In 1976 Paul Simon won the Grammy for Album of the Year and at the end of his speech he said "and most of all I'd like to thank Stevie Wonder, who didn't make an album this year." because Stevie had won album of the year the previous two years. Stevie then won it again the next year for his 18th album Songs In The Key of Life. He was 26 at the time. 18 albums by 26 is insane. Having 3 albums in a row win album of the year is just nuts.
He was the Taylor Swift of his time, just more talented and deep. Can't think of many if any of his songs that dwelled on the self, romantic rejection and vindictive anger. His music is more of the universal and positive kind that surpasses adolescent emotion and interpersonal angst.
I really hope she chooses to listen to all of "Songs in the Key of Life".... I have subscribed because I love a musician's fresh approach to songs I've loved for... well decades.
Yes, Stevie plays nearly all the instruments here himself, except for the brass 😀 That "guitar" is actually a keyboard (a Hohner 'Clavinet', recorded on multiple tracks), and he's playing the bass lines on a Moog synthesizer; I'd always believed it was an actual bass _guitar_ - until Rick Beato soloed the individual tracks in a 'What Makes This Song Great?' episode about this song 😀 (Which is in the key of Eb, by the way) Pretty advanced stuff for 1972, too! I didn't know 'Superstition' was _that_ old! 🤯
@@mightyV444 I dare anyone to sit completely still while this song plays. Old doo-wop you snap your fingers. Rockabilly you tap your feet. Rock-n-roll your head moves up and down. Blues your head moves from side-to-side. But *_funk_* .......your _whole body_ gets in on it.
And yet, to be fair, the Moog is definitely playing a bass part (in a bass register). And the clavinet is a keyboard instrument which creates its sound in a very similar fashion to a guitar. It was played on a keyboard, but it might as well be a guitar riff. I dare you to play that part on a guitar and then tell me it wasn't written by someone who knows how a guitarist writes a funk riff! I'm not disagreeing with you - but her description was correct in one sense (despite being technically wrong), and also informative. Win-win!
@@mtdnelson - A jazz band at our college played this tune with a fretless bass guitar and it sounded exactly like this with great drummer and sax, trumpet and trombone sections, They blew the roof off the auditorium. A live jazz band playing this is an awesome experience.
Yes, Stevie played the drums too, as a drummer I can attest that this song is recognized as a rhythm that exemplifies an approach that slides between a straight 4 and a swung beat that accentuates triplets. Dirty swing, if you will.
Can't believe this song is 50+ years old and still sounds fresh. It's almost inconceivable that you have never heard this song. It's very endearing :-)
...while myself, I have actually been feeling stalked by that song over the past 6 years or so! It's been popping up in sooo many different places and many, many times! I would not be able to get away from it, I don't think 😅
Jeff Beck came up with the drum beat by accident and Stevie Wonder heard the drums and wrote the song for him, but then Wonder ended up releasing it himself. The riff is keyboard as well.
One of the greatest musicians who's ever lived. Played just about any instrument, and it's mostly him on the legendary double album, songs in the key of life.
Plus, in case you didn't know, Jeff Beck composed the drum part for this. He was noodling around in the studio, started playing the opening beat, and Stevie improvised the key bass part over top of it.
Oooh, I wasn't expecting you to cover Stevie! Stevie is an amazing jazz player as well as rock/funk/soul. There are stories of him showing up to jam sessions and just destroying everyone. Also, apparently he's not AS blind as he's thought to be. He supposedly likes to mess with people by doing things he shouldn't be able to do. That opening "guitar" sound is actually a Hohner clavinet, which is basically an electric harpsichord. There is no guitar in this song. Even the bass is a keyboard.
I wish Stevie Wonder could hear your reaction. He'd be so happy to hear what you feel, especially the description barefoot in a meadow. The feelings he invokes in you as a first-time listener.
I am captivated by your reviews. So musically articulate, and perceptive, and PASSIONATE as well. Thanks for doing these. You are a pleasure to watch and listen to.
I'm not an outwardly emotional person, and i know it's inevitable, but I will probably have one hell of a day when Stevie passes. He's a natural gem and a gift to us all.
This track is so funky you can cut it with a knife. Amy always has great insights and sensibility for the music. I should point out that what she called a guitar is actually a Clavinet, a sort of electric clavichord. I love how the brass section plays with rising and falling pitch and dynamics in the outro. Maybe the next Stevie Wonder song could be "Sir Duke"? :)
That same part has been played by many bass players with a fretless bass amplified with distortion, it is virtually impossible to tell the difference between the clavinet. Stevie used the Clavinet because he can't play bass. Makes no difference to me, it's a perfect imitation of the buzz of a fretless bass guitar.
I'd go back a little ways and do "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" next. There you can get a sense of his Motown roots. Then you can progress through his 1970s albums where he essentially became the greatest all-in-one pop/R&B/funk/jazz artist in a great musical decade.
I am about the same age as Stevie Wonder and remember his first hit when he was "Little Stevie Wonder." There are talented musicians and there are musical geniuses. Stevie Wonder is in the genius category. Almost everyone I know loved and still loves him.
Look, if you're not tapping your foot in the first 20 seconds, I can't help you. If you're not swaying in your seat when the horns come in, there's no one that can help you.
I had the privilege of meeting Stevie when he came to a night club to hear the band my cousin was playing in. Naturally he was called up to sit at the keyboard and offer a few minutes of pure gold. The keyboard wasn't set up for vocals so my cousin knowing I was the ultimate Stevie fan got me to run up there and hold the mike while he was singing. Never forget it! And yeah he was so great he invited us to hang at his place the following day. I'm pretty sure that everybody that I know has seen the photos so often they are now sick of me. LOL
I don’t think he actually plays bass, does he? My understanding was that the bass-lines that he plays himself (such as on this song) are all played on keyboard. Also, you forgot the instrument on which he is the most indisputably a virtuoso - harmonica.
