Songs in the Key of Life is the eighteenth album by American musician Stevie Wonder, released on Motown on September 28, 1976 (see 1976 in music). It was the culmination of his "classic period" albums.Some observers count six classic albums, some count five, and others count four. An ambitious double LP with a 4-song bonus EP,Lundy, Zeth. . Stylus Magazine. Retrieved on 2009-08-01. Songs in the Key of Life became among the best-selling and most critically acclaimed albums of his career. In 2003, the album was ranked number 56 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Conception

Background

By 1976 Stevie Wonder had become one of the most popular figures in R&B and pop music, not only in the United States but worldwide. Within a short space of time, the albums Talking Book, Innervisions and Fulfillingness' First Finale were all back-to-back top five successes, with the latter two winning Grammy Award for Album of the Year, in 1974 and 1975 respectively. By the end of 1975, Stevie Wonder became serious about quitting the music industry and to emigrate to Ghana working with handicapped children. Wonder had expressed his anger with the way that the United States Government was running the country.

Lundy, Zeth 33 1/3 Songs in the key of life, pp. 14/15.Lundy, Zeth 33 1/3 Songs in the key of life, p.119. A farewell concert was being considered as the best way to bring down the curtain on his career. Wonder changed his decision, when he signed a new contract with Motown on August 5, 1975, thinking he was better off making the most of his career. At the time, rivals such as Arista and Epic were also interested in him. The contract was laid out as a seven-year, seven LP, $37 million deal and gave him full artistic control, making this the largest deal ever made with a recording star up to that point. Almost at the beginning Stevie took a year off from the music market, with a project for a double album to be released in 1976. There was huge anticipation for the new album which was initially scheduled for release around October 1975. It was delayed on short notice when Wonder felt that further remixing was essential. According to Stevie Wonder, the marketing campaign at Motown decided to take advantage of the delay by producing "We're almost finished" t-shirts.Davis, Sharon Stevie Wonder: Rhythms of Wonder p.112.

Work on the new album continued into early 1976. A name was finally chosen for the album: Songs in the Key of Life. The title would represent the formula of a complex "key of life" and the proposals for indefinite success.Lundy, Zeth 33 1/3 Songs in the key of life, pp. 8/9. The album was finally released on September 28, 1976 after a two year wait as a double LP album with a four track seven-inch EP entitled A Something's Extra ("Saturn", "Ebony Eyes", "All Day Sucker" and "Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)") and a 24-page lyric and credit booklet.Lundy, Zeth 33 1/3 Songs in the key of life, p.16.

Recording

The working title was Let's see life the way it is.Lundy, Zeth 33 1/3 Songs in the key of life, p. 8. Recording sessions for the album were split between the Crystal Industries in Hollywood; The Record Plant, Los Angeles and Sausalito in California; and The Hit Factory in New York City. Sessions on the latter were particularly memorable, as Songs in the Key of Life was the first album to be actually recorded at The Hit Factory, with Stevie Wonder becoming the first main client of Edward Germano, the studio's owner. Wonder initially booked a three-day session with Germano and ended up working there for nine months. As a perfectionist, Wonder spent long hours in the studio for almost every track he recorded. He was "not eating or sleeping, while everyone around him struggled to keep up". According to himself, "If my flow is goin', I keep on until I peak".

A total of 130 people worked on the album, but Wonder's preeminence during the album was evident. Among the people present during the sessions, there were legendary figures of R&B, soul and jazz music – Herbie Hancock played Fender Rhodes on "As", George Benson played electric guitar on "Another Star", and Minnie Riperton and Deniece Williams added backing vocals on "Ordinary Pain". Mike Sembello was a prominent personality throughout the album, playing guitar in several tracks and also co-writing "Saturn" with Wonder. Some of the most socially-conscious songs of the album were actually written by Wonder with other people – these included "Village Ghetto Land" and "Black Man" (co-written with Gary Byrd) and "Have a Talk With God" (co-written with Calvin Hardaway).

