walking upstream…
Stevie Wonder
photo: raph_ph · cc by 2.0 ↗Stevie Wonder
sourcesWikipedia
Stevie Wonder went from Motown child prodigy — billed explicitly as 'Little Stevie Wonder,' a young successor to Ray Charles — to one of the most complete musicians of the 1970s, writing, producing, arranging, and playing nearly every instrument on a run of albums (Talking Book, Innervisions, Songs in the Key of Life) that fused funk, jazz harmony, and synthesizer experimentation into commercial pop. Blind since shortly after birth, he reshaped what a Motown artist could be. His influence runs through virtually every subsequent generation of Black pop and soul music.
the sound in question
1972
SuperstitionStevie Wonder
walk the tributaries ↓
Ray Charles1950s–60s · R&B / Soul / Jazz
Wonder has repeatedly named Ray Charles as his musical idol, and Motown explicitly marketed the young Stevie as a successor to Charles, having him record an entire tribute album, Tribute to Uncle Ray, at age eleven.
listen: upstream & here
1959
What'd I SayRay Charles
1962
Tribute to Uncle RayStevie Wonder
listen forPlay Ray Charles's gospel-shout 'What'd I Say' next to Wonder's own Tribute to Uncle Ray recording of Charles's material — the eleven-year-old is visibly, openly working from Charles's own vocal playbook.
Smokey Robinson1960s · R&B / Soul
It was Smokey Robinson's fellow Miracle Ronnie White who first brought the eleven-year-old Wonder to Motown for his audition, and the young Wonder went on to co-write Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' 'The Tears of a Clown,' a direct working relationship that shaped his early sense of Motown songcraft.
listen: upstream & heresource: Slate — The songs Stevie Wonder wrote for Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, and others ↗
1965
The Tracks of My TearsSmokey Robinson
1970
Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm YoursStevie Wonder
listen forPlay Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' aching 'The Tracks of My Tears' next to Wonder's own 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours' — the same Motown vocal-group polish and bittersweet melodic instinct, one artist's training ground audible in the other's breakout.
Sam Cooke1950s-60s · Soul / R&B / Gospel
Wonder came up listening to Sam Cooke among the major R&B pioneers of the previous generation, absorbing Cooke's smooth, effortlessly melodic crossover style as Motown was building its own pop-facing sound.
listen: upstream & here
1957
You Send MeSam Cooke
1968
For Once in My LifeStevie Wonder
listen forPlay Sam Cooke's silky 'You Send Me' next to Wonder's 'For Once in My Life' — both take a simple, warm pop melody and deliver it with an ease that made mainstream crossover sound completely natural.