Episode 142: Eli Lake / Stevie Wonder [Part 1]

Summary

Political Beats: Episode 142 - Eli Lake on Stevie Wonder [Part 1]

Released on January 2, 2025 by National Review

In Episode 142 of Political Beats, hosts Scott Bertram and Jeff Blair welcome returning guest Eli Lake to delve into the illustrious career of Stevie Wonder. This episode, the first part of a two-part series, explores Stevie Wonder's formative years, his relationship with Motown Records, and his emergence as a musical genius.

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Introduction to Stevie Wonder's Early Career

The episode opens with Scott Bertram introducing Eli Lake, highlighting his credentials as a Free Press columnist and the host of the upcoming Breaking History podcast. The trio sets the stage by comparing the ages of Stevie Wonder and Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, underscoring Stevie's early entry into the music scene.

Scott Bertram [01:35]:

"Stevie Wonder, our guest or our featured artist on Today's program is 18 months younger than Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick... Stevie Wonder had a number one song in 1962."

Eli Lake's Passion for Stevie Wonder

Eli Lake passionately articulates his admiration for Stevie Wonder, emphasizing the joy and human spirit embedded in Stevie’s music. He praises Stevie’s vocal prowess and his pivotal role as an innovator in American music.

Eli Lake [05:11]:

"I love Stevie Wonder because I'm a human being. And there is just, you cannot avoid the joy in almost everything he does."

Lake further elaborates on Stevie's contributions as a songwriter and his groundbreaking use of synthesizers, setting the foundation for Stevie's future innovations.

Jeff Blair’s Journey into Stevie Wonder’s Music

Jeff Blair shares his personal journey of discovering Stevie Wonder, highlighting how limited his exposure was during his upbringing. His introduction to Stevie's music through a boxed set at age 19 marked a significant turning point, expanding his musical horizons and deepening his appreciation for Motown and funk.

Jeff Blair [10:00]:

"When I got that boxed set at the age of 19... Stevie Wonder opened all of those doors to me."

Stevie Wonder’s Motown Years: A Struggle for Artistic Identity

The discussion shifts to Stevie Wonder's early albums under Motown Records. The hosts critique the initial Motown releases, noting the prevalence of cover songs and the struggle Stevie faced in establishing his unique artistic voice amidst the Motown factory system.

Jeff Blair [22:24]:

"Stevie Wonder was born Stevie Judkins... signed him to a contract in 1961."

Scott Bertram [32:12]:

"If you remember back to the Elton John episode, I'm kind of obsessed with number one hits by huge stars who that no longer exist today... Stevie Wonder is just one of the most essential pieces of the story."

Highlighting Key Tracks and Albums

The hosts analyze specific albums and tracks, showcasing Stevie's evolution as an artist. They discuss the significance of Fingertips Part 2, Stevie's first number one hit, and its impact on Motown's trajectory.

Jeff Blair [28:57]:

"Fingertips Part 2 is Stevie Wonder again refusing to leave the stage and just being incredible."

Eli Lake [38:24]:

"There's something about the purity of his voice, the arrangement. There's a little brief, there's a little bit of harmonic in there... There's something about the purity of his voice, the arrangement."

Transition and Creative Autonomy

As Stevie approaches adulthood, the conversation addresses his growing desire for creative control, paralleling Marvin Gaye's struggle with Motown. The hosts emphasize Stevie's role in transforming from a Motown prodigy to an independent, innovative artist.

Jeff Blair [137:30]:

"Stevie Wonder is just one of the most essential pieces of the story when it comes to, you know, self-created geniuses of music in the 60s and 70s."

Notable Quotes and Insights

Throughout the episode, notable quotes provide deeper insight into Stevie Wonder's influence and the challenges he faced:

• Eli Lake [07:41]:

  "Stevie is just a giant figure. The last one I did with you guys was Prince. That was an epic 3 part 11 hour."

• Scott Bertram [05:33]:

  "He has one of the just most brilliant and joyous voices in all of recorded music."

• Jeff Blair [36:16]:

  "America just loves exuberant children."

Conclusion of Part 1

As Part 1 concludes, the hosts reflect on the foundational years of Stevie Wonder's career, acknowledging both his immense talent and the constraints imposed by Motown. They hint at the forthcoming transformation in Stevie's music, setting the stage for Part 2, which will delve into his peak creative period in the 1970s.

Scott Bertram [129:45]:

"...it's pretty amazing."

Eli Lake [130:51]:

"Stevie Wonder Live. The thing that sort of jumped out to me most is the crowd's not as excited as it was when Stevie Wonder was 12."

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Recommended Albums and Tracks

Eli Lake's Recommendations:

• Albums:
  • Tribute to Uncle Ray
  • Stevie at the Beach

Jeff Blair's Recommendations:

• Albums:
  • For Once in My Life
  • Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Scott Bertram’s Recommendations:

• Albums:
  • For Once in My Life
  • Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Highlighted Tracks:

• Fingertips Part 2 [06:22]
• Uptight (Everything's All Right) [48:53]
• I Was Made to Love Her [62:13]
• We Can Work It Out [103:19]

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Final Thoughts

This episode masterfully balances personal anecdotes with critical analysis, offering listeners a comprehensive understanding of Stevie Wonder's early career and his intricate relationship with Motown. The hosts' enthusiasm and deep knowledge make the discussion both engaging and informative, setting a high expectation for the continuation in Part 2.

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For those interested in exploring the full depth of Stevie Wonder's musical journey, stay tuned for Episode 143, which will continue this exploration into his transformative years in the 1970s.

Transcript

[Scott Bertram]

Hello again everybody and welcome into another edition of Political Beats, a presentation of National Review. You can find us on X at PoliticalBeats over on Facebook as well. We invite you to subscribe to our feed for new episodes through Apple Podcasts. Tune in or wherever you find your audio plus national review.com Listen, leave reviews where possible, help others find the program and we of course direct you to all that holiday cash is burning a hole in your pocket. We know where to put it. Patreon.com Politicalbeats support us help the show stay ad free as it has been. We've got entry level for occasional posts and showing us your support and some voting privileges here and there. Mid level for early access to our shows and you get about a higher audio quality and our upper level best friends, they get the early access, higher audio quality, monthly exclusive content, episodes, remastered shows from the past, playlists and more. All of that [e-mail] politicalbeats My name is Scott Bertram. Find me on Xcott Bertram, my tag team partner standing by as always, Jeff Blair. Jeff, how are you?

[Jeff Blair]

Oh, I'm doing fine. I got a big smile on my face, I got my sunglasses on, sitting here in my room with my harmonica playing all these wonderful tunes and well, I just wish the neighbors would stop banging on the walls.

[Scott Bertram]

Find Jeff on xsoteric CD Our guest on today's program is a third time returner, a three time guest on the program. He's a Free Press columnist, host of Breaking History podcast that's launching in about three weeks, January 15, 2025. Also a contributing editor at Commentary. And I highly recommend the most recent Un Honestly podcast with Barry Weiss as our guest Eli Lake talks about why Jews wrote your favorite Christmas songs. And the Johnny Marks portion is worth it just for itself. Eli Lake is back. Find him on X at Eli Lake. Eli, thanks for returning.

[Eli Lake]

Oh, it's great to be here. And what a great artist we have to talk about today, right? I mean it's awesome. I'm excited to talk about Stevie.

[Scott Bertram]

Indeed. Eli, you've changed jobs since the last time you joined us on the show for Prince. Tell us more about what you're doing at the Free Press. Now tell us more about the new podcast which debuts in January. What are you doing?

[Eli Lake]

Okay, well, I'm a columnist at Free Press. I write about politics and foreign affairs and even occasionally culture and music. But I'm also taking my Re Education podcast which was on the Nebulous Network to the Free Press. It is now gonna be called Breaking History. We've changed the format a bit and done a lot of I've done now episodes of honestly that are kind of in this new format. And it's basically a look, a sort of dive into the history, a historical episode that sort of sheds light on something that's happening right now. So I don't want to give too much more away, but some of the episodes that we did, honestly, I had a sort of right before the election, I did one about Donald Trump where my theory of Trump is that he's the greatest BS artist of all time and that that is the way to understand him. I did one on sort of what I call the Hundred Year Holy War, on a figure that was forgotten in the Arab Israeli or the Palestinian Israeli conflict, Hajj Al Husseini, who was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. We've looked at, you know, what we can learn from the anti totalitarian literature of the 20th century about our kind of weird political season in 2024. So a lot of cool stuff. It's a lot of fun and a labor of love, which was a look at sort of, you know, why American Christmas is so inviting even to non Christians and sort of looking at all the, like the American Songbook and how so many Jewish Americans contributed to that songbook and contributed some of the some of our favorite Christmas songs.

[Scott Bertram]

All right, Eli Lake is back with us. Third time to talk about an artist that's been on the hit list for quite some time. We get it done here that it'll span years. One part in 2024, one part in 2025. And I posted this on X over the holiday break. Stevie Wonder, our guest or our featured artist on Today's program is 18 months younger then Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, whom I just saw in concert. Stevie Wonder had a number one song in 1962, Rick Nielsen and Cheap Trick. Their first number one song was in 1988 with the Flame. And yet Steve Stevie's 18 months younger than Rick Nielsen, for goodness sake. Anyway, that's where we start our discussion on Stevie Wonder. We turn it over to Eli Lake to tell us why you love Stevie Wonder, how he got into his music and why anybody else should care about this stuff.

[Eli Lake]

Well, I love Stevie Wonder because I'm a human being. And there is just, you cannot avoid the joy in almost everything he does. Even when he's doing sad ballads, there is something just he captures the human spirit. He has one of the just most brilliant and joyous voices in all of recorded music.

[Unknown]

Everybody needs a change, a chance to check out the new but you're the only, only one to see the changes you take yourself through. But don't you worry about a thing don't you worry about a thing, Christian mama. Cause I'll be standing in the wings when you check it out don't you worry about a throne don't you worry about a thought.

[Eli Lake]

And then you add to that the fact that he is also one of the great American composers at this point. He has penned some of the absolute classic songs of the modern period. If you want to say the American songbook, which is largely sort of the first part of the 20th century, has a second part. The giants of that would be people like Stevie Wonder, Lennon McCartney. So he's a great songwriter. And add to this that he's the first artist, I would say that humanizes the synthesizer, that humanizes electronic keyboards. And digital music kind of can't exist without the innovations that Stevie Wonder makes. That we'll get into in the second part of this episode when he discovers Tonto. More on that later. But the point is that Stevie is just a giant figure. The last one I did with you guys was Prince. That was an epic 3 part 11 hour. It was enormous. But the point is that in some ways, Prince continues what Stevie is doing in terms of the incredible innovations in the studio. But Stevie is the one who kind of gets this started. I mean, his fingerprints are everywhere.

[Unknown]

Sneaking out the back door Hang out with those hoodlum friends of mine Cool. At the back door Although I thought I told you not to go outside Trying your best to bring the water to your eyes Thinking it might stop her from whipping your behind that.

[Eli Lake]

From American funk. He is one of the great stars of Motown. I would go so far as to say that he almost. I mean, I think Jeff is who came up with a structure here that we're going to do the Motown years or the early Motown before he gets this kind of flowers into his full as we know him. But that's an amazing accomplishment, too. If that was all it was, if that was all Stevie did, he would still be in that legendary status with the Temptations and the Supremes and Smokey Robinson, because he had that many hits just on Motown. And that's usually seen as the prelude to his glorious imperial period. So he is a towering figure. I think we have to speak of him in terms of, like, American popular music in the same breath that we talk about Lennon, McCartney, Hendricks, Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin. He's just one of these giants. And you will be rewarded richly by diving into his catalog Even though I think we can all say it isn't all consistently amazing, but there's so much there to mine. It's really worth your time. And I guess he's been a part of my life since I can remember. My parents had songs in the key of life, you know, which many, including myself, would say is his greatest accomplishment. But all of his work, and it just feels like he's been there with me since I remember listening to music for the first time.