Reception

Commercial performance

Highly anticipated, the album surpassed all commercial expectations. Surprisingly, it debuted straight at number one on the Billboard Album Chart on October 8, 1976, becoming only the third album in history to achieve that feat and the first by an American artist (after British singer/composer Elton John's Captain Fantastic and Rock of the Westies in 1975). Songs in the Key of Life spent thirteen consecutive weeks at number one, eleven during 1976. It was the album with the most weeks at number one during the year. In those eleven weeks, Songs in the Key of Life managed to block four other albums from reaching the top – in order, Boz Scaggs's Silk Degrees, Earth, Wind & Fire's Spirit, Led Zeppelin's soundtrack for The Song Remains the Same and Rod Stewart's A Night on the Town.http On January 15, 1977, the album finally dropped to number two behind Eagles' Hotel California and the following week it fell to number four. On January 29 it returned to the top for a fourteenth and final week. The album then began its final fall. It spent a total of thirty-five weeks inside the Top Ten and eighty weeks on the Billboard albums chart.

In all, Songs in the Key of Life became the second best-selling album of 1977 in the U.S., only behind Fleetwood Mac's blockbuster Rumours, and it was certified as a Diamond album by the RIAA, for sales of ten million copies in the U.S. alone.

Songs in the Key of Life was also the most successful Stevie Wonder project in terms of singles. The lead-off, the upbeat "I Wish" was released in November 1976, over a month after the album was released. On January 15, 1977 it reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart, where it spent five weeks at the top. Seven days after, it also reached the summit of the Billboard Hot 100, although it spent only one week at number one. The track became an international Top 10 single, and also reached number five in the UK. "I Wish" became one of Stevie Wonder's standards and remained one of his most sampled songs. In 1999, Will Smith used "I Wish" as the base for his U.S. number one single "Wild Wild West". The song repeated the main melody of "I Wish" as a riff and some lyrics re-formed. The follow-up, the jazzy "Sir Duke" surpassed the commercial success of "I Wish". It was released on March 1977 and also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 (spending three weeks at the top starting on May 21) and the R&B Charts (for one week starting on May 28). It also reached number two in the UK, where it was kept off the top spot by the song "Free" by Deniece Williams' who had provided backing vocals on the album.

As sales for the album began to decline during the second half of 1977, the two other singles from Songs in the Key of Life failed to achieve the commercial success of "I Wish" and "Sir Duke". "Another Star" was released in August and reached only #32 on the Hot 100 (#18 on the R&B charts, and #29 in the UK) and "As" came out two months later, peaking at #36 on both the Pop and R&B Charts. Though not released as a single (because, even when Motown requested Wonder to release it, Stevie refused to), "Isn't She Lovely" received wide airplay and became one of Wonder's more popular songs. It was soon released by David Parton as a single in 1977 and became a Top 10 hit in the UK.

Critical response

At the time of release, reporters and music critics, and everyone who had worked on the album, traveled to a Longview Farm, a recording studio in Massachusetts for a press preview of the album. Stevie received everybody, autographed copies of the album and gave interviews. Critical reception was positive. The album was viewed as a guided tour through a wide range of musical styles as well as the life and feelings of the artist. It included recollections of childhood, of first love and lost love. It contained songs about faith and love among all peoples and songs about social justice for the poor and downtrodden.http

