Stevie Wonder: Music of My Mind [MOTOWN]

Why you'll love it

This remastered reissue comes with a replica of the original first-pressing inner sleeve. Music of My Mind reached No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart and was Wonder's first album made with full artistic control.

This edition

• Remastered
• Replica original inner sleeve
• Pressed in Canada

About the album

At 21, Stevie Wonder renegotiated his Motown contract and walked out with something almost nobody at the label had: complete control of his own records. Music of My Mind was the first thing he did with it. He had heard Tonto's Expanding Head Band, met its members Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff in May 1971, and brought them in to program the Moog and their custom TONTO synthesizer.

Then he played nearly everything himself: drums, Moog bass, Rhodes, clavinet, harmonica, talk box and every lead vocal. Art Baron's trombone on "Love Having You Around" and Buzz Feiten's guitar on "Superwoman" are about the extent of the outside help, with Syreeta on backing vocals for "Sweet Little Girl." "Superwoman" drifts through two moods in eight minutes, "Keep On Running" got a nod from Cash Box for its synthesizer work, and "Happier Than The Morning Sun" is pure warmth. "Sweet Little Girl" and "Evil" got a fresh audience when they bookended the "Teddy Perkins" episode of Atlanta.

Modern critics call it the first album of his classic period, and Sounds' Penny Valentine heard explosive genius in it at the time. It's essentially a one-man band, which is more than we can say for the staff rota here.

Also at Kops: more Stevie Wonder on vinyl · browse Motown

Tracklist

Listen

On Tamla / Motown (cat# 5010903141), a reissue of the 1972 album.