[Jeff Blair]

Well, that's a perfect way to start. The funny thing about this is I'm the guy who's been dying to do Stevie Wonder on this show for an incredibly long time. And I actually didn't know basically a thing about the man until I was 19 years old. Until I literally went out and, like, as the story is often told on Political beads, bought a boxed set about at the close of a century. Because what did I know about Stevie Wonder up until that point? Boy, I just knew what little I had been privileged to hear on the radio. And in all honesty, with my white bread, you know, suburban upbringing, my parents didn't have any of his albums in the home or anything like that. All I heard was a very few things, and most of them came up on Sesame Street. Okay, so, like, I was familiar with, you know, Uptight, Everything's all right, some of the oldies you'd still hear on oldies radio. I had never heard Sir Duke, if you can believe that, until I got the boxed set of Stevie Wonder. I'd never heard I Wish I'd never heard Superstition. I never heard a note of Inner Visions. I'd heard Isn't She Lovely? Because again, you hear the Sesame street kind of like, you know, kid friendly stuff. But other than that, he had just been a name, that very happy guy with the glasses who's blind, who plays music. And I. I think I even knew Eddie Murphy's parody of Stevie Wonder more than I knew Stevie Wonder as a kid growing up. Right. The one that he did on Saturday Night Live.

[Eli Lake]

Right.

[Jeff Blair]

Of course, everyone knew I just called to say I love you and Part Time Lover. Those were on my dad's old VHS videotapes that I've talked about in the past. They didn't terribly impress me, to be honest. I was like, well, okay. I gu. I guess this guy is really well known. I had no idea what I had been missing. When I got that boxed set at the age of 19, much later than I ever should have gotten into Stevie Wonder, it was like having my mind expanded. This was my Bridge, in fact, to Motown altogether.

[Unknown]

Life is very short and there's no time Fussing and fighting my friends I have always thought that it's all crime so I will ask you once again Try to see things my way Only try to tell if I am right or I am wrong While you see it your way there's chances we might fall apart before too long we can work it out.

[Jeff Blair]

Because after I got into Stevie Wonder, I started asking myself about all those other classic artists from the 60s and in the 70s. So I started exploring Marvin Gaye, started exploring the Temptations. I got into unrelated labels from the era, got into stacks full. Stevie Wonder opened all of those doors to me. He opened doors to funk that I had never even contemplated. His influence alone helped expand my mind musically. And so for that reason, well, he's obviously, obviously one of the most important artists we'll ever discuss on this show. Just because of the role he played in my life. But the music. Well, Eli's summarized the joy with which he sings. But also the story of Stevie Wonder's career is fascinating as well. Boy, this is one that he has a very interesting career shape. Thought long and hard about how we were going to divide these episodes up. Because, yes, we're talking about the Motown era here. When we discussed Marvin Gaye on our episode with Camille Foster, we had to take it both at once. You know, we had that phase in the 60s where he was making a lot of these great hits. All the famous stuff from Stubborn Kind of Felida, I Heard it through the Grapevine. But then he breaks free with what goes on in 1971. You're going to find a very interesting parallel development here with Stevie Wonder. And it isn't quite the same and it doesn't go quite the same way. And there's a reason we have to divide it in half. And I think the other thing we're going to have to do. And maybe I'll. I'll wait until Scott has said his piece. Is try to figure out how Stevie Wonder fit in with the whole Motown firmament. In my opinion, he is the single greatest artist to ever emerge from the record label. He's the only one, in fact, that managed to pull off the complete transition from being the young kid, the Factory product, to being an independent, innovative, path breaking artist consistently throughout the 70s. We're going to get to that part in our next episode. But I always remember Paul Simon's great joke when he accepted. Was it the Emmy or the Grammy rather for Still Crazy after all these years? The first thing he did is he thanked Stevie Wonder for not putting out an album that year. You. Because he just knew he was going to lose, that it happened. That's the talent level this guy rose to. No one else in Motown's history ever did. Even Michael Jackson. Oh, there's an interesting parallel we'll discuss about a young kid coming into the Motown Factory and carving out his own identity. It was a very different story with Michael for reasons of course, we've already covered in our earlier episode on Michael Jackson. But Stevie Wonder is just one of the most essential pieces of the story when it comes to, you know, you know, self created geniuses of music in the 60s and 70s and, and this episode is going to be his education.

[Unknown]

Once in my life I have someone who needs me Someone I've needed so long for once enough freedom I can go where life leads me Somehow I know I'll be strong 4 months I can touch what my heart used to dream of Long I do oh, someone more like you Would make my dream come true yeah.

[Scott Bertram]

To begin, clearly I'm the third guy in this conversation today. Eli and Jeff are really big Stevie Wonder fans and I'm a fan, but I don't know as much as they do. I will be following their lead through much of the conversation. Eli Aspie, just before we started is this, this isn't like Prince for you, right? We did Prince previously and Prince was pretty much a blank slate for me in many ways other than a handful of songs and singles through the years and. No, no, no, no, I know Stevie Wonder, but I do know his 70s era output more than the 60s. What we'll talk mostly about today and the 80s output too through Osmosis that was alive. I know those songs Jeff was talking about previously. So this particular era is actually likely the one I knew the least about. Walking in the door and Jeff mentioned where he found some of Stevie Wonder's music. I have an even more strange, obscure place. I have no idea. If you remember the 1980s, the Disney Channel didn't play commercials. They still don't. Rarely do I think these days. Back then, no commercials. And so they would have these little fill things called dtv which was based on MTV and it was, you know, Disney based short cartoons with the, with the voices stripped out and played along to music. So like music videos of old Disney cartoons. And I distinctly remember hearing these 60s era Stevie Wonder Motown hits on DTV. In fact, one of my favorite all time Stevie Wonder songs, I won't spoil it for you yet I'm almost certain I first learned about through watching these little shorts on the Disney channel in the 1980s on DTV.

[Jeff Blair]

Oh, my gosh. Was it Donald Duck as a jealous lover? Is this what this is? Because I think I might have seen it too.

[Scott Bertram]

Well, there were a ton of episodes, so, I mean, that certainly could have been one of them. I. I don't remember specifically. They made these little shorts. They played in between episodes of actual content.

[Jeff Blair]

We'll see when we get there.

[Scott Bertram]

Yeah, but that's, that's where, that's where I learned about a lot of these songs. And I guess I want to say this, it's a little hyperbole, but it's somewhat true. I started preparing for this episode over, you know, the past couple of weeks. And as I began, I sat and thought and was trying to take some notes and thinking, and I nearly got to a point where I'm thinking, wait a minute. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is this the end of the show? Is this the end of political Beats? Because I sat there and I thought to myself, I don't really have a lot to say about this. Stevie Wonder's an all time great. Stevie Wonder's one of the best living legends. He's just unbelievable. Musician and writer and singer. And I'm listening to him like, I don't. I don't know. I don't have anything to say. Uh oh, maybe we should stop. Maybe I'm done. Thankfully, we're here. We're doing the show that didn't continue, but it helped me once I put the pieces in place. And how Jeff ended his. His little conversation or his little monologue is where I. I pick up the subhead for me for this section of Stevie Wonder is the Education of Stevie Wonder. He starts so young. He is a number one song at the age of 12, for goodness sake. And most of this era is before he even becomes a legal adult. And Eli mentioned this too. There are many places in these albums and even in some of the singles, you know, the albums we'll talk about where it just doesn't really work. It's not terrible by any stretch, but to my point, it's just kind of Motown Factory formula. And Stevie sounds good. Song's good. I spent a lot of my early time sitting back and listening to the Funk Brothers, who are freaking amazing. I mean, the musicianship on some of the early Wonder stuff is incredible. And that's a lot of Funk Brothers stuff. Then you start to see how the pieces come together. And he learns a little bit of this here and brings it forward there and, you know, pieces of Motown come together, help him on this album, and he's able to sort of spin off that and do it here. And maybe on this album he realizes things have to go in a different direction, starting here and that he wants more individual input a couple of albums later. Right. So once that framework popped into place. Oh, okay. I actually have some things to say, and I do throughout this episode today. But you think about those times when things do come together, and those are special, really, really special moments. And it does in many places through this decade or so. We'll talk about today.

[Unknown]

I'm wondering if you love st strong O baby, I am I'm still delivered I'm yours Then that time I went and said goodbye Now I'm back and not ashamed to cry O baby, I'm still delivered I'm young.

[Scott Bertram]

The influence on other artists and also influence on the sound of the 70s that would follow, those are all going to be apparent pretty much by the time we finish up today. So I don't think it's a hot take by any stretch. But part of my take is not everything works. Part of this is him learning how to be Stevie Wonder and getting him to where he is going to go. Well, that's all part of the process and that helps to play out today during this show.

[Jeff Blair]

I mean, part of this story is a story about the industry. I mean, and in fact, I think the most important part about Stevie Wonder's story as little Stevie Wonder is about the music industry itself and how it handles a child prodigy. Like. Like a young guy who can do all these things. Yeah, but oops, he's only 11 years old. He's not mature yet. What can you do with a person like that? What can you do with that talent? Now, as it turns out, there are limited options until person grows up. Although, you know, now we have like, you know, J your K pop bands and all that. We have very different kind of style of boy banding. But Motown was a factory. And how did young Steven Judkins find his way into that factory? So Stevie Wonder was born Steven Judkins in was Saginaw, Michigan, Northern Michigan.

[Eli Lake]

Right.

[Jeff Blair]

So he's not only. He's easy, you know, from. From Michigan, but he's not even from Detroit. He's kind of from nowhere. Is Phil, right. And his mom, I think it was his second. Her second husband. He was the son of. He left. She got back together with her first husband. Then they found their way to, you know, the city, to Detroit, and the Little guy was blind almost from birth. When people always jokes will deal with it. Now, what's everyone's favorite conspiracy theory about Stevie Wonder, folks? That Stevie Wonder's not blind. Right. I think. I think a friend of mine made a joke. Is like, well, he sure does like to go to an awful lot of NBA games for a guy who's blind. I mean. I mean, I'm just saying. But the thing is, is a lot of people don't understand that the way Steven Warner was blind is not like somebody who literally had their eyes plucked out of their head and had no eyes. He had retinopathy, which is to say that because he didn't get enough oxygen in his incubator as a child, these things could happen in the 50s, in the 40s, you know, and, you know, with lesser standards of health care. His. His. His cornea is basically. His eye vessels never grew. All right, so what he is, is he's blind in every way that really we would credit as being blind. But he's still light sensitive, all right. See, like, you know, you know, shadows and things like that, that move without any definition across his eyes. That's a different kind of blindness, but it's just the same as being blind. It's not like Oedipus plucking, you know, his eyes out or like, you know, taking them out with hat pins or something like that. So just to get the conspiracy out of the way, he was blind like that. Basically, since the moment he was born, he never had any understanding of anything else. And he developed at a very young age. Obviously, this is the way that people compensate for, like, these early learned, acquired disabilities. He just immediately developed facility a lot of other things, including with musical instruments. From a very young age. He was singing, you know, at the age of eight, he was a soloist in his church choir. Then he starts playing piano. Okay, you don't have to see. You can just remember where your hands go. Then harmonica, it's the same thing. And then drums, he could play all these instruments. He wasn't playing guitar yet. That's a little more difficult, I'd imagine, to work with a fretboard. But he showed such talent that, I mean, you know, you have a young blind kid who's an incredibly, like, you know, affable little guy. He's obviously destined for something. And so what happened is mom brings him to Motown Records, Barry Gordy lays eyes on this kid, and he's like, I've never seen anything like this. This little guy can do it all, and he's blind. So he signs him to a contract in 1961. And then the question becomes, what on earth do you do with 11 year old Stevie Wonder, who can do all these really cool things. He's a magnificent entertainer, but what else can you do? Well, I mean, the first thing they try to do is an instrument album. Does anybody really care too much about the first Stevie Wonder album? The jazz soul of little Stevie, it's purely instrumental. He plays harmonica on some things, bongos on other things. What you can just tell though is that Barry Gordy saw an amazing talent. He's like, I gotta lock that up. And then immediately didn't know I had any idea really what it was he could do with it.

[Unknown]

It's.

[Eli Lake]

Yeah, can I. Can I just add two things? There's a parallel in that the multi instrumental prodigy, very similar to Prince. Prince played everything.

[Jeff Blair]

Right.

[Eli Lake]

Second thing is that the. I don't know what to do with Stevie Wonder. So let's try instrumental. Let's try supper club standards. Let's try that.

[Jeff Blair]

Let's try Ray Charles tribute album, right?

[Eli Lake]

All that in the beginning. Beginning very similar to Aretha Franklin, who they tried to turn into like a young Dinah Washington before she found her groove later in the 60s. And then the other similarity, even though it doesn't follow the same trajectory. And I hope I'm not jumping the gun here, is that Stevie off the bat, like one of his first singles is from the live album.

[Jeff Blair]

Yes, right there.