On February 19, 1977, Wonder was nominated for seven Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, an award that he had already won twice, in 1974 and 1975, for Innervisions and Fulfilligness' First Finale. Since 1973, Stevie's presence at the Grammy ceremonies had been consistent – he attended most of the ceremonies and also used to perform on stage. But in 1976, he did not attend as he wasn't nominated for any awards (as he hadn't released any new material during the past year). Paul Simon, who received the Grammy for Album of the Year in that occasion (for Still Crazy After All These Years) jokingly thanked Stevie "for not releasing an album" that year. A year after, Wonder was nominated for Songs in the Key of Life in that same category, and was widely favored by many critics to take the award. The other nominees were Breezin' by George Benson, Chicago X by Chicago, Silk Degrees by Boz Scaggs, and the other favourite, Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive!, which was also a huge critical and commercial success. Wonder was again absent from the ceremony, as he had developed an interest in visiting Africa. In February he traveled to Nigeria for two weeks, primarily to explore his musical heritage, as he put it. A satellite hook-up was arranged so that Stevie could be awarded his Grammys from across the sea. Bette Midler announced the results during the ceremony, and the audience was only able to see Stevie at a phone smiling and giving thanks.http The video signal was poor and the audio inaudible. Andy Williams went on to make a public blunder when he asked, "Stevie, can you see us?" In all, Wonder won four out of seven nominations at the Grammys: Album of the Year, Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Male Rhythm and Blues Performer, and Producer of the Year.

Influence

With time, the album became a standard, and it is considered Stevie Wonder's signature album. Songs in the Key of Life is often cited as one of the greatest albums in popular music history. It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voices annual Pazz & Jop critics poll; in 2001 the TV network VH1 named it the seventh greatest album of all time; in 2003, the album was ranked number 56 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Many musicians have also remarked on the quality of the album and its influence on their own work. For example, Elton John said, in his notes for Stevie Wonder on the 2003 Rolling Stones list of "The Immortals - The Greatest Artists of All Time" (in which Wonder was ranked number 15): "Let me put it this way: wherever I go in the world, I always take a copy of Songs in the Key of Life. For me, it's the best album ever made, and I'm always left in awe after I listen to it." http In an interview with Ebony magazine, Michael Jackson stated Songs in the Key of Life is his favorite Stevie Wonder album. George Michael cited the album as his favourite of all time and with Mary J. Blige covered the track As for a 1999 hit single. R&B singers in particular have praised the album – Mariah Carey generally names the album as one of her favourites, and Whitney Houston also remarked on the influence of Songs in the Key of Life on her singing. (During the photoshoot for her Whitney: The Greatest Hits, as its seen on its respective home video, the album was played throughout the photo sessions at Houston's request.) The album's tracks have provided numerous samples for rap and hip-hop artists; for example, "Pastime Paradise," which itself drew on the first eight notes and four chords of J.S. Bach's Prelude No. 2 in C minor (BWV 847), was reworked by Coolio as "Gangsta's Paradise". In 1995, smooth jazz artist Najee recorded a cover album titled Najee Plays Songs from the Key of Life, which is based entirely on Wonder's album.

Also, the concept in the title of the album has been used by numerous artists for their own albums, as in the following examples:

* Songs in the Key of Kids (1993), a compilation album by children's entertainers Sharon, Lois & Bram.

* Songs in the Key of Bree (1994), the debut album by ska punk group Buck-O-Nine.

* Songs in the Key of X (1996), the first soundtrack for the popular television series X-Files.

* Songs in the Key of Springfield (1997), the soundtrack/novelty album that comprises many music features from the legendary television series The Simpsons.

* Songs in the Key of You (2001), a studio album by pop punk group The Huntingtons.

* Songs in the Key of Beotch (2001), the debut album by experimental artist That 1 Guy.

* Songs in the Key of Rock (2003), a studio album by former Deep Purple member Glenn Hughes.

* Songs in the Key of Z - the Curious Universe of Outsider Music (2000), a two-album compilation series that contains various outsider musicians.

