Tuesday 13 July 2010

Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life"




After running off a rapid-fire string of hits and a shelf full of Grammy awards in the early Seventies, Stevie Wonder signed an unprecedented $13 million contract renewal with Motown Records — and then he made them wait. And wait and wait. Two-plus years passed after 1974's Fulfillingness' First Finale, an eternity in R&B. But when he delivered Songs in the Key of Life, a double-album with a bonus EP included, there was no doubt that the wait was worth it. It topped the charts for almost three months, and featured more true classics than even most great artists write in a lifetime. Celebrating childhood ("I Wish"), jazz ("Sir Duke"), and the beginnings of life itself ("Isn't She Lovely"), or reflecting on more serious issues like poverty “Village Ghetto Land”, and the desire for racial equality ("Black Man"), Songs in the Key of Life was a powerhouse — a rare moment when a master was faced with a new level of pressure, and responded by taking his game to new heights.


Tracklist:

Volume I
01. Love's in Need of Love Today
02. Have a Talk with God
03. Village Ghetto Land
04. Contusion
05. Sir Duke
06. I Wish
07. Knocks Me Off My Feet
08. Pastime Paradise
09. Summer Soft
10. Ordinary Pain

Volume II
11. Isn't She Lovely
12. Joy Inside My Tears
13. Black Man
14. Ngiculela - Es Una Historia/I Am Singing
15. If It's Magic
16. As
17. Another Star
18. Saturn
19. Ebony Eyes
20. All Day Sucker
21. Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)




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