Search - Stevie Wonder :: Fulfillingness' First Finale

Stevie Wonder's Introspective & Soul-Searching Follow-Up To

MUZIK4THAPEOPLE!! | Seattle & San Diego | 07/12/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After the sweeping success of 1973's now iconic "INNERVISIONS"

album had established Stevie Wonder as a creative force of nature

in music who was one of the ones who was on the van garde of where

music was going in the 1970's and beyond, the inevitable question

arose a year later in late summer 1974 of "Could he top Innervisions?"

or "Could he keep the same level of artistic quality and excellence

which he'd already established on his previous two albums leading up

to this one?" Well, as it turned out, the answer was a resounding YES!!

The near-fatal freak car accident which almost took Stevie away from

the world at the height of his creative powers just after the release of

INNERVISIONS in 1973 had made him a much more introspective and

soul-searching individual who was taking inventory of his life

so far, the people in which he surrounded himself, what was the purpose

for him now that he'd been spared from death, how could he use his gifts

to further enrich people's lives, and many other questions which one

puts to themselves in that situation.



Stevie, being the musical genius he is, began to formulate the tones,

timbres, chord progressions, lyrical ideas and vocal expressions he was

feeling inside into the album that was to become the next masterpiece in

his incredible 1972-76 multi-platinum, multi-grammy & AMA, highly acclaimed

"classic period"....FULFILLINGNESS' FIRST FINALE!! (-:

From the opening song, the joyous "Smile Please" to the

faith-through-cynicism anthem "Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away",

to the pretty, brief and country music-tinged "Too Shy To Say" to

the perculating gravely moog bass and dancing piano of the funky

"Boogie On Reggae Woman" to the smooth & mellow, dream-like "Creepin'"...

Stevie knew how to create an atmosphere in his music at that time

which was unlike what anybody else was doing at that time.

Side Two began with a funktified clavinet groove leading into another

1970's funk classic with a message in the vein of "Superstition" and

"Higher Ground", "You Haven't Done Nothin'" came on the heels of

the Nixon administration being exposed for the crooks they were and

Nixon himself being impeached from office. The song was a definite

slam to that administration and the fact that the Jackson 5 had added

their "doo-doo-whops" in there to Stevie's call and response

political commentary made it a sure fire lead single which

zoomed to the top of the R&B and Pop charts!

Black, White, Latino, Asian...it didn't matter!

Everybody was loving Stevie Wonder's music at this time!

He was a worldwide phenom and was breaking records and setting

precedences left and right with everything he did.

Here was a 24 yr old blind black musical artist who had full creative

control over his material, unprecedented commercial & artistic

success, the respect of the music industry and other musicians

in addition to his millions of fans!---This was truly his moment!

From the raw boogie down funk of "You Haven't Done Nothin",

Stevie shifts gears to a groovy smooth breakup song called

"It Ain't No Use", which features backing vocals by the likes of

Deniece Williams and Minnie Ripperton among others.

This song is one of my underrated favorites of Stevie's non-single

material because it just feels so good when I hear it.

From this, he goes into the very melancholy and introspective

sparse, almost classical-sounding piano piece with a mournful

black gospel choir background with a splash of Arp 2600

and Moog bass in there for good measure....the very unique

"They Won't Go When I Go", where Stevie talks about one day being

able to go to a very positive & free space (if he's lived a good life)

where he'll be free from the pain, deceit, greed, phoniness,

manipulation and ugly side of mankind!

This song is powerful and goes straight to your core!

As evidenced by how many people have "attempted" to cover it

through the years, most namely, George Michael's 1990 version,

which is good but comes nowhere near the original, as well as

how many people have selected this song for their funerals,

I'd say Stevie's message has resounded through space & time!

On July 7th 2009, Stevie Wonder himself performed the song

poignantly in tribute to the memory his good freind,

the late Michael Jackson, who'd died on June 25th.

When you reflect on the last 17 yrs of MJ's life, those lyrics

that Stevie delivered so soulfully some 35 yrs before,

rang dead on true!

He closes this brilliant album out with the brazilian-flavored

"Bird Of Beauty", which talks of utilizing the spiritual high

we all possess inside to deal with life's ups and downs instead

of falling prey to the pharmaceutical highs of drugs.

Then there's the very upbeat and melodic "Please Don't Go",

which sounds like something Ray Charles could've cut in his

hey-day if he'd had access to synthesizers back then.

It's just a feel good track that ends the album on an upbeat note.

Of course, this album, just like "Talking Book" and "Innervisions"

before it, topped the R&B and Pop Charts, swept the awards season

of 1975, and carried Stevie's legend further along.

There would be no actual album released in 1975, which is where

the famous Paul Simon grammy quote thanking Stevie for not releasing

an album in 1975, when he won the album of the year in 1976 comes from.

But little did they know though (at the time!), that Stevie Wonder

was busy at work crafting what would become his magnum opus and

the perfect cap off to his incredible "classic period"....

Late 1976's 2 1/2 disc watershed masterpiece "Songs In The Key Of Life"!! (-:"