In September 2008, the album was voted the "Top Album of All Time" by the Yahoo! Music Playlist Blog, using a formula that combined 4 parameters - "Album Staying Power Value + Sales Value + Critical Rating Value + Grammy Award Value".http

Chart history

Chart positions

;Album

;Singles

Chart procession and succession

Personnel

*Stevie Wonder - Harmonica, Arranger, Keyboards, Programming, Vocals, Drums

*Michael Sembello - Guitar

*Sneaky Pete Kleinow - Pedal Steel

*George Benson - Guitar, Vocals

*Ronnie Foster - Organ

*Herbie Hancock - Keyboards, Handclapping

*Dean Parks - Guitar

*Greg Phillinganes - Keyboards

*W.G. "Snuffy" Walden - Guitar

*Nathan Watts - Bass, Vocals, Handclapping

*Greg Brown - Drums

*Raymond Lee Pounds - Drums

*Hank Redd - Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor)

*George Bohannon - Trombone

*Ben Bridges - Guitar, Sitar

*Dorothy Ashby - Harp

*Bobbi Humphrey - Flute

*Howard "Buzzy" Feiten - Guitar

*Steve Madaio - Trumpet

*Trevor Lawrence - Sax (Tenor)

*Glen Ferris - Trombone

*Jim Horn - Saxophone

*Deniece Williams - Vocals

*Minnie Riperton - Vocals

*Gary Byrd - Vocals

*Michael Wycoff - Vocals

*Larry Scott - Sound Effects

*Carol Cole - Percussion

*Bobbye Hall - Percussion

*Jay Boy Adams - Vocals

*Nathan Alford, Jr. - Percussion

*Henry America - Vocals

*Linda America - Vocals

*Baradras - Vocals

*Brenda Barnett - Vocals

*Khalif Bobatoon - Vocals

*Starshemah Bobatoon - Vocals

*Sudana Bobatoon - Vocals

*Charles Brewer - Percussion, Programming, Vocals

*Shirley Brewer - Percussion, Vocals, Speaking Part

*Berry Briges - Vocals

*Cecilia Brown - Vocals

*Eddie "Bongo" Brown - Percussion

*Jean Brown - Vocals

*Rodney Brown - Vocals

*Colleen Carleton - Percussion, Vocals

*Addie Cox - Vocals

*Agnideva Dasa - Vocals

*Duryodhana Guru Dasa - Vocals

*Jayasacinandana Dasa - Vocals

*Jitamrtyi Dasa - Vocals

*Vedavyasa Dasa - Vocals

*Cinmayi Dasi - Vocals

*Yogamaya Dasi - Vocals

*Carolyn Dennis - Vocals

*Bhakta Eddie - Vocals

*Doe Rani Edwards - Vocals

*Jacqueline F. English - Vocals

*Ethel Enoex - Vocals

*Al Jocko Fann - Vocals

*Barbara Fann - Vocals

*Melani Fann - Vocals

*Shelley Fann - Vocals

*Tracy Fann - Vocals

*John Fischbach - Percussion, Programming, Vocals, Engineer

*Susie Fuzzell - Vocals

*Carmelo Garcia - Percussion, Timbales

*Anthony Givens - Vocals

*Audrey Givens - Vocals

*Derrick Givens - Vocals

*Mildred Givens - Vocals

*Michael Lee Gray - Vocals

*Mimi Green - Vocals

*Susaye Greene Brown - Vocals

*Bhakta Gregory - Vocals

*Renee Hardaway - Percussion, Vocals

*John Harris - Sound Effects

*Jeania Harris - Vocals

*John Harris - Programming

*Troy Harris - Vocals

*Nelson Hayes - Percussion, Sound Effects, Vocals

*Terry Hendricks - Vocals

*H. David Henson - Assistant Engineer

*Don Hunter - Programming, Sound Effects

*Adrian Janes - Vocals

*Josie James - Vocals

*Calvin Johnson - Vocals

*Carol Johnson - Vocals

*Patricia Johnson - Vocals

*Madelaine Jones - Vocals

*Bhakta Kevin - Vocals

*Phillip Kimble - Vocals

*James Lambert - Vocals

*Linda Lawrence - Vocals,

*Irma Leslie - Vocals

*Kim Lewis - Vocals

*Carl Lockhart - Vocals

*Gail Lockhart - Vocals

*Raymond Maldonado - Percussion, Trumpet

*Carolyn Massenburg - Vocals

* May - Vocals

*Charity McCrary - Vocals

*Linda McCrary-Campbell - Vocals

*Lonnie Morgan - Vocals

*Kim Nixon - Vocals

*Lisa Nixon - Vocals

*Larri Nuckens - Vocals

*Larry Latimer - Percussion, Vocals

*Amale Mathews - Percussion, Vocals

*Gary Olazabal - Engineer , Bass Sound

*Edna Orso - Percussion, Vocals

*Marietta Waters - Percussion, Vocals

*Josette Valentino - Percussion, Vocals, Handclapping

*Gwen Perry - Vocals

*Gregory Rudd - Vocals

*Rukmini - Vocals

