Talking Book at 50: Stevie Wonder's Creative Awakening cover art

Talking Book at 50: Stevie Wonder's Creative Awakening

Talking Book at 50: Stevie Wonder's Creative Awakening

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October 17th holds a sweet spot in music history thanks to Stevie Wonder, who on this day in 1972 released the album Talking Book, a record that basically rewired what pop and soul music could sound like. Stevie was only twenty two years old, already a veteran performer who had grown up inside the Motown machine, but with this album he stepped fully into creative control, playing most of the instruments himself and leaning hard into the warm, wobbly, futuristic sounds of the synthesizer, especially the clavinet and the ARP. Talking Book is the record that gave the world Superstition, that strutting, funky, horn punctuated anthem built around one of the most instantly recognizable keyboard riffs ever written. Stevie actually wrote Superstition with guitarist Jeff Beck in mind, intending to give it to him as a thank you for session work, but Motown heard its hit potential and pushed Stevie to release it first as his own single. It became his first number one pop hit in years and reintroduced him to the world as a serious force in popular music, not just a prodigy or a novelty. The album also delivered You Are the Sunshine of My Life, a gentle, jazzy love song that could not sound more different from Superstition, which really shows off the range Stevie was working with. One record, two completely different moods, both massive hits. That kind of versatility became a signature of his run through the 1970s. Talking Book is often cited as the true beginning of what people now call Stevie Wonder's classic period, the stretch of albums through Innervisions, Fulfillingness First Finale, and Songs in the Key of Life that cemented him as one of the most important artists of the era. Musically, it blended funk, soul, rock, and jazz harmony in a way that felt both intimate and expansive, and it leaned into personal, socially aware songwriting at a time when a lot of pop music was still playing it safe. There is also a fun bit of music trivia tied to this release. Because Stevie was legally blind, the original album packaging included Braille lettering on the back cover, which was a rare and thoughtful touch for a major label release at that time and added to the personal, handmade feeling of the whole project. So on October 17th, we got to celebrate the day the world received Talking Book, an album that gave us one of the funkiest riffs in music history, one of the sweetest love songs ever recorded, and a clear signal that Stevie Wonder was entering a creative peak that would help define the sound of the decade. Some great Deals https://amzn.to/49SJ3Qs For more check out http://www.quietplease.ai
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