"Innervisions" — Stevie Wonder

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:20:04
Unknown
Oh. What's up? Adam. Wow. So if I matter. Okay. In honor of Stevie Wonder, we're doing inner visions today. One of my favorites. All timer. Yeah. It's great. He's got a bunch of tunes in E-flat minor. Yeah. I wonder if you had a favorite song. We could start out with something from Inner Visions of E-flat minor. Well, of course I love,

00:00:21:17 - 00:00:49:11
Unknown
Yeah. Very superstitious. Very much. Not on, inner reason. That's talking book. Okay. Do you got others? No, I maybe I was thinking of this one. I wish. Yeah. That's great. Except it's not on interviews. That's, songs in the Key of Life. Couple years later. Close. Not okay, but, you know, here's this one's definitely got revisions, and I feel like it might not.

00:00:49:15 - 00:01:21:22
Unknown
Okay. Go ahead. No trust. Okay. Right. Well, I just called to say I hate you. No, no. Boo! No no no. Look, let's do this. Y'all ready? Me? Yeah. This is good. Now.

00:01:22:00 - 00:01:34:19
Unknown
Do.

00:01:34:21 - 00:01:49:19
Unknown
Me.

00:01:49:21 - 00:02:07:14
Unknown
I've had a menace. And I'm Peter Hart. And you're listening to the you'll hear it podcast. Music explored. Explored. Brought to you today by Open Studio. Go to open studio jazz dot come from your jazz lesson means. Peter. Yes. I'm hesitant. Say it. It's not. Is it a big day? I really want to say it, but I won't say it and I'll say it.

00:02:07:18 - 00:02:29:16
Unknown
Okay. Adam? Yeah. You know what today is? It's a big day. I think it really is a big day. This is. Is this going to be our apex moment of the season? This might be the apex moment of our lives, man. We are diving back into Stevie Wonder, into the record? Yeah. Which is, you know, it's going to be really fun for us to explore.

00:02:29:16 - 00:02:50:10
Unknown
Where does this lie in terms of obviously, it's in the classic period. It's right in the middle of the classic period. But, you know, spoiler alert, we both think this is a great record. Yeah. How great do we think it is? That's going to be the main thing we talk about. I mean it's it's pretty undeniably great. Maybe Peter take a couple beats and explain to the kind people out here what you mean by the classic period.

00:02:50:11 - 00:03:06:04
Unknown
Okay. Classic period. Yeah. And I want to make sure I refer to my notes here so I get this accurate. This is a little bit established, but it's it's certainly not arbitrary, but there's a little bit of bleed through on either end. So we don't want to be too dogmatic to say this is the period like Stevie created it.

00:03:06:04 - 00:03:25:02
Unknown
And as this demarcation point in his recording and musical output. But I think that we can see as we look back and listen to these great records, that these records are connected. We got five owls in five years. Music. Get my Mind and talking book, which we've covered here at the pod, a couple months ago. Those both came out in 1972.

00:03:25:09 - 00:03:43:19
Unknown
Then we have this record, Inner Visions, which we're going over today, 1973, huge record won Grammy for album of the year, of course, the 1970 for fulfilling this first finale. And then in 1976, somewhat delayed record that he'd been working on, for two, two and a half years. Songs of the Key of Life.

00:03:43:22 - 00:03:58:20
Unknown
And that's a Magnus opus, I would say. Yeah. And and you can say, well, 74 and then 76, he missed a year. But songs in the Key of Life is also a double album. Right. So it's like you get to right. And it was a party was delayed for a long time by I think Stevie like tinkering with it was to come out in 75.

00:03:58:20 - 00:04:17:12
Unknown
Well, it was a masterpiece. So but you know, the, the sort of weakest one of these is maybe just fulfilling this first finale, which is really great, but I think it's just the title is so hard to say fulfilling this. That's the worst finale. Yeah. It is. You spit a little bit when you say it. Yeah. But no, that's a that's the one that's sort of like the least talked about.