*Yolanda Simmons - Vocals, Handclapping

*Keith Slaughter - Vocals

*Rosona Starks - Vocals

*Dennis Swindell - Vocals

*Sundray Tucker - Vocals

*Gary Veney - Vocals

*Sheryl Walker - Vocals

*Mary Lee Whitney - Vocals

*Syreeta Wright - Vocals

*Michael Gray - Vocals

*Susaye Greene - Vocals

*William Moore - Vocals

*Fountain Jones - Programming

*Aisha Morris - Crying (on "Isn't She Lovely")

Notes

References

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Artist/Band Information

Stevland Hardaway Judkins (born May 13, 1950), name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris, Stevie Wonder's mother's authorized biography states that his surname was legally changed to Morris when he signed with Motown in 1961. known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist.Perone, James E. (2006). The Sound of Stevie Wonder: His Words and Music. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 0-2759-8723-X. Pg. xi-xii Blind since shortly after birth, Wonder signed with Motown Records' Tamla label at the age of eleven, and continues to perform and record for Motown to this day.

Among Wonder's best known works are singles such as "Superstition", "Sir Duke", "I Wish" and "I Just Called to Say I Love You". Well known albums also include Talking Book, Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. He has recorded more than thirty U.S. top ten hits and received twenty-two Grammy Awards, the most ever awarded to a male solo artist. Wonder is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a holiday in the United States.Perone, James E. (2006). The Sound of Stevie Wonder: His Words and Music. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 0-2759-8723-X. Pg. 83 In 2009, Wonder was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists to celebrate the US singles chart's fiftieth anniversary, with Wonder at number five.

Early life

Stevie Wonder was born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1950, being the third of six children to Calvin Judkins and Lula Mae Hardaway. Owing to his being born six weeks premature, the blood vessels at the back of his eyes had not yet reached the front and their aborted growth caused the retinas to detach. The medical term for this condition is retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP, and while it may have been exacerbated by the oxygen pumped into his incubator, this was not the primary cause of his blindness.

When Stevie Wonder was four, his mother left his father and moved herself and her children to Detroit. She changed her name back to Lula Hardaway and later changed her son's surname to Morris, partly because of relatives. Morris has remained Stevie Wonder's legal name ever since. He began playing instruments at an early age, including piano, harmonica, drums and bass. During childhood he was active in his church choir.

Discovery and early Motown recordings

Ronnie White of The Miracles gives credit to his brother Gerald White for persistently nagging him to come to his friend's house in 1961 to check out Stevie Wonder.Werner, Craig. Higher Ground. New York: Crown Publishers, 2004. Print. Afterward, White brought Wonder and his mother to Motown Records. Impressed by the young musician, Motown CEO Berry Gordy signed Wonder to Motown's Tamla label with the name Little Stevie Wonder. Before signing, producer Clarence Paul gave Wonder his trademark name after stating "we can't keep calling him the eighth wonder of the world". He then recorded the regional Detroit single, "I Call It Pretty Music, But the Old People Call It the Blues", which was released on Tamla in late 1961. Wonder released his first two albums, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie and Tribute to Uncle Ray, in 1962, to little success.

