Stevland Hardaway Morris, known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include R&B, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz. A virtual one-man band, Wonder's use of synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions of contemporary R&B. He also helped drive such genres into the album era, crafting his LPs as cohesive and consistent, in addition to socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was a child prodigy who signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder.
Talking Book is the fifteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on October 27, 1972, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. This album and Music of My Mind, released earlier the same year, are generally considered to mark the start of Wonder's "classic period". The sound of the album is sharply defined by Wonder's use of keyboards and synthesizers.
Innervisions is the sixteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on August 3, 1973, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. A landmark recording of Wonder's "classic period", the album has been regarded as completing his transition from the "Little Stevie Wonder" known for romantic ballads into a more musically mature, conscious, and grown-up artist. On the album, Wonder continued to experiment with the revolutionary T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer system developed by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, and Innervisions became hugely influential on the future sound of commercial soul and black music.
Diamonds & Rust is the sixteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Joan Baez, released in 1975. The album covered songs written or played by Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, The Allman Brothers, Jackson Browne and John Prine. Diamonds & Rust, however, also contains a number of her own compositions, including the title track, a distinctive song written about Bob Dylan, which has been covered by various other artists.
Good Old Boys is the fourth studio album by American musician Randy Newman, released on September 10, 1974 on Reprise Records, catalogue number 2193. It was Newman's first album to obtain major commercial success, peaking at number 36 on the Billboard 200 and number 58 in Canada. The premiere live performance of the album took place on October 5, 1974, at the Symphony Hall in Atlanta, Georgia, with guest Ry Cooder and Newman conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Tonto's Expanding Head Band was a British-American electronic music duo consisting of Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff. Despite releasing only two albums in the early 1970s, the duo were influential in the development of electronic music and helped bring the synthesizer to the mainstream through session and production work for other musicians and extensive commercial advertising work.
Fulfillingness' First Finale is the seventeenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, released on July 22, 1974 by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. It is the fourth of five albums from what is considered Wonder's "classic period".
Where I'm Coming From is the 13th studio album by Stevie Wonder. The album was released by Motown Records on April 9, 1971 and peaked on the Billboard Pop Albums at #62, and on the Billboard R&B Albums Chart at #7. All nine songs were written by Wonder and Motown singer-songwriter Syreeta Wright, his first wife. It was the last album produced under his first contract with Motown Records. Including live albums, this is Stevie Wonder's fifteenth album overall, and thirteenth studio album.
3 + 3 is the eleventh album released by the Isley Brothers for the Epic label under their T-Neck imprint on August 7, 1973. In 2020, the album was ranked at 464 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.
It's My Pleasure is the tenth studio album by Billy Preston, released in June 1975 on A&M Records. The album shows the modernisation of Preston's music, placing a heavier emphasis on synthesizers. It was also his first collaboration with the singer Syreeta Wright who sings on one track. The album is notable for featuring harmonica by Stevie Wonder on two tracks. George Harrison also appears, playing guitar on "That's Life".
Signed, Sealed & Delivered is the 12th studio album by American recording artist Stevie Wonder, released on August 7, 1970, by Tamla Records. The album featured four hits that hit the Billboard Hot 100: "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" (#3), "Heaven Help Us All" (#9), "Never Had a Dream Come True" (#26) and Wonder's cover of The Beatles' "We Can Work It Out" (#13). The album hit #25 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart as well as #7 on the R&B Albums chart.
Characters is the twenty-first studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, released in late 1987. The album features six singles including the Grammy-nominated "Skeletons" (#19) and "You Will Know" (#77), which both reached number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. The album also contained a duet with Michael Jackson, "Get It" (#80), that was a minor hit.
Conversation Peace is the 22nd album released by American musician Stevie Wonder, on the Motown label in 1995. The album was Wonder's first full-length non-soundtrack studio album since 1987's Characters. This album yielded the hits "For Your Love" and the reggae-flavored "Tomorrow Robins Will Sing". This album also saw Wonder reuniting with Robert Margouleff, who assisted during Wonder's "classic period" from 1972 to 1974.
"Superwoman " is a 1972 soul track by Stevie Wonder. It was the second track on Wonder's Music of My Mind album, and was also released as the first single. The song reached a peak of number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Open Our Eyes is the fifth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released on March 25, 1974 on Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 15 on the Top Pop Albums chart. Open Our Eyes has been certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
Malcolm Cecil was a British jazz bassist, record producer, engineer, electronic musician and teacher. He was a founding member of a leading UK jazz quintet of the late 1950s, the Jazz Couriers, before going on to join a number of British jazz combos led by Dick Morrissey, Tony Crombie and Ronnie Scott in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He later joined Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner to form the original line-up of Blues Incorporated. Cecil subsequently collaborated with Robert Margouleff to form the duo TONTO's Expanding Head Band, a project based on a unique combination of synthesizers which led to them collaborating on and co-producing several of Stevie Wonder's Grammy-winning albums of the early 1970s. The TONTO synthesizer was described by Rolling Stone as "revolutionary".
Robert Margouleff is an American record producer, recording engineer, electronic music pioneer, audio expert, and film producer.
Syreeta is the debut studio album by American R&B and soul singer and songwriter Syreeta Wright, released on June 20, 1972, on MoWest, a subsidiary of Motown Records.
"Living for the City" is a 1973 single by Stevie Wonder from his Innervisions album. It reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 1 on the R&B chart. Rolling Stone ranked the song number 104 on their 2004 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Zero Time is the debut album by British-American electronic music duo Tonto's Expanding Head Band, released on 15 June 1971 by Embryo Records. The album is a showcase for TONTO, a multitimbral, polyphonic synthesiser built by the two members of the band, Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, as a developed version of the Moog III synth in 1969. The duo began producing their own music together on the synth with the intention to push the machine's abilities, and their own abilities as musicians, to the limit. Recording their compositions in New York, they approached TONTO with no pre-conceived notions and intended to make music intrinsic to the synthesiser.
