Talking Book - Album
Talking Book (Album) by Stevie Wonder
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Artist Biography For Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris Né Judkins May 13 1950 Known Professionally As Stevie Wonder Is An American Singer-Songwriter Who Is Credited As A Pioneer And Influence By Musicians Across A Range Of Genres That Include Rhythm And Blues Pop Soul Gospel Funk And Jazz. A Virtual One-Man Band Wonder's Use Of Synthesizers And Other Electronic Musical Instruments During The 1970s Reshaped The Conventions Of R&B. He Also Helped Drive Such Genres Into The Album Era Crafting His LPs As Cohesive And Consistent In Addition To Socially Conscious Statements With Complex Compositions. Blind Since Shortly After His Birth Wonder Was A Child Prodigy Who Signed With Motown's Tamla Label At The Age Of 11 Where He Was Given The Professional Name Little Stevie Wonder. Wonder's Single "Fingertips" Was A No. 1 Hit On The Billboard Hot 100 In 1963 At The Age Of 13 Making Him The Youngest Artist Ever To Top The Chart. Wonder's Critical Success Was At Its Peak In The 1970s. His "classic Period" Began In 1972 With The Releases Of Music Of My Mind And Talking Book The Latter Featuring "Superstition" Which Is One Of The Most Distinctive And Famous Examples Of The Sound Of The Hohner Clavinet Keyboard. His Works Innervisions 1973 Fulfillingness' First Finale 1974 And Songs In The Key Of Life 1976 All Won The Grammy Award For Album Of The Year Making Him The Tied-Record Holder For The Most Album Of The Year Wins With Three. He Is Also The Only Artist To Have Won The Award With Three Consecutive Album Releases. Wonder Began His "commercial Period" In The 1980s He Achieved His Biggest Hits And Highest Level Of Fame Had Increased Album Sales Charity Participation High-Profile Collaborations Including Paul McCartney And Michael Jackson Political Impact And Television Appearances. Wonder Has Continued To Remain Active In Music And Political Causes. Wonder Is One Of The Best-Selling Music Artists Of All Time With Sales Of Over 100 Million Records Worldwide. He Has Won 25 Grammy Awards The Most By A Solo Artist And One Academy Award Best Original Song For The 1984 Film The Woman In Red . Wonder Has Been Inducted Into The Rhythm And Blues Music Hall Of Fame Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame And Songwriters Hall Of Fame. He Is Also Noted For His Work As An Activist For Political Causes Including His 1980 Campaign To Make Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday A Federal Holiday In The U.S. In 2009 He Was Named A United Nations Messenger Of Peace And In 2014 He Was Honored With The Presidential Medal Of Freedom. Wonder Was Born Stevland Hardaway Judkins In Saginaw Michigan On May 13 1950 The Third Of Five Children Born To Lula Mae Hardaway And The Second Of Hardaway's Two Children With Calvin Judkins. He Was Born Six Weeks Premature Which Along With The Oxygen-Rich Atmosphere In The Hospital Incubator Resulted In Retinopathy Of Prematurity A Condition In Which The Growth Of The Eyes Is Aborted And Causes The Retinas To Detach So He Became Blind.