[Eli Lake]

Fingers hips, part two. And that's the biggest hit. It's the second number one for Motown after the Marvelettes. Please, Mr. Postman.

[Jeff Blair]

Oh, okay. You know what? Now that you mentioned it, Eli, this brings us to another thing that's important to locate. Where was Motown Records in 1961? Motown Records, we think of this juggernaut, this sort of powerhouse of 60s pop. None of that was anywhere even on the horizon in 1961. They had like one chart hit in 59 with money. That's what I want. The original Barrett Strong song, right? And then we basically nothing. It was really Marvin Gaye in 62, who actually.

[Eli Lake]

And the Marvelettes with.

[Jeff Blair]

And the Marvelette.

[Eli Lake]

Right.

[Jeff Blair]

With please, Mr. Postman. But that's where it took off from Motown. The Supremes are years away at this point. I mean, they're big hit making Days, the Four Tops, the Temptations, all of that. None of that happens till 64, 65 and onwards. So it's a very different record label now. They're trying anything. They're throwing everything they possibly can at the wall to see what might possibly stick? Little Stevie. Hey, this guy, he's like 11 year old Ray Char Charles. Let's give it a shot. Let's see what we can do with it.

[Eli Lake]

Right? But we should say that there's a lot of failure. But the first big single in 63, before the Beatles, before Kennedy is shot is Fingertips Part 2 from the live album. And that's the first number one album for Motown. So in a sense it's similar in that like the first four singles from the Jackson 5 all goes straight to the top of the Billboard charts. The first big single from Stevie goes straight to the top. And so they're like, wait a second. And we should just for a second talk About Fingertips Part 2. You can get this on the 12 year old genius, which is a live album. This is recorded at the Regal Theater. It's part of the Motown review. And it's the strangest number one single you can imagine. Yeah, because Fingertips Part two is not even a song, it's a vamp. And it's basically the part of like, it's the second side of the 45. Although this was the one that was marketed to the radio stations of Stevie refusing to leave the stage. He's like being played off and he won't go. And he's coming up with all these different things in the moment to stay on. At one point he plays like Mary had a little Lamb, a little phrase of that. He then, you know, finally comes, brings the band back, says, okay, everybody, let's, you know, now I'm gonna say goodbye. And it's infectious. It's a vamp. It's him riffing. And what's interesting is that the original Fingertips is on that soul and jazz with Stevie Wonder. He's not singing, there's no harmonica. It's just. It's called Fingertips. Cause it's highlighting his bongo playing, right? Which is like another like weird thing. And like this version is live and everybody loves it. It's a huge hit of the submerged 63.

[Unknown]

Say yeah everybody have a good time. So if you want me to, if you want me to I'm going to swing the song. Yeah, Just one more time Just one more time Come back so goodbye.

[Eli Lake]

Which is kind of like, wow, like this is how. How did that become a hit song? It's not okay. Not even a song. It's just like. It's so. It's crazy, but it becomes big. And that's what kind of gives. Like, okay, we got something here, everybody. And they don't know what to do.

[Jeff Blair]

It Right. Scott, what were you going to say before? I mean, I, I have, I have actually a lot of thoughts on novelty songs and how like early Motown treated Stevia. What were your thoughts?

[Scott Bertram]

I got a couple things here. I make notes, so don't worry about it. On the Motown discussion, just very quickly, you did pass over one huge Motown hit from 1960, which was Shop around from the Mirror. Shop around was the first million selling record for, for Motown. Smokey Robinson BARRY GORDY CO WRITER so shop around is 1960. I mentioned that specifically because. Because the very first single released by Stevie Wonder is a song called I Call It Pretty Music but the old people call it the Blues Part one. And it's a total Shop around vibe. It's got that same structure to it and it's also co written by Barry Gordy. That's the very first single he put out.

[Unknown]

Away. I Need to Shave the Hand Gathered around trying to figure out what I was putting down. I called it Pretty Music, but the old people call it the Blue Ain't that Pretty smile.

[Scott Bertram]

On Fingertips. Quick story, I was on the. I was doing a morning show and it was like the anniversary of the Fingertips Part two hitting number one in my coast. And I were like, we never heard Fingertips Part One. Is there a Fingertips Part one? Like what is it? Yeah, we called the other guy in the building, who was a huge Stevie Wonder fan, shout out to Steve Shannon and put him on the air. And he explained, like what? You know, it's this thing, it's a big song and they cut it for the single and this is what became number one. And as Eli said, it's just kind of this vamp thing. It's not really a song. Structure. Structure. My last point on that is, if you remember back to the Elton John episode, I'm kind of obsessed with number one hits by huge stars who that no longer exist today, essentially. So Elton John's Island Girl was the number one song. You'll never hear Island Girl anywhere today. Even though it's a number one song by one of the biggest artists in the whole wide world. Fingertips Part two to me is in that same world in which partially because it is such a, A, you know, sort of shadow of a song, you don't hear it a lot. People don't like want to hear Fingertips Part Two necessarily. And even though people know it because it was Stevie Wonder and it was. He was only 12 years old. It's not as if you hear Fingertips on every corner these days around the oldies channel or anything like that. It just Sort of has. Has recessed from our memories a little bit.

[Jeff Blair]

No, you're absolutely.

[Eli Lake]

Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Sampled. However, in Chaka Khan's version of I Feel for your Another Prince Stevie connection. And I would argue that, like, going back and listening to it, you know, and kind of prep for the show. I kind of Love Fingertips Part 1 and 2. It's like the vibe is there. I'm like getting. I'm taking it as like, oh, my God, this is like the introduction of Stevie Wonder. And you can tell it's Stevie wonderful. And it's still. And the energy is incredible. And for what it is, it's great. So I have to say, I agree with you. We don't hear it anymore. It's not really thought about as part of the great Stevie canon or anything like that. But I kind of understand why if you didn't in 1963, this is again, right before the Beatles, after Elvis, the Elvis mania, that the country was kind of thirsty. This is something. This is like gospel choir element that's in there. It wasn't on pop radio. Pop radio was pretty bland at that point. And this comes out. It's so raw. It's really interesting that this becomes a massive hit, not just in radio, but all over. Yeah.

[Jeff Blair]

I have a theory. I think it's actually more simple than that. America just loves exuberant children. Okay?

[Eli Lake]

Yes.

[Jeff Blair]

Exuberant, talented children, precocious kids are always going to get America's pop cultural attention because we're always like, wow, how are they able to do that? And then you top that by saying, yeah, he does all that. He's also blind. And you're like, well, holy guacamole. So here in this. This cute little kid with his sunglasses, he's overcome this disability. He's jamming out, he's singing and dancing. You're like, how the heck does this happen? America loves that, whether it's him. And they loved it when it was Michael Jackson in 1969 and 1970. A little kid with preternatural talent is going to get people's attention. And America's always had a to touch for novelty songs as well. And that's the other thing about it. Because I think at the end of the day, one of the reasons to go to Scott's point about how this has sort of disappeared even in the Stevie Wonder cannon, is that it's so unlike anything else. Else he's going to be famous for. Right. It's a novelty song in every respect. This is not a Career path. Right. You can't just be like the Polka King or somebody who just does like great harmonica instrumentals and make a name out of that. This is always going to inevitably be something of a one off and it kind of shows because. Because they had no idea how to follow up the freakish success of this record.

[Eli Lake]

Right. Can I just say one thing, abc, I want you back. I'll be there. The love you save.

[Jeff Blair]

Those are planned records.

[Eli Lake]

Those are beautiful. Like, those are great pop songs.

[Jeff Blair]

Those are written, those are written intentionally to be number one hits. This one was an accident.

[Eli Lake]

Fingertips Part two is Stevie Wonder again refusing to leave the stage and just being incredible.

[Jeff Blair]

Speaking of which, you know what? I forgot to mention the best part of Fingertips Part two. There's a difference between the mono and the single stereo versions of this. You're gonna laugh. The stereo version is the one I actually heard on the box set Part one and two. You really want the single edit because it's in mono and you hear elements that you can't hear on the stereo mix. The best part of it is when it seems like he's going off and he comes back in. You hear like one bassist has walked off the stage because I think another act is coming on. So they're switching up instruments and then he like, he's like. He's still playing what key? What key? You hear him saying. Then you hear the pianist go, bom, bom, bom, to like help him give him the key to locate it. And then finally they swing back into the final reprise. But it's like you can also hear the pros on the fly, one of whom, by the way, is Marvin Gaye on drums. Playing drums on that review band. That's really fun. And so what happens after that? Well, the whole. The answer is a whole bunch of nothing. Stevie Wonder releases several albums from this point on, and I can't recommend any of them. First of all, we never even mentioned, you know, the tribute to Uncle Ray, which is a terrible album, just of all Ray Charles cover songs. And he sings them exactly like an 11 year old kid would, which is to say with no feeling at all. He can hit the notes, but there's nothing memorable at it. The band is kind of nice. But then there's the ridiculous with A Song in My Heart, which is like him doing croonery ballads.

[Eli Lake]

I like one or two.

[Jeff Blair]

Oh, well, I've got nothing good to say about it. If you want to praise a song or two, Eli, I will praise when.

[Eli Lake]

You wish upon a star.

[Jeff Blair]

Ah, see that's the schlock I got no time for.

[Eli Lake]

Fair enough. Fine. But like, I just think. Anyway, like. And they're great musicians on it. But I agree with you, it is subpar and it doesn't work because these are songs that are written for grownups and you need to have like an adult. Just. It's all about the feel and the delivery, right?

[Jeff Blair]

And there's something juvenile about.

[Eli Lake]

And he's 12 over 13 like you. It's not exactly. It's not exactly.

[Unknown]

When you wish up on the star makes no difference who you are in this thing you. Your heart desire will come to you if your heart is in your dreams no request is to extreme.

[Jeff Blair]

I mean, but if that's bad, then I don't know if it's as bad as. Okay, you know. You know, two weird things that go really get well together would be like, say, skeet surfing, right? I think we all agree skeet surfing is where it's at. But Stevie at the beach, less inspired as an idea. The guy from Upper Michigan. This is his beach album because beach party movies were a thing. I think he even appeared in a couple of them. Folks, there's like a single. Hey, Harmonica A Man Castles in the Sand. This is schlock. This is Motown uninspired schlock at its worst. And you can honestly see by about 1965, that's about the three, four years on from that big hit. You know, what future is there for Stevie Wonder? You know, he's a kid. I think the other problem is his voice is now breaking. He had a young prepubescent voice. What's going to happen when that voice breaks a lot of people's voice? Remember the scene from the Simpsons where Homer has this angelic soprano voice and then all of a sudden, in the middle of doing. Doing a solo, he goes. And then he's like, don't. He sounds like normal Homer Simpson for the rest of his life. That could have happened to Stevie, right? Thankfully. Thankfully, his voice matured into a glorious, like a slightly thicker tenor version of its childhood.

[Scott Bertram]

He could have just been Hanson and. No, thankfully.

[Jeff Blair]

Exactly. And I guess that actually brings us back to where he makes the comeback, certainly the comeback on the pop charts in terms of relevance. And that's only in 1966. So he's been signed to Motowns for five years and only in 66. Six does he really claw back his way to relevance. But he does it in one hell of a way with the. With the song. And it also goes on to a fairly decent album. Uptight Everything's all right.

[Unknown]

Really Everything is all right up tight out of s. Really everything is all right up tight, out of sight I'm a poor man Only shirt I own is hang on my back But I'm the envy of every single guy so I'm the apple of my girl's eye and we go out stepping on the town for a while.

[Eli Lake]

Just old enough to drive Just old enough.

[Jeff Blair]

He's 16 years old he's a poor man's son Scott, Eli, what do you guys think?

[Eli Lake]

Well, I. I'll start. First of all, Uptight is kind of based on the chord structure and riff of Satisfaction, which I'll buy it. Which Stevie loves, and I love Satisfaction. I think he's such a great artist, even at this young age, that Uptight is like. It's totally different. So it's not a ripoff. It's like, what do they say? The great artist Steel, where the rest borrow. So that's number one. I think his version of Blowing in the Wind by Bob Dylan, Villain is really compelling. He turns it almost into kind of a slow gospel. Very soulful. And we're beginning to sort of see the emergence of the Motown Stevie. But it's not there quite yet. Because there's still a bit of filler on here. Let's be real.

[Scott Bertram]

Yeah.

[Eli Lake]

Oh, yeah. You know, he still does a standard in Teach Me Tonight. Love a Go Go sounds a lot like the other Go Go song. You know what I mean? Like, there's a little bit of, like, it's still a fact Factory, he's part of it. But at this point, I think still.