@@fromchomleystreet I once saw a list of the best bass players in popular music. It included many bass guitarists and "Stevie Wonder's left hand". That about said it all for me. He has some of the best bass lines ever, played on synth keyboards.
In the intro that's not a guitar that plays the first line - it's a Hohner Clavinet. It's an electro-mechanical intrument that makes sound by a plectrum plucking a string, like a harpsichord, but there's an electronic pickup on each string. Remember, Stevie was first and foremost a keyboard player. There's no guitar in the whole song. Even the bass is a Moog synth. Also, maybe retroactively, we would generally classify this as Funk not R&B, though there are elements of blues, soul, and rock to it. One of the characteristics of Funk is that strong accent on the 1 beat. Listen how at the start of each measure the clavinet returns to a strong beat on a low note, then starts getting busy again after he holds that for a full beat to accent it more than just through dynamics. Thanks for listening and sharing! Peace from SF
Oh my goodness! ....a harpist reviewing Stevie Wonder...what strange and absolutely beautiful times we live in. This is a collision of worlds that I absolutely adore.
I grew up in Detroit watching "Little Stevie" on local variety shows. A more mature Stevie would go on to have a huge impact on our world: not just in music, but in the business of music and the civil rights movement. "Golden Lady" is my favorite song of all time.
Stevie is the king of pop/funk/soul and rhythm and blues. He's a master keyboard player and singer. His voice has a wide range and few artists try to cover some of his songs, because of the difficulties. He's one of the great popular music artists of the 20th century. Just like Paul McCartney.
@@mojochip695 Incredible but I didn't know Donny. I've done some research and some hearing. You're absolutely right. Their styles are similar and Donny is a great singer, composer, and keyboard player. He has made some very beautiful songs.
Oh, this was a surprise. You should check more of Stevie. He is an amazing musician. Especially live. And btw, he is my husband's all time favorite solo musician. 🥰
Wow Jovana. Great to see you. I didn't expect to see you on a Stevie Wonder song. I agree, he is an amazing musician. One of the greats. It has been a while since I have seen you, but maybe I just didn't notice your new profile image. Really good to see how much you appreciate Stevie's music, perhaps through your husband's influence, or maybe you were an admirer before.
@@LeeKennison Hey, dear Lee. Yes, I've been absent from UA-cam for a long time and still I am not fully back. I have one of my phases, but I hope it will pass. However I don't expect it to pass soon because now with each day my excitement rises because of R+ concert and I struggle to concentrate to literally anything. And after the concert I think that I will be depressed for some time. 😂 I'm an idiot, I know... Anyway... I started really noticing Stevie when I met my husband, even though I knew few of his songs before because even my mom loves him, but I didn't really pay attention then. He is amazing. I love how humble and warmhearted he seems. And definitely I love to hear him singing live. He never misses a note and it is fascinating.
@@jovana_r It occurred to me right after I posted my message that it must be getting close to your Rammstein concert time. I am sorry to hear you haven't been doing well lately. I really hope you are feeling good on concert day. I suspect you will, just the excitement of it should help a lot. I'm also still not posting much in general either, only here in Amy's comments.
@@LeeKennison Well, you know I have my phases. Actually, lately I have had few good days, but overall it is the same as always. Phases come and go. And this time I really think it is because of Rammstein. I have been trying not to think about the concert and to wait in peace but I guess I haven't been peacefull as I wished. 😂 And now it's a little more than two weeks left, so... I cannot be controlled anymore. 😂 Yep, that day I will be able to do anything because of the adrenalin, but we'll see how I'll handle it afterwards. Anyway, I really hope I'll be able to get more active on Amy's channel soon. I miss it all. Btw, how are you?
@@jovana_r Doing fine thanks, or at least about the same as last time we chatted. I still haven't been very motivated to do some things I normally really enjoy and need to spend more time on, such as playing my bass guitar or other instruments. Like you I go through phases.
Stevie wonders influence on contemporary music of every genre cannot be overstated. You should do a deep dive because there’s so much brilliance. Songs in the key of life is a great listen Personal favorite “living for the city”
Stevie , Chris Cornell and Paolo Nutini are my favourite voices ❤❤❤🔥🔥🔥. And that’s a clavinet not a guitar. If there’s a perfect ear Candy song this is one of those. When the horns came in you loved that ❤️.
Thank you Amy, I am thrilled you tackled this. You have started an amazing Journey with Stevie Wonder, he has incredible range as a player and singer. There's no guitar on this, it's just layers of Clavients, and synth bass. He's an incredible keyboardist. Originally he wrote it for guitarist Jeff Beck, which recorded it, but Stevie's recording was released as a single, much to Beck's dismay!
I was absolutely thrilled to see Stevie play this song live in 2010. A shame I had to listen to I Just Called To Say I love You at the same concert, but you win some, you loose some.
Yes, his hard edged, funk driven songs are so nasty (in a good way) and his ballads are so dreadfully dull. He may be the most frustrating artist I like. He is the Paul McCartney of soul music. Capable of putting out a Jet, Band on the Run, or Picasso's Last Words/1985 anytime he wants but also capable of putting out junk like My Love anytime he wants as well.
I would be very interested to see you do a reaction to his "Sketches of a Life". This will most likely fall into your preferred genre of music. As well, he did a few musical scores for 1) Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants" in 1979, then 2) later in the 90's (somewhere between '94 - '96) he did the soundtrack for the movie "Pinocchio" which both contain quite a few pieces steered toward classical music.
Stevie is playing drums on this track. He is a multi-instrumentalist of the first order. He originally wrote this song for Jeff Beck who had played on some of Stevie's earlier tracks. Stevie Ray Vaughn loved covering this song..
