Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key of Life (2LP with a 7" vinyl)
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COMPILATION
Stevie Wonder – Lead vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, harmonica (D2), handclaps (D2), backing vocals (D4) [click here to see more vinyl featuring Stevie Wonder]
George Benson - Backing Vocals (D4), Guitar (D4) [click here to see more vinyl featuring George Benson]
Herbie Hancock – Keyboards (D2), handclap (D2) [click here to see more vinyl featuring Herbie Hancock]
Vocals – Wonderlove (A4), Shirley Brewer (B5)
Backing Vocals - Josie James (D4)
Backing Vocals – Artece May (A4), Josie James (A4), Michael Gray (A4), Shirley Brewer (A4), Renee Hardaway (B1), West Angeles Church Of God Choir (B3) [Addie Cox, Carolyn Johnson, Dennis Swindell, Ethel Enoex, Jacqueline F. English, James Lambert, Lonnie Morgan, Michael Gray (2), Michael Wycoff, Phillip Kimble, Rosana Starks, Sheryl Walker], Hare Krishna (B3) [Agnideva Dása, Baradras, Bhakta Eddie, Bhakta Kevin, Cinmayi Dasi, Duryodhana Guru Dása, Jayasacinandana Dása, Jitamrtyu Dása, Rukmini, Vedauyása Dása, Yogamaya Dasi], Charity McCrary (B5), Deniece Williams (B5), Linda McCrary (B5), Lynda Laurence (B5), Madelaine 'Gypsy' Jones (B5), Mary Lee Whitney (B5), Minnie Riperton (B5), Sundray Tucker (B5), Syreeta Wright (B5), Terry Hendricks (B5), Susaye Green (C2), Mary Lee Whitney (D2), Carolyn Dennis (F1)
Keyboards – Gregory Phillinganes (A4, C1-2, E1)
Percussion [Collinga] – Eddie "Bongo" Brown (A1)
Percussion – Bobbye Hall (B3), Raymond Maldonado (B3), Nastee Latimer (B4), Amale Mathews (D1), Charles Brewer (D1), John Fischbach (D1), Josette Valentino (D1), Marietta Waters (D1), Nathan Watts (D1), Nelson Hayes (D1), Renee Hardaway (D1), Shirley Brewer (D1)
Bass – Nathan Watts (A4-5, D2, D4, E2, F2)
Drums – Raymond Pounds (A4-5, B1), Greg Brown (D2)
Trombone – George Bohanon (C3), Glen Ferris (C3)
Lead Guitar – Mike Sembello (A4-5, B5, E1), WG 'Snuffy' Walden (F1)
Rhythm Guitar – Ben Bridges (A4-5, B4, E1, F1), Mike Sembello (F1)
Steel Guitar – Peter "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow (E2)
Guitar – Dean Parks (D2)
Saxophone – Jim Horn (E2)
Alto Saxophone – Hank Redd (A5, B1, C3, D4)
Tenor Saxophone – Trevor Lawrence (A5, B1, D4), Hank Redd (B5, C3)
Flute – Bobbi Humphrey (D4)
Percussion – Nathan Alford, Jr. (D4)
Timbales – Carmello Hungria Garcia (D4)
Trumpet – Raymond Maldonado (A5, B1, D4), Steve Madaio (A5, B1, C3, D4)
Organ – Ronnie Foster (B4)
Harp – Dorothy Ashby (D2)
Handclaps – Artece Mary (C1), Brenda Barrett (C1), Carole Cole (C1), Coleen Carleton (C1), Dave Henson (C1, D2), Edna Orso (C1), Josette Valentino (C1, D2), Nelson Hayes (C1), Shirley Brewer (C1), Tucker (C1), Nathan Watts (D2), Yolanda Simmons (D2)
Arranged by Stevie Wonder
Spanish translation by Ray Maldonado (D1)
Zulu translation by Thoko Mdalose Hall (D1)
Written by Stevie Wonder (all tracks), Calvin Hardaway (A2), Shatema Byrd (A3), Michael Sembello (E1)
2 LPs + a 7" vinyl, gatefold jacket, including voucher to download MP3 version of the album
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’ & 7"
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Optimal Media GmbH
Label : Motown
Original Label : Motown
Recorded 1974-76 at Crystal Sound, Hollywood; Record Plant Los Angeles; Record Plant Sausalito; The Hit Factory, New York City
Engineered by Gary Olazabal, John Fischbach
Produced by Stevie Wonder
Mastered by Andrew Berliner, Jeff Sanders
Originally released in September 1976
Reissued in September 2017
Tracks:
Side A:
- Love's In Need of Love Today
- Have a Talk With God
- Village Ghetto Land
- Contusion
- Sir Duke
Side B:
- I Wish
- Knocks Me Off MY Feet
- Pastime Paradise
- Summer Soft
- Ordinary Pain
Side C:
- Isn't She Lovely
- Joy Inside My Tears
- Black Man
Side D:
- Ngiculela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing
- If It's Magic
- As
- Another Star
Side E (7" Bonus vinyl):
- Saturn
- Ebony Eyes
Side F (7" Bonus vinyl):
- All Day Sucker
- Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)
Awards:
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rated 4/500
Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 19th Grammy Awards
Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002
Number 89 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums
Reviews :
"Steveland Hardaway Morris (better known as Stevie Wonder), was already signed to Motown Records when he exploded on the music scene in 1963. A live recording of “Fingertips Pt. 2”, featuring “Little” Stevie Wonder on harmonica, electrified the music world. It turned out that this phenomenally talented youngster could sing, play piano and compose. Like Ray Charles before him, blindness was never a hindrance. As a Motown artist, Wonder created a series of successful singles and albums. With each ensuing project, his collective role as composer and artist in control increased.