[Jeff Blair]

Very much the Motown, you know, Motown Factory plan for all these albums was like, here are three great singles and, like, one cool B side. And then a bunch of, like, filler. And usually it's covers of other Motown artists songs. Plus a couple rock tunes that are current in the charts. And that's like, you. You knock them out. You can go look at the Temptations album, Same Rule supreme album, Same Rule.

[Eli Lake]

Credit where it's due. Uptight is a Motown classic. Right up there with her through the Grapevine or Shop around or it's a classic. And he's got his first notch on the belt there. So promising start. I'm so glad you are out of the novelty. We don't know what to do with you phase of his career. And now it's like you're part of the Motown machine.

[Scott Bertram]

As Jeff mentioned, these songs that come after Fingertips, these singles don't do much. If you look at the chart numbers, hey, Harmonica man, which is about as inspired as the title would indicate, is is 29 on the charts. And. And, and that's it. And. And so you've got this essentially three year gap between Uptight and When Stevie had a number one hit. And Uptight, as you look at the track listing, as you look at everything that went into it, is almost an all hands on deck effort to see what they've got in Stevie Wonder. Right. Should we continue to invest? Should we continue to push forward with his career? Can he be a top flight contributor to Motown now? The answer was yes, but it took a lot of hands to make it happen. His voice has changed, is changing. It's actually odd. Later on in the album, you hear Contract on Love, which was recorded back in 1962. And he sounds like a kid, Right. The rest of the album, it's a.

[Jeff Blair]

Weird mixed album with a lot of songs from earlier years.

[Scott Bertram]

And the rest of the album, he sounds like he's maturing into his adult voice. But you have so many mentors, so many collaborators. He was supported by everybody who could help him make this a success. Funk Brothers. On instrumentation, you have Levi Stubbs and the rest of the Four Tops singing on Teach Me Tonight. Temptations around Contract of Love, Contract on Love. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra plays at a couple of tracks. You have everyone doing what they can. And you have Stevie contributing himself through songwriting. Stevie writes Uptight with Sylvia Moy. There are a couple other co writes. Nothing's Too Good for My Baby as.

[Jeff Blair]

A Stevie, Wonderful Henry Cosby is producing him there. He's the Motown producer who was assigned to Stevie. A lot of these guys had a house producer that did their stuff. And he was his guide at that time.

[Scott Bertram]

So. So you have everyone chipping in. And Eli mentioned there's still some filler here. That's true. And at least in my opinion, we don't lose that for quite some time in the. Just saying that there's always gonna be some stuff that isn't up to snuff on these albums. Because as Jeff said, you got a couple of hits, a B side or two, and then let's fill it out. Let's fill out with songs. We find Motown tracks, catalog songs, right? And so that's true on up to that as well. You have the smash. You have Uptight. It's as good as you think it is. It's an incredible song.

[Unknown]

Can't give up a face that money can buy But I never, never, never make my baby cry and it's all Right what I can do outside because my heart is true Just it Everything is all right Upright, clean all the time Everything is all right Outside Clean our side, baby Everything is all right up tight, baby Everything is all right.

[Scott Bertram]

Even the way that Stevie, at the age of now, what, 16, can deliver those lyrics of. Of this unconfident guy, this average dude who's nothing special, trying to. To woo this rich girl from the right side of the tracks. And uptight. Everything's all right as long as our love is true like, he delivers that with supreme amount of confidence. Love A Go Go. I mentioned earlier how that first single Lead ever had echoed a different Motown track. This one sounds like Dancing in the Streets. That similar horn hook that Love A Gogo opens this album in the exact same way.

[Unknown]

Faithful as the done love I love Tomorrow it may be gone we got love Go, go We've got love to spare Love a lover Go, go now Love, love, go this is.

[Scott Bertram]

The album, too, where I'm listening and hearing the Funk Brothers start to assert themselves as being not dominant, but really important contributors to some of these Motown tracks that Stevie's working on. Something like Nothing's Too Good for My Baby. Back to Stevie Wonder CO Wright, and who steps up, Betty Benjamin on drums. Listen to him. Those huge, frequent drum rolls, drum fills throughout the track, marvelous horn stabs. That's a fine track that he helped write himself. That's on this album. I Want My Baby Back. You have the harmonizing with the. With and Dantes, who pop up from different tracks. And that's a fantastic James Jamerson bass line where it will rumble you out of your seat. That's a Whitfield Kendrick song. As I said, everyone is contributing to help Stevie Wonder make Uptight a success. In the end, it is commercially, critically. Again, you've got the problem with some of the filler dragging down, perhaps an overall evaluation. But those moments when he does get some help from his friends, those moments when things all slide into place. You can hear that Stevie Wonder can be a huge attribute to the Motown record label. And I think everyone realizes that.

[Jeff Blair]

Girl.

[Unknown]

Is gone can't take it I'm trying to conceal the loneliness after but it's real, can't fake it the pain in my heart is tearing me apart Remember me can't shake it I tried to tell myself to find somebody else but my heart won't play I need love and that's a natural fact and more than anything, I want my baby now.

[Jeff Blair]

And you know what? There's another Motown cliche on this record that you didn't mention, one of their classic moves is they had a big breakthrough hit single right off, right out of the gate. Next thing the artist release is a remake of that single. It sounds exactly like it. So the Four Tops have, you know, Sugar, Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch. And then it's the same old song. Well, right on this album you have a big hit with Uptights. Everything's All Right, Nothing's Too Good For My Baby Might as well just be the same vibe and the same feel. It's the same drum beat practically right on down. You can segue them back to back. And it doesn't even need to be a fade out between the two songs. They could just be medley.

[Unknown]

Hey, nothing's too good for my baby Nothing's too good for my girl Nothing's too good for my baby oh no, I'm the luckiest guy in the world Cause I got one girl of a girl for my baby I work hard time down at the neighborhood 5 and die half of my money.

[Jeff Blair]

The thing is, I like both of them. They're just both really, really fun songs. Ain't that Asking for Troubles, the other one you mentioned? But yeah, I mean, these early albums. And the next one, I think is Even, is actually weaker. Down to Earth, which is the next record, same formula. There's like two singles on it. And then the rest of it doesn't do much of anything for me. I don't think you need to pay that much attention to it. The problem for me is that on down to Earth, which is like late 66, not even the singles interest me that much. So A Place in the Sun, a nice little classy ballad. You know what it is? It sounds like Blowing in the Wind to me. It sounds like a remake of the Mood and the feeling of Blowing in the Wind. They caught lightning in a bottle once and now they got greedy with it. So they try to do another thing with it, and it doesn't work nearly as well.

[Unknown]

Where there's hope for everyone where my poor restless hearts gotta run There's a place in the sun and before my life is done Gotta find me a place in the sun Love.

[Jeff Blair]

And then it ends with Halo, which is a nice little pleasant little song. It's nothing too.

[Eli Lake]

I'll fight you on that. I love Halov.

[Jeff Blair]

I like it. I just don't think it's like the most important thing on the planet. But I don't know. I don't find too much else to amuse me on this record. I find that the COVID of Mr. Tambourine man is just weird. He does Mr. Tambourine man like the birds version of Mr. Tambourine man, you know, complete with the Roger McGuin riff and hearing the Motown Funk Brothers playing that, it just doesn't work. You can't funk a song like Mr. Tambourine Man Up. It just isn't playing. I don't even much like his version of My World Is Empty without you, which is otherwise probably my favorite single supreme song of all time. So this to me is one of his least important records.

[Eli Lake]

And you, I think hey Love is a. I just the vibe and the feel of hey Love. It's one of those like where he gets it in my view, just right. And maybe I'm a little predisposed because many years later De La Soul nicks it for their second album. But I'm a big fan. I just kind of. Maybe I just associate it with nice moments in my life and fun love affairs. But I just think that's just such. That's kind of that pure joy in the hands of another artist, another singer. It's a. It's a boring song when Stevie does it. There's something about the purity of his voice, the arrangement. There's a little brief, there's a little bit of harmonic in there. I love it.

[Unknown]

You're my one true soul desire hey love Baby, can you feel this burning fire? Hey love hey love this one thing I find so true when you are near me I go through a change or two.

[Scott Bertram]

I think it's a weaker effort. I agree with Jeff and the songs that are chosen to fill out the record make you scratch your head. Jeff mentioned the two that everyone knows. World was empty without you Mr. Tambourine man, everyone knows the originals. Deeper in this record there are two songs that Lonesome Road, which is a 1920s era like jazz song standard that they have Stevie Wonder do and a few songs before that is 16 tons, the Merle Travis like country song. And it spruced up into a Motown kind of soul version that's a song from 1946. And so you have this now 16 year old kid singing songs from the 20s and the 40s and then covers a very well known and well loved songs from this presentation decade. And I think, you know, one of the problems is the. The joy, the happiness and the confidence that was so apparent on Uptight just earlier in the year doesn't really pop up on down to Earth. On the other song that we. That I hadn't mentioned, you know, title track is is a ballad. Place in the Sun. I agree with Jeff's evaluation of that. Like, thank you. Love is a fine kind of mid tempo song, one that Cosby and Moy and Wonder wrote together. But there's nothing that really leaps out of the speakers. There's nothing that really grabs you. And the singles aren't memorable. I will say that even in the span of what, approximately a year, less than that, you do hear his voice maturing even more on Down To Earth. Some of those nuances, some of the vocal stylings, the trademark Wonder sort of moves begin to show on down to Earth. And we'll see that more on the next album too.

[Unknown]

If you leave your side and do. If you ever say we're through if it gave me me and you Lonely tears I'd shed I'd take my head like a little bit of babe if you ever walked away if you call it a day I'd cry for years I'd drown it Tizzo sugar baby, I love you so I need you more than you know and if I ever had to let you go I'd say the crown I'd break right down Deep down in the heart if you leave the tears would start Every day that we're apart I'd cry up m. Don't you leave me ever Baby, you.

[Jeff Blair]

And you know what else I actually, actually think is. Is important to me is we're going to find out very soon that Stevie Wonder really is a flashy instrumentalist. But you don't realize it in these early albums he can play all these instruments, but nothing really jumps out of you, not even the harmonica. Right? That's about to change. Because while we're still in this phase of his career where there's like, you know, a couple of really great singles and a bunch of filler, well, of all those albums, I don't think he. You can beat a single any better than I Was Made To Love her, which is again the next album, 1967, mid-67. Completely constructed around the success of this single. It's actually still got some pretty interesting, you know, tracks on it and again, a lot of weird covers. But my gosh, I was made to love her. That's. You first hear Wonder just playing an absolutely heart stoppingly fluid harmonica lick on that and he's like, how can anybody do that? It's hard. HE PLAYS A CHROMATIC HARMONICA I'll get into that in a little bit. But the song itself is, is. It's structurally really, really simple. But that rhythm is compulsive. The melody Is just so light and fluttering. It's one of the most joyous late 60s soul singles ever released. It's one of the best things Motown ever did. This is one of the great Stevie Wonder.

[Scott Bertram]

Mom.

[Unknown]

I was born in little Rock Had a childhood sweetheart we were always hand in hand I wore high top shoes and shirt tails Susie was in pigtails I knew I loved her even then. You know, my. My papa disapproved it My mama boo it But I told them time and time again don't you know I was made to love From a world all around yeah. Hey, hey. She's been my inspiration Showed appreciation.

[Jeff Blair]

Sure.

[Eli Lake]

It's great.

[Scott Bertram]

Totally agree. And Jeff leads me to reveal my Disney TV DTV song. This is the one.

[Jeff Blair]

Yes, I can see it.

[Scott Bertram]

I actually found it on YouTube during the course of the show, so I'll share it over on X when we're done. The actual dtv. So, yes, Stevie Wonders. I was made to love her. I know. I first heard this song watching the Disney channel in the 1980s, but thank goodness I was, because to Jeff's point, this is just a simply fantastic song. It's again, wonder more and Cosby. I love listening to that jamerson bass line play against the harmonica melody. And those little turnarounds that dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum Just fantastic. Beach boys would cover this some years later in the late 60s, too. Anything?

[Jeff Blair]

No, not some years later. They would cover it right then.

[Scott Bertram]

It's the same year. Okay.

[Jeff Blair]

It came out in August of 67. Or like, you know, early 67. They were doing it on wild honey in 1967.

