Funny, I was deep in the throes of diligently making an ultimate 40-song playlist of the pre-‘71-contract era (‘66-‘71 - I passed over the ‘62–‘66 era on the grounds of personal taste, basically Uptight through Where I’m Coming From) when I found the NYT article on Talking Book. Weird. Musta been in the air.
That new contract, guaranteeing him complete creative control, yielded what people refer to as (rightfully) the “classic period.” While the 5-album run of Music of My Mind through Songs in the Key of Life is (IMO) right there with any 5-album run of anyone’s (perhaps the GOAT) be it Beatles, Dylan, Bowie, or Prince, there are indeed a huge number of stunners from the pre-‘71-contract era, hence my nerdy endeavors to compile the ultimate playlist of that music.
It’s obviously a different situation, and while he is not the prototypical musical “auteur” in that period, he indeed has plenty of writing credits (including gems like ‘Tears of a Clown,’ ‘After You Pick Up the Pieces’ and ‘It’s Christmas Time’ by Smokey & the Miracles, and his ‘67 recording of ‘Until You Come Back to Me’ which Aretha eventually turned into a masterpiece in ‘73) and the best songs/tracks from Stevie/Motown ‘66-‘71 are simply ridiculous.
The last LPs, Signed, Sealed & Delivered, and Where I‘m Coming From, are tremendous. ‘71’s Where I’m Coming From was essentially as autonomous as the ‘71-‘76 albums, and is just genius music. ‘70’s Signed, Sealed & Delivered is loaded with Wonder writing credits, is still a typical “Motown-machine-type” album, but is so ridiculously great top-to-bottom that I think it should be considered a Wonder classic in its own right.
Anyone who calls Songs in the Key of Life the greatest pop album ever made will hear nary a complaint from me.