Music career

Tim "Herb" Alexander (born April 10, 1965 in Cherry Point, North Carolina) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Primus. Tim played on the Primus recordings Suck on This to Tales from the Punchbowl, before leaving the band in 1996, only to rejoin in 2003 for the EP Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People. Although Alexander has been quoted saying he was originally inspired to become a rock drummer by legendary drummers like John Bonham, Neil Peart and Shaun O'Connor, Primus guitarist Larry LaLonde claims Alexander's drum beats are mostly influenced by African Jùjú music.

Prior to joining Primus, he played and recorded with Major Lingo, which at the time was a ska-based rhythm band that featured a lap steel guitar as the lead instrument, played by Tony Bruno. When Major Lingo toured through the Bay Area Tim met members of Primus and would go on to remain there trying out for the band.

Following Alexander's departure from Primus, he went on to form his own group, Laundry. Alexander released two albums with the band Laundry; Blacktongue and Motivator. Alexander has also collaborated with experimental bass player Michael Manring and guitarist Alex Skolnick to form the group known as Attention Deficit.

Alexander was the first drummer of A Perfect Circle, performing early live shows with the band, and recording drums for the track "The Hollow" on the band's debut album, Mer de Noms. He is listed as a member in the band's DVD/CD release aMOTION.

Alexander joined the theatrical group Blue Man Group, and has occasionally played with the Las Vegas-based improvisational rock band Uberschall.

Despite being primarily known for his drum work Alexander is an accomplished guitarist and singer. He performed live guitar with the group Born Naked and held the lead vocal duties on Laundry's second album and supporting tour.

Alexander was involved throughout 2008-09 in a project known as Into The Presence which features songs by Luis Carlos Maldonado. Their debut album was released on Razor and Tie Records and includes performances from bassist Paz Lenchantin and cellist Ana Lenchantin. Both Into The Presence and the Fata Morgana release were recorded and produced at Alexander's own Ghost Town Studios.

As of 2010 Alexander is actively involved as a member of Maynard James Keenan's Puscifer project. He has toured with them and can be heard on their most recent released recordings.

Discography

Primus

* Suck on This (1989)

* Frizzle Fry (1990)

* Sailing the Seas of Cheese (1991)

* Miscellaneous Debris (1992)

* Pork Soda (1993)

* Tales from the Punchbowl (1995)

* Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People (2003)

Laundry

* Blacktongue (1994)

* Motivator (1999)

A Perfect Circle

* Mer de Noms (2000) (Appears on "The Hollow")

Attention Deficit

* Attention Deficit (1998)

* The Idiot King (2001)

Fata Morgana

* This Is A Dream (2005

Equipment

Drums:

TAMA,

* 18"x20" Bass Drum

* 16"x18" Bass Drum

* 5.5"x14" Bronze PBZ355 Snare Drum

* 6"x14" Starclassic G Maple Snare Drum

* 8"x8" Tom Tom

* 9"x10" Tom Tom

* 10"x12" Tom Tom

* 14"x14" Floor Tom

* 14"x20" Gong Bass Drum

* 16"x16" Floor Tom

* Octoban Low-Pitch Set

Hardware:

TAMA,

many various boom and straight cymbal stands

Cymbals:

Zildjian,

* 9.5" & 6" Zil-Bells

* 13" Z Custom Dyno Beat Hi-Hats

* 18",17" & 16" A Medium Crashes

* 18" A Rock Crash

* 6" & 8" A splash

* 12" A Special Recording Hi-Hats

* 13" A New-Beat Hi-Hats

* 18" Oriental China Trash

* 22" K Custom Ride.

Sticks:

Zildjian,

Tim Alexander Artist Series (16" length, 0.53" diameter)

Heads:

REMO

References