[Scott Bertram]

Okay. I had mistimed wild honey, but it's just 67. You're right. Yeah. So right, Right.

[Jeff Blair]

They. They loved it that much. They put it on their next record.

[Scott Bertram]

But, yeah, my goodness, this is one of the classic Motown tracks. I love it. I love it. Unfortunately, the rest of the album, you know, this is picking again. Let's talk about the songs.

[Jeff Blair]

Some of the best songs of all time. This is an album that's filled with covers of songs that I love.

[Scott Bertram]

Yes.

[Jeff Blair]

And so I'm like, well, why wouldn't I only hear him Due respect or my girl or baby, don't you do it. Can I get a witness? Please, please, please. By James Brown. These are all classic tunes. Right? And yes.

[Eli Lake]

You don't like can I get a witness? Jeff. What I think, can I get a witness? Is like, they changed the rhythm on.

[Jeff Blair]

That one, which is.

[Scott Bertram]

Yeah.

[Eli Lake]

And I think it's like a really fun gospel rave up somebody somewhere tell her it's unfair.

[Unknown]

Can I get a witness? Can I get a witness? Girl, somebody, me I want to witness Is it right to be treat so bad when you've given everything? Even toast in my sleep? Cause I haven't seen my baby all week you ch that this f supposed to be. Let me hear, let me hear say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Eli Lake]

And I would say, every time I see you I go wild is important because those are the chords that you hear in the more mature Stevie in a few years.

[Jeff Blair]

And then he wrote that one.

[Eli Lake]

Yeah. And like, that you're getting like, oh, yeah. That's some, like, you know, astral planes, like, just entering that kind of, like, ethereal, you know, Stevie, which I we all love and comes to full flower in the 70s.

[Unknown]

But just one look at you My heart grows for you and I love you, love you, love you Every time I see you, baby I go wild I just go wild Every time I see you, baby I go wild, go wild. You got sweet eyes in your eye and it makes you the master of my soul Just one look at all oh, my spirit.

[Jeff Blair]

Cry as a banger too. Actually, that's the other one that he wrote. I think it's a really good song.

[Eli Lake]

Yeah, I, I like his version of Can I get a Witness? But it's also because I just love that song. I mean, how can you not love it? And then, like, he just, it's like, I don't know. He's taking me to church. I love it. It's great.

[Jeff Blair]

Scott, what were you saying about the covers?

[Scott Bertram]

Well, essentially, that which is, I, I think it's, I, I think it's a dead end. And I think that's why you see what happens next. Just, you know, you want Stevie Wonder to do a Ray Charles song, he does A fool for you. He does two Marvin Gay tracks, Can I get witness? Baby, don't you do it? And then respect and my girl. And like, that's not something I, I, I don't think that's what a career is going to be built on. Right. Stevie is so talented musically. He wants to write his songs, he wants to produce his songs. He can do so much more. And you start with a song as good as I was made to love her. And halfway through the record, you're listening to Stevie sing different versions of songs, you know, from other artists you love, and it's just incongruent. It's. It doesn't make sense. And I think It's a dead end musically. Not musically. I mean, he could do it forever, probably, but it's a dead end for his career. Right. You can't continue down this path of just having a single or two and then covering a bunch of Motown tracks. And consider. Consider that to be a path forward. And I think that's why things change very quickly.

[Unknown]

What you want? All I'm asking for just a little respect When I get home? When I get home? You can do me wrong While I'm gone? You can do me wrong if you want. Asking for just a little respect When I get home? When I get home. Oh, yeah. I'm about to give you. Oh, my.

[Jeff Blair]

Yeah, they. And it happens more or less right here. I mean, this is really kind of the end of this phase. Like, what happens next? He puts out the obligatory Christmas album again. Nothing too interesting.

[Eli Lake]

Oh, come on, come on, come on.

[Jeff Blair]

I like this version of Someday at Christmas.

[Eli Lake]

Come on.

[Jeff Blair]

What are you. What are you going to go to bat for?

[Eli Lake]

What.

[Jeff Blair]

What are you going to go to bed for? On the Steve.

[Eli Lake]

That's what Christmas means is in the canon, my friends. That is a jam. I'm sorry. I played every season. I love it. It is so infectious. How can you not smile when you're like, come on, it's so good. And like, that's an original Christmas song. It's. You know, at this point, there's so many classics. He manages to kind of, you know, put one, a new one out. I don't know. Did he write that or was it.

[Jeff Blair]

I'm going to have to go back and check. I haven't looked in a while.

[Eli Lake]

But that's a beautiful. That is just great. It gets me going every time I.

[Unknown]

Feel like running wild. Reach your nest. Kiss you once. Invent and wish you a merry Christmas, baby In such happiness in the coming year. Oh, baby, let's take the horse with holly. Sing sweet silent night Fill a dream with angel hair. Pretty, pretty night Go to sleep and wake up just before daylight and all these things and more, baby. Oh, that's what Christmas means to me, my love. Oh, baby.

[Jeff Blair]

We'll see. Even on the Christmas album, you can find one banger right now and then. And then beyond that. Okay, here's the weirdest thing. He puts out on a lark. An instrumental single. What it is, it's a harmonica cover of a then current single called Alfie. Is anybody here? Remember the film Alfie? Oh, just barely starring Michael Kane. But of course, the younger set. You might treasure the Jude Law remake. Now I Don't even know if you think that. I don't even think, you know, know that one exists. Just stick with the old 60s Michael Caine film. It was a really beautiful theme song written for it by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, which I actually know very well from the. The Bacharach David original version. Stevie did an instrumental version, and it suddenly became a top 10 hit. And actually, I think it's a very delightful cover. It's a very lyrical cover. Then they said, hey, why don't you just do an entire instrumental record? And I think this is, again, at the point where nobody's quite sure what to do with Stevie Wonder. And he's like, well, I don't know know. If I put that out under my own name, people are going to think something is really weird, you know, has gone amiss with my career. So they just spelled his name backwards. And that's how we get the album Iitz Red now, which is a purely instrumental trifle of Stevie Wonder backing, basically, the Motown band on what is now suddenly a very mature and very subtle chromatic harmonica. Nobody talks about this. This record. Nobody really even knows this record exists except me. But gosh darn it, I love the damn thing. Because, you know, you talk about easy listening. Well, I guess people might accuse Burt Bacharach being easy listening, but I could listen to Stevie Wonder play his own originals, which there's a lot of on this record, like More Than a Dream. I could listen to that, put that on for hours at a time. I would listen to Stevie Wonder play harmonica for that long because he's just got a uniquely lyrical voice with the instrument. And this is the first time you really actually get to not only discover that, but to really luxuriate it for a long time. So, yes, I don't know if I can recommend this in good conscious. It's not gonna make my top two at the end of this episode. But, yeah, the Stevie Wonder harmonica instrumental album, a lot better than you might have thought. And also the end of an era. Things were gonna change right from this point onwards.

[Unknown]

Sa.

[Eli Lake]

Okay, because of you, Jeff, because you put it out this morning and you're like, this is the place where it really starts. Change. I listened to it again, and I have to say, you're right. There's a lot there. It's like, if you are, like, listening, if you come across Evitz Red now and you're thinking of songs in the Key of Life and Talking Book, you're going to be disappointed.

[Jeff Blair]

It is.

[Eli Lake]

It is not on that level. It's not the same kind of thing. If you think of it as well, what is it? 67, 68.

[Jeff Blair]

68, 68.

[Eli Lake]

Okay. If you think about this as like Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brat.

[Scott Bertram]

Yes.

[Jeff Blair]

That's the mode I'm thinking of.

[Eli Lake]

Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith. There's a ton of instrumental soul jazz that is really big right now. And this competes pretty good for it. It's like, right up there. It's really good. And I would point out the other one. He does a beautiful version of A House Is Not a Home, another backpack song. And I kind of think graze it in the Grass, which we know.

[Jeff Blair]

It's a gas. Yes.

[Eli Lake]

Yeah. Hugh Masakela does it and then like, there's another vocal version of it. Stevie's version is awesome. It's like, you can put that on. It sounds like a really fun late 60s cocktail party. It sounds like the kind of thing you would hear at, like, Bobby Kennedy's home in Virginia.

[Jeff Blair]

Yeah. Very classy cocktail party.

[Eli Lake]

Yeah, exactly like, oh, who is that? Isaac Asimov? And like, who should, you know, that kind of thing? Like, and it's. It's great. And you can also just listen to it in your headphones. You're like, wow, this guy's an amazing musician. This is really great soul jazz music. So I'm with you. It is a. It's a. It's like an underappreciated gem appreciated on its own terms.

[Jeff Blair]

And that brings us to, I think the first album. What was it you. You said, Eli, I think you made this point, we were talking about it on Twitter before we went live, is you can divide this first part of Stevie's career into actually its own little three part section. Right. So we've already talked about, like, okay, here's the 11 year old, you know, you know, wkin.

[Eli Lake]

What are we. What do we do with this guy?

[Jeff Blair]

And then you have the like, oh, he could be a Motown hit singles making. You know, he could be a part of the machine. And then all of a sudden it's like, well, wait a second. This kid seems to have some bright ideas himself.

[Eli Lake]

Yeah, maybe Stevie should be writing and producing everything because he's really, really good at this. This guy's a genius.

[Jeff Blair]

He seems to have a knack for finding a really good hit. And that takes us to 1968. For once in my life, and I will tell you this, folks, I remember I'm a dork. And so I don't have a cool story about how I got into Stevie Wonder. I got into him through the box set. I literally put on disc one, which is just the Motown years for. For the box set. And I got to the song for Once in My Life, having never heard it before, having never. This is never on oldies radio. And I literally got out of my seat and started. Started like dancing and bopping around. It was the happiest thing I had ever heard in my life. This one is right up there for me with I was made to lover. And I actually would rate For Once in my Life higher. This is. Is this my favorite single? Stevie Wonders song of the 60s? It may well be. I actually think if you force me to rank his entire career, 70s, the whole thing combined. This is up there as well. The harmonica solo. He takes a chromatic A beautifully. Every single note bent and breathe in and out in the most expressive, like songbird voice. It's just one of the most glorious instrumental moments you'll ever hear. And I. I'm almost certain that we've discussed it at least once on Political Beats. Maybe one of our Patreon episodes.

[Eli Lake]

Scott.

[Jeff Blair]

I. I can't be sure, but this has just been you. And if that were the only moment on this album, it would be worth it. But the entire album is just as strong. This is the first album where you actually see there are non singles. There are like, you know, hidden tracks that are really good and Wonder's name is vast majority of them all at this point. For Once in My Life is a cover. But Holy Mother of God, it is a great opening to his first really essential record.

[Unknown]

Sorrow hurts me not like it hurt me before but once I have something I know won't desert me I'm not alone anymore oh, once I can sing this is mine, you can take it but if I know I have love I can make it for once in my life I am.

[Scott Bertram]

Yeah. So let me say this is. This is the album that saved Political Beats.

[Jeff Blair]

I knew it would.

[Scott Bertram]

This is. This is the one. This is the first time I'm really excited about a Stevie Wonder album. Listening to it and I'm. I hear it, I'm like, oh, I gotta write down this. And this is interesting here. And this is. Oh, okay. This is. This is the, you know, the light switch being flipped. This. This is the album that you'll. This is the album that you'll love, right? If you're.

[Jeff Blair]

If you're.

[Scott Bertram]

If you're. If you're like me and you're somewhat new, this is the album you'll love. And in large part because it starts with, I'm going to say four. Four total bangers. I mean, the album starts out with For Once in My Life, the first track on the album. Jeff already told you a lot about that. Shooby shooby dooby doo Da Day is the second one.

[Jeff Blair]

Shooby dooby dooby doo day. I only know it because I know the chorus by heart. Right.

[Scott Bertram]

That's the first time. That's the first time you hear the Clabinet on. On a Stevie Wonder record. And it's in other places here and will help define his sound right. For the next decade or so. That song is this wonderful little burn and simmer, this gospel Motown mix. That's a wonder track. You go into you Met yout Match, which is another one. Such a good song that Stevie co wrote that one, I think. Also, you know, if the Clavinet on the previous track shows you instrumentally what it sounds like, this is kind of the. The more the rhythms of some of the albums get. Get previewed here on you Met yout Match. And then the one I'll go to bat for hard is I Want to Make Her Love Me. That funkiness that has not quite been there previously. James Jamerson plays this insane rubbery bass line, by the way. Jamerson on For Once in My Life, that is one of the most insane bass performances ever. He doesn't play the same thing twice on the whole song. He's an amazing, amazing player and he's. He's fantastic on it. I want to make. I want to make her love Me too. Those horn are mixed in just the right places. It's a Cosby. So he writes. He co writes three of these first four songs, debuts the Clavinet, previews some of the rhythms of the 70s, gives you some of the funkiness you're going to hear. It is such a strong four pack of songs.

