Sunday 21 December 2014

62.  Music Of My Mind. (LP) Stevie Wonder. March 1972.
By 1971/72 Stevie Wonder was in the midst of a change or direction. Freed from record company interference Wonder was able to shake off the cabaret artist that he had become and finally find himself as an artist. It took three albums to complete the transformation. The first was 71's 'Where I'm Coming From' which contained half and half of the old and new Stevie Wonder'. The process was completed by 'Talking Book', but it is the middle album of the three, 'Music Of My Mind' that shows the real transformation of 'Little Stevie Wonder' the boy genius into Stevie Wonder the man and musician.
It was the introduction of the Moog Synthesiser that allowed Wonder to find himself. At last he was able to record an album where he called all the shots because it was a true solo album, with Wonder playing all or most of the instruments himself. The result is a swirling, entranced dreamscape of electronic experimentation and new directions, half polished classics and weird shit. 'Keep on Running' is a lung bursting tryout for what would become 'Superstition' while 'Superwoman' is a ballad of almost unbelievable fragility. He never made another record as exotic or unrestrained as this.

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