Stevie Wonder – Innervisions (200g, Edition Japonaise)
RARITY - Sealed
Bass, Drums, Electric Piano, vocals – Stevie Wonder [click here to see more vinyl featuring Stevie Wonder]
Backing Vocals – Jim Gilstrap, Lani Groves, Tasha Thomas
Acoustic Guitar – Dean Parks, Ralph Hammer
Bass – Malcolm Cecil, Scott Edwards, Willie Weeks
Electric Guitar – David "T" Walker
Congas – Larry "Nastyee" Latimer
Organ – Clarence Bell
Bongos, Percussion [Latin Gourd] – Sheila Wilkerson
Shaker – Yusuf Roahman
1 LP, Gatefold Jacket
Original analog Master Tape : YES
Heavy Press : 200g
Record Color : Black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12’’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : unspecified (Japan)
Label : Universal Japan
Original Label : Tamla Motown
Recorded in 1973 at Record Plant, New York City - Mediasound, New York City
Engineered, Produced [Associate], Programmed by [Arp, Moog] – Malcolm Cecil, Robert Margouleff
Illustration by Efram Wolff
Mastered by George Marino
Produced, Arranged by, Instruments [All], Synthesizer [Arp, Moog], Written by Stevie Wonder
Recorded at Record Plant, Los Angeles and Media Sound, Inc., New York
Produced by Stevie Wonder, Robert Margouleff
Recording coordinators : John Harris, Ira Tucker Jr.
Originally released in 1973
Reissued in 2007
Tracks:
Side A:
- Too High
- Visions
- Living For The City
- Golden Lady
Side B:
- Higher Ground
- Jesus Children Of America
- All In Love Is Fair
- Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing
- He's Misstra Know-It-All
Reviews :
When Stevie Wonder applied his tremendous songwriting talents to the unsettled social morass that was the early '70s, he produced one of his greatest, most important works, a rich panoply of songs addressing drugs, spirituality, political ethics, the unnecessary perils of urban life, and what looked to be the failure of the '60s dream -- all set within a collection of charts as funky and catchy as any he'd written before. Two of the highlights, "Living for the City" and "Too High," make an especially deep impression thanks to Stevie's narrative talents; on the first, an eight-minute mini-epic, he brings a hard-scrabble Mississippi black youth to the city and illustrates, via a brilliant dramatic interlude, what lies in wait for innocents. (He also uses his variety of voice impersonations to stunning effect.) "Too High" is just as stunning, a cautionary tale about drugs driven by a dizzying chorus of scat vocals and a springing bassline. "Higher Ground," a funky follow-up to the previous album's big hit ("Superstition"), and "Jesus Children of America" both introduced Wonder's interest in Eastern religion. It's a tribute to his genius that he could broach topics like reincarnation and transcendental meditation in a pop context with minimal interference to the rest of the album. Wonder also made no secret of the fact that "He's Misstra Know-It-All" was directed at Tricky Dick, aka Richard Milhouse Nixon, then making headlines (and destroying America's faith in the highest office) with the biggest political scandal of the century. Putting all these differing themes and topics into perspective was the front cover, a striking piece by Efram Wolff portraying Stevie Wonder as the blind visionary, an artist seeing far better than those around him what was going on in the early '70s, and using his astonishing musical gifts to make this commentary one of the most effective and entertaining ever heard. AllMusic. Review by John Bush.
Ratings :
AllMusic : 5 / 5 ; Discogs : 4.86 / 5 ; The Austin Chronicle : 5 / 5 ; Encyclopedia of Popular Music : 5 / 5 ; The Great Rock Discography : 10 / 10 ; Los Angeles Times : 4 / 5 ; MusicHoundRock : 5 / 5 ; The New Rolling Stone Album Guide : 5 / 5 ; Pitchfork : 10 / 10 ; Slant Magazine : 5 / 5