[Unknown]

Love Me Till Rocket Stone and I Want to Make a lovely till the Cloud Come on and I want to make a lovely till five on Fun and I'm going to make a lovely till the world seems to turn I'm like a little lost friend Reaching for a girl that's s me. Sit right down and talk to me Magic man Tell me how to practice what you used to preach Tell me that a man could do anything ever.

[Jeff Blair]

The whole first side really is perfect.

[Scott Bertram]

Yeah, I was. I was. I was debating whether or not to continue on with.

[Jeff Blair]

You know, you didn't mention. I don't know why. I mean, that to me is actually maybe the highlight of the record.

[Scott Bertram]

What's. I'll just mention dark Clavinets.

[Jeff Blair]

The clavinet.

[Unknown]

I don't know why I love you I don't know why I love you I don't know know why I love you But I love you.

[Jeff Blair]

This is the song that the Rolling Stones thought was like, you know, tough enough for them to do a pretty good version of themselves during the Let It Bleed sessions. But the horns near the end where Stevie Warner was just trying to explain, like, why am I. Why do I let you drive me insane? Why do I love you? I don't know why I love you. You're horrible, you're evil, you're hateful. But I'm obsessed. I cannot break the spell. And he actually sounds like he's having a musical panic attack near the end of that song. It's so expressive and again, the clavinet plays such a role in it.

[Scott Bertram]

So I'll just say a brief word and then hand it off to Ivi. But yes, yes, of course. I don't know why that's the first one that sort of stunned me. I didn't. I didn't know the song. Didn't know the song before. Before hearing For Once in My Life, the album. That's one where you begin to understand how powerful and talented he is as just simply a vocalist and being emotive. The escalation of emotion that. That as you. The heavy breathing into microphone, he's. He's like living through his performance. He's just emoting all over the microphone. And, you know, he hits a crescendo as the music hits a crescendo. In less talented hands, that would be an okay song. And Stevie Wonder elevates that into something really legendary. That's just a fantastic song.

[Unknown]

Won't you help me, help me please come out I love you, baby I don't know. You don't know. We don't know nothing about it. Can't do nothing about it. I don't know, I don't know.

[Eli Lake]

Okay, so a couple notes For Once in My Life should not have been a hit. It was an easy listening minor hit before because it was much slower. So there was a certain genius in Stevie singing in that song. Oh, wait a second. I can make an incredibly joyous song that you cannot help but dance to out of something that if, like Tony Bennett's version, if you heard it, you'd.

[Jeff Blair]

Be like, oh, yeah. I mean, you, you. If you hear the other Motown acts, the Temptations had a version of it that they always featured. But it was a slow, sappy ballad version.

[Scott Bertram]

They are. They are that way. Because Gordy wanted them that way. He.

[Jeff Blair]

He had that taste.

[Scott Bertram]

He hated this version. He actually vetoed releasing it as a single until someone talked some sense into him. But Gordy hated it. He didn't want the song to sound this way.

[Jeff Blair]

He did not understand what he had. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Eli Lake]

No, he didn't. And I think you guys comp. I even like the filler. I think God Bless the Child and Sonny are great covers. He's maturing so much as an artist here. I totally think Shooby Doobie. I mean, that. That song is incredible. And it's still a standard. And it. Even though it's, like. It's not in the pantheon of the great Motowns, like, you put it on and it feels like it should have been. You know what I mean? It's just one of those. It's, you know, infectious.

[Unknown]

You better listen to me dance. In calling for calling till I falling call of you and when you go, you know I'm the one to call the rescue maybe you didn't know that too many times and when you come back that girl's going to be mine No.

[Eli Lake]

I feel like this is, like, the launch point. You know what I mean? This is right before he's about to really explode much more and put his stamp on everything. But you hear all. It's all coming together here. And, you know, like, I credit it because there's. Even though it's a. It's clearly a Motown Factory record, the range on this record is really impressive. So I love the fact that there are standards as well as these, you know, great hits. And For Once in your Life is clearly one of the great classics, okay?

[Jeff Blair]

And so the funniest thing is that his next. His next album came about because of another accident. I don't know why. Which, of course, we just talked about. I think it's a fantastic song. Maybe a little bit too dark and too weird to have ever been a hit single. It was the last single released from this record, right? And. And I guess maybe it's a little bit too strange, but they threw a new song on the B side of it, you know, because they gotta have something to go out. I don't know why they didn't choose something, you know, from already released, but instead they went with a little track called Ma Cherie Amore. It was a new song by Stevie Wonder. And of course, DJs said, well, I don't know what I think about this dark thing on Top. Let's just flip it over. Oh, well, here is a beautiful love song. And, of course, My Sharia Moore is one of Stevie Wonder's most famous ballads of all time. And because it became a hit immediately, oh, we gotta have an album out. So the next album was, of course, My Sharia Moore. And this is, of course, a little classier of a record. This is his ballads album, but still a lot of his own songwriting. And I have to say, some of the covers here actually genuinely work for me. But before we get to those, what do you think of the famous track? What do you think of My Sharif More? Is it a little too sweet and syrupy for you? Because I have to say, when I was a kid, I thought it was a bit sappy, but maybe I'm just a little bit more sophisticated or sentimental these days. I really love it now.

[Unknown]

La. Distant as the Milky Way, My savior, Mama, Pretty little one that I adore. You're the only girl my heart beats for. I wish that you were mine.

[Eli Lake]

I mean, how can you not love it? Those chords are gorgeous.

[Jeff Blair]

The suspension chords right at the end, it's like.

[Eli Lake]

Like, that's the thing. He's bringing that jazz element into it. That this is. It is a Motown song, but My Sharia Moore actually is something is. It's now, like, very much of a wonder song. It's not driven by this propelling bass line. It's not a dance song. It is a gorgeous kind of ballad. And I mean, the combination of his delivery. I mean, the interesting thing, I guess he was inspired by Michelle, which also had the French in it from the Beatles, to do the song. Similar kind of thing. I think it's one of his best. And I'm with you. The covers on this are excellent. I'm thinking of two, but I don't want to spoil the party, so I'll. I'll leave the surprise for you. Jeff.

[Jeff Blair]

Jim, what do you think? Scott?

[Scott Bertram]

I know, of course, it's a fantastic song. It's. And, you know, I. It's like a memory. Not suppressed memory, but a memory that was in the back of my head that I couldn't place for, like, days. As I was prepping and listening, I had this vision of it being used in a movie, and I couldn't remember exactly where it was, but I remember it being perfect. It's. It's almost famous. Kevin Crow uses it in a very odd juxtaposition when Penny Lane is, I think, vomiting in the bathroom as William Miller looks on. Oh, that's right. You haven't seen Almost Famous, have you?

[Jeff Blair]

No, I have not. You really should. Everybody asks me too.

[Scott Bertram]

It's fantastic. But anyway, so my Sharia Moore is used very nicely in Almost Famous by Cameron Crowe. This, to me, the album, the song is excellent. The album itself I think is a slight weaker. Yes, it's a slight. You know, much like the album a couple of albums ago, you had all the Motown hits being covered by Stevie Wonder. On this one you have a lot of great American songbook stuff, right? Hello Young Lovers, Hammerstein song, Shadow youw Smile. At Last, Ada James made famous. Those are the songs that pop up on My Sharia more. And then you have a cover of the Doors Light My Fire, which.

[Jeff Blair]

Okay, so I gotta talk about that. What did you think of it though?

[Scott Bertram]

So I will say this because I know you want to. You have thoughts on it. It's better than the Doors version. And you know, I'm going to vow Doors haters too strong of a word. I don't like Doors. But what Stevie Wonder gets at it. It's more sultry, it's more sensual than what Edward. Jim Morrison's trying to do with it with the Doors. Like what he finds inside Light My Fire. What Stevie finds works. And I think it's a better version than the Doors version of Light My Fire.

[Jeff Blair]

Yes. Okay. So I think it's funny, like we talk about how there's a lot of crap covers on Motown albums in this era, right? Because of the Factory formula they had. But every now and then, if you spend long enough trawling amidst the muck in the formula, you find a real gem. So like with Marvin Gaye on his albums, he did this late 60s cover of yesterday by the Beatles, which we talked about on our Marvin Gaye episode. I just think it's one of the most stunning performances of a really over covered song you're ever gonna hear. It's so. And then here you've got Light My Fire. As you point out, Stevie Wonder does a better job of Light My Fire than the Doors do with their own song. And it's not only the only time that other soul artists have given good versions of it. Because Al Green's Light My Fire off of I think it's Gets Next to youo off of his 1970 record is also pretty solid. But this one's great. It's a luxury soul song. Big, big proud horns. Nothing trying to be ominous about it. There's none of that we're gonna. With the darkness and the Devil and all that. It's Just now we're gonna have a party. Let's light my fire let's start dancing. That's the mood that Stevie brings to it, which is actually what makes it a much more fun as a pop song, in my opinion.

[Eli Lake]

I love Light My Fire, but for me, can't believe he got away with it. But the sped up version of At Last, which is sacrilege to edit James, but it is. It's a he. It works. I can't believe it works.

[Scott Bertram]

Works.

[Eli Lake]

It works. And, you know, like, I'm at this point, I'm like, okay, see if we can do anything. All right, fair enough. You know, like, I'm in.

[Unknown]

I found a thrill to press my cheek to I feel that I never gone hey, you, smell my. And then the spell was cast and here we are.

[Eli Lake]

So I really love. I love this. I love this record. I kind of like it. I disagree. I like it a little bit more than. For once in my life, though. The two are really close. But, well, what's coming next? That's where we really see the full flower. So.

[Jeff Blair]

Okay, so before we get to what's coming next, does anybody have any thoughts about this? These weird two live albums that Motown released? Around this time, Stevie Wonder is beginning to increasingly butt heads with Barry Gordy, with the creative heads at Motown. Because he's feeling more and more kind of like, jerked around and like. Well, I don't like the. You know, I don't necessarily necessarily have a connection with the group I'm playing with live. And I'm having to cover all these songs. What are these songs? Why am I playing at last so quickly? You know, I don't think he asked the same question that others did, Eli. But, you know, it's that kind of a thing. And in between now and the next record he puts out, which I think is going to be a huge deal in 1970, he puts out these two records. One of them is Live at the Talk of the Town. And the other one is I Was Just a Stevie Wonder live record. And from the era there, from, given all the great hits that Wonder was having at that time, you would think to yourself, 1970, Stevie, you wonder, live. That should be awesome. I find both of these records to be really disappointing. And I guess kind of emblematic of the limitations of the Motown house format of the house style that that was keeping guys like Gay and Wonder sort of like, you know, in chains at that point. What do you guys. If you. I don't know, Eli, if you're as familiar with these records, I've listened to them a lot. I know I recommended Scott to you, but Scott doesn't like live albums anyway.

[Eli Lake]

So, you know, I mean, it's. It doesn't have the impact. Impact of the. The one that launched his career. 12 year old genius. I'm with you. That it could be better. And there's like recordings in this era where it seems like Stevie's putting on more impactful shows. So.

[Scott Bertram]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jeff Blair]

But that really.

[Scott Bertram]

Yeah, I just, I gave them both a spin because, you know, it's part of the job. There's live albums. I did think it was weird you had two released within four months though. I think the Live Talk at the time was only available in the UK for many decades before it was released in, in the us. But then you realize the paper position that Stevie Wonder and Moton are in sort of negotiating, discussing what would happen next as he's about to turn 21, he can void his contract and sort of as a stall tactic, a stalling maneuver. Releasing live albums is a pretty classic maneuver. So Stevie Wonder Live. The thing that sort of jumped out to me most is the crowd. The crowd's not as excited as it was when Stevie Wonder was 12. The crowd is more like attending, you.

[Jeff Blair]

Know, I noticed that too.

[Scott Bertram]

Like a. I like.

[Jeff Blair]

Dude, you're listening to Stevie Wonder in 1970. You can't get up for that. What is your problem? Maybe they didn't. They didn't realize. They didn't know what they had at the moment.