00:04:17:12 - 00:04:33:11
Unknown
Yeah. But I, it's still really the most introspective for sure. Yeah. And we're going to talk about possibly why that is and where that one falls. But I mean some classic tunes on that one too. Yeah. It's and all these records, like they're so connected in terms of Stevie's and I think innovations more than any of them.

00:04:33:16 - 00:04:52:11
Unknown
You know, there's one man band concept with him playing all the instruments. I think this is the most solitary record in terms of like, there are a few other people, you know, doing some backgrounds, a little bit of bass, some guitars, but there's a bunch of tracks where it's only Stevie playing every single instrument. And some of the ones I think folks are gonna be surprised when they hear what those tracks are.

00:04:52:22 - 00:05:12:08
Unknown
So it's very much like. I mean, this is like Stevie doing his thing. He's confident. Great song. He wrote everything on here. Yeah. Some real also some real reflective, socially conscious stuff on here, which wasn't a huge part of the first two of this string dabble. Just a little bit here, a little bit here and there. And he goes further in it.

00:05:12:08 - 00:05:31:18
Unknown
I think in especially songs in The Key of Life and fulfilling this first full finale. But, but this is sort of like especially triple F, triple. Yeah. Yeah. But you know, especially with like, living and living for the city. Yeah. Jesus. Children of America, things like that. And even to high too high. He's mister and know it all.

00:05:31:18 - 00:05:49:09
Unknown
Yeah. Have some some political things behind them and that's very and super varied on this record. Love. You know of course spirituality. Yeah. Politics and really balance. Oh my God, this record sounds great from beginning to end. You know we always say that. Yeah. You really said that about great records. Yeah. And then just banger after banger to banger or banger.

00:05:49:09 - 00:06:16:11
Unknown
You know we did last season we did Talking Book and which I is still put in my humble opinion, which means absolutely nothing. I prefer talking book still to Inner Visions after spending this week, listening for preparing for this podcast. Can I say they're equal? Is that you can say they're equal and I join both. But yeah, I think when we did Talking Book, everybody said, because I believe we talked about like, is this Stevie Wonder's greatest album kind of thing.

00:06:16:11 - 00:06:36:01
Unknown
Yeah, I'm talking about. But everybody's like, no. Inner Visions is we had so many people that was surprising a little bit, a little bit, because you would think it would be like songs in the Key of Life, which some people mentioned, but a lot of people mentioned innovation. So this is a lot of people's favorite Stevie Wonder. For me, I still think just front to back talking book is more consistent and just there's no skips on that one.

00:06:36:03 - 00:06:53:17
Unknown
There's a we can talk about this in a little bit, but there might be 1 or 2 here that are like would be amazing for any other artist, but I think is maybe not Stevie's, but I'm willing to entertain it a little bit. Okay. So this came out on August 3rd, 1973. Adam Manis was but not even a glint in anybody's eye at that point.

00:06:53:18 - 00:07:13:09
Unknown
I was, not even a yeah, I was two years old. So I don't remember this one in real time. But it's interesting because a lot of these, compositions on here, I've heard Stevie do live several times over the years. So it's and it's a record that I've just listened to so much. As I said, it did win a Grammy for album of the year 1974, which is a super competitive year.

00:07:13:10 - 00:07:31:21
Unknown
Yeah. There was we're going to talk about that a little bit later. In terms of like, I mean, this was I there was so many great records being made. I know we always say that in the early 70s, but it really is true. We mentioned this on the Paul Simon. Still crazy after all these years episode that we did a couple weeks ago that, you know, Paul Simon lost, lost out.

00:07:32:00 - 00:07:52:01
Unknown
Here goes Rhymin Simon to Stevie Wonder on this. Yeah. And got obsessed with innovations. Yeah. And made still crazy after all these years as he was listening to innovations over and over again. Yeah. So there's like some interesting lore there between these two very different artists, but who were very much flourishing at this time. By the way, can we just talk a little bit too about the time?

