Stevie Wonder-- C or D?

Conversation Peace's "Cold Chill" is excellent!

Loved Treat Myself off that album too.

He's doing a short US tour where he's doing all of Songs in the Key of Life. I think you need a citi card for today's presale

Scoop!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUgngvsWLlE

Not completely blind =/= not blind. Lots of legally blind people have enough sight to watch sports (Stevie has courtside seats), use cameras and otherwise interact visually with the their surroundings.

Retinopathy of prematurity (Stevie's diagnosis, caused by exposure to high oxygen concentrations in an incubator after premature birth) produces a spectrum of visual deficits, many people affected are left with at least some sight.

The fact that Stevie wears sunglasses all the time is itself an indicator that he's not totally blind (or else the ambient light levels wouldn't affect him).

My Dad's blind but not completely so, he wears dark glasses even indoors. His friends who have no sight at all usually don't bother wearing glasses, there's no point.

Wouldn't be a surprise if Berry Gordy and co had decided to market Stevie as "blind" without bothering to explain the details.

Also, you'd be surprised what blind people can do. Ray Charles use to fly his plane, and he swore he could land* it too, though nobody would let him.

*he had a plan where he would bust the glass on the dials with his lighter and read them by touch

Even if stevie wasn't blind he'd still be the eighth wonder of the world.

what i wouldn't do for an LP of stevie's demos of sleeping alone, bring your sweet stuff home to me, his tracks for syreeta and minnie, etc...

"Do I Do" is so fantastical

YES

If there were another 20 minutes of it I would want to hear them all

Do NOT want to see this thread revived this year.

oh give me a break

I got "musical aquarium" on cassette, thing bumps

I love this man

I have some affection for the Jose Feliciano version of "Golden Lady" tbh.

hard 1000% agree with your #1 choice.

Have ben thinking lately how great an album of his demos of songs he gifted to other artists would be, a la the recent Prince posthumous release

like, stevie-sung versions of bad weather, baby bring your sweet stuff home to me, perfect angel... that would be amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TAC7aEegUc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNZRJB952b0

I think I've said this before here, but that modulation from "Perfect Angel" into "Loving You" is breathtaking.

What was the sendspace file Milton Parker linked to above, now long dead? The actual 16 track tapes of Superstition??

Makes me so sad that Stevie doesn't want his unreleased material ever to be heard(seriously, he wants the masters junked after he dies), you only imagine what he must have stashed away in the vaults from his golden seventies period.

I hope Stevie has a Max Brod in his life...

Happy birthday, dude. Let me put the spotlight on this jam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEK7tMxXRpo

Dud.

Oh, wait, I thought this was about Greta Van Fleet. I meant classic, sorry Stevie.

"A Seed's A Star" is so fantastic I only wish it didn't sound like it was emerging from a transistor radio.

and of course this Wonder-ful creation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGhSJIMHeoo

During lockdown, I took the time to re-evaluate his post-Hotter than July recordings. Robert Christgau's always defended those records, and while I don't think they're very consistent records (much less great ones), Christgau wasn't completely wrong. Barring some health or mental issue, talent doesn't completely dry up overnight for artists like Stevie Wonder, where not a single memorable hook or melody is suddenly beyond their ability. He was completely overshadowed as an innovator thanks to Prince and Michael Jackson, and he still had a weakness for syrupy glop, but he still crafted a few good tunes every now and then.

Yeah, I rediscovered "Never In Your Sun" this last year and cherish it fully.

A Time for Love in particular suffers from post-'90s CD-era bloat, but, damn, it's got jams. And he was still stretching as a balladeer.

This resequenced version of the most approachable material on Plants would've made for a still eccentric listen but still far more agreeable as part of the magnificent 1972-1982 streak.

Side A
"Send One Your Love" – 4:01
"Outside My Window" – 5:29
"The Secret Life of Plants" – 4:17
"Race Babbling" – 8:51

Side B
"Black Orchid" – 3:47
"Same Old Story" – 3:44
"Power Flower" – 5:29
"Come Back as a Flower" – 4:59
"A Seed's a Star/Tree Medley" – 5:53

Side B not quite as seamless with songs coming at you in complementary keys, but hey, I worked with what I had.

Ah thanks, I'll try your version ! Never managed to get into that album although I love all the ones before (and even some after... well, Hotter and parts of Square...).

You could even stick in "Kesse Ye Lolo De Ye" of the latter half of "Voyage to India" as something to give Side A some more space if you wanted.

I'd miss "Ecclesiastes" in that version.

So after listening to this version I like it ! Basically all ballads/smooth songs.
I could do without "Race Babbling" which is fun but a bit silly and far too long for its own good.

I could never do without 'Race Babbling'!

Just a heads-up: There's some good discussion of Stevie Wonder by Hanif Abdurraqib and Fred Moten on the most recent Millennials Are Killing Capitalism Podcast

https://www.patreon.com/posts/hanif-abdurraqib-51211207 - starting around 45:40

anyone else look at the cover of Music From My Mind and thought damn this dude got some tiny hands??