Is it true that Stevie's Ribbon In The Sky was written in 1968?

If so, why did he wait so long to release it? It's a masterpiece.

I thought it was 1974.

Harlepolis said:

so it was def written during the classic era?

Have we got some SW expert who knows all the facts?

graecophilos said:

SoulAlive.

I'm not sure when it was originally written,but Stevie has a long history of recording songs that he wrote years earlier.Sometimes,this can get him into a little trouble,lol....

In 1985,he was nominated for an Oscar for his hit song "I Just Called To Say I Love You",which is from the 1984 movie 'The Woman In Red'.The problem is,he wrote that song in 1976,which would have made it ineligible for a 1985 Oscar.I remember this was a minor controversy at the time.Can't remember how it was resolved.

It's interesting to think..."I Just Called..." could have appeared on SITKOL.I bet it would have sounded better than the 1984 version.

"Overjoyed" is from '74, apparently.

"I Just Called To Say I Love You" would be shit, no matter how it was done. His only true stinker.

Mong said:

No, verjoyed is from 1979, an Secret Life outtake and it still uses some of the atmosphere sounds.

Soul Alive, I didn't know IJCTSILY was that old. But why did he admit that?

All I Do's another old one (think he said he wrote that when he was 12).

graecophilos said:

I remember when the song came out in 1984,he admitted he wrote the
song several years earlier.

SoulAlive said:

And how much of Purple Rain was written before the year it was nominated? When something was written, and when it was released to be considered for any award are two very different things.

Mong said:

All I Do is from 1967 I guess.

At the age of 12 he wasn't THAT good.

graecophilos said:

Yeah,he probably shouldn't have said anything about when he wrote it,lol.

SoulAlive said:

didn't you want to write me back, David?

graecophilos said:

Fair enough, I'll believe you rather than what Stevie has said.

Technically it was 1966.

Mong said:

well, you said You THINK he said. That's quite unspecific. Listen to the songs he wrote at 12 (I forgot the names) and you'll realise that at that time his song's were heavily based on the blues pattern and not as melodious as All I Do.

We all know SW is great but from my knowledge of his music I just think it's not true.

Next time you'll say that he wrote Jesus Children at the age of eight?

Not sure if it was 66 or 68, but it was definitely the 60's.

Stevie wrote several songs years before they were debuted. "My Love Is On Fire" was done in the 80's, as a piece for Luther Vandross. It didn't debut on album until 2005.

He's got tons of stuff probably he still hasn't put to record yet.

*I doubt Stevie wrote "All I Do" at the age of 12. I reckon it was a couple years after he settled in at Motown. 1966 sounds more appropriate as he was regaining his footing with hits around that time.
[Edited 10/7/09 17:43pm]

i can remember the time stevie was the guest host and musical guest on snl in '84, i believe. (he was hella funny in some of those skits, too.)

he sang 'overjoyed' on the show. i didn't know it was supposed to be on 'secret life of'. wow, that's something.

'all i do' is one of my favorite stevie songs. i never knew it was so old, either.

stevie is sooooo talented.

1966 is when Tammi Terrell recorded "All I Do," but it could've been written earlier.

Also, Stevie did say that he wrote "Ribbon In The Sky" in his mother's basement in 1968.

I can believe he wrote "Ribbon" in '68.

man, Ribbon is probably my favorite (or second favorite) SW track. I can't believe he kept it back for so long.

A shame it didn't have a bigger impact on the top 100. Should have been #1.

graecophilos said:

Having been lucky enough to hear a lot of unreleased Stevie stuff, there are songs I've heard which are early recorded versions of stuff that came out much later on. The early versions are usually a bit more harmonically straight forward. It's conceivable that he wrote "All I Do" when he was 12 and then revised it harmonically. So there.

Mong said:

It's still heavily based on speculation. I would consider to believe it when Stevie admits it.

PLEASE,

anyone,

is there a list of songs recorded after 1982 that were written during the classic period?

Feeding Off The Love Of The Land is from 1974

My Love's On Fire - from 1982

ernestsewell said:

After Berlin's win for Top Gun's Take My Breath Away, the Academy changed the rules and required the movies producers prove that songs were commissioned for the actual film they are being nominated for. Not sure how they go about proving that though.

PLEASE,

anyone,

is there a list of songs recorded after 1982 that were written during the classic period?

Feeding Off The Love Of The Land is from 1974

My Love's On Fire - from 1982[/quote]

Overjoyed from 1979
Skeletons is from the 1970s
My Eyes Don't Cry No More - 1976
In Your Corner - 1973
Each Other's Throat - 1979
All About Love Again-1972

All this means is that his vault is KICKASS!!!!!
he's been "playin'" w/us the WHOLE TIME!!!!!

manray10 said:

Overjoyed from 1979
Skeletons is from the 1970s
My Eyes Don't Cry No More - 1976
In Your Corner - 1973
Each Other's Throat - 1979
All About Love Again-1972[/quote]

cool, thank you. Any more known songs?

Cryin Through The Night '74

Mong said:

ah, thanks I've got a short demo snippet of that.

Not a fan of this song but man, the version with real drums and stuff sounds so much better.