00:07:52:05 - 00:08:15:04
Unknown
Yeah, I know, I know, we spend a lot of time in the early 70s on this podcast, but there's something magical about this run. Yeah, in music history, there's something like this. The combination of the technology at the time, with the way things sound, the the advancement of like the sort of post sexual revolution, the post hippie revolution, the post psychedelic music, post-civil rights.

00:08:15:04 - 00:08:35:07
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, civil rights, like feminism, everything like kind of coming to a cultural point in at least here in America. And artists are just like, I mean, as artists do. Yeah. Flourishing with this shit. Like really taking off. Right? Speaking to the time. Oh my gosh. But also making timeless art. You know what? And you know what?

00:08:35:10 - 00:08:52:17
Unknown
Let's just talk into it. I'm ready to. I told you before we started, I'm ready to lean into. But he's getting. I turned 55 the other day. Yeah. So I'm ready to lean into saying, like I'm not apologizing for with pop music. Just really, this is not the only period talking about like 68 through 79 or 76, whatever.

00:08:52:17 - 00:09:14:09
Unknown
We want to say that great pop records were absolutely not. Yeah, this streaks in the 80s, in the 90s and the 2000 that are. But it's the best period. Well, Peter's entering his Beato era. Well and I yeah I also think it's, it's just like it's to me it's the top period I believe for jazz influence and navigation of pop music.

00:09:14:10 - 00:09:35:18
Unknown
Well, that makes total sense because if we think about sort of the, you know, people talk about the golden age of straight ahead jazz piece, right? We're talking about the late 50s, early 60s. And so all of these artists in the early 70s were kids in the late 50s, early 60s. And now we're old enough to start making music in their 20s here in the 70s, like Stevie, like Steely Dan, like those kinds of bands that we love and admire.

00:09:35:18 - 00:09:53:23
Unknown
Yeah, like Marvin Gaye. You know, who was, you know, obviously making music in the 60s, but was very, very young comes into his own, super influenced primarily by jazz singers Nat King Cole, singer Ella Fitzgerald. You know, you're absolutely right. Even someone like Michael Jackson, who was a, you know, started his career in the, the, early 70s as a child.

00:09:54:00 - 00:10:10:18
Unknown
Yeah, is starting to make jazz influenced stuff by the late 70s. Yeah. And so, so the, the early 70s may not have been the greatest period for straight ahead jazz. A lot of folks would say, although I would contend that there was some great things happening, but they're great things happening, but they're more on the jazz. What would we consider jazz fusion side?

00:10:10:18 - 00:10:34:04
Unknown
Perhaps talking about Return to Forever, CTI, Freddie Hubbard? Oh yeah, yeah, it honors weather report, but let's not forget too. There's also some swinging straight ahead. Yeah, there's also some like I mean some amazing artists from the late 50s, 60s sort of, height of the straight ahead era. Yeah. You know, Hank Jones made some of my favorite Hank Jones albums in the 70s, absolutely solo and was perhaps in his prime, although he never really left his prime.

00:10:34:04 - 00:10:50:14
Unknown
Apparently a bunch of people. De Bobby Hutcherson, the 70s. That's right. It was. You know what it was, man, in the 70s, it was kind of a weird time technologically for acoustic instruments, but I thought if you say, you know what it was, the drugs were so darn good back then that two and two. But AI technology had a huge impact.

00:10:50:17 - 00:11:11:13
Unknown
And also there's there was a real rub between popular music and straight ahead jazz in the 70s specifically that, yeah, I think would take a little bit of a turn with the young Lions know, era. And now we're in a whole crazy new era with and I think for pop music during this period, there's, there's, there's a through line that was already happening, like, with real drums and for folks.