In the early seventies, the social aspects of music emerged. Motown artist, Marvin Gaye raised the bar with the unforgettable “What’s Going On” album. Wonder embarked on a series of projects that elevated him to legendary status. Talking Book, released in 1972 features the No. 1 hit single, “Superstition”. The song became iconic for the impressive hook-driven lead on the Hohner Clavinet keyboard. Political, social and personal themes permeated the songwriting. The following release, Innervisions, continued with superior production and contemporary narratives. By 1976, Wonder had evolved into a transformative musical artist whose instrumental and compositional acuity blossomed.
Songs In The Key Of Life, considered by many to be Stevie Wonder’s masterpiece, was released and received three Grammys including Album Of The Year. Of greater note is the unbridled ambition of this venture. With songs mostly composed, produced, arranged and performed by the artist, he created a symphonic mosaic of expression. Within the two LPs and one EP are brilliant indelible songs. The use of synthesizers and exultant vocal arrangements is mesmerizing. Highlights are almost too numerous to detail. The opening track, “Love’s In Need Of Love Today” is a lyrical, heartfelt reflection on the human condition. The gospel harmonies are irresistible and his singing is expressive. Use of a repeat chorus (also used on Talking Book’s “I Believe When I Fall In Love /It Will Be Forever”) is hypnotic and emotional. The celebration of his daughter’s birth is presented with pop-infused tempo on “Isn’t She Lovely”. Signature chromatic harmonica riffs inspire the jam. A stunning duet with voice and synthesizer bring a classical aesthetic to counter the gritty narrative of “Village Ghetto Land”. Ballads like “As”, “Joy Inside My Tears” and “Knocks Me Off My Feet” are suffused by his versatile, elegant singing.
There are moments of utter brilliance in many of the up tempo songs. “Sir Duke” pays homage to the great big band artists (Ellington, Basie, Miller, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald) with funky horn choruses. Wonder reinvents rhythm and blues grooves with the keyboard lead on “I Wish” The recounting of childhood is timeless and doubles a one of the best dance songs of all time.
On a serious note, “Black Man” imparts a lesson (“…this world was made for all men…”) grounded in a pulsating tempo. Layered synthesizers approximate a full sound. The call and response spoken parts are both inspiring and chilling. “Pastime Paradise” (later sampled by rap star Coolio as “Gangsta’s Paradise”) utilizes synthesized strings and Middle Eastern percussion to coalesce the complicated, universal themes that inhabit his world. Wonder’s intellectual curiosity and spiritual musings push the barriers of his art. “Ngiculela/Es Una Historia/I am Singing” is performed in Zulu, Spanish and English. There is superfluous material (on the EP), but the scope of this album is so expansive, it hardly matters.
The re-mastering to audiophile vinyl enhances the sonic quality of the music. The overdubbed synthesizers and blended vocals are captured with fluidity and deep tones. Minor details like intricate percussion and individual keyboard pieces are not lost in the mix. The packaging is high quality and simple in design. An informative twenty-four page booklet will delight trivia seekers. For anyone considering a foray into audiophile vinyl (or for those wishing to add to their collection) Songs In The Key Of Life is as good as it gets!” John Sunier, Audiophile Audition, Sep 2011
“Songs in the Key of Life was Stevie Wonder's longest, most ambitious collection of songs, a two-LP (plus accompanying EP) set that -- just as the title promised -- touched on nearly every issue under the sun, and did it all with ambitious (even for him), wide-ranging arrangements and some of the best performances of Wonder's career. The opening "Love's in Need of Love Today" and "Have a Talk with God" are curiously subdued, but Stevie soon kicks into gear with "Village Ghetto Land," a fierce exposé of ghetto neglect set to a satirical Baroque synthesizer. Hot on its heels comes the torrid fusion jam "Contusion," a big, brassy hit tribute to the recently departed Duke Ellington in "Sir Duke," and (another hit, this one a Grammy winner as well) the bumping poem to his childhood, "I Wish." Though they didn't necessarily appear in order, Songs in the Key of Life contains nearly a full album on love and relationships, along with another full album on issues social and spiritual. Fans of the love album Talking Book can marvel that he sets the bar even higher here, with brilliant material like the tenderly cathartic and gloriously redemptive "Joy Inside My Tears," the two-part, smooth-and-rough "Ordinary Pain," the bitterly ironic "All Day Sucker," or another classic heartbreaker, "Summer Soft." Those inclined toward Stevie Wonder the social-issues artist had quite a few songs to focus on as well: "Black Man" was a Bicentennial school lesson on remembering the vastly different people who helped build America; "Pastime Paradise" examined the plight of those who live in the past and have little hope for the future; "Village Ghetto Land" brought listeners to a nightmare of urban wasteland; and "Saturn" found Stevie questioning his kinship with the rest of humanity and amusingly imagining paradise as a residency on a distant planet. If all this sounds overwhelming, it is; Stevie Wonder had talent to spare during the mid-'70s, and instead of letting the reserve trickle out during the rest of the decade, he let it all go with one massive burst. (His only subsequent record of the '70s was the similarly gargantuan but largely instrumental soundtrack Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants.)” AllMusic Review by John Bush
"Making this record, Wonder would often stay in the studio forty-eight hours straight, not eating or sleeping, while everyone around him struggled to keep up. "If my flow is goin', I keep on until I peak," he said. The flow went so well, Wonder released twenty-one songs, packaged as a double album and a bonus EP. The highlights are the joyful "Isn't She Lovely" and "Sir Duke," but Wonder also displays his effortless mastery of funk, jazz, balladry, Afrobeat and even a string-quartet minuet." - www.rollingstone.com
Ratings :
AllMusic : 5 / 5 , Discogs : 4,69 / 5