December 2022 - Page 3 of 3

Album: Music of My Mind
Year: 1972

. . .

If there is any kind of thing as the “great lost Stevie Wonder album,” it would probably be Music of My Mind, the first of his two 1972 albums. Music of My Mind was also the first album where Stevie Wonder played nearly all of the instruments, as well as the first album where he focused on using synthesizers, having been turned onto them by the Tonto’s Expanding Head Band album, Zero Time.

And so, because he was Stevie Wonder, he invited the two guys from that band, Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, to come into the studio with him and help produce his next album, and bring their synth, TONTO — which stood for “The Original New Timbral Orchestra” — because he had some music in his mind that he thought TONTO would help bring out.

Album: Where I’m Coming From
Year: 1971

. . .

As he approached his 21st birthday, Stevie Wonder played a game of chicken with Motown. You see, his original contract had a clause in it that allowed him to void it when he turned 21, and Stevie took that option, which gave him even more control over his music than he’d previously enjoyed.

And so he came up with Where I’m Coming From, an awkwardly-titled transitional album that was the first time Stevie did a full album of all original-songs, in this case all co-writes with Syreeta Wright, and some reaching upwards of six minutes in length, a first for his studio albums.

Archives for December 2022

Certain Songs #2499: Stevie Wonder – “Love Having You Around”

Certain Songs #2498: Stevie Wonder – “If You Really Love Me”