00:11:11:13 - 00:11:40:03
Unknown
No, no, I'm talking about it's exactly what you think it is. A drum set, a drummer playing the drums. And Stevie Wonder, by the way, is playing drums on every single track, like so you you would go and you would prompt some kind of AI to say, like, make a drum sound like Stevie. You. Yeah, exactly. Well, but even before, like when we look at programed drums, which may have started not this early, but like might have started in the 70s, like later 70s, but like really that heyday to be a little bit rough with the figures and the like the Kraftwerk kind of like.

00:11:40:03 - 00:12:00:19
Unknown
Yes. Program drums. Yeah. And like Stevie's, you know, Stevie's record, you know. Well, Hotter than July I think it was maybe some still, but I mean like Muse Aquarium on the original stuff, part time lover, all that, like Stevie was very much into programed drums as that became the sound very early pop and certainly R&B. Yeah, in the 80s, because yeah, Stevie was always on the technological bleeding edge.

00:12:01:03 - 00:12:21:11
Unknown
But I think that that affected the music in a way that in some ways like really kind of soulful pop music, if you want to call that, you know, like Michael Jackson Steele, who just dominated obviously the 80s and stuff that, you know, he was still holding on to a lot of, real drums. So there was some program stuff, but the real drums were there once I got pulled out of the music.

00:12:21:13 - 00:12:46:02
Unknown
So now we're getting into like the 90s and stuff or like the late 80s. I really think that that had such a effect on the soul of the music that it wasn't it wasn't until, like, it became we were able to harness that technology, the drummers and the the programmers and the producers, you know, we talk about Dilla and the influence, you know, J, J Dilla later on, like where now you're trying to humanize programed drums, right?

00:12:46:02 - 00:13:07:19
Unknown
Wabi sabi, which we're going to get to later. Good, good. All right. This record comes out on August 3rd, 1973. Let's check out a little bit of the first track. And like how what an innovation and a crazy place. This record starts that incredible opening. Yeah.

00:13:07:21 - 00:13:16:02
Unknown
But for this.

00:13:16:04 - 00:13:24:19
Unknown
To go.

00:13:24:21 - 00:13:30:04
Unknown
To.

00:13:30:06 - 00:13:39:23
Unknown
I'm too high. You gotta put into the sky.

00:13:40:01 - 00:14:13:07
Unknown
Too high. Oh, do. Oh, but in the sky. Oh, this break right here. She's a girl in a dream. Oh, God, she's a fool. I got a monster on the TV screen. She takes another pop and says it's a crazy scene. The bread is green, she's a tangerine. I'm too bad. Oh, so there's so much going on here.

00:14:13:12 - 00:14:34:22
Unknown
So what? What what a great start to a record. We've we've mentioned before like sort of the genre of Stevie Wonder and how he's created several little subgenres. This might be the first like psychedelic soul track that there ever was. Yeah. I mean incredible and really a lot of jazz on like, so the way it starts here and like, what that bassline.

00:14:38:00 - 00:15:04:01
Unknown
For this. It's not quite almost like a reverse swing pattern though. It did that. Oh yeah, I got that. It's got that swing feel right. You know, you got like Parliament-Funkadelic, psychedelic funk or whatever. This is really like some other music. Kind of like this. Yeah. That has a jazz influence. Like it has. Yeah. It's amazing to get even those background vocals.

00:15:04:01 - 00:15:25:05
Unknown
I'm too high to play put into the sky. And it's a real like, this is all a minor here, but all these chords do some really weird, complicated stuff floating on top of the sky and it all and look, the lyrics is all about, you know, this is about drugs. This is about like, it's a really interesting story from beginning.

00:15:25:05 - 00:15:42:02
Unknown
Then I was like diving back in like, it's got such a, a story arc to the way he puts it together, but the way that the music matches, the way the grooves, the way everything's a little bit off kilter until it gets to the end where it gets very off kilter, which I don't know. I'm, I'm, I'm a don't say no guy generally.

