"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" | ||||
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Single by Stevie Wonder | ||||
from the album Up-Tight | ||||
B-side | "Purple Rain Drops" | |||
Released | November 22, 1965 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:52 | |||
Label | Tamla | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | ||||
Stevie Wonder singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
Audio | ||||
"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" by Stevie Wonder on YouTube |
"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder for the Tamla (Motown) label. [2] One of his most popular early singles,"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" was the first hit single that Wonder himself co-wrote.
A notable success,"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" peaked at number three on the US Billboard Pop Singles chart in early 1966,at the same time reaching the top of the Billboard R&B Singles chart for five weeks. [3] Billboard ranked it as the 59th biggest American hit of 1966. [4] An accompanying album, Up-Tight (1966),was rushed into production to capitalize on the single's success. It also garnered Wonder his first two career Grammy Award nominations for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance.
Wonder had a US number-one hit with "Fingertips" in 1963,and two more singles in the Top 40:"Workout,Stevie,Workout" (1963) and "Hey Harmonica Man" (1964) . But in 1965 at age 15 his voice had begun to change,and Motown CEO Berry Gordy was worried that he would no longer be a commercially viable artist. As it turned out,however,producer Clarence Paul found it easier to work with Wonder's now-mature tenor voice,and Sylvia Moy and Henry Cosby set about writing a new song for the artist,based upon an instrumental riff that Wonder had devised. [5] Nelson George,in Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound, [6] recorded that Wonder had been inspired by the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" after playing several tour dates with the Stones. As Wonder presented his ideas,finished or not,"he went through everything," remembered Moy. "I asked,'Are you sure you don't have anything else?' He started singing and playing 'Everything is alright,uptight.' That was as much as he had. I said,'That's it. Let's work with that.'" [7] The resulting song,"Uptight (Everything's Alright)",features lyrics depicting a poor young man's appreciation for a rich girl seeing beyond his poverty.
On the day of the recording,Moy had completed the lyrics,but didn't have them in braille for Wonder to read,and so sang the song to him as he was recording it. She sang a line ahead of him,and he simply repeated the lines as he heard them. In 2008,Moy commented that "he never missed a beat" during the recording. [8]
Cash Box described it as a "rhythmic,fast-moving,chorus backed pop-r&b ditty all about a lucky fella who’s got the world on a string." [9]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom (BPI) [13] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
A note-for-note re-recording of Wonder's version was used as the backing track for Bill Cosby's 1967 musical comedy single, "Little Ole Man (Uptight, Everything's Alright)", which was a US number 4 hit. Bill Cosby is not related to the song's co-writer Henry Cosby.
In 1994, British reggae singer C. J. Lewis released a cover version under the title "Everything Is Alright (Uptight)". [14] His version reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his second and final UK top-10 hit. [15] It also entered the top 20 in Ireland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. [16] [17]
The Supremes A' Go-Go is the ninth studio album released by Motown singing group the Supremes. It was the first album by an all-female group to reach number-one on the Billboard 200 album charts in the United States.
"The Tears of a Clown" is a song written by Hank Cosby, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder and originally recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles for the Tamla Records label subsidiary of Motown, first appearing on the 1967 album Make It Happen. The track was re-released in the United Kingdom as a single in July 1970, and it became a number-one hit on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending September 12, 1970. Subsequently, Motown released a partially re-recorded and completely remixed version as a single in the United States as well, where it quickly became a number-one hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B Singles charts.
"I Was Made to Love Her" is a soul music song recorded by American musician Stevie Wonder for Motown's Tamla label in 1967. The song was written by Wonder, his mother Lula Mae Hardaway, Sylvia Moy, and producer Henry Cosby and included on Wonder's 1967 album I Was Made to Love Her.
"A Place in the Sun" is a 1966 soul single by American and Motown musician Stevie Wonder. Written by Ronald Miller and Bryan Wells, it was one of Wonder's first songs to contain social commentary. "A Place in the Sun" was his third Top Ten hit since 1963, hitting number 9 on the Billboard pop singles chart and number 3 on the R&B charts. Billboard described the song as a "folk-oriented release" to which Wonder gives an "exciting treatment." The Originals and The Andantes sang background vocals on the recording. Stevie Wonder also recorded a version of the song in Italian titled "Il Sole è di Tutti".
"For Once in My Life" is a song written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records' Stein & Van Stock publishing company, and first recorded in 1965.
"Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" is a 1968 single released by American and Motown recording artist Stevie Wonder. The song, co-written by Wonder and produced by Henry Cosby and Sylvia Moy, was the first to showcase Wonder's talents at the clavinet and was one of his first successful co-written tracks during his 1960s Motown period. The song reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in 1968, and went to number one on the R&B chart.
"My Cherie Amour" is a 1969 song by Motown singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder. The song reached number 4 on the Billboard pop chart in August to be Wonder's third top ten hit. The song was co-written by Wonder, Sylvia Moy, and Henry Cosby; Cosby also served as producer of the song. At the end of 1969, the song was ranked number 32 for the year.
"Heaven Help Us All" is a 1970 soul single composed by Ron Miller and first performed by Motown singer Stevie Wonder. The song continued Wonder's string of Top 10 singles on the pop charts reaching #9 on the Hot 100 singles chart and #2 on the R&B chart, the latter causing it to be his first runner-up since "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday". It was one of four hits Wonder scored from his Signed, Sealed & Delivered album. The song has since been covered dozens of times in a variety of styles.
Up-Tight is a 1966 album by American singer Stevie Wonder, released by Motown on the Tamla label. It was his fifth studio release.
Henry R. Cosby was an American songwriter, arranger, record producer and musician who worked for Motown Records from its formative years. Along with Sylvia Moy, Cosby was a key collaborator with Stevie Wonder from 1963 to 1970. Cosby co-wrote and/or co-produced three No. 1 US hits: Stevie Wonder's "Fingertips" (1963), The Supremes' "Love Child" (1968), and The Miracles' "The Tears of a Clown" (1968).
Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings (1967) is the sixth album by Bill Cosby.
Sylvia Rose Moy was an American songwriter and record producer, formerly associated with the Motown Records group. The first woman at the Detroit-based music label to write and produce for Motown acts, she is probably best known for her songs written with and for Stevie Wonder.
Dancing in the Street: The Songs of Motown II is the sixth studio album by Australian pop vocal group Human Nature and second Motown covers release. It was released on 14 October 2006.
"Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" is a 1966 song written by Ivy Jo Hunter and Stevie Wonder. It was performed by the Four Tops via the Motown label. In addition to co-writing the song, Wonder also instrumentally contributed drums to the track.
Looking Back, also later known as Anthology, is a triple LP anthology by American soul musician Stevie Wonder, released in 1977 on Motown Records. Since its release in 12-inch triple LP format, it has not been reissued and is considered a limited edition. The album chronicles 40 songs from Wonder's first Motown period, which precedes the classic period of his critically acclaimed albums.
"Little Ole Man " is a single by comedian Bill Cosby, released in 1967 from the entertainer's first musical comedy album, Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings. On the 1968 album 200 M.P.H., Cosby states that the song was dedicated to his grandfather.
The Superstars is the third album by the Dutch soundalike studio group Stars on 45, released on the CNR Records label in the Netherlands in March 1982. In the US, the album was retitled Stars On Long Play III, released on Radio Records and credited to 'Stars On'. In the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, the album was instead titled Stars Medley, again credited to Starsound and released by CBS Records. Just like the first Stars on 45 album The Superstars was also issued in the Soviet Union and large parts of the Eastern Bloc by the state-owned label Melodiya, credited to Stars on 45 but released under the title Discotheque Stars 2.
"Stars on Stevie" a.k.a. "Stars Medley" a.k.a. "Stars on 45 III: A Tribute to Stevie Wonder" is a song issued in 1982 by the Dutch studio group Stars on 45, in the UK credited to 'Starsound', in the US 'Stars On'. It was the first single from the band's third full-length release The Superstars and was Stars on 45's fourth single release in both Europe and North America.
"Never Had a Dream Come True" is a song written by Stevie Wonder and Motown staff songwriters Henry Cosby and Sylvia Moy, released as a single on the Tamla subsidiary in February 1970. Featured on his 12th studio release, Signed, Sealed & Delivered, as the lead single, "Never Had..." was a modest hit in the U.S. upon its release, debuting at No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of Feb. 7, 1970, and No. 11 on the R&B chart. The song received a boost in the U.K. where it eventually peaked at No. 6.
Song Review: A Greatest Hits Collection is a double-disc compilation album by Stevie Wonder. It was also released as a single-disc edition, which contained six tracks not featured on the 2CD release. The Australian edition has a slightly different track listing.
It's all in this rich girl/poor boy tale: the freakish optimism, opulent funk...