It's hard to tell how much being blind contributed to his music, but one thing that is clear is that the main pull to music for Stevie was his amazing feel for music. He was a massive and transformative influence in his day.
In Blues and R&B, the musicians will talk back to each other with their instruments, or have a conversation. So you get each instrument talking to each other creating the instrumental/the music of the song. Not trying to outdo each other….but fill in the space without overwhelming the sound. It’s not too busy…but just enough. And makes you move! 😁🎵🎶🎸
There are so many other Wonder songs to recommend, but if I had to pick just one it would have to be "As". It's not just a wonderful, uplifting, joyous piece of musical art, but it has a certain very personal meaning to me that brings back such wonderful memories whenever I hear it. Yeah, I actually said, it wonder-ful. 😉
Very good analys Amy, yes its a Hohner Clavinet ( keyboard ) ore rather 2 of them i guess. I had one as a teenager. And the voice and the horn sektion, wow.
The main instrument is a Clavinet. For another great example of some funky, rockin' Clavinet, check out Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Under Foot". 🤙😎 The Clavinet part is Zep's homage to Stevie.
Stevie’s a national treasure. He played drums, Moog bass and Hovner clavinet and of course provided all vocals. Tenor sax and trumpet played by others. So glad you mentioned his musical layering. His rhythm track created this great syncopated pocket on which he could add vocals, brass and variation. His 1968 release “For Once in my Life” is an early song showing incredible layering and one of the best harmonica recordings ever. To me Stevie, along with a few others, advanced the rhythmic sound of future popular music that shaped funk, hip hop, R & B and rock. Probably the best ever at condensing the sonic richness of Big Band, and improvisational genius of jazz into a 3-4 minute hit song! A master class musician!
It’s always a joy to see you experiencing an artist who is new to you. It’s especially pleasing when it’s a song that you are clearly enjoying. It was pretty clear you were enjoying this one a lot. Somebody else in the comments suggested “Sir Duke”; I agree with them. It’s a great tune I think you’d really appreciate.
Yes, it sounds like a guitar but it's a clavanet. Easy mistake to make as it was designed to sound like an electric guitar. You should see him play it! There's such a bounceyness to it. It's hypnotic to watch. Thank you for your videos. I've been watching for quite a long time and I appreciate the work you put into these.
Just a note that the instrument mentioned as a 'guitar' is an electronic keyboard named a Clavinet, which Stevie is playing. I'm really enjoying your delving into unfamiliar waters & sharing your viewpoints, knowledge, and reactions!
What a brilliant song, great so see someone listening to it for the first time after I've probably heard this song hundreds of times in my life. I beleive the sound you are thinking is guitar is actually a clavinet. So wonderful. Love the way you express your feelings while listening.
It would be great to hear your reaction to 11-12 year old Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips”, where he extemporises on harmonica. There is a live recording that used to be on a “Greatest Hits” album that was issued in the 1970s or early 80s.
IMO the comparison of Stevie Wonder to Mozart is absolutely appropriate ❤. I thought I had heard he went blind due to being in an incubator, so I just checked, and an eye condition related to his premature birth, probably worsened by the incubator, was the cause.
According to Bootsy, Stevie was definitely funky: "you can't cut that with a knife!..." ua-cam.com/video/wuaSzFf7yq0/v-deo.htmlsi=ZMxaHsZMnUBWXeav&t=132
Wonder ... Wonderful. Perhaps not as well known of all America's musical artists, but certainly most respected, inspiring and loved by his fellow musicians and all walks of life. From 1972 and his fifteen album, the second album from an epoch of creativity and genius that few artist have achieved. You will come back, be drawn back to that feeling and amazement that is Wonder ... Stevie Wonder. :)
1976 - Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years" was named Best Pop Vocal Performance and Album Of The Year at the 18th annual Grammy Awards. In his acceptance speech, Simon told the audience "I'd like to thank Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album this year."
Rock and roll and R&B is a gateway genre into classical music for some people. I loved rock and roll before I listened to much classical and being the analytical person I am it opened me up to other forms of music that evoked that same sense of organization. That satisfying feeling you get listening to the complexity that builds to a “pay off” as the music climaxes or at the crescendo, whichever it is. Love it!
Great to see you introduced to Stevie Wonder. One of the greats. In addition to R&B, this song gives you a good intro to Funk. I love the R&B, Soul, Funk, and Motown genres (particularly the 60s and 70s). I grew up on this stuff in the same way I grew up with rock. My two older sisters (by 10 years) were very much into this type of music, so I was exposed to a lot of it through them. Whereas their boyfriends and future husbands very much influenced my rock roots. Back in these days we freely crossed genres and so a lot of us were listening to both. As I got older rock started to dominate my listening more, but I still always loved this stuff. And now I love it even more as a bass player, with so many great basslines in these genres.
There are undoubtedly more, but in my own blues collection there's: Blind Boy Fuller Blind Blake Blind Lemon Jefferson Blind Willie Johnson Blind Willie McTell Sonny Terry And of course, the legendary Ray Charles. They're all worth a listen if you like the blues.
Thank you for this interpretation of a song I remember from my childhood.. I'm so lucky to have been immersed in music like this from an early age. One thing about the end.. I never heard it end this abruptly. I've always heard it fade out.. it seems like it was meant for this. Whenever I see you come out with a video of a song I love, I watch it. I really enjoy and respect your perspective!
Ok, that instrument that sounds like a guitar is actually a keyboard called the clavinet. The ending was cut early here because, on the album, it transitions to another song there. Lastly, you haven’t really heard Stevie until you’ve listened to his ballads. He writes, plays and sings some of the most beautiful ballads in all of pop music imo.
