Talking Book



Talking Book is the fifteenth studio album by Stevie Wonder, released on October 28, 1972. He is said to have "hit his stride" in this signal recording of his "classic period". The album's first track, "You Are the Sunshine of My Life", hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts, then earned Wonder his first Grammy Award, for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The album's first single, "Superstition", also hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Hot Soul Singles charts. The album was certified Gold in Canada and the United States.

Background
Sandwiched between the release of Music of My Mind and Innervisions, Talking Book saw Wonder enjoying more artistic freedom from Motown. Guest musicians appearing include Jeff Beck, Ray Parker Jr., David Sanborn, and Buzz Feiten. The sound of the album is sharply defined by Wonder's keyboard work, especially with the synthesizers he incorporated, giving a funky edge to tracks like "Maybe Your Baby". His use of the Hohner clavinet model C on "Superstition" is widely regarded as one of the definitive tracks featuring the instrument. His clavinet embellishments on "Big Brother", though, evoke a six-string acoustic guitar, and his note-bending harmonica work touches on some folk and blues influences.

Cecil and Margouleff produced four of Wonder's "classic" albums in all: Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions and Fulfillingness' First Finale, as well as several albums by the Isley Brothers and others. They employed an unusual production technique using multiple layers of instruments such as the clavinet, Fender Rhodes electric pianos, and Arp and Moog synthesizers in place of the string orchestras used in conventional production techniques. This combination is what gives Talking Book and these other three albums their distinctive sound.

The cover depicts Wonder with cornrows, wearing Indian jewelry and a velvet kaftan.

Reception
Released after Wonder toured with The Rolling Stones in 1972, Talking Book became a major hit, peaking at #3 on the Pop Albums chart in February 1973, and became the first album by Wonder to top the Top R&B Albums chart, where it remained for three weeks. The popular appeal of the recording helped destroy the myth that R&B artists were incapable of creating music that could be appreciated by rock audiences, and marked a unique period for R&B artists (especially Motown artists). Wonder won three awards for Talking Book at the 1974 Grammys: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "You Are the Sunshine of My Life", and both Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song for "Superstition". Incidentally, at the same ceremony, Wonder's next album, Innervisions, won Album of the Year and Talking Book's associate producers Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff won the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical award for their work on that album.

Reviewing for Rolling Stone in 1973, Vince Aletti called Talking Book "ambitious" and "richly-textured", writing that "even at its dreamiest, the music has a glowing vibrancy ... Altogether, an exceptional, exciting album, the work of a now quite matured genius". In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it 90th on the magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list. According to Robert Christgau, the record found Wonder taking artistic control and breaking through, continuing his "wild multi-voice experiments" and writing better ballads without losing "his endearing natural bathos"; Christgau also highlighted "Superstition" as a translation of Wonder's "way of knowledge into hard-headed, hard-rocking political analysis". J. D. Considine called the album "a pop tour de force".

Track listing and personnel
Side one
 * 1) "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (Stevie Wonder) – 2:58
 * 2) *Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Fender Rhodes, drums
 * 3) *Jim Gilstrap – first lead vocal, background vocal
 * 4) *Lani Groves – second lead vocal, background vocal
 * 5) *Gloria Barley – background vocal
 * 6) *Scott Edwards – electric bass
 * 7) *Daniel Ben Zebulon – congas
 * 8) "Maybe Your Baby" (Stevie Wonder) – 6:51
 * 9) *Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Hohner Clavinet, drums, Moog bass
 * 10) *Ray Parker Jr. – electric guitar
 * 11) "You and I (We Can Conquer the World)" (Stevie Wonder) – 4:39
 * 12) *Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, piano, T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer, Moog bass
 * 13) "Tuesday Heartbreak" (Stevie Wonder) – 3:02
 * 14) *Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Fender Rhodes, Hohner Clavinet, drums, Moog bass
 * 15) *David Sanborn – alto saxophone
 * 16) *Deniece Williams – background vocal
 * 17) *Shirley Brewer – background vocal
 * 18) "You've Got It Bad Girl" (Stevie Wonder, Yvonne Wright) – 4:56
 * 19) *Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Fender Rhodes, drums, Moog bass, T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer
 * 20) *Jim Gilstrap – background vocal
 * 21) *Lani Groves – background vocal
 * 22) *Daniel Ben Zebulon – congas

Side two
 * 1) "Superstition" (Stevie Wonder) – 4:26
 * 2) *Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, Hohner Clavinet, drums, Moog bass
 * 3) *Trevor Lawrence – tenor saxophone
 * 4) *Steve Madaio – trumpet
 * 5) "Big Brother" (Stevie Wonder) – 3:34
 * 6) *Stevie Wonder – lead vocals, Hohner Clavinet, drums/percussion, harmonica, Moog bass
 * 7) "Blame It on the Sun" (Stevie Wonder, Syreeta Wright) – 3:26
 * 8) *Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, piano, harpsichord, drums, Moog bass, T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer
 * 9) *Jim Gilstrap – background vocal
 * 10) *Lani Groves – background vocal
 * 11) "Lookin' for Another Pure Love" (Stevie Wonder, Syreeta Wright) – 4:44
 * 12) *Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Fender Rhodes, drums, Moog bass
 * 13) *Debra Wilson – background vocal
 * 14) *Shirley Brewer – background vocal
 * 15) *Loris Harvin (Delores Harvin) – background vocal
 * 16) *Jeff Beck – electric guitar
 * 17) *Buzz Feiten (Howard "Buzz" Feiten) – electric guitar
 * 18) "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)" (Stevie Wonder, Yvonne Wright) – 4:51
 * 19) *Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, piano, Hohner Clavinet, drums, Moog bass

Inscription Original pressings contain Braille lettering of Wonder's name and the album title, along with a message not transcribed until the 2000 pressing:

"Here is my music. It is all I have to tell you how I feel. Know that your love keeps my love strong."

Additional personnel

 * Malcolm Cecil – programming, engineer, Associate producer
 * Robert Margouleff – engineer, Associate producer, photography
 * Austin Godsey – engineer, recording
 * Joan Decola – recording
 * George Marino – mastering