00:15:42:02 - 00:16:01:09
Unknown
But it's like, that's very much about your high your too high, all these kind of things. You know listen to Stevie kids be careful out there. That's right, that's right. And so and then check this out too. Like this record starts with a huge pattern interrupter, which is kind of a weird thing because it's not like the rest of the record is not necessarily like this track.

00:16:01:09 - 00:16:20:02
Unknown
This is just the beginning of a story that's being told by this record. Yeah, but to start off this kind of potentially or filter, well, think about how the previous album starts, right? Think about how talking book starts. Yeah, it starts with you are the sunshine of my life. Yeah. It's like a warm one of his biggest hits, one of the most welcoming, cross-genre songs.

00:16:20:02 - 00:16:40:08
Unknown
Right? Absolutely. And I'm trying to think of like, how does, Talking Book ends with, if I'm not mistaken. Hold on. I'm looking it up now. I'm trying to remember it's the, I believe when I fall in love with you, I will be forever. So, like, this big, like it's. It's a buildup. It's a buildup. This big pop ballad at the end.

00:16:40:08 - 00:17:05:04
Unknown
Yeah. And he's going to start this second. This the next, the the the the subsequent record. Yeah. With this crazy psychedelic jazz, soul, weird like chords. It's really cool, actually. Really talking about it too. And I mean interrupter. The lyrics are great. Patrick like one, 2222, three. And then he goes.

00:17:05:06 - 00:17:10:02
Unknown
For these crazy triads. Chromatic.

00:17:10:04 - 00:17:34:15
Unknown
It's like some Lambert Hendrickson rock. Yeah yeah yeah. And then back one, two. This I was three last time. Now we're jumping. To. And then this is different. It's a little bit different. It's already off kilter than the first time. I'm too high and this is whole time. But I break this out. So what do you mean by whole tone and what are those chords?

00:17:34:15 - 00:17:56:03
Unknown
Okay, so the stuff at the beginning, these triads. So he's taking something. A triad is like the most basic, basic song you can make. Yeah. You're at home. It's like everybody knows it's major triad minor. Right? So he's taking this triad and then he's moving them chromatically. So it has this very like, whoa. Like roller coaster kind of a feel.

00:17:56:08 - 00:18:16:06
Unknown
But he's doing it with this kind of jazzy swing feel. I need a button on the back of it. I do this, and then sometimes he goes like he goes up the second time, but it's very subtle. The way he changes it. And, you know, in the day and age of today, everything would be like exactly the same.

00:18:16:06 - 00:18:33:12
Unknown
And you definitely wouldn't start something with three times. So before that, before he even gets to the triads and then I'll, I'll show you the whole tone thing in a second. This is pretty like, you know, your groove is over minor. Yeah. So like, that should feel pretty settled, right? So you got like,

00:18:33:14 - 00:18:52:14
Unknown
You know, a minor. But the fact that he does it three times is weird because you would expect it to be 2 or 4 times. That's right. So he's already kind of setting things up, but you don't put him in. But that's minor. And then you get triads moving chromatically and then you got the rhythm, which I have to teach you.

00:18:52:16 - 00:19:19:04
Unknown
And then back here it goes just two times. It's one less brother. But the same chromatic thing. But doodle doo doo doo doo doo doo doo. And then here comes the whole tone part. I'm doing a two and I play later. The sky. You touch the sky. So it's. It's all over this E pedal.

00:19:19:06 - 00:19:44:07
Unknown
This is dominant 713 questions moving down. It holds out. So whole tones is this again another little spacey. It's a druggy sound. It's a druggy sound. Like if the chromatic thing is very like I'm falling through space, the whole tone is like the world is expanding a little bit. Yeah, yeah. And look, Steve is not the first one to use all these things, but I put them together like this at the beginning of an album of a pop album that you think is going to be a hit record, which it turns out it is.

