SONG LIST*
M1 How Can You Believe (Stevie Wonder) Eivets Rednow, Motown Records LP 1968 (3:10)
M2 Which Way the Wind (Stevie Wonder) Eivets Rednow, Motown Records LP 1968 (2:40)
M3 Contusion (Stevie Wonder) Songs in the Key of Life, Motown Records 2LP, 1976 (3:45)
M4 Easy Goin Evenin’ / My Mama’s Call (Stevie Wonder) A Something’s Extra for Songs in the Key of Life, Motown Records 2LP, 1976 (3:58)
M5 The First Garden (Stevie Wonder) Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants, Motown Records 2LP, 1979 (2:32)
M6 Voyage to India (Stevie Wonder) Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants, Motown Records 2LP, 1979 (6:23)
M7 Tree (Stevie Wonder) Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants, Motown Records 2LP, 1979 (5:55) Today’s Vinyl Vibrations episode features Stevie Wonder in his early years, and more specifically his Instrumental compositions. Stevie Wonder is an international pop icon, a singer-songwriter, a record producer, AND a multi-instrumental musician (for example…harmonica, keyboards, drums, bass guitar, guitar, and an incredibly talented singer. Wonder is an innovator – he pioneered the use of the early analog synthesizer during the 1970s. His albums are individual works of art, carefully crafted and thematic. Stevie Wonder’s influence extends across a range of genres that include R&B, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz. He has often been referred to as a “ONE MAN BAND” because of his broad range of talents in music composition, music production and most of all – – music performance. Born Stevland Hardaway Morris, Stevie Wonder was born on May 13, 1950, in Saginaw, Michigan. That’s near Saginaw Bay off Lake Huron, about 100 miles northwest of Detroit. In the 1950s, Saginaw County had several General Motors plants and many companies building parts that went down to the big DETROIT assembly plants. It was a booming economic period for the entire US auto industry. It was a difficult birth. Wonder was born six weeks premature and placed in an oxygen-rich incubator, which resulted in retinopathy of prematurity – causing his blindness. When he was 4, his Mother divorced with his father, and along with her 3 kids, moved 100 miles down the road to bustling Detroit…. home of MOTOWN RECORDS. At age 8, Steveland attended the Whitestone Baptist Church on Detroit’s west side. There, he developed his musical talents — playing piano, drums and harmonica — and he also sang in the choir and there became a soloist. Stevie was quickly recognized as a prodigy.. He further developed his singing talent with a friend …and they performed as Stevie and John on street corners. When he was just 11, this musical prodigy was discovered by Ronnie White of the MIRACLES, and that in-turn resulted in a meeting with Motown Records founder Barry Gordy, who signed him with the TAMLA label of Motown Records. At that time, he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder. That was 1961 and Wonder had a 5-year rolling contract with royalties that were to be held in trust until he was 21. The weekly pay for this young artist was meager – a stipend of just $2.50 a week plus a tutor for Stevie when he was on tour. That $2.50 weekly stipend would be worth about $25 a week today. At age 12 he enrolled in Michigan School for the Blind in Lansing, Michigan. BIT BUCKET Saginaw is also where I was born, just 2 years after Stevie. My family also moved from Saginaw to Detroit, around same year as Stevie – 1954. M1 How Can You Believe (Stevie Wonder) Eivets Rednow, Motown Records LP 1968 (3:10) PLAY BACKGROUND – HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE To start today’s podcast, I feature the album titled Eivets Rednow. There is some humor in the album title. Eivets Rednow is Stevie Wonder spelled backwards, and on the first release of the album, Stevie’s name did not appear on the cover. The album is also UNIQUE for Stevie as it is an INSTRUMENTAL album. No lyrics. No poetry. This an easy listening POP and R&B instrumental album, released on the Gordy Records label in 1968. Gordy was one of the four MOTOWN labels – those labels were Gordy, Tamla, Motown, and Soul. The release I have was released on the MOTOWN LABEL and adds “How do you spell Stevie Wonder backwards?” …on the cover. Stevie was only 18 at the time of this release, although this is Wonder’s ninth studio