After 14 studio albums and a few hits, Stevie Wonder found himself at the top of the charts with Superstition and You Are the Sunshine of My Life. Two huge hits that can be found on the Talking Book album which celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Released on October 27, 1972, this opus by the blind singer-songwriter and musician climbed to number one on the R
With the album Music of My Mind, launched seven months earlier, Stevland Hardaway Morris continued his keyboard explorations with the presence of synthesizers and other electronic keyboards.
A transition that will lead him to dominate the charts for fifteen years with, among others, the opuses Innervisions, Fulfilingnes’ First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life. What many will call his classic period and which coincides with the great years of the Motown sound. Talking Book mix R
Returning from a series of shows opening for the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, who was 22 years old at the time, reunited in the studio with the duo of directors Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff with whom he had worked on Music of My Mind.
No limits
In an interview published in The Atlantic magazine, during the 40th anniversary of Talking Book, Margouleff recounts the atmosphere in place during the recording sessions.
“Most days Steve would arrive around 6:30 and 7 p.m. and he would work until five in the morning. That was how it was,” he said. Only Wonder, Margouleff and Cecil were present. It all happened naturally.
“We were open. We were brainstorming. There were no limits and borders. Stevie wondered how such a thing was going to sound and if I didn’t like it, I told him. I told him it sounded like a doorbell. We worked very impulsively,” said Robert Margouleff.
On Talking Book, Stevie Wonder plays all the instruments, surrounded by guest musicians. We find, among others, saxophonist David Sanborn and guitarists Ray Parker Jr and Jeff Beck.
Talking Book has won three Grammys. Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for You Are the Sunshine of My Life and Best R Vocal Performance
Rolling Stone magazine named Talking Book the 59th best album of all time.
On the original album cover, the title and name Stevie Wonder were printed in Braille. There was also a message inscribed in this tactile reading and writing system used by blind people: “Here is my music. That’s all I have to say how I feel. Know that your love keeps mine very strong.”