I don't know which instruments Stevie Wonder plays but when you see him perform he's always behind the keyboard. For an introduction into rhythm & blues this song is as good as any. I would say that this song just about personifies what the genre R&B is but the genre is so rich that one song can not shape a picture. If you decide to delve more into Stevie Wonder be forewarned that this is a very deep dive with an unbelievable vast portfolio of top notch music that is mostly iconic.000 Good one Vlad! Thank you guys.
There are very few musician/songwriters of Wonder's caliber. I'd put Paul Simon, McCarney and Lennon, Jaggar and Richards, and a few others up there. Wonder deserves all the awards and accolades he has received, one amazing talent.
This song is such a perfect combination of so many different genres of music all at once. Blues, Funk, Jazz all in there and the vocals are all Little Stevie Wonder.....iconic stuff.
Sidenote: The main instrument he's using is keyboard (a Clavinet I believe). If you are interested in a guitar version Stevie Ray Vaughn does a hell of a cover.
I’m the youngest of eight kids and some of my older siblings were musicians who gradually got into rock and popular music in the early 70’s. I first heard this tune covered by them when I was a kid in a small town park and immediately started dancing. Stevie is a genius who overcame his disability and the overwhelming racism of the time and produced some of the best music for decades. He is, and always has been, amazing.
It's delightful, and reassuring, your head, shoulders and body 'knew' how to move to the 'funk'. 🎶🥁🎹 Best Wishes. ☮ Oh, and Stevie Wonder is undoubtedly one of the greatest musical artists of the 20th century, and is still, 50 years later, one of the greatest artists to "walk the Earth". Comparing Stevie Wonder favourably to Mozart is appropriate,
Stevie Wonder was and still is an amazing performer... one of my favorites i do not know anyone who can listen to this and not tap a foot or move to the song !!!
In 1976 Paul Simon won the Grammy for Album of the Year and at the end of his speech he said "and most of all I'd like to thank Stevie Wonder, who didn't make an album this year." because Stevie had won album of the year the previous two years. Stevie then won it again the next year for his 18th album Songs In The Key of Life. He was 26 at the time. 18 albums by 26 is insane. Having 3 albums in a row win album of the year is just nuts.
He was the Taylor Swift of his time, just more talented and deep. Can't think of many if any of his songs that dwelled on the self, romantic rejection and vindictive anger. His music is more of the universal and positive kind that surpasses adolescent emotion and interpersonal angst.
Wow! Thanks for sharing!
Ah you beat me to it! I remember that too.
And the four albums before Songs in the Key were just as good. Really amazing spree of music. Total genius.
@@kovie9162don't disrespect Stevie by comparing him to her
In the 70s, Stevie dropped 5 classic albums in a row. Undoubtedly, one of the all time greats.
in my opinion he is above prince and michael jackson...
@@seelenwinter6662 Oh yes. Way above.
One of the best album runs in history, right up there with the Beatles' run.
@@KingOfNebbishes i'd say u2 as well, from war to zooropa, or Boy to Joshua tree, but thats my bias
Incredible albums, and he wrote them over 4 years. Absurd.
If you want to break the fourth wall and listen to music in dialogue about music, respond to Stevie's "Sir Duke".
I really hope she chooses to listen to all of "Songs in the Key of Life".... I have subscribed because I love a musician's fresh approach to songs I've loved for... well decades.
Superstition is a great tune, but I would like to see her react to some of Stevie's more harmonically complex stuff.
I’m a listen to it right now.😊
I Wish is peak Stevie…
Love “Sir Duke”…absolutely brilliant! ❤️
Stevie played this song on Sesame Street and blew 5 yr old me away.. been a fan since.
Yes, Stevie plays nearly all the instruments here himself, except for the brass 😀
That "guitar" is actually a keyboard (a Hohner 'Clavinet', recorded on multiple tracks), and he's playing the bass lines on a Moog synthesizer; I'd always believed it was an actual bass _guitar_ - until Rick Beato soloed the individual tracks in a 'What Makes This Song Great?' episode about this song 😀 (Which is in the key of Eb, by the way)
Pretty advanced stuff for 1972, too! I didn't know 'Superstition' was _that_ old! 🤯
What I was gonna say, more succinctly. Good insight.
My favorite part of this song is when the horns are "rolling the valves."
@@chriswoolcock8907 - Thank you, Chris! 😀👍 It blew my mind when I found out he plays most instruments himself 😊
@@michaelmoore7975 - Yes, that's when the song really comes to life
😀👍
@@mightyV444 I dare anyone to sit completely still while this song plays.
Old doo-wop you snap your fingers.
Rockabilly you tap your feet.
Rock-n-roll your head moves up and down.
Blues your head moves from side-to-side.
But *_funk_* .......your _whole body_ gets in on it.
That’s not a guitar. It’s multiple clavinet parts. And that’s not a bass. It’s a moog. Stevie played all the instruments except the horns. INCREDIBLE
Thank you. I think I gave you a thumbs down It was accidental.
And yet, to be fair, the Moog is definitely playing a bass part (in a bass register). And the clavinet is a keyboard instrument which creates its sound in a very similar fashion to a guitar. It was played on a keyboard, but it might as well be a guitar riff. I dare you to play that part on a guitar and then tell me it wasn't written by someone who knows how a guitarist writes a funk riff!
I'm not disagreeing with you - but her description was correct in one sense (despite being technically wrong), and also informative. Win-win!
@@mtdnelson - A jazz band at our college played this tune with a fretless bass guitar and it sounded exactly like this with great drummer and sax, trumpet and trombone sections, They blew the roof off the auditorium. A live jazz band playing this is an awesome experience.
Yes, Stevie played the drums too, as a drummer I can attest that this song is recognized as a rhythm that exemplifies an approach that slides between a straight 4 and a swung beat that accentuates triplets. Dirty swing, if you will.
Jeff Beck played the drums.
