Music of My Mind

Product Description:

Personnel includes: Stevie Wonder (vocals, various instruments, piano); Buzzy Felton (guitar); Art Baron (trombone); Robert Margouleff, Malcolm Cecil (programming).

Producers: Stevie Wonder, Robert Morgouleff, Malcolm Cecil.

Reissue producer: Harry Weinger.

Engineers include: Rick Rowe, Joan DeCola, Robert Margouleff.

Recorded at Media Sound and Electric Lady Studios, New York, New York and Crystal Industries, Los Angeles, California. Originally released on Tamla (T314).

Digitally remastered by Kevin Reeves.

MUSIC OF MY MIND marked a turning point in Stevie Wonder's career. Having just turned 21, he forged a new contract with Motown, negotiating complete artistic control over his albums (as Marvin Gaye had done for WHAT'S GOIN' ON). He then went to New York City's Electric Lady Studios to record this album, collaborating with synthesizer experts Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff (who also worked on INNERVISIONS and TALKING BOOK).

Like other albums to follow, Stevie wrote the vast majority of the material on MUSIC OF MY MIND. Compared to his studio work of three years prior, this music feels worlds away in many senses. That which was grand, conventional and bounteous is replaced with a feel that is at once personal, progressive and downscaled. Performing almost entirely solo, Stevie ties overdubs of keyboards, drums, harmonica and his delectable singing into well-woven audio tapestries that make his head an attractive place to spend time in.

Tunes like, "Girl Blue" wrap haunting melodies in piquant chords that echo through the soul. "Superwoman" is a summery Fender-Rhodes groove that segues to an inspired vocal rhapsody--coupled with Buzzy Feiten's guitar work, it's truly riveting. Fast, frolicking clavichord and a sweet, unaffected message make for splendid Sunday morning listening on "Happier Than The Morning Sun." Driven by a dutiful chorus, "Keep On Running" is a merry romp that never seems to stop, and you'll wish it didn't. It's been said of Stevie that "The man is his own instrument"--these recordings burst with this truth.

Compared to Stevie Wonder's Motown releases only a couple of years earlier, MUSIC OF MY MIND feels like a revelation. That which was conventional, grand, and tailored for public consumption was replaced with music at once progressive, downscaled, and deeply personal. A true solo album--he literally plays nearly every note on the album himself--Wonder ties overdubs of keyboards, drums, harmonica, and his exuberant, elastic singing into audio tapestries that astonish with their texture and beauty.

"Superwoman," one of the album's highlights, has a summery, Fender-Rhodes groove that segues into an inspired vocal rhapsody. Fast, frolicking clavichord and a sweet, unfurling melody make up "Happier Than The Morning Sun," while the warm thump and keyboard accents of "I Love Every Little Thing About You" and propulsive rhythms of "Keep On Running" are vintage Stevie. In addition to its greatly developed songwriting, production, and musicianship, MUSIC OF MY MIND marks the increased use of synthesizers and effects, paving the way for an overall sound that would reach apotheosis on masterpieces like INNERVISIONS and SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE. MUSIC OF MY MIND is the first of Wonder's '70s classics.