For Once in My Life (Stevie Wonder album)

For Once in My Life
Studio album by Stevie Wonder
Released	December 6, 1968
Recorded	Mid 1967 December 1967–February 1968 April–August 1968
Venue	35:15
Studio	Hitsville U.S.A., Detroit, Michigan
Genre	Soul [1] jazz [1] pop [2]
Label	Tamla
Producer	Henry Cosby, Don Hunter, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder chronology
Eivets Rednow (1968) For Once in My Life (1968) My Cherie Amour (1969)
Singles from For Once in My Life
"Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" Released: April 30, 1968 "You Met Your Match" Released: June 25, 1968 "For Once in My Life" Released: October 15, 1968 "I Don't Know Why" Released: January 28, 1969

For Once in My Life is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder on Motown Records, released in November 1968. Then 18 years old, Wonder had established himself as one of Motown's consistent hit-makers. This album continued Wonder's growth as a vocalist and songwriter, and is the first album where he shares credit as producer. It featured four songs that hit the Hot 100 charts: "For Once in My Life" (No. 2), "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" (No. 9) and the modest hits "I Don't Know Why" (No. 39) and "You Met Your Match" (No. 35). It also marked the debut of the Hohner Clavinet on a Stevie Wonder album, which would become a mainstay on albums to come.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
Rolling Stone	[4]

Track listing

Side one

1. "For Once In My Life" (Ron Miller, Orlando Murden) 2:48
2. "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" (Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy, Stevie Wonder) 2:45
3. "You Met Your Match" (Lula Mae Hardaway, Don Hunter, Wonder) 2:37
4. "I Wanna Make Her Love Me" (Henry Cosby, Hardaway, Moy, Wonder) 2:52
5. "I'm More Than Happy (I'm Satisfied)" (Henry Cosby, Cameron Grant, Moy, Wonder) 2:56
6. "I Don't Know Why" (Hardaway, Hunter, Paul Riser, Stevie Wonder) 2:46

Side two

1. "Sunny" (Bobby Hebb) 4:00
2. "I'd Be a Fool Right Now" (Cosby, Moy, Wonder) 2:54
3. "Ain't No Lovin'" (Hardaway, Hunter, Riser, Wonder) 2:36
4. "God Bless the Child" (Arthur Herzog Jr., Billie Holiday) 3:27
5. "Do I Love Her" (Wonder, Moy) 2:58
6. "The House on the Hill" (Lawrence Brown, Berry Gordy, Allen Story) 2:36

Personnel

• Stevie Wonder – vocals, harmonica, piano, organ, clavinet, drums, percussion
• The Originals – backing vocals
• The Andantes – backing vocals
• Earl Van Dyke – piano on "For Once in My Life"
• James Jamerson – bass
• Uriel Jones – drums
• Robert White – guitar
• The Funk Brothers – all other instruments ^[5]

In other media

"I'd Be a Fool Right Now" would be remixed in 1977 for Wonder's Looking Back Anthology.

References

1. Considine, J.D. (2004). "Stevie Wonder". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 885–886. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
2. Pitchfork Staff (August 22, 2017). "The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s". Pitchfork . Retrieved April 15, 2023. Most significantly, it marked the first of Wonder's pop albums to feature the clavinet...
3. Ruhlmann, William (December 6, 1968). "Allmusic review". Allmusic.com. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
4. "Stevie Wonder: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
5. The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 8: 1968 [liner notes]. New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records