Can't believe this song is 50+ years old and still sounds fresh. It's almost inconceivable that you have never heard this song. It's very endearing :-)
I believe she grew up in some kind of Amish cult where popular music was the devil's tool...
Yeah, she’s never been in a mall, or store , or gas station, or watched tv etc 🙄.
...while myself, I have actually been feeling stalked by that song over the past 6 years or so! It's been popping up in sooo many different places and many, many times! I would not be able to get away from it, I don't think 😅
I notice whenever I hear this song that it hasn't aged ten minutes in all these decades.
One of my favorite songs of all time. Every time it comes on the radio, I just have to turn up the volume and enjoy it.
Jeff Beck came up with the drum beat by accident and Stevie Wonder heard the drums and wrote the song for him, but then Wonder ended up releasing it himself. The riff is keyboard as well.
Clavinet sounding for sure!
Definitely a clavinet. I love that sound. It's in a lot of great rock songs.
Yes. I thought it was odd that Amy thought it was a guitar coming in at the beginning, but I guess the keyboard kind of replicates a guitar there.
@@earnestbass4092 You be right! Who else layered multiple clavinets without guitar in 1972? OR EVER!!!
Stevie wanted to give it to Jeff, but the record company said no.
Songs in the Key of Life - a masterpiece. Innervision. Others.
Que j'ai acheté aux magasins de l'US army à Berlin quand j'étais militaire là-bas... grand souvenir !
One of the greatest musicians who's ever lived. Played just about any instrument, and it's mostly him on the legendary double album, songs in the key of life.
Plus, in case you didn't know, Jeff Beck composed the drum part for this. He was noodling around in the studio, started playing the opening beat, and Stevie improvised the key bass part over top of it.
Oooh, I wasn't expecting you to cover Stevie! Stevie is an amazing jazz player as well as rock/funk/soul. There are stories of him showing up to jam sessions and just destroying everyone. Also, apparently he's not AS blind as he's thought to be. He supposedly likes to mess with people by doing things he shouldn't be able to do. That opening "guitar" sound is actually a Hohner clavinet, which is basically an electric harpsichord. There is no guitar in this song. Even the bass is a keyboard.
An electric clavichord actually
" songs in the key of Life" is the greatest double album of all time! No im not kidding!❤❤❤❤❤
Yup !
Many would agree.
I wish Stevie Wonder could hear your reaction. He'd be so happy to hear what you feel, especially the description barefoot in a meadow. The feelings he invokes in you as a first-time listener.
Why can't he ?
I am captivated by your reviews. So musically articulate, and perceptive, and PASSIONATE as well. Thanks for doing these. You are a pleasure to watch and listen to.
I'm not an outwardly emotional person, and i know it's inevitable, but I will probably have one hell of a day when Stevie passes.
He's a natural gem and a gift to us all.
So many amazing musicians have already passed away. I accept my mortality, but I am always shocked when the talent I grew up with passes.
This track is so funky you can cut it with a knife. Amy always has great insights and sensibility for the music. I should point out that what she called a guitar is actually a Clavinet, a sort of electric clavichord. I love how the brass section plays with rising and falling pitch and dynamics in the outro. Maybe the next Stevie Wonder song could be "Sir Duke"? :)
That same part has been played by many bass players with a fretless bass amplified with distortion, it is virtually impossible to tell the difference between the clavinet. Stevie used the Clavinet because he can't play bass. Makes no difference to me, it's a perfect imitation of the buzz of a fretless bass guitar.
I'd go back a little ways and do "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" next. There you can get a sense of his Motown roots. Then you can progress through his 1970s albums where he essentially became the greatest all-in-one pop/R&B/funk/jazz artist in a great musical decade.
I am about the same age as Stevie Wonder and remember his first hit when he was "Little Stevie Wonder." There are talented musicians and there are musical geniuses. Stevie Wonder is in the genius category. Almost everyone I know loved and still loves him.
Look, if you're not tapping your foot in the first 20 seconds, I can't help you. If you're not swaying in your seat when the horns come in, there's no one that can help you.
Stevie Wonder has a reputation for being a super nice person.
I had the privilege of meeting Stevie when he came to a night club to hear the band my cousin was playing in. Naturally he was called up to sit at the keyboard and offer a few minutes of pure gold. The keyboard wasn't set up for vocals so my cousin knowing I was the ultimate Stevie fan got me to run up there and hold the mike while he was singing. Never forget it! And yeah he was so great he invited us to hang at his place the following day. I'm pretty sure that everybody that I know has seen the photos so often they are now sick of me. LOL
Singer, songwriter, pianist, bassest, drummer and all around musical legend, Stevie Wonder.
I'm a Gen-Xer, and he was all of that before I was born.
I don’t think he actually plays bass, does he? My understanding was that the bass-lines that he plays himself (such as on this song) are all played on keyboard.
Also, you forgot the instrument on which he is the most indisputably a virtuoso - harmonica.
@@fromchomleystreet I knew about the harmonica, but I could have sworn he played the bass too.
@@nicholashylton6857 Stevie plays the bass lines with a synthesizer.
@@mghJD That explaines it. Thanks!
@@fromchomleystreet I once saw a list of the best bass players in popular music. It included many bass guitarists and "Stevie Wonder's left hand". That about said it all for me. He has some of the best bass lines ever, played on synth keyboards.
When I was 3 this was my favorite song and a way to connect with my daddy. It's amazing and never gets old.
In the intro that's not a guitar that plays the first line - it's a Hohner Clavinet. It's an electro-mechanical intrument that makes sound by a plectrum plucking a string, like a harpsichord, but there's an electronic pickup on each string. Remember, Stevie was first and foremost a keyboard player. There's no guitar in the whole song. Even the bass is a Moog synth. Also, maybe retroactively, we would generally classify this as Funk not R&B, though there are elements of blues, soul, and rock to it. One of the characteristics of Funk is that strong accent on the 1 beat. Listen how at the start of each measure the clavinet returns to a strong beat on a low note, then starts getting busy again after he holds that for a full beat to accent it more than just through dynamics. Thanks for listening and sharing!
