“Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.” -Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder plays the ability and character roles just fine. He displayed his talent to the world, gained some respect in politics, and walked right out of Motown’s door to expand his career. All of that takes ability and character, especially as a teen.
In the previous article in this series about Stevie Wonder, we covered how he was discovered and how he became known as Little Stevie Wonder. In this article, let’s look into his growth as a mature musician and influence in the R&B industry.
Stevie Wonder
Little Stevie Wonder was not so little anymore. In late 1963, Clarence Paul noticed Stevie’s voice cracking while working on his fourth album: With a Song in My Heart. From there, the challenges began.
Everyone was on their toes when they figured out Stevie had hit puberty. This phase decided if his career would fall or not. Stevie would sing duets with Paul on the intricate ballads to cover up in concerts. While on tour, he naturally nailed every show; however, it needed to produce more airplay or sales. More pressure was thrown on the boy as 1963 turned into 1964, then that’s when his career took an odd curve.
January 1964, Stevie experienced his “tropical side.” Motown released “Castles in the Sand” (with “Thank You (For Loving Me All the Way) as a B side). It reached 52 on the Billboard pop chart, and that was it. It was the last time Stevie was referred to as Little Stevie Wonder.
Around this time, Stevie was diagnosed with two nodules in his vocal cords and had to get them surgically removed. This increased their stress levels about how his voice would affect his career.
His beach days weren’t over, though. For instance, the single “Hey Harmonica Man” was released shortly after his fourteenth birthday. It came from the album Stevie at the Beach. (released in June 1964, which failed to appear on the Hot 100.) All of this was to prepare Stevie for the end of the two motion pictures: Muscle Beach Party and Bikini Beach. As fun as it was, everyone, including Stevie, knew this wasn’t for him. In fact, Stevie came away embarrassed after the album. He said it was the “nadir of his career.”
1964 turned into 1965 with still no hits from Wonder. Some (in Motown) were even starting to argue that he was becoming a one-hit wonder (no pun intended.) What really was keeping Stevie’s career afloat was his live performances. Gordy had faith in him, though.
Mickey Stevenson even said, “There was no way we were letting him go. He was fifteen! That would’ve been stupid. He was still fucking green. We felt that we’d just started to scratch the surface with Stevie. It was the same with The Supremes and The Temptations…”
Stevie renewed his contract, and everybody stopped holding their breaths by the time he turned fifteen. His voice matured stronger and deeper while still keeping its uniqueness. It was time to get a hit before the door shut on him completely.
High Heel Sneakers was put out to stall time and get the public use to his new voice. Consequently, it only went to number 30 on the Billboard R&B charts and 59 on the pop chart. That didn’t matter, though. Not too long later, his single Uptight was released. It placed number one on the R&B chart and three on the pop. Stevie Wonder was officially through the door.
Political Awakening
After the success of Uptight, the seventh Stevie album was released: Uptight (Everything’s Alright). The album placed number 2 on the R&B album chart and 33 on the pop. A few more songs on the album soared high on the charts. However, a particular one stood out like a sore thumb: Blowin’ in the Wind. Quite a few events encouraged Stevie to do the cover in the first place. There was the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963. There was also the rally in Chicago he met Martin Luther King Jr. when he was fifteen and the civil rights movement.
At sixteen, he was the first Motown artist to make political statements on his records and in public. Among the influences were Bob Dylan and the Beatles. He continued to speak out through his actions:
- In 1966, he headlined a benefit concert for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) at Soldier Field In Chicago.
- Later in 1966, his eighth album, Down to Earth, cover depicted a ghetto landscape ( the first to do so in Motown). The intent was to raise his voice during the civil rights movement.
- At the end of 1966, he released a single called Someday at Christmas.
After Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, the following year, Gordy had Stevie and other Motown stars do a concert that raised $25,000 for the Poor People’s March on Washington. He then joined other celebrities to initiate the march. This wasn’t the end of Stevie’s political work. It was only the beginning.
Peace Out!
Like Gordy, Stevie knew that to accomplish your dreams; you must take control of your destiny. It came to the point where he was craving to expand on his musical talents. All he wanted was to sing what he felt and to make a change in the world. He had a vision, and as far as he was concerned, Motown (or the contract) was in the way.
Stevie didn’t waste time. While still bound to his contract, he released a series of albums before he hit twenty-one.
- The 1968 albums Eivets Rednow and For Once in My Life.
- 1969 album, My Cherie Armour.
- After he graduated, he released Signed, Sealed, and Delivered.
- As a bonus, he wrote and produced the Spinners’ “It’s a Shame.”
- The last album was Where I’m Coming From.
Shortly after Stevie’s twenty-first birthday, Stevie ended his contract with Motown and settled in New York. Although money wasn’t a concern for him, he was paid a bit under a million dollars for what he earned as a minor. The plan was to live in a hotel and record an album at Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village- which he did. The action he took was not only supposed to push his artistic abilities but be a bribing tool to negotiate a new contract with Motown. In the end, he will get his way.
References
A&E Networks Television. (2021, May 10). Stevie Wonder. Biography.com. Retrieved April 21, 2023, from https://www.biography.com/musicians/stevie-wonder
Colleen Curry. (2021, September 24). Stevie Wonder’s incredible history of creating change – on stage & off. Global Citizen. Retrieved April 21, 2023, from https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/stevie-wonders-history-of-creating-change-on-stage/
Irons, S. (2021, October 11). Stevie Wonder/stevland morris (1950- ) •. •. Retrieved April 21, 2023, from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/wonder-stevie-steveland-morris-1950/
Love, D., & Brown, S. (2007). Blind Faith: The miraculous journey of Lula Hardaway, Stevie Wonder’s Mother: An authorized biography of Lula Hardaway. Simon & Schuster.
Ribowsky, M. (2010). Signed, Sealed, and Delivered: The soulful journey of Stevie Wonder. John Wiley & Sons.