to be one of the most successful and creative recording artists of the 70s. His warmth, humanity and talent comes through on so many clips, but this is my favourite from Soul Train.
Too High and its strong anti-drugs message always strikes me as a strange choice as opener, but maybe Wonder wanted to make clear from the outset that the inner visions he wants to explore on this album are not of the psychedelic kind. Visions has a dreamy, mellow feel and sees Wonder spell out his hopes for a more equal world where racial hatred is banished, but there's an uncertainty and fragility in the words and singing. Living For The City injects a quick change of pace, painting the picture of a boy from Mississippi growing up in a family struggling to make its way in the world, against a backdrop of synthesisers and driving bass. The cinematic feel to the song is enhanced by an interlude, in which the boy comes to New York and is unfairly busted and sent down for drugs possession, causing Wonder to growl uncharacteristically at the injustice. All this anger fades on Golden Lady, a beautiful love song, while Higher Ground gets side 2 off to a funky start, that wah-wah clavinet again put to good effect as Wonder sings about how his faith keeps him positive. Jesus Child Of America continues the spiritual theme, as Wonder details the destructive power of deceit and drugs, while All In Love Is Fair has a mournful, lovesick feel. Innervisions ends on a high, with the Latin-infused Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing, blessed with stunning vocals and skits, and He's Misstra Know-It-All, a slow-building song about a con artist (supposedly Nixon) that finishes in a grand finale of hand claps. This album, and Stevie Wonder's happy birthday song (always a fixture in my house growing up), will always have a special place in my heart.
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