Peace from SF
It's not a plectrum on a Clavinet, it's a rubber tine modelled on a Clavichord.
The GOAT! Stevie is pure talent. I don't think a comparison with Mozart is too outrageous.
As a young teenager, "Innervisions" knocked me out. Incredible. Thx VR.
Oh my goodness! ....a harpist reviewing Stevie Wonder...what strange and absolutely beautiful times we live in. This is a collision of worlds that I absolutely adore.
"Recurring sequence" is sometimes called the groove
This is funk which evolved from soul ,R& B and gospel.
Please do more Stevie Wonder. I would also like some Earth wind & Fire if possible.
I grew up in Detroit watching "Little Stevie" on local variety shows. A more mature Stevie would go on to have a huge impact on our world: not just in music, but in the business of music and the civil rights movement. "Golden Lady" is my favorite song of all time.
Stevie is the king of pop/funk/soul and rhythm and blues. He's a master keyboard player and singer. His voice has a wide range and few artists try to cover some of his songs, because of the difficulties. He's one of the great popular music artists of the 20th century. Just like Paul McCartney.
With whom he recorded a Number 1 hit which coincidently and amazingly was the longest charting hit for either of these A+++-List musicians.
All of this is true, i'm a big fan too!
But Stevie borrowed a lot of his style from Donny Hathaway.
@@mojochip695 Incredible but I didn't know Donny. I've done some research and some hearing. You're absolutely right. Their styles are similar and Donny is a great singer, composer, and keyboard player. He has made some very beautiful songs.
Amy should do Golden Lady, which to me is nothing short of cosmic in its brilliance. The chord changes are practically orgasmic.
Oh, this was a surprise. You should check more of Stevie. He is an amazing musician. Especially live.
And btw, he is my husband's all time favorite solo musician. 🥰
Wow Jovana. Great to see you. I didn't expect to see you on a Stevie Wonder song. I agree, he is an amazing musician. One of the greats. It has been a while since I have seen you, but maybe I just didn't notice your new profile image. Really good to see how much you appreciate Stevie's music, perhaps through your husband's influence, or maybe you were an admirer before.
@@LeeKennison Hey, dear Lee. Yes, I've been absent from UA-cam for a long time and still I am not fully back. I have one of my phases, but I hope it will pass. However I don't expect it to pass soon because now with each day my excitement rises because of R+ concert and I struggle to concentrate to literally anything. And after the concert I think that I will be depressed for some time. 😂 I'm an idiot, I know...
Anyway... I started really noticing Stevie when I met my husband, even though I knew few of his songs before because even my mom loves him, but I didn't really pay attention then.
He is amazing. I love how humble and warmhearted he seems. And definitely I love to hear him singing live. He never misses a note and it is fascinating.
@@jovana_r It occurred to me right after I posted my message that it must be getting close to your Rammstein concert time. I am sorry to hear you haven't been doing well lately. I really hope you are feeling good on concert day. I suspect you will, just the excitement of it should help a lot. I'm also still not posting much in general either, only here in Amy's comments.
@@LeeKennison Well, you know I have my phases. Actually, lately I have had few good days, but overall it is the same as always. Phases come and go. And this time I really think it is because of Rammstein. I have been trying not to think about the concert and to wait in peace but I guess I haven't been peacefull as I wished. 😂 And now it's a little more than two weeks left, so... I cannot be controlled anymore. 😂
Yep, that day I will be able to do anything because of the adrenalin, but we'll see how I'll handle it afterwards.
Anyway, I really hope I'll be able to get more active on Amy's channel soon. I miss it all.
Btw, how are you?
@@jovana_r Doing fine thanks, or at least about the same as last time we chatted. I still haven't been very motivated to do some things I normally really enjoy and need to spend more time on, such as playing my bass guitar or other instruments. Like you I go through phases.
Stevie wonders influence on contemporary music of every genre cannot be overstated.
You should do a deep dive because there’s so much brilliance.
Songs in the key of life is a great listen
Personal favorite
“living for the city”
Stevie , Chris Cornell and Paolo Nutini are my favourite voices ❤❤❤🔥🔥🔥. And that’s a clavinet not a guitar. If there’s a perfect ear Candy song this is one of those. When the horns came in you loved that ❤️.
Thank you Amy, I am thrilled you tackled this. You have started an amazing Journey with Stevie Wonder, he has incredible range as a player and singer.
There's no guitar on this, it's just layers of Clavients, and synth bass. He's an incredible keyboardist.
Originally he wrote it for guitarist Jeff Beck, which recorded it, but Stevie's recording was released as a single, much to Beck's dismay!
Yes! Her reaction to the Clavinet was so interesting, I wonder if Stevie was thinking of Jeff Beck when he wrote it, created it in his head...😊
@@TischTosh The original purpose of he clavinet was to replace the guitar
I was absolutely thrilled to see Stevie play this song live in 2010. A shame I had to listen to I Just Called To Say I love You at the same concert, but you win some, you loose some.
Yes, his hard edged, funk driven songs are so nasty (in a good way) and his ballads are so dreadfully dull. He may be the most frustrating artist I like. He is the Paul McCartney of soul music. Capable of putting out a Jet, Band on the Run, or Picasso's Last Words/1985 anytime he wants but also capable of putting out junk like My Love anytime he wants as well.
I would be very interested to see you do a reaction to his "Sketches of a Life". This will most likely fall into your preferred genre of music. As well, he did a few musical scores for 1) Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants" in 1979, then 2) later in the 90's (somewhere between '94 - '96) he did the soundtrack for the movie "Pinocchio" which both contain quite a few pieces steered toward classical music.