[Scott Bertram]

It's on both of them too. I mean, it's not like one crowd was a. We both crowds kind of sound the same way. And the only kind of interesting thing about live Talk of the Town is that the very last song you hear Stevie Wonder introduce his brand new single, as he says, it's. It's out as of right now.

[Unknown]

Like a fool I went and stayed too long Now I'm wondering if your love still stress in that time I went and said goodbye Now I'm backing on a chain of crown. Oh.

[Jeff Blair]

And that brings us to. I mean, this is not the last album. We have one more album after this, but to me, this is the one that you know is as good as For Once in My Life delivers fully on the promise of that record and again opens with just a absolute pummeling of classic tracks.

[Eli Lake]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blair]

What do we say about Sign Seal? Deliver the album. I will start out by just repeating the moment that I already. The old heads on political beats will know this already. The ones who are all the way back in 19, what was our first ever year of political beats, we did our favorite covers episode, and when we called the topic, I already knew. The first thing I want to mention was their version of We Can Work It Out.

[Scott Bertram]

Yeah, Stevie.

[Jeff Blair]

When Stevie Wonder takes the Beatles, We Can Work it out and turns it from that very beautiful, genteel, light, kind of floaty folk pop song with a harmonium underneath, and he turns it into the hardest, most agitated, glorious funk pop workup I've ever heard in my life. The vocal call and response in this song on that song alone, is a marvel of arrangement. It is not even the most famous single from the record, but when I said immediately, okay, one of the greatest cover songs of all time, We Can Work it out by Stevie Wonder. This is a song in its Beatles form that I already considered to be a masterpiece. So what does it say about Wonder that I consider his version superior?

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Eli Lake]

I think I agree, Jeff. I think. I think you're right. It's almost like it's a new song.

[Jeff Blair]

It is. It's totally different arrangement.

[Eli Lake]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blair]

The melody is there. The structure is there, but that hysterical voice that joins Wonder, I don't think it's him. It's someone else singing all back for the Life is very short and. And there's no time. I mean. I mean, you know that incredible high note they're belting out. I used to. God help me, I can't do it now, But I used to have that range. You know, I've lost my voice recently. Hopefully I'll get some of it back. But, like. Yeah, this is one of those audition pieces I used to use because of the sort of dynamism of the vocal. He keeps the phrasing, but even the melody line, he changes around. It's just such a marvelous work of taking the bones of a song, proving that it can be put into any different arrangement and be just as good. Yeah, this, to me, sort of like, you know, the culmination of, like, it's no longer Motown handing him, like, some, you know, chart song to do a dumb cover of, like, Mr. Tambourine Man. We Can Work It out was 4 years old, 5 years old at that point. Okay. It was old news. He just had a really great idea how you could pitch that song in a different way. And he found it and he nailed it.

[Eli Lake]

Yeah.

[Scott Bertram]

Let's talk about the COVID because it's fun.

[Jeff Blair]

You clap it out of the box.

[Eli Lake]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blair]

Of course.

[Scott Bertram]

Stevie wondered. In a box with. From Detroit with love written down, the size he climbs out Signed seal Delivered. It's a fun cover for a 20 year old.

[Jeff Blair]

We should have listened to Velvet Underground's the Gift. I mean. I mean, there's. There's a story about mailing yourself to people in boxes. It doesn't always work, but, yeah, it is great. I mean, of course, the entire record. The title track. The title track with that. Okay. It sounds like an electric sitar for all the world that begins that song. Is that what it is?

[Scott Bertram]

It is, right? Yes, it is. Yes. Yeah.

[Jeff Blair]

Well, there's something you've never heard either in a Stevie Wonder song or. Or anywhere in Motown, for that matter.

[Eli Lake]

All right.

[Jeff Blair]

And I'm always. I think I even talked about this on a prior episode, how I'm just a sucker for electric.

[Scott Bertram]

You did.

[Jeff Blair]

As if. As if that song wasn't like, note for note, beat for beat, constructed to be a Titanic chart masterpiece. Then you just have these incredibly, like, wonderful instrumental arranging touches which show you that Wander's coming into his own.

[Unknown]

Here I. Here I am.

[Eli Lake]

I think it's the best album of this period. I think he. He finally kind of gets it. I'm going to highlight a lesser known track on it. I gotta have a song.

[Jeff Blair]

Oh, Ray, I was going to. If you didn't go for it.

[Eli Lake]

I mean, I love.

[Jeff Blair]

I love that song. Yes.

[Eli Lake]

I mean, he just belts it out. There's a great Jeff Beck version of it. But I still think Stevie wins the day. Seinfeld and delivered I'm Yours is one of the greatest Motown songs ever, ever made. Yeah, it's everywhere. But there's a reason why it's everywhere. Because it's great. It's just great. And I like. You can't judge a book by its cover. I like everything on here. Heaven Help Us all is the beginning of that Stevie socially conscious stuff. This is right when Marvin is recording what's going on. So it's like you kind of have a similar straining at the bonds of Motown trying to do more adult stuff. This is certainly the beginning of that. And I mean, it's 1970. So what? He's 20 years old. He should be a junior in college. And he can do this. What else can he not. What else can he do? It's just incredible. So I love this. I think this is the first of those Stevie records we're going to get into. Part two. There's that amazing Imperial run, but it's the first that can hang with the. The great 70s run, I would argue. I think it's. It's complex. It's still a Motown Record. It's still a Factory record, but it's. It's Stevie's all over it. You're right.

[Unknown]

Backs against the wall. Lord, Heaven help us on Heaven Help Us. Oh, yeah.

[Eli Lake]

And I just co sign everything you say about we can work it out. It's a revelation. It's amazing.

[Scott Bertram]

Very quickly, Heaven Help Us All. That's not a Stevie track, it's a Ron Miller written track. But as Eli said, it very much is in sync with the things we'll see immediately on the very next record. An earthier feel, kind of gospel infused sound, but most of the. The social aspect, the socially minded aspect to Heaven help the black men, Heaven help the white man, Heaven help the boy who won't reach 21. And at the end, the prayer, essentially, we're kneeling. Lord, we need you now. It's 1970. A lot of this resonates very much so with people. And that's one of the reasons Stevie wants to move in that direction. This album, he writes a correct. Writes seven of the tracks, produces two, co produces three others. By the way, signed Seal delivered. Jeff mentioned all those great touches and moves. That's the first track Stevie Wonder produced on his own, as Eli sort of referenced earlier. Okay, he can do that. Maybe he can keep doing that. Maybe he can keep producing. I think he's okay at that too. He can produce. It's okay. Yes. This is an outstanding record for top 40 hits off this one reach the charts. And it's the. The one that has, you know, first one that really has Stevie's fingerprints all over it. It is in the Motown mold, but it's beginning to really strain at the edges in terms of the way it's constructed and the way Stevie Wonders put it together. And it's. It's an exciting record. Right? He sings with all that joy and enthusiasm. There's two tracks on the back end, especially Joy. Joy Takes Over Me. I mean, all the ingredients are there. The exuberant vocals, the harmonica playing, great backing vocals, wonderful baseline. It's a little bit funky, keeps the Motown sound. And when you listen to that, there's something about Joy Takes over me. That takes over you, the listener. Everything transferred, transfers. The energy transfers from the song to you and your body. It's an amazing thing. It's one of those things that Stevie Wonder can do because of how talented he is.

[Unknown]

With you.

[Scott Bertram]

Jeff already mentioned we can work it out. You guys both talked about it. First time I heard about that was on our special cover episode. And it's a fantastic, fantastic version Also produced by Wonder.

[Jeff Blair]

That was the other song that he produced by himself on this record. That's showing you that he didn't need anybody's help.

[Scott Bertram]

Right? He can do it. Yes. And so, yeah, at 20 years old, essentially proving to himself, perhaps, but certainly to others around him, that his vision, his abilities were outstripping the leash, so to speak, that Motown was giving him at this point.

[Jeff Blair]

Well, I mean, I think other than mentioning how much I also like I've Got to have a Song. There's just something wonderful about that. It feels like it was written intentionally to not do what you expected it to. Like two different points at the song. You would expect it to go to a more predictable set of chord changes. And instead it does something completely unexpected, especially in the chorus where it just modulates to a place that, like. No, that's. Wait. Oh, that works. There's something really special about it. Way the chorus unfolds there. And again, that's just part of Stevie Wonder developing that touch for an epic. You know, an epic hook or an epic ballad that was just developing at this point.

[Unknown]

There's music show me to where there's music I just might go home.

[Scott Bertram]

Show.

[Unknown]

Me to where there's music show me to where there's music with music I just can't go wrong.

[Eli Lake]

I got to.

[Unknown]

Have a song Happy song oh, yeah.

[Jeff Blair]

Which takes us to something very curious, which is his next record, which should, by rights, be the culmination of all of this, and, in fact, is very much a signpost on the way to where we're going to be going in our next episode. But there's something very curious about where I'm coming from from 1970, 71, in that it. It strikes me as an attempted parallel with Marvin Gaye's what's Going on that doesn't quite come off. And, of course, before I make that point, you have to understand the parallel careers here. Because, of course, in the late 60s, Marvin Gaye is still having all those big heads. He had heard it through the Grapevine. He had Ain't no Mountain High Enough with Tammy Terrell. And he is shocking for his own freedom of creative expression. In 1970, a full year prior to this, he recorded a little ditty some of you may have heard of called what's Going who. But Barry Gordy interferes and says, oh, we don't want that kind of controversial and socially conscious music in our. In our Motown, you know, formula that. That will get people angry. So, no, he puts a lid on it. Gay basically goes on strike and refuses to make music until they allow him to release the album. At the same time, Stevie Wonder, who you know, looks up to gay, is undergoing his same evolution. He is about to turn 21 years old, at which point, I think Scott already mentioned this. He has the right to sort of void and renegotiate his MOT contract. And as he gets closer and closer to that date, he's obviously getting more and more eager to basically do what he wants. They're basically, they're letting him produce, but they're still telling him what kinds of songs. That's why there are all these cover tracks on, on his earlier albums. This was supposed to be the record where he takes full creative control. Every single song on this record is written by Stevie Wonder with his wife Syrita Wright. But this is a pretty weak record in my opinion. And that's why I'm including it on this half of our two part episode on Stevie Wonder as opposed to the next one. And so I guess the real question I. You may disagree with me, Eli Scott, and if you do, tell me I'm wrong. But my question, the frame I would use is, is why doesn't where I'm coming from represent the real beginning of Stevie Wonder 70s, even though it was released in, I think early 1971. Why do we really only date it to next year? What is missing from this record?

[Unknown]

We are idle strangers Married to our dangers into space we go to change our ways Flying to our heavens we are all together into hell we chase the light of day look around and you'll see Ruins of the human history look around and you'll find Time is only floating in your, your mind.

[Eli Lake]

I can answer that question. Go for it, Tonto.

[Jeff Blair]

I knew you were going to work it in somehow. Yes.

[Eli Lake]

Massive synthesizer. Rob Maris and the other guy who basically like he's playing with synthesizers. He's got the clav, it's all there. But he hasn't found that instrument, that enormous like room sized synthesizer that becomes the Stevie Wonder sound for everything after this.

[Jeff Blair]

A sonic concept that like organizes his musical thoughts, actually. Yeah, the synthesizer, you're right.

[Scott Bertram]

Yeah.

[Eli Lake]

And so that, so there's that issue. So he's, he hasn't found the. By the way, that synthesizer is called Tonto. I think there were like three of them that were made or something. They're enormous.

[Scott Bertram]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blair]

He wasn't making a lone Rager reference, folks. Just so you know.

[Eli Lake]

Yes. Okay, so. So that's the first thing. Okay. The second thing is that these are in some cases like, look Around. These are really experimental. He's pushing it. He's influenced by Sly Stone. You can hear it all over this.

[Jeff Blair]

I, like, look around. I think that's a decent one, actually.

[Eli Lake]

But the big hit, if you really love Me is itself. It gets a fascinating kind of thing because the hooks are there, but when it gets into the chorus, with all the brassy, you know, background, it still. It sounds like it's 1964.

[Jeff Blair]

It's a real throwback, right?

[Eli Lake]

Yeah, Right. Even though it starts off like, whoa, this dissonant thing and these, like, sustained minor chords and what's going on?

[Unknown]

What am I supposed to do? Be a fool who sits alone Waiting for you but it's. You really love me Won't tell me, yeah that I won't have to be I see the light of your smile Calling me All the while you are.

