He's Misstra Know-It-All

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"He's Misstra Know-It-All"
Misstraknowitall.jpeg
Single by Stevie Wonder
from the album Innervisions
B-side "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover"
ReleasedApril 1974
RecordedApril 5-8, 1973
Studio
Genre Soul, pop [1]
Length3:25 (single version)
5:38 (album version)
Label Tamla
Songwriter(s) Stevie Wonder
Producer(s)
Stevie Wonder singles chronology
"Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing"
(1973)		"He's Misstra Know-It-All"
(1974)		"You Haven't Done Nothin'"
(1974)
Official audio
He's Misstra Know-It-All (album version) on YouTube

"He's Misstra Know-It-All" is a single by Stevie Wonder for the Tamla (Motown) label, from his Innervisions album, which reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1974. [2] The song takes the form of a mellow ballad with a steady beat, principally a solo performance with Wonder providing lead vocal, background vocal, piano, drums, handclaps and congas. [3] Horn sounds are played on the Moog synthesizer that is programmed by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff. [4] Ethereal flute-like sounds are provided by the TONTO modular synthesizer that is also programmed by Cecil and Margouleff. Willie Weeks, on electric bass, is the only other musician. [3] Towards the end of the song the mood changes to a stronger feel, more strident singing and with hand-claps emphasising the beat, half-beat and quarter-beat.

Contents

"He's Misstra Know-It-All" was re-released in 1977 in both the UK and US as the B-side to "Sir Duke".

The song is essentially a long description of a know-it-all confidence trickster character who is a "man with a plan", who has a slick answer to all his critics and who has "a counterfeit dollar in his hand". It has been alleged that this is a reference to United States' President Richard Nixon, who resigned the same year the song was released. [5] [6] [7]

Recording

The song was started and completed in a matter of three days. Piano, drums and lead vocals were recorded on April 5, 1973. Harp [ clarification needed ] and background vocals were recorded on April 6. Synthesizer overdubs and mixing took place on April 8. [4]

Track listing

A. "He's Misstra Know-It-All" – 3:25 (Stevie Wonder)
B. "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover" – 2:32 [8] (Wonder, Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy) [9]

Personnel

Information is based on the album’s liner notes [3]

References

  1. ↑ McFerrin, John. "Stevie Wonder- Innervisions". johnmcferrinmusicreviews.org. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Official Charts Company - Stevie Wonder". Official UK Charts. July 23, 2012. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Wonder, Stevie. Innervisions (Liner Notes). Tamla Motown. 1973.
  4. 1 2 Williams, Chris (July 15, 2021). "Expanding Soul". wax-poetics. Retrieved December 8, 2024. Originally published in Digital Content, August 7, 2013.
  5. ↑ Chappell, Arthur (January 10, 2014), "The Story In The Song - Stevie Wonder - He's Misstra Know It All", Bubblews. Archived April 22, 2015, at archive.today .
  6. ↑ Frick, Daniel E. (2008), "Bibliography", Reinventing Richard Nixon: A Cultural History of an American Obsession, University Press of Kansas, p. 303; ISBN   9780700615995.
  7. ↑ Lynskey, Dorian (May 4, 2007). "Readers recommend: Songs about politicians". The Guardian .
  8. ↑ "Stevie Wonder – He's Misstra Know It All", discogs.com.
  9. ↑ "Stevie Wonder – He's Misstra Know It All" Archived December 5, 2014, at the Wayback Machine at Discogs.
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