Loved your description of the vocals running over lush grass ! Stevie’s songs were written in the key of life ( nature)
Stevie Wonder ❤ I cannot imagine music history without him 🤩
The world is a better place with Stevie so glad he’s been with us over the years. Thank you for your wonderful interpretation and listen so good
You could do a Stevie Wonder 50 series. It'll be so worth it
You should play this song at a casual gathering with your classical friends and suggest that everyone dance! 😊
Stevie is playing drums on this track. He is a multi-instrumentalist of the first order. He originally wrote this song for Jeff Beck who had played on some of Stevie's earlier tracks. Stevie Ray Vaughn loved covering this song..
And now everyone needs to go watch Stevie play this on Sesame Street. One of the best things ever!
Yes, it is a clavinet that Stevie is playing. And I love it. Please try Sir Duke, and Please Dont Hurt My baby, by Stevie.
It's hard to tell how much being blind contributed to his music, but one thing that is clear is that the main pull to music for Stevie was his amazing feel for music. He was a massive and transformative influence in his day.
It's a Groove.That's the word you're looking for.
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore made a ... great ... analysis of the groove. Worth seeking out on UA-cam.
In Blues and R&B, the musicians will talk back to each other with their instruments, or have a conversation. So you get each instrument talking to each other creating the instrumental/the music of the song. Not trying to outdo each other….but fill in the space without overwhelming the sound. It’s not too busy…but just enough. And makes you move! 😁🎵🎶🎸
Thank you Amy for your great job at this big classic of Stevie.
There are so many other Wonder songs to recommend, but if I had to pick just one it would have to be "As". It's not just a wonderful, uplifting, joyous piece of musical art, but it has a certain very personal meaning to me that brings back such wonderful memories whenever I hear it. Yeah, I actually said, it wonder-ful. 😉
FYI, the introductory notes are Stevie on a keyboard (Clavinet) , not a guitar. He also played the drums.
Very good analys Amy, yes its a Hohner Clavinet ( keyboard ) ore rather 2 of them i guess. I had one as a teenager. And the voice and the horn sektion, wow.
@@mrake1000 its a mini moog synth actually
@@martingiguere559 No i dont think so they are monophonic.
Definitely Clavinet.
Eric Clapton once said that Stevie Wonder was the best drummer he ever heard.
I just subscribed! Lady I love your take on these classics!
The main instrument is a Clavinet.
For another great example of some funky, rockin' Clavinet, check out Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Under Foot". 🤙😎
The Clavinet part is Zep's homage to Stevie.
Stevie's at his absolutely best!!!!
Fun fact. He did an 8 min extended version of this song live on Sessamee Street. An American children's television show...
Those kids ate it up!
Stevie’s a national treasure. He played drums, Moog bass and Hovner clavinet and of course provided all vocals. Tenor sax and trumpet played by others. So glad you mentioned his musical layering. His rhythm track created this great syncopated pocket on which he could add vocals, brass and variation. His 1968 release “For Once in my Life” is an early song showing incredible layering and one of the best harmonica recordings ever.
To me Stevie, along with a few others, advanced the rhythmic sound of future popular music that shaped funk, hip hop, R & B and rock.
Probably the best ever at condensing the sonic richness of Big Band, and improvisational genius of jazz into a 3-4 minute hit song! A master class musician!
It’s always a joy to see you experiencing an artist who is new to you. It’s especially pleasing when it’s a song that you are clearly enjoying. It was pretty clear you were enjoying this one a lot. Somebody else in the comments suggested “Sir Duke”; I agree with them. It’s a great tune I think you’d really appreciate.
One music genius saluting another music genius, gotta love it.
I've always loved that drum intro
For something completely different "All is Fair in Love".
Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Underfoot" is an homage to this song...
Ooooo, I didn't know THAT. now I'll need to go back and listen to that!
always on the run lenny kravitz.. staying alive bee gees
Stevie played everything but the horns on this track. He played the drums, the clavinet, as well as keyboard bass.
Was it Tower of Power?
Yes, it sounds like a guitar but it's a clavanet. Easy mistake to make as it was designed to sound like an electric guitar. You should see him play it! There's such a bounceyness to it. It's hypnotic to watch. Thank you for your videos. I've been watching for quite a long time and I appreciate the work you put into these.
Just a note that the instrument mentioned as a 'guitar' is an electronic keyboard named a Clavinet, which Stevie is playing. I'm really enjoying your delving into unfamiliar waters & sharing your viewpoints, knowledge, and reactions!
About everything on the double album “songs in the key of life” is brilliant, and worth exploring. And relevant to this day!
Please do more videos of Stevie Wonder! His music varies a lot in terms of genres and themes (lyrically). It's amazing.
What a brilliant song, great so see someone listening to it for the first time after I've probably heard this song hundreds of times in my life. I beleive the sound you are thinking is guitar is actually a clavinet. So wonderful. Love the way you express your feelings while listening.
It would be great to hear your reaction to 11-12 year old Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips”, where he extemporises on harmonica. There is a live recording that used to be on a “Greatest Hits” album that was issued in the 1970s or early 80s.
IMO the comparison of Stevie Wonder to Mozart is absolutely appropriate ❤. I thought I had heard he went blind due to being in an incubator, so I just checked, and an eye condition related to his premature birth, probably worsened by the incubator, was the cause.
Thank you Amy, interesting and enjoying. Great.
I would highly recommend a Stevie Wonder series. A very interesting, capable and remarkable artist.
One of the only times I've seen Amy unconsciously moving to the music.
She lit up when the keyboard started, didn't she?
Can we call this funk? It certainly is funky, with funk elements.
OF COURSE!!!!!!!!
