The creation of Little Stevie Wonder and his early years in Motown are not talked about like they could be. Before Uptight (Everything’s Alright), he struggled on that narrow road to fame. It was one of the most vital phases of his career because it determined if it should thrive or perish.
“The most innovative person that I’ve Known. But also unique with his tone and his voice quality.” -Berry Gordy.
In the previous article in this series, we covered Stevie Wonder’s childhood, and the trials faced by him and his parents. In this part, we will discuss Little Stevie Wonder’s discovery and how he developed his talent for music and became a musical sensation.
Path to Fame
The harmonica is for sure Stevie’s best friend though it wasn’t the first instrument he learned to play. As a toddler, he would bang around with wooden spoons on the table that later turned into cans, pots, and pans. He would eventually receive toy drum sets on Christmas, but those became no more by New Year’s Eve. He got his hands on an actual drum set when he was five. At a Fourth of July picnic, Stevie was allowed to play a piece of “Pledging My Love” by Johnny Ace. It earned him three quarters and the pleasure of warming the crowd.
Stevie discovered piano via his next-door neighbor and played on it until he finally developed a few skills. The amusing thing is he could barely reach the pedals, but that wasn’t an obstacle for him.
Finally, there was his best friend: The harmonica. The discovery came through a family friend who was a barber. The barber had a small harmonica on his key ring, and it captured Stevie’s fascination. Long story short, the barber gave it to him, and he quickly became proficient. Before ten, Stevie had learned to play the drums, piano, and harmonica.
It was the beginning of Stevie’s passion for music, and it didn’t stop there. It drove him all the way to Twenty-Sixth Street with his friend John Glover. John could play the guitar and sing quite well which is what attracted Stevie’s attention. John Glover states,
“That’s why we became friends. Stevie, he found me, sought me out. He’d know all the kids in the neighborhood who could play or sing, and he came to me and said ‘Lets jam.'”
Together they would put on animated performances that soon moved onto porch stoops. People were impressed with the young boy’s talent- which earned him coinage and a reputation.
He was even a part of the church choir at the Whitestone Baptist Church; however, the church scolded him for singing secular music. It wasn’t until one day when a pious woman from church caught Stevie and John performing “Bad Girls” by The Miracles. She was disappointed to see this, so Stevie’s membership was revoked a few days later. This incident never killed Stevie’s spirit. His response was simply humorous.
“Well, mama,” Stevie said, “I guess I just became a sinner.”
Discovery
Most people will tell you that Ronnie White from The Miracles discovered Stevie Wonder. They might also add that Stevie sang his composition, “Lonely Boy, ” which was his ticket into Motown. All that is true; however, there are holes in the story. Stevie was friends with Ronnie White’s little brother, Gerald White, which is what really led to Stevie Wonder’s discovery. Gerald was aware of Stevie’s unique talent, so he pestered his brother to check out little Stevie. It also turns out that John Glover was cousins with Ronnie White and that Stevie possibly even knew about it too when he befriended John. Glover says in Signed, Sealed, and Delivered that,
“…I have a feeling he knew something about me when he befriended me, something he thought might be, let’s say valuable,” he continues,” Stevie didn’t say, ‘Hey man, you’re cousins with one of The Miracles, lets play for him.’ He was too cool, too smart for that. He let me tell him and bring that up myself. Because that was something I was going to do anyways.”
It was when John Glover’s mother, Ruth Glover, finally convinced Ronnie to give him a try.
One day Ronnie and another member from The Miracles dropped by the White home. They listened to Stevie sing and bust it down on his harmonica with John accompanying him on the guitar. Both young men were so astonished they brought him down to Motown the next afternoon and introduced him to Brian Holland (talent scout and songwriter from H-D-H) first. Details of the audition are fuzzy, but the end result was still the same.
B.G (a.k.a. Berry Gordy) came into the picture right after the audition with Holland. Others that were present were Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, and Diana Ross: The Supremes. Once again, Stevie auditioned, playing every instrument he came across, like horns and percussions. Even though he soared above everyone’s expectations, there was one thing that halted the process of signing him in: his mother’s fear of losing her precious boys to strangers.
Berry Gordy was already hesitant about signing him because he was a minor. It wasn’t the first incident he had like this. Not too long ago, he was in a similar situation with The Supremes. Now he had Stevie, who hadn’t even hit puberty. He took the risk anyways, except when it came to the contract deal, Stevie’s mother was skeptical about the decision. She didn’t trust Gordy, and more importantly, she didn’t trust her son in the hands of strangers. The answer to Gordy was initially no.
Stevie’s skies were gray once he found out. This contract meant everything to him, and so, like every child, he went on pleading and begging. When his mother didn’t give in to it, he put on his war paint and went to drumming(the latter, I mean literally.) Stevie drummed day and night, fiercely and violently, until one day, his mother finally gave in. Not too long later, Motown signed him in, but I must say that was one hell of a tantrum.
The Experiment
Young Stevie had the dream that most kids would die to have. Getting a recording deal at one of the largest labels and then being able to work with some of their biggest stars? Yeah, that’s a dream come true, but like all dreams in the real world, there’s a downside you must face. His struggle was not to get laid off by Motown because of his age.
What Gordy planned to do with Stevie was build on, and I quote, “his contagious exuberance for music, his facility with the harmonica, and an already discernable knack for making any song his own.” He started with two plans to make Little Stevie Wonder.
Plan A: Create an album of instrumentals to capture Stevie’s talent. Stevie began working with producer and songwriter Clarence Paul. Together they would create Stevie’s first album: “The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie.” However, when Gordy and Paul couldn’t find a single, they didn’t release it. They initiated plan B.
Plan B: Make Stevie a knockoff of Ray Charles. Gordy and Paul compiled some of Ray Charles’s songs that Stevie covered and mixed a few originals. They even went as far as providing Stevie Charles-style sunglasses. Unlike the first album, Stevie was allowed to sing on this one. Still, Tribute to Une Charles didn’t soar far.
Gordy wanted to catch Stevie’s charisma- which he failed to do at first. He took baby steps, though. On August 16, 1962, Stevie released his first single, ” I Call It Pretty Music (But Old People Call It the Blues). It didn’t sail far, though. The music world swallowed it as the Atlantic did to the Titanic, except it did spark something good. It was the first song to introduce him as Little Stevie Wonder. Gordy always thought Stevie was a wonder, and after toying with the name, he gave the kid a stage name. However, that’s a contradiction in itself. Micky Stevenson says Clarence Paul and he had a bit of an argument until they came up with it then there’s Paul’s version. Paul’s tale says that it was given to him at his first live performance. In the end, he was still signed off as Little Stevie Wonder.
Stevie Wonder released two more singles that year. “Waterboy” with the B side of “La La La La La” and “Contract on Love” with Sunset on the other side. “Waterboy” had its flop while “Contract” did slightly better, but Gordy was still seeking that charisma. He finally got it during a live performance during a live concert at the Chicago Regal Theater in return, creating the infamous Fingertips Pt.2. May 21, 1963, it was released on his album, Little Stevie Wonder: The 12 Year Old Genius.
Little Stevie Wonder was a hit in America, and shortly after started working on another single, “Workout Stevie, Workout.” It was the last single released (September of 1963) before his voice began to mature. From here is where he starts a new phase in his music and career.
References
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.
Sanneh, K. (2022). Major Labels: A history of popular music in seven genres. Penguin Books.
Who is Stevie Wonder? Everything you need to know. Facts, Childhood, Family Life & Achievements. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/stevland-hardaway-judkins-2922.php
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