We all need a little more funk in our lives, don’t we? Yes we do!
Stevie Wonder - Stevie Wonder’s Original Musiquarium I
It has been said many, many times… but Stevie Wonder sees more than most. His music is insightful and filled with such clear pictures and visions it is all the more remarkable that he is blind.
His records work on many levels… political… spiritual… but always and most importantly, they work musically!
Eddie Murphy’s zany impression aside… he is a true musical genius!
I was going to do Innervisions, which is a stunner and a record Rolling Stone has on its greatest albums list… but when I saw this one on the shelf… I knew I had to do it. I go back and forth with greatest hits collections and compilations and often think it is a cop-out… With some artists it is simply a delightful treasure trove and a great way to sample and taste… and some artists need an overview to entice you to explore more…
Stevie Wonder, of course, needs nothing other than to be heard.
This is from AllMusic on Innervisions: ”Amazingly, Wonder only upped the ante with his next album, 1973′s Innervisions, a concept album about the state of contemporary society that ranks with Gaye’s What’s Going On as a pinnacle of socially conscious R&B. The ghetto chronicle “Living for the City” and the intense spiritual self-examination “Higher Ground” both went to number one on the R&B charts and the pop Top Ten, and Innervisions took home a Grammy for Album of the Year.”
There a few Wonder collections, but this may be my favorite…
AllMusic says: ”Released in 1982, the double-album Original Musiquarium I summarizes Stevie Wonder’s classic period of the ’70s, concentrating primarily on the hits, but adding a few album tracks to hint at the depth of his albums, as well as four new songs (one for each side, all pleasant, none particularly remarkable). Though there could be some dispute about the album tracks, this does wind up as an excellent overview of Wonder’s period of greatest activity, and it’s a terrific listen to boot — any record that sports such hits as “Superstition,” “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” “Living for the City,” “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” “Higher Ground,” “Sir Duke,” “Boogie on Reggae Woman,” and “I Wish” is guaranteed to be a great listen, and it is. Wonder remains a quintessential album artist, but this record is a terrific snapshot of the highlights.”
I like that… a snapshot… and that is exactly what this… a little taste of the musical genus that is Stevie Wonder. A little Christmas Eve, Eve ’s gift… a fourth night of Chanukah present. Something to enjoy… and then, yes… whet your appetite not for destruction, but for deep, deep Stevie exploration.
Enjoy and get down and get funky!
