Biography
10. Visions In My Mind
Although
Innervisions
was recorded before the accident, it was released after, and most
people associates it with Stevie's miraculous recovery. Indeed, in
many places it is weirdly prophetic. The New York Times review of
the album says "Stevie, identifies himself as a gang and a genius,
producing, composing, arranging, singing, and, on several tracks,
playing all the accompanying instruments (yes, it is impossible, or
used to be). But Stevie Wonder, you see and want to know more. At
the center of his music is the sound of what is real. Vocally, he
remains inventive and unafraid, he sings all the things he hears:
rock, folk, and all forms of Black music. The sum total of these
varying components is an awesome knowledge, consumed and then shared
by an artist who is free enough to do both." It was around this
time that Roberta Flack said in Newsweek, of Steve's music, "It's
the most sensitive of our decade . . . it has tapped the pulse of
the people."
The first track released as a single was
Higher Ground
a song encouraging people to get up and keep on doing what they need
to keep the world turning. He relates it to himself saying that his
last time on earth he did not make the best use of life and hence in
this life he intends to keep on trying till he reaches the highest
ground. The album opens with
Too High,
Stevie's statement of his position on the use and effects of drugs.
Visions
describes a utopia as
he perceives it, but the next track
Living For The City,
the albums second single, brings us back to the reality of the
harshness of life for blacks in the in the city.
Golden Lady
a song Stevie said he wrote about Minnie Riperton is a mid-tempo
ballad that is seamlessly segued to the end of
Living For The City.
After Higher
Ground, is
Jesus Children
Of America
asking if those that prayed really did so from the bottom of their
hearts or if they felt what they were praying.
All Is Fair In Love
the most pop orientated track on the album sounds as though it was
written about the break-up in his marriage with Syreeta.
Don't You Worry About A
Thing the third
US single has Stevie in high spirits and
He's Mistra Know-It-All
the third UK single ends of the package with a statement warning
about the dangers of associating with persons only out to deceive.
All in all, it is possibly the greatest collection of songs put on a
single album.
1974 was a busy year for Stevie. He produced a second album for
Syreeta, entitled
Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta.
Writing all eleven songs, some with Syreeta, his trademark
arrangements coming across beautifully complimenting Syreeta's soft
sultry voice. Two singles
Your Kiss Is Sweet
and Spinin' And
Spinnin' were
released from the album. An essential album for any Stevie Wonder
collection.
Syreeta's 1977 album, One
To One, featured
only the one song written, produced and arranged by Stevie.
Harmour Love
was released as a single which reached a disappointing #75 on the
US R&B charts. A sprightly acoustic guitar track with a reggae feel
and Stevie on background vocals that certainly deserved better chart
placing.
Also in 1974, Stevie produced and played on the
Perfect Angel
album from Minnie Riperton, writing two songs, the title track and
Take A Little
Trip. The single
Lovin' You
brought Minnie to the public's attention, aptly displaying her
multi-octave vocal range capability.
In addition to all this, Stevie wrote and produced the song
Tell Me Something Good
for the group
Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. A #1 R&B and #3 pop chart hit, a song
featuring a funky clavinet based track that filled the radio
airwaves in the summer of 1974.