[Eli Lake]

Saying, Baby, I think Never dreamed you'd leave In Summer is just a beautiful, beautiful ballad. And that right there is, you know, worth the price of admission, but it's inconsistent. And I think he really benefits right after this from his collaboration with Margot and the other guy. I'm sorry, name's not the. But he needs other kind of people in the mix at this point, and he hasn't found the rest of his team super interesting because you see the beginnings of what becomes the Stevie Wonder everybody knows. Like, Superstition, the stuff from Music, in my Mind, all of it, but it's not quite there yet. It's a little too undisciplined. There's not enough editing in some cases. Some of these songs go on, like, do yourself a favor goes on a little too long for me. I don't hate it. It's really important. I'm sure when it came out, it was like, wow, this is a new sound for Stevie Wonder. But he hasn't. It's a transitional thing. Reminds me a little bit of metal by Pink Floyd right before Dark side of the Moon. There's a lot of great stuff on metal, but it's not Dark side of the Moon. You can tell the band's in transition.

[Jeff Blair]

Right. I can see the comparison. Scott, you have any thoughts?

[Scott Bertram]

Yeah. So if I'm going to answer your question, obviously I've not lived with this quite as long as you guys, but I thought it was interesting. So at least I have things to say or have thoughts about some of these songs. But why wasn't it as successful? I'd say intentionality is a part of it. Meaning at times on this record, you sort of feel that wonder Saying, okay, now I. Now I can be a serious artist, and you should take me seriously in these ways. And I also mean intentionality in a different way. Meaning it feels a little bit like. Not box checking, but. Okay, here's a song for. Here's the love ballad. Here's think of me as your soldier. And here's a really funky song like. Like, do yourself a favor. And here's one that maybe will be okay for people who, like, pop in the charts, like, if you really love me, which is true. That was a great song. But almost like he's trying to fill these holes with each of the songs on this record. Not to appeal to different people, but, again, just show I can do all of this. I can do this, I can do that, I can do this. And this.

[Unknown]

Heaven's light love us dreaming dreams each blessed by night I will find a promised paradise with you there I'll spend my life and our hearts there I know I get. We are bound as two lovers to give the great eternal love.

[Scott Bertram]

And so in that intentionality, I think some of the spontaneity and the joyfulness that we love about Stevie. Wonderful. And I think we'll come back into these records. The next few years is missing from where I'm coming from. And, you know, look at the. Go back to the COVID He's. He's dressed as a soldier on the COVID of this, Right. At least in half of the pictures in the COVID of this. This record. And think of me as your soldiers on here. And there's, of course, social commentary. A lot of these songs revolve around not the war, but just sort of war as a theme, you know, especially. I can't find my note on here. But, you know, there. There are portions where he's very obviously taking a direct look at things that are happening. Sunshine in their eyes is, you know, certainly one where, you know, mom world is ending and Papa's brother got robbed and is trying to buy bread. And most of the news is bad. Crime is spreading in the air, Speed's in the air. And so I think part of the reason it's not as successful is that next few albums, it's very different from. From the last record. And it's one where he's.

[Unknown]

He's.

[Scott Bertram]

He's finding out, figuring out exactly what he can do, where he can go.

[Jeff Blair]

Well, I think the number one problem is that you don't need a children's chorus on any Stevie Wonder album, or any album, for that matter. Children's choruses, just not worth it. That by the way, goes for Pink Floyd. We didn't need a children's chorus on another brick in the wall either. So that's from Sunshine in their Eyes, which.

[Scott Bertram]

Which is just. Last song.

[Jeff Blair]

Yeah, last song. A little bit too much of a gloopy ballad. It didn't quite work. The point actually that Eli makes about the synthesizers I think is also very important. You can almost imagine what a song like Superwoman would have sounded like if it had been done in the where I'm coming from era with before the synths which make that a truly transcendent piece of music. It really depends on that. But I think, yeah, the number one one problem is that the message songs are way too on the nose. They're way too messagy and self important. And then I think as you pointed out, Scott, there's a bit of a box checking aspect to some of this. It's not fully integrated. It's not just like a fully integrated sound and approach yet. It's a bit too much like somebody who's just experimenting with their full artistic freedom for the first time and doesn't quite know how to focus it that, you know. Now that said, I actually like, you know, some of those overly self indulgent experiments. Do yourself a favor. Maybe a minute too long. But I love the Clavinet, I like the funk. That one absolutely sounds like the future of Stevie Wonder's music around an interesting little ballad, the way to start it. But yeah, I'm gonna go with what Eli already mentioned and say that another track that has come up on earlier episodes of Political Beats. Never dreamed you'd leave in Summer is one of the most satanic ballads that Stevie Wonder ever wrote in his entire career. And it was immediately stood out to me when I first heard it as just being head and shoulders above everything else on this record or even from this era. I was truly one that looked forward. The simplicity of the lyric is really what's so beautiful about it. There's just. It overstate its case at all. It could be about someone who's dead. It could be about a relationship that's ended. It could be about a lot of different kinds of loss. And in fact Michael Jackson was able to do that. He sang it at Michael or Michael Jackson. Stevie Wonder was able to do that because he sang it at Michael Jackson's funeral. That was when I remember seeing it come back and I was like, boy, I didn't know anybody even remembered. Never dreamed I'd leave in summer. It's clearly the best thing on this album. And in a way, I think it is the proper segue to what's going to happen with the rest of his career, where, you know, it's just one man at. At after a certain point, one man working alone. This was, this episode, the entire period that we've covered right up through here, this was the price of an education. But it was, you know, it was well worth paying because we have so many classic singles from the Motown period. Once he finally broke free, we were going to discover what else it was he could do. And it was going to blow everybody minds.

[Unknown]

I never dreamed you'd leave in summer I thought you, you would go then come back home I thought the cold would leave by summer but my quiet night will be spared Stand alone, you.

[Scott Bertram]

And a quick point, which is you. You and I both mentioned this. The education of Stevie Wonder and your favorite artist. My favorite artist, everyone's favorite artist, whoever it might be, likely had the same kind of education. But they weren't doing it on Motown. They weren't doing it with Barry Gordy. They weren't having everyone here, them work through the process or learn this or.

[Jeff Blair]

Growing up in public like that.

[Scott Bertram]

Growing up in public and having her songs grow up in public and all of that. And that is an important thing to understand about this era. Yes. It's chock full of just smash hits and legendary songs like Uptight and like, you know, I was Made a lover, all that. But we. I want to say, unfortunately, but it's just. Just how it. How it happened, Right? We see him grow up and so to get to the point where we're making this flip to part two, too, this is when, for most artists, we're just beginning to pay attention. We're just seeing them at 20, 21 years old when they've gone through this process even more.

[Jeff Blair]

So this is, for most artists, where the story ends. Okay. You had a couple good hit singles in the 60s, and that's all she wrote.

[Scott Bertram]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blair]

This is chapter one. It's the amazing part.

[Scott Bertram]

Well, we've got a lot to get through in part two, which will be in 2025.

[Eli Lake]

But you guys would agree. I just want to. You would agree that, like, just if we stopped it right here. Stevie's a legend.

[Scott Bertram]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blair]

Stevie Wonder, he merited his own episode. As you could point out.

[Eli Lake]

He's already there, right? And then just. It's like Motown isn't Motown without the Stevie Wonder hit. So it's just like, that's. Let's just appreciate that, you know what I mean? Like, it's pretty amazing.

[Scott Bertram]

Yes. Yes.

[Eli Lake]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blair]

But, yeah, I can't wait for what happens next time we come together, though, because this is when somebody breaks out just being like a. A hit singles guy and part of the machine to being, you know, the peer of Paul McCartney in the Beatles. And then, of course, the Beatles have already broken up, so it's the Stones who he goes on tour with next. We'll get to that next time.

[Scott Bertram]

And we talk about I just called to say I love you, which the highlight of part two. As we come to the end of part one, though, we. We hand out the two albums from this era. You should own the five songs. You certainly should hear from this first era of Stevie Wonder. And we turn it over to our gu. Guest on the program, Eli Lake. Your two albums and your five songs.

[Eli Lake]

Well, my two albums got to be tribute to uncle Ray and Stevie at the beach now.

[Scott Bertram]

Clear.

[Jeff Blair]

Got it. I was gonna go with the two live albums, actually.

[Eli Lake]

Yeah, that's right. That's a troll. No, no, I mean, it's. It's not gonna be that surprising for me. It's my Sharia Moore and Sign Seal Delivered. Those two. Sign Seal Deliver is the best album of this period. I. It's hard to choose between my Sheree Morin for once in my life. I think they're both great. I. I like Mai Sheree more, a little bit more because I love the balladry and I like the covers on my Sheree Moore a lot for my songs. Jeff, you're going to disagree. I don't care. I've always loved this song. Hey, love is awesome. We can work it out. We've talked about it. I love a good Beatles cover. That's one of the best Beatles covers, period, and it's terrific. Never dreamed you'd leave in summer, I think Stands on its own. It's a timeless ballad. Again, Jeff, you're going to disagree. That's what Christmas means to me. I love that song. It is a banger if ever there was one. And rounding it out, signed, sealed and Delivered. I know it's a big hit. It's probably his biggest hit of the era, but that one is great and can't get enough of it.

[Scott Bertram]

All right. My two albums are, for once in my life, that one that I think really, truly broke through. And then, yeah, Signed, sealed, Delivered. Those are the two songs or two albums recommend from this era in terms of the songs I was made to love her DTV version or not. Either one. You want to choose? Fine by me. I don't know why definitely is on the list. Just a tremendous, tremendous vocal performance. I want to make you love me signed Seals delivered. Absolutely. And then I think from the last record we just talked about, if you really love me is one that fits on this list too. And again, sort of pushes you forward into the next era and into part two, which will happen next time. Jeff, over to you.

[Jeff Blair]

All right, Stevie from the singles era. So the two albums, I'm going to have to agree with Scott on this. They're going to be For Once in my Life and sign Seal delivered. I think it's. It's just very clear that that's where For Once in my life is where he makes the big switch over in terms of the records. As for the singles, well, I'm going to skip the little Stevie stuff. As fun as it is. I'm going to start with I was made to love her from 67. Then I'm going to go to For Once in my life, which, as I've already said, man, one of the best harmonica solos I've ever heard in my entire life. I don't know why. Also from that album. Great version by Stevie. Great version by the Stones. Worth checking out. Speaking of great covers, we can work it out from Science Seal delivered just about the most. The greatest Beatles cover I think I've ever heard. It's up there with that or Wilson Pickett's version of hey Jude for me. And then I guess I'll. I'll go with I've gotta have a song off of Science Seal to deliver, which is a fantastic song that just never goes quite where you expect it to. Has a really wonderful chorus. One of Wander's early triumphs that gets forgotten and left behind. And I guess also because on the host I get to cheat, I'm gonna throw in a six song as host prerogative, and I'm gonna end with Never dreamed you leave in summer, which is the song that points the way forward to part two and is also just one of the beautiful, most beautiful and saddest ballads that Wonder would ever record.

[Unknown]

You said then you'd be the life in that you'd be the one to see the way no one ever dream you'd leave in summer but now I find my love is gone away why didn't you stay.

[Scott Bertram]

Never in the history of the show. Was I more confident today's sixth pick from Jeff than I was just 30 seconds ago.

[Jeff Blair]

I've already done it once.

[Eli Lake]

You know what? This was a good episode because there was there was there was enough difference, but there was a lot of overlap, I think, which is good.

[Jeff Blair]

All right.

[Scott Bertram]

Eli Lake, Free Press columnist, host of the Breaking History podcast, which debuts January 15, and contributing editor at Commentary. Find him on Xi Lake Barring something really strange and unusual, Eli is back with us for part two of Stevie Wonder, which will happen in the year 2025 if man is still alive, if.

[Jeff Blair]

Women can survive in the year 2025. Doesn't anybody else know the Zager and Evans songs? I'm the only. Okay, nobody reacted.

[Scott Bertram]

Well, thanks, Eli. Appreciate you joining us on this one. We'll talk to you again for part two. Jeff, some 1970s Stevie Wonder on our docket for next time. Everybody else out there, have a wonderful new year, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day. We'll talk to you in 2025 with a brand new slate of episodes. Remember, you can find more at patreon.com politicalbeats help the show stay ad free there patreon.com politicalbeats also, subscribe to the feed for new episodes and find [e-mail] we're on Facebook. We're on X@politicalbeats. This has been a presentation of National Review. This is Political Beats.

[Eli Lake]

Can I just say congratulations to us because we did it in less than two hours.