Almost anything with a Clavinet is funky. Pretty common on later "Funk" songs...
According to Bootsy, Stevie was definitely funky: "you can't cut that with a knife!..." ua-cam.com/video/wuaSzFf7yq0/v-deo.htmlsi=ZMxaHsZMnUBWXeav&t=132
Deep, deep funk!
Funky indeed. That's what I feel when listening to it. Funky.
Wonder ... Wonderful. Perhaps not as well known of all America's musical artists, but certainly most respected, inspiring and loved by his fellow musicians and all walks of life. From 1972 and his fifteen album, the second album from an epoch of creativity and genius that few artist have achieved. You will come back, be drawn back to that feeling and amazement that is Wonder ... Stevie Wonder. :)
Not well known only to those who don't know good music.
@@kovie9162 More like not well known by people who think music didn't exist before Spotify.
1976 - Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years" was named Best Pop Vocal Performance and Album Of The Year at the 18th annual Grammy Awards. In his acceptance speech, Simon told the audience "I'd like to thank Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album this year."
Rock and roll and R&B is a gateway genre into classical music for some people. I loved rock and roll before I listened to much classical and being the analytical person I am it opened me up to other forms of music that evoked that same sense of organization. That satisfying feeling you get listening to the complexity that builds to a “pay off” as the music climaxes or at the crescendo, whichever it is. Love it!
What you think is a guitar at the beginning is Stevie on his keyboard. Google one of his concerts and you will see it
Great to see you introduced to Stevie Wonder. One of the greats. In addition to R&B, this song gives you a good intro to Funk. I love the R&B, Soul, Funk, and Motown genres (particularly the 60s and 70s). I grew up on this stuff in the same way I grew up with rock. My two older sisters (by 10 years) were very much into this type of music, so I was exposed to a lot of it through them. Whereas their boyfriends and future husbands very much influenced my rock roots. Back in these days we freely crossed genres and so a lot of us were listening to both. As I got older rock started to dominate my listening more, but I still always loved this stuff. And now I love it even more as a bass player, with so many great basslines in these genres.
Yeah, definitely gotta give it up for the BRASS!! 🤙😎
Actually, there was a blind guitarist, named Jeff Healey. His style of playing the guitar as a blind person was mindblowing.
There were many blind blues guitarists.
@@johnsilva9139 For sure 🙂, I only know about Jeff Healey.
There are undoubtedly more, but in my own blues collection there's:
Blind Boy Fuller
Blind Blake
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Blind Willie Johnson
Blind Willie McTell
Sonny Terry
And of course, the legendary Ray Charles.
They're all worth a listen if you like the blues.
@@thepawsofdeception6564 Blind guitarists? Don't forget two of the greatest. Jose Feliciano and Doc Watson.
Did a really nice version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
Loving the classical musician discovering the Wonder Child!
Wonder has more vision and understanding of humanity than any sighted artist that ever existed.❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I can tell how much you enjoyed it, you played the music straight through
Stevie Ray Vaughn does an amazing cover of this song.
Thank you for this interpretation of a song I remember from my childhood.. I'm so lucky to have been immersed in music like this from an early age. One thing about the end.. I never heard it end this abruptly. I've always heard it fade out.. it seems like it was meant for this.
Whenever I see you come out with a video of a song I love, I watch it. I really enjoy and respect your perspective!
He is Truly a national treasure. He embodies everything I value.
Ok, that instrument that sounds like a guitar is actually a keyboard called the clavinet. The ending was cut early here because, on the album, it transitions to another song there. Lastly, you haven’t really heard Stevie until you’ve listened to his ballads. He writes, plays and sings some of the most beautiful ballads in all of pop music imo.
Stevie is a musical genius. I will enjoy her discovering it.
Stevie was so young at this time. Unreal.
I don't know which instruments Stevie Wonder plays but when you see him perform he's always behind the keyboard.
For an introduction into rhythm & blues this song is as good as any. I would say that this song just about personifies what the genre R&B is but the genre is so rich that one song can not shape a picture.
If you decide to delve more into Stevie Wonder be forewarned that this is a very deep dive with an unbelievable vast portfolio of top notch music that is mostly iconic.000
Good one Vlad! Thank you guys.
There are very few musician/songwriters of Wonder's caliber. I'd put Paul Simon, McCarney and Lennon, Jaggar and Richards, and a few others up there. Wonder deserves all the awards and accolades he has received, one amazing talent.
This song is such a perfect combination of so many different genres of music all at once. Blues, Funk, Jazz all in there and the vocals are all Little Stevie Wonder.....iconic stuff.
Sidenote: The main instrument he's using is keyboard (a Clavinet I believe). If you are interested in a guitar version Stevie Ray Vaughn does a hell of a cover.
I’m the youngest of eight kids and some of my older siblings were musicians who gradually got into rock and popular music in the early 70’s. I first heard this tune covered by them when I was a kid in a small town park and immediately started dancing. Stevie is a genius who overcame his disability and the overwhelming racism of the time and produced some of the best music for decades. He is, and always has been, amazing.
the drum intro set the groove, and creates the vibe. gotta bop your head!
This, my children, is why you need to listen to everything.
It's delightful, and reassuring, your head, shoulders and body 'knew' how to move to the 'funk'. 🎶🥁🎹
Best Wishes. ☮
Oh, and Stevie Wonder is undoubtedly one of the greatest musical artists of the 20th century, and is still, 50 years later, one of the greatest artists to "walk the Earth". Comparing Stevie Wonder favourably to Mozart is appropriate,
Yes! This is my favorite song ever, Stevie is a different level
Stevie Wonder was and still is an amazing performer... one of my favorites i do not know anyone who can listen to this and not tap a foot or move to the song !!!
It’s all about the black keys. Great song and reaction. Thanks Virgin Rick.