Holland-Dozier-Holland’s greatest triumph?
~Dave Marsh (The Heart of Rock and Soul)While it wasn’t her biggest hit, it’s maybe Martha Reeves’s single best recording. Her vocals more than hold up with the song’s great melody and instrument backing.
~Richard Gilliam (allmusic.com)
Continue reading 50 years ago Martha & The Vandellas released “Nowhere to Run”
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The artist breaks through and takes control, though not in that order. Suddenly he’s writing better ballads than he used to choose, and not at any sacrifice of his endearing natural bathos (if you have doubts about “Sunshine of My Life,” try “Blame It on the Sun”). “Maybe Your Baby” and “Big Brother” continue his wild multi-voice experiments but come in out of left field. And “Superstition” translates his way of knowledge into hard-headed, hard-rocking political analysis.
~Robert Christgau
| Released | October 28, 1972 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | 1972 |
| Genre | Soul, funk |
| Length | 43:31 |
| Label | Tamla |
| Producer | Stevie Wonder, Robert Margouleff,Malcolm Cecil |
Talking Book is the fifteenth album by Stevie Wonder, released on October 28, 1972. A signal recording of his “classic period”, in this one he “hit his stride.” The album’s first track, “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”, earned Wonder his first Grammy Award, for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Superstition live on Sesame Street:
Sandwiched between the release of Music of My Mind and Innervisions, Talking Book saw Wonder enjoying more artistic freedom from Motown. Guest appearances 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 swinging clavinet and harmonica embellishments on “Big Brother”, though, defy categorization.
Released after Wonder toured with the Rolling Stones in 1972, Talking Book became an immediate hit. 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).
You are The Sunshine of My Life – Rainbow Theatre in London. Feb 1974:
From allmusic.com – John Bush:
After releasing two “head” records during 1970-71, Stevie Wonder expanded his compositional palate with 1972’s Talking Book to include societal ills as well as tender love songs, and so recorded the first smash album of his career. What had been hinted at on the intriguing project Music of My Mind was here focused into a laser beam of tight songwriting, warm electronic arrangements, and ebullient performances — altogether the most realistic vision of musical personality ever put to wax, beginning with a disarmingly simple love song, “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” (but of course, it’s only the composition that’s simple). Stevie’s not always singing a tender ballad here — in fact, he flits from contentment to mistrust to promise to heartbreak within the course of the first four songs — but he never fails to render each song in the most vivid colors. In stark contrast to his early songs, which were clever but often relied on the Motown template of romantic metaphor, with Talking Book it became clear Stevie Wonder was beginning to speak his mind and use personal history for material (just as Marvin Gaye had with the social protest of 1971’s What’s Going On). … read more over @ allmusic.com
Continue reading Today: Stevie Wonder released “Talking Book” in 1972 – 41 years ago
My travels led me to where I am today. Sometimes these steps have felt painful, difficult, but led me to greater happiness and opportunites.
~Diana RossYou know, you do need mentors, but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself.
~Diana Ross
Love Child (1968)
Wikipedia:
| Birth name | Diana Ernestine Earle Ross |
|---|---|
| Born | March 26, 1944 (age 69) Detroit, Michigan |
| Genres | R&B, soul, disco, jazz, pop, dance |
| Occupations | Singer, record producer, actress |
| Years active | 1959–present |
| Labels | Lu Pine, Motown, RCA, EMI |
| Associated acts | The Supremes, The Temptations, The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie |
| Website | www.dianaross.de |
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American vocalist, music artist and actress.
Ross first rose to fame as a founding member and lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that has included successful ventures into film and Broadway. She received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her role as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues (1972), for which she won a Golden Globe award for most promising female newcomer. She has won seven American Music Awards, and won a Special Tony Award for her one-woman show, An Evening with Diana Ross, in 1977.
When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes:
Gold (2005)
I don’t ever balk at being considered a Motown person, because Motown is the greatest musical event that ever happened in the history of music.
~Smokey RobinsonBerry Gordy founded Motown Records, but one could argue that Smokey Robinson was the man who first pushed America’s most iconic soul music label toward greatness.
~Mark Deming (allmusic.com)
The Tracks Of My Tears Live (1965)
| Birth name | William Robinson, Jr. |
|---|---|
| Born | February 19, 1940 (age 73) |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, United States |
| Genres | R&B, soul, pop, adult contemporary |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, record producer, record executive |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano |
| Years active | 1955–present |
| Labels | Motown, Universal, SBK, Liquid 8, Robso |
| Associated acts | The Miracles, The Temptations, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye |
| Website | Official website |
William “Smokey” Robinson, Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson was the founder and front man of the popular Motown vocal group The Miracles, for which he also served as the group’s chief songwriter and producer. Robinson led the group from its 1955 origins as The Five Chimes until 1972 when he announced a retirement from the stage to focus on his role as Motown’s vice president.
I Second That Emotion:
However, Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the following year, later having solo hits such as “Baby That’s Backatcha”, “A Quiet Storm”, “The Agony and the Ecstasy”, “Cruisin'”, “Being With You” and “Just to See Her”. Following the sale of Motown Records in 1988, Robinson left Motown in 1990. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Awards and accolades
On March 20, 2009, The Miracles were finally honored as a group with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Smokey was present with original Miracles members Bobby Rogers, Pete Moore, (Bobby’s cousin) Claudette Rogers, and Gloria White, accepting for her husband, the late Ronnie White, whose daughter Pamela and granddaughter Maya were there representing him as well. Smokey’s replacement, 1970s Miracles lead singer, Billy Griffin was also honored. Controversially, original Miracle Marv Tarplin was not honored, against the wishes of his fellow Miracles, and the group’s fans, who felt that he should have also been there to share the honor. However, later ,Tarplin did receive his star. He was also finally inducted with the rest of the original Miracles, Bobby Bogers, Pete Moore, Ronnie White,and Claudette Robinson, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 20th, 2012, some 26 years after Robinson’s controversial solo induction in 1987.
Ooo Baby Baby: The Anthology (2002)