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Biography - Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris Né Judkins May 13 1950 Known Professionally As Stevie Wonder Is An American Singer-Songwriter Who Is Credited As A Pioneer And Influence By Musicians Across A Range Of Genres That Include Rhythm And Blues Pop Soul Gospel Funk And Jazz. A Virtual One-Man Band Wonder's Use Of Synthesizers And Other Electronic Musical Instruments During The 1970s Reshaped The Conventions Of R&B. He Also Helped Drive Such Genres Into The Album Era Crafting His LPs As Cohesive And Consistent In Addition To Socially Conscious Statements With Complex Compositions. Blind Since Shortly After His Birth Wonder Was A Child Prodigy Who Signed With Motown's Tamla Label At The Age Of 11 Where He Was Given The Professional Name Little Stevie Wonder. Wonder's Single "Fingertips" Was A No. 1 Hit On The Billboard Hot 100 In 1963 At The Age Of 13 Making Him The Youngest Artist Ever To Top The Chart. Wonder's Critical Success Was At Its Peak In The 1970s. His "classic Period" Began In 1972 With The Releases Of Music Of My Mind And Talking Book The Latter Featuring "Superstition" Which Is One Of The Most Distinctive And Famous Examples Of The Sound Of The Hohner Clavinet Keyboard. His Works Innervisions 1973 Fulfillingness' First Finale 1974 And Songs In The Key Of Life 1976 All Won The Grammy Award For Album Of The Year Making Him The Tied-Record Holder For The Most Album Of The Year Wins With Three. He Is Also The Only Artist To Have Won The Award With Three Consecutive Album Releases. Wonder Began His "commercial Period" In The 1980s He Achieved His Biggest Hits And Highest Level Of Fame Had Increased Album Sales Charity Participation High-Profile Collaborations Including Paul McCartney And Michael Jackson Political Impact And Television Appearances. Wonder Has Continued To Remain Active In Music And Political Causes. Wonder Is One Of The Best-Selling Music Artists Of All Time With Sales Of Over 100 Million Records Worldwide. He Has Won 25 Grammy Awards The Most By A Solo Artist And One Academy Award Best Original Song For The 1984 Film The Woman In Red . Wonder Has Been Inducted Into The Rhythm And Blues Music Hall Of Fame Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame And Songwriters Hall Of Fame. He Is Also Noted For His Work As An Activist For Political Causes Including His 1980 Campaign To Make Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday A Federal Holiday In The U.S. In 2009 He Was Named A United Nations Messenger Of Peace And In 2014 He Was Honored With The Presidential Medal Of Freedom. Wonder Was Born Stevland Hardaway Judkins In Saginaw Michigan On May 13 1950 The Third Of Five Children Born To Lula Mae Hardaway And The Second Of Hardaway's Two Children With Calvin Judkins. He Was Born Six Weeks Premature Which Along With The Oxygen-Rich Atmosphere In The Hospital Incubator Resulted In Retinopathy Of Prematurity A Condition In Which The Growth Of The Eyes Is Aborted And Causes The Retinas To Detach So He Became Blind.
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After Releasing Two "head" Records During 1970-71 Stevie Wonder Expanded His Compositional Palate With 1972's Talking Book To Include Societal Ills As Well As Tender Love Songs And So Recorded The First Smash Album Of His Career. What Had Been Hinted At On The Intriguing Project Music Of My Mind Was Here Focused Into A Laser Beam Of Tight Songwriting Warm Electronic Arrangements And Ebullient Performances -- Altogether The Most Realistic Vision Of Musical Personality Ever Put To Wax Beginning With A Disarmingly Simple Love Song "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" But Of Course It's Only The Composition That's Simple . Stevie's Not Always Singing A Tender Ballad Here -- In Fact He Flits From Contentment To Mistrust To Promise To Heartbreak Within The Course Of The First Four Songs -- But He Never Fails To Render Each Song In The Most Vivid Colors. In Stark Contrast To His Early Songs Which Were Clever But Often Relied On The Motown Template Of Romantic Metaphor With Talking Book It Became Clear Stevie Wonder Was Beginning To Speak His Mind And Use Personal History For Material Just As Marvin Gaye Had With The Social Protest Of 1971's What's Going On . The Lyrics Became Less Convoluted While The Emotional Power Gained In Intensity. "You And I" And The Glorious Closer "I Believe When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever " Subtly Illustrate That The Conception Of Love Can Be Stronger Than The Reality While "Tuesday Heartbreak" Speaks Simply But Powerfully "I Wanna Be With You When The Nighttime Comes / I Wanna Be With You Till The Daytime Comes." Ironically The Biggest Hit From Talking Book Wasn't A Love Song At All The Funk Landmark "Superstition" Urges Empowerment Instead Of Hopelessness Set To A Grooving Beat That Made It One Of The Biggest Hits Of His Career. It's Followed By "Big Brother " The First Of His Directly Critical Songs Excoriating Politicians Who Posture To The Underclass In Order To Gain The Only Thing They Really Need Votes. With Talking Book Stevie Also Found A Proper Balance Between Making An Album Entirely By Himself And Benefiting From The Talents Of Others. His Wife Syreeta And Her Sister Yvonne Wright Contributed Three Great Lyrics And Ray Parker Jr. Came By To Record A Guitar Solo That Brings Together The Lengthy Jam "Maybe Your Baby." Two More Guitar Heroes Jeff Beck And Buzzy Feton Appeared On "Lookin' For Another Pure Love " Beck's Solo Especially Giving Voice To The Excruciating Process Of Moving On From A Broken Relationship. Like No Other Stevie Wonder LP Before It Talking Book Is All Of A Piece The First Unified Statement Of His Career. It's Certainly An Exercise In Indulgence But Imitating Life It Veers Breathtakingly From Love To Heartbreak And Back With Barely A Pause.