album! Prolific. Boundless energy. Featured on this song is the skillful harmonica melody. Wonder plays the harmonica, drums, piano, but most notably, his harmonica style is unique, very melodic, rich with feeling, and unmistakably Stevie Wonder, listening to it 55 years later. Have a listen to this wonderful song and Stevie Wonder’s distinctive harmonica line. And Now How Can You Believe PLAY M1 Don’t Touch That Dial that was M1 M1 How Can You Believe (Stevie Wonder) Eivets Rednow, LP 1968 a short 3:10 in length, a pop tune. Song credits Credits go to Stevie Wonder, music composer arranger and producer Stevie Wonder Instruments – Harmonica for the song melody Percussion Piano and Synthesizer Benny Benjamin – drums James Jamerson – bass guitar The Funk Brothers – instrumentation More on the FUNK BROTHERS later. M2 Which Way the Wind (Stevie Wonder) Eivets Rednow, Motown Records LP, 1968 (2:40) PLAY BACKGROUND – WHICH WAY THE WIND Now from that same album Eivets Rednow, on the track titled WHICH WAY THE WIND, there is a clavinet instrument on this song. The CLAVINET was a new instrument – – an electrically amplified CLAVICHORD and it was first manufactured by the HOHNER Company in Germany, starting in 1964. HOHNER is known for harmonicas, accordions, and recorders. We all played the recorder in elementary school, remember? The CLAVICHORD itself is a very old keyboard instrument from the LATE MIDDLE AGES and was used from years 1500 to 1800. Here is a sample of what a CLAVICHORD sounds like. This instrument was made in about the year 1600. It is an amazing sound coming from this 400-year old instrument…. PLAY EXAMPLE CLAVICHORD SAMPLE Also featured on this album is THE FUNK BROTHERS. THE FUNK BROTHERS is a Detroit-based collective of first-call studio session musicians that backed most MOTOWN records in the 1960s. Similar concept to THE WRECKING CREW collective over in LA. The FUNK BROTHERS eventually moved to LA in 1972. You will hear this ensemble on hits like “My Girl”, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, “Baby Love”, ” I Was Made to Love Her”, “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”, “The Tears of a Clown”, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”…. …and of course on this earlier song with Stevie Wonder WHICH WAY THE WIND. And now, Which Way the Wind, 1968 with the brass and strings of THE FUNK BROTHES and Stevie drives the Melody on the HOHNER CLAVINET. Play M2 Don’t Touch That Dial That was M2 M2 Which Way the Wind (Stevie Wonder) Eivets Rednow, LP 1968 Stevie Wonder also used that Hohner Clavinet in his 1972 hit “Superstition”. Here is a bit from “Superstition”…….. PLAY SUPERSTITION CLAVINET EXAMPLE Credits Stevie Wonder Music composer, arranger and producer, and the Hohner Clavinet Benny Benjamin – drums James Jamerson – bass guitar The Funk Brothers – “instrumentation” session musicians In 1972, four years after this album’s release, Stevie Wonder toured the US with The Rolling Stones American Tour. I was fortunate to have seen that show at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio. Stevie did the warm-up show. He was truly a one-man band. He was guided around the stage by his team and played the bass, drums, keyboards, percussion, harmonica vamps – – plus his pop hits… quite a show that evening at the Rubber Bowl. Frankly, I was more impressed by Stevie Wonder’s incredible performance than the main act. BIT BUCKET The album failed to get much attention A single was then released with one of the catchy songs, that is the song ALFIE, by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and the ALFIE single reached number 66 on the U.S. Pop charts. M3 Contusion (Stevie Wonder) Songs in the Key of Life, Motown Records 2LP, 1976 (3:45) PLAY BACKGROUND – CONTUSION The double album- Songs in the Key of Life, was released in September 1976. This double album has many different styles and is complex. Some find the album hard to absorb, but I believe this is one of the three best Stevie Wonder albums. The marketplace responded …. this album became the first by an American artist to debut straight at No. 1 in the Bill...

M1 How Can You Believe (Stevie Wonder) Eivets Rednow, Motown Records LP 1968 (3:10)

M2 Which Way the Wind (Stevie Wonder) Eivets Rednow, Motown Records LP, 1968 (2:40)

M3 Contusion (Stevie Wonder) Songs in the Key of Life, Motown Records 2LP, 1976 (3:45)