Tribute to Uncle Ray

Last updated
Tribute to Uncle Ray
TributeToUncleRay.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 1962
Recorded1962
Studio Hitsville U.S.A. Studio A, Detroit, Michigan
Genre Jazz pop [1]
Length31:13
Label Tamla
Producer Henry Cosby, Clarence Paul
Little Stevie Wonder chronology
The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie
(1962)
Tribute to Uncle Ray
(1962)
Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius
(1963)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Tom Hull B [3]
New Record Mirror Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]

Tribute to Uncle Ray is the second studio album by Little Stevie Wonder, released by Motown in October 1962, shortly after The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie . Even though it was released second, it had been recorded first, when Wonder was 11 years old. [5] The album was an attempt by Berry Gordy and Motown to associate the young "Little Stevie Wonder" with the successful and popular Ray Charles, who was also a blind African-American musician. [6] Like Wonder's debut, this album failed to generate hit singles, as Motown struggled to find a sound to fit Wonder, who was just 12 when this album was released.

Track listing

All songs composed by Ray Charles, except where indicated.

Side one
  1. "Hallelujah I Love Her So" – 2:28
  2. "Ain't That Love" – 2:42
  3. "Don't You Know" – 3:03
  4. "(I'm Afraid) The Masquerade Is Over" (Herbert Magidson, Allie Wrubel) – 4:19
  5. "Frankie & Johnny" (Traditional; arranged by Clarence Paul) – 2:51
Side two
  1. "Drown in My Own Tears" (Henry Glover) – 4:01
  2. "Come Back Baby" – 2:50
  3. "Mary Ann" – 2:59
  4. "Sunset" (Stevie Wonder as Stevie Judkins, Clarence Paul) – 3:32
  5. "My Baby's Gone" (Berry Gordy, Jr.) – 2:28

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References

  1. Breihan, Tom (November 15, 2022). "The Supremes - "Where Did Our Love Go". The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. New York: Hachette Book Group. p. 56.
  2. Tribute to Uncle Ray review by William Ruhlmann, AllMusic.
  3. Hull, Tom (November 2013). "Recycled Goods (#114)". A Consumer Guide to the Trailing Edge. Tom Hull. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  4. Watson, Jimmy (14 September 1963). "Little Stevie Wonder: Tribute To Uncle Ray" (PDF). New Record Mirror . No. 131. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  5. Bob Gulla (2008). Icons of R&B and Soul. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 314. ISBN   9780313340468.
  6. Ribowsky, Mark. Signed, Sealed and Delivered: The Soulful Journey of Stevie Wonder.