The conversation stops at Stevie Wonder
I remember having a dialogue over email with someone from an MMW online group. I had posted something about seeing Erykah Badu live or maybe something about loving Mama's Gun and he responded asking about Badu, because for whatever reason he just couldn't see it. I appreciated his interest, especially since he wasn't a fan of hers but took the time to try to understand the hype surrounding her name and music. I explained that Badu is one of modern music's innovators and that along with people like D'angelo, Maxwell, and Jill Scott have reinvented modern Soul music. Still, he had plenty of doubts and the conversation continued for a few days. In one of my emails I began to inquire about the depth of his music collection. In particular I asked if he owned any Stevie Wonder records. Stevie was never mentioned in the dialogue previous to this but it was something to give me a frame of reference for who I was talking to. Despite his lack of Badu affection, I was more than a little surprised when he said that he, in fact, did not own any Stevie Wonder but "You know, had heard his songs before." My next email went something like this:
"Forget about Badu. Seriously. If you don't own any Stevie Wonder you might as well forget trying to get into Badu and go listen to some Stevie instead. I mean it. Don't bother trying to understand Badu until you explore Stevie."
Why try to convince someone of the greatness of Badu if they don't recognize the genius of Stevie Wonder? The conversation stops at Stevie Wonder.
I'm falling in love with Stevie Wonder for the second time in my life. The first was initially discovering his music, listening to various "Best of..." albums where I heard the songs that define his legacy. It still took years for me to recognize his greatness. I was in high school and listening to a lot of Tool, Rage, Go-go and other anti-mainstream music. (Coincidentally this was also the time when I first heard "On & On" every damn morning, during a car ride of mostly awful music. 1997.) But back to Stevie, over time there were just too many great songs where I'd say, "Damn. This is Stevie Wonder too." For some fans, these songs are good enough, after all, its the so-called "best" of what he has to offer. But for others, it eventually only leads to wanting to hear EVERY PIECE OF MUSIC he has ever produced... ever. Overkill? Depends on who you ask, but the answer is a resounding NO. I own just about every Jimi Hendrix record, official or bootleg, that you can find. I'm satisfied to the point that I have stopped searching. I own over 40 or more Miles Davis records but admit I haven't fully explored them yet. I'm satisfied there too, knowing I have work to do but have the resources on hand to do it. And then there's Stevie.
After picking up a copy of the 4-cd retrospective released a few years ago (thanks Adam), I figured I was good. Over 4 hours of Stevie Wonder all in one nice, neat package. I also owned the live record, Natural Wonder, which I still love, a 2-disc compilation of greatest hits, and a few others as well. Great, I've heard it all and I love it. But sitting here now, listening to Innervisions, I'm wondering how it took me this long to explore ALL of Stevie. At the same time, there's such an excitement to listening to these records as intended, start to finish. It's really a completely different experience digesting the albums as complete albums rather than the songs as individual songs. Higher Ground just started and its placement makes those opening lines stand on edge, cutting through the speakers, sounding better in this context than any time I've heard it before. Really. Alone it's a great, funky song. Here, you are pulled into the beauty of the record when Higher Ground rips through, making a powerful statement.
