Fenwick said:

actually stevie sits on ALOT of unreleased material. Fulfillingness First Finale was gonna be a double album worth of material, most of which we haven't jeard same with conversation peace. there's alot of songs from the Songs In The Key Of Life project that haven't been released yet, difference is not a lot of his demo material gets leaked like did happen with someone like Michael for instance. There have surfaced some demos online now but it doesn't cover a lot of it.

Stevie constantly records music.

Timmy84 said:

I wouldn't say never. Why do you think they worked together so much?



And anyone who doesn't hear the Stevie connection obviously never heard "I Owe It to Myself":

I guess because you never hear it in the mainstream press, you presume they don't know, lol

Marrk said:

Yeah, this was a funny moment:

silverchild said:

naice! never actually saw it just heard about it. wow @ paul simon's facial hair.

Timmy84 said:

uh, Prince? Bowie? the Beatles? Stones? James Brown? tons and tons and tons of others?

anyway, my point is that most great pop artists do their best, most influential, most interesting work around that age and churn it out at an excelerated rate.

i don't think Stevie was an exception in that regard.

errant said:

I meant consecutive masterful albums. I know those guys were geniuses and yeah Prince and Bowie is definitely as cohesive as Stevie in that department.

James' genius relied mainly on singles/drive.
[Edited 8/23/09 10:11am]

For the complete mind f**k I'd go 1971 to 1980.

But I agree, perhaps that 5-album stretch you indicate has never quite been matched.

Brendan said:

1971: Where I'm Coming From
1972: Music of My Mind
1972: Talking Book
1973: Innervisions
1974: Fullfillingness' First Finale
1976: Songs in the Key of Life
1979: Journey Into the Secret Life of Plants
1980: Hotter than July

Timmy84 said:

About Charlie Wilson/Stevie Wonder:



I would love to hear more of the material Stevie produced for MJ's solo album. That would have to be some legendary stuff.

As for unreleased material, I'm sure he's got dozens or hundreds of unreleased tracks. Some demos and stuff are available on Youtube, but the majority of what's available is through live performances. One of my favorites is the song he did for the Sammy Davis Jr. tribute, "Truth Is The Light".

Although a lot of his stuff in from the 80's, 90's and even today was originally written in the 70's, and some even in the 60's. "Ribbon In the Sky" was written in the 60's, I believe, and "Overjoyed" was a song that didn't make the Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants album. "Lighting Up The Candles" was done for Marvin Gaye's funeral and then appeared on the Jungle Fever soundtrack.

Timmy84 said:

Oh yeah, totally agree with both of you here... "Rocket Love", "As If You Read My Mind", "Power Flower"... wow... amazing tracks. I was just trying to conform here with this thread. Maybe a bad idea! Actually, to me, I enjoy his 80's work almost as much.. "That Girl", "Do I Do", "Never In Your Sun", "Love Light In Flight", "My Eyes Don't Cry", "Spiritual Walkers", "Dark 'n Lovely".... I could go on all day. So for me, Stevie's genius is a career-spanning thing, notjust his "classic period".
[Edited 8/23/09 14:46pm]

I was gonna say....

Where I'm coming from is an absolute great album and considering it was done at the time when he was about to go into some intense musical theory classes in Cali, plus his contract was up w/Gordy, his trust fund was due, and he was free to re-negotiate on his terms for the 1st time. In a lot of respects, this was his first project where he favored his own personal artistry over the mainstream and still charted with "If you really love me" which isn't that mainstream at all..


But there is one thing I did wish to point out..

There is now way one can have a discussion about Stevie's output during this era without taking into account the two Syreeta records that he did....PERIOD!

If you don't have Syreeta (72) and especially the next album Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta (74), you have no idea of what you're missing out on. Especially the second one..I mean side two of the 74' album is an entire suite of music from start to finish..





Jshua

Fenwick said:

Stevie has hundreds and hundreds of unreleased songs in his vault,but unlike Prince,he has been quite successful at keeping most of it under wraps In recent years,a few snippets have leaked out,but not the full songs:

Unreleased Stevie Wonder songs from 1974---snippets of two songs


Unreleased Stevie Wonder songs from 1974---snippets of two songs



These four tracks were recorded in early 1974 after 'Innervisions'.I don't think he has any intention of ever releasing this stuff

Early version of "Cryin' Through The Night"... I like it more than the version that appeared on Characters:

silverchild said:

I remember watching that year Grammy's. My goodness Captain & Tennille a couple of hit wonders presenting at the Grammy's.

AlexdeParis said:

What is this song from?

simply no if it's a solo artist, yes if you include Beatles Rubber Soul onward.

But god I would love to have been in the studio during any of those albums....

Please have a talk with god and have him deliver deluxe editions with demos, alt versions, etc.

Styles said:

I agree, those are essential recordings as well, and what a beautiful voice she has.

Superstition said:

same here and it was done around innervisions/fulfillingness

it's a lot warmer sound wise and organic.

Timmy84 said:

Stevie had been creating music for a while by the time he reached this point in his career. I was really shocked at the amount of hits he wrote as a teenager (for himself and others). I was really shocked to learn he wrote "It's A Shame" for the Spinners.

daPrettyman said:

yep even though reeta did it later "until you come back to me" he wrote that around 1966/1967. great song.

daPrettyman said:

I was more shocked when I discovered he produced it...and he was only 19 years old or 20 when the song was recorded!

NMuzakNSoul said:

Don't forget he wrote the music to "Tears of a Clown" at 17 (1967) for the Miracles.

Timmy84 said:

I KNOW!! He stated on the air how many hits he wrote when he was 14 and 15. That was amazing. I want to say that "Until You Come Back To Me" was written before he was 15 also.

Stevie is amazing.

daPrettyman said:

Hell the first song he wrote for ANYBODY ELSE was the Supremes and he was 13 then! I think it was a song he did with Clarence Paul on their Sing Country, Western & Pop. He also co-wrote songs for Marvin and the Four Tops.

"Loving You Is Sweeter than Ever" was written by a 16-year-old Stevie Wonder and Ivy Jo Hunter.

This is a cool article from MOJO magazine.

Ah now this is my kinda thread Stevie Wonder is a genius. I love his classic work, everything about this period, from it's dual grooves in songs, it's idiosyncratic music & choruses(or lack thereof; yet still remarkably pop), complex chord progressions, vocals, lyrics, synths ,etc, is just crazy good. If your a fan of the wonderlove I suggest you read the book by Steve Lodder, gives a good elaborate explanation of most of his classic work; A guide to the classical albums:Stevie Wonder Think That's what it's called

Wow! Great article!