Published: 06 Jun 2010, 01:00
After Releasing Two "head" Records During 1970-71 Stevie Wonder Expanded His Compositional Palate With 1972's Talking Book To Include Societal Ills As Well As Tender Love Songs And So Recorded The First Smash Album Of His Career. What Had Been Hinted At On The Intriguing Project Music Of My Mind Was Here Focused Into A Laser Beam Of Tight Songwriting Warm Electronic Arrangements And Ebullient Performances -- Altogether The Most Realistic Vision Of Musical Personality Ever Put To Wax Beginning With A Disarmingly Simple Love Song "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" But Of Course It's Only The Composition That's Simple . Stevie's Not Always Singing A Tender Ballad Here -- In Fact He Flits From Contentment To Mistrust To Promise To Heartbreak Within The Course Of The First Four Songs -- But He Never Fails To Render Each Song In The Most Vivid Colors. In Stark Contrast To His Early Songs Which Were Clever But Often Relied On The Motown Template Of Romantic Metaphor With Talking Book It Became Clear Stevie Wonder Was Beginning To Speak His Mind And Use Personal History For Material Just As Marvin Gaye Had With The Social Protest Of 1971's What's Going On . The Lyrics Became Less Convoluted While The Emotional Power Gained In Intensity. "You And I" And The Glorious Closer "I Believe When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever " Subtly Illustrate That The Conception Of Love Can Be Stronger Than The Reality While "Tuesday Heartbreak" Speaks Simply But Powerfully "I Wanna Be With You When The Nighttime Comes / I Wanna Be With You Till The Daytime Comes." Ironically The Biggest Hit From Talking Book Wasn't A Love Song At All The Funk Landmark "Superstition" Urges Empowerment Instead Of Hopelessness Set To A Grooving Beat That Made It One Of The Biggest Hits Of His Career. It's Followed By "Big Brother " The First Of His Directly Critical Songs Excoriating Politicians Who Posture To The Underclass In Order To Gain The Only Thing They Really Need Votes. With Talking Book Stevie Also Found A Proper Balance Between Making An Album Entirely By Himself And Benefiting From The Talents Of Others. His Wife Syreeta And Her Sister Yvonne Wright Contributed Three Great Lyrics And Ray Parker Jr. Came By To Record A Guitar Solo That Brings Together The Lengthy Jam "Maybe Your Baby." Two More Guitar Heroes Jeff Beck And Buzzy Feton Appeared On "Lookin' For Another Pure Love " Beck's Solo Especially Giving Voice To The Excruciating Process Of Moving On From A Broken Relationship. Like No Other Stevie Wonder LP Before It Talking Book Is All Of A Piece The First Unified Statement Of His Career. It's Certainly An Exercise In Indulgence But Imitating Life It Veers Breathtakingly From Love To Heartbreak And Back With Barely A Pause.