00:19:44:08 - 00:20:03:17
Unknown
Yeah, it's just genius. I think what pulls to me on this whole record, like Steve's singing, the writing is all great, but to me, his drumming, yeah, is like the glue. And then we're going to talk about the bass playing too, because that's incredible. I have a lot to talk about with the bass playing and the drumming, but I'm glad you're already mentioning this concept of like, things aren't very cookie cutter on this album, right?

00:20:03:17 - 00:20:22:08
Unknown
So like even just the fact that he's playing all these instruments, like on most of the album, he's playing every single instrument, including the bass and the drums, which is so rare for an album this big that someone who's not a professional studio bass player and drummer. I don't think people realize like, how weird that is, right? That it wouldn't be on this level.

00:20:22:10 - 00:20:41:13
Unknown
Like some real pros who come in and nail it and play the same thing, you know, like, like a clock, right? Which is what these incredible studio musicians can do so well. But that's what makes this album super special. Is that, like, it's never the same thing twice. There's mistakes left and mistakes in many quotes. There's no such thing as mistakes.

00:20:41:13 - 00:21:07:17
Unknown
But it's not perfect variations. There's variation. It's not perfect imperfections. And it's an incredible how we're going to check that out. That bad boy speeds up quite a few clicks from beginning to end, but nobody gives a shit. No. Sounds awesome. It feels incredible. And it's really like it's really inspiring for me as a musician to be like, man, why do I obsess about trying to play things perfectly or make sure that everything is just, you know, this perfect thing?

00:21:07:17 - 00:21:27:02
Unknown
My favorite music, all of my favorite music has these imperfections, and I'm baked into it because I get to hear the human that is Stevie and you feel taken care of. That actually, someone is okay with their own imperfections in their art. It makes the art incredible. Yeah, well, it's almost like, you know, we talk about and I want to get into this.

00:21:27:02 - 00:21:40:19
Unknown
I know it's controversial. Is this a perfect album? We're always you know, flirting with that concept. But if you're always looking for that concept, I don't think there's maybe I'm going to put that out there. I don't think there's such a thing. But I mean, if nothing else, like, say, for this track and this definitely isn't, by the way.

00:21:40:19 - 00:22:02:23
Unknown
Well, but if we say this track, is this a perfect track, what you were just talking about, I think it's a matter of like, well, if you're saying that there's imperfections and it's not perfect, then how? Like when you take a willingness for it not to be cookie cutter, for it not to be perfect, and you combine that with a confidence and a concept and then extreme crafting of how the things put together.

00:22:02:23 - 00:22:16:07
Unknown
I think that that can get it to a perfect track and possibly even to a perfect album. In fact, I don't think I think if you try to make every if everything comes out perfect, then the whole the sum of the parts is imperfect, I think. I don't think I'm ever going to get here with you just because I.

00:22:16:09 - 00:22:35:19
Unknown
It's a much larger philosophical conversation about this. Perfect. Well, this is a great. How about that? Great is fine. Yeah. Is this a great I'm saying it's like one of the greatest albums. Yeah, but how do you make something great? It has to have that humanity. I think it's that willingness for there to be imperfections, combined with a confidence of delivery and a high level of like, craftsmanship and execution.

00:22:35:19 - 00:22:50:17
Unknown
100%, 100. So you were talking about C we're gonna talk about his drumming, of course, but the bass player and you were saying, I know some people are like, wait, he played bass? I mean, I'm sure he probably did, but he's playing a moog bass, which you're a very, good. You could even demonstrate some stuff if you want to hear, but, like, you're really good at the move.

00:22:50:17 - 00:23:06:21
Unknown
Bass. This isn't a moog unless true. So I'm going to play some just some isolated on there. So we did. We did some on our, Herbie Hancock main voyage show. We did our intros and outros. Don't compare that to this. No, no, we did some intros, announcers on the on the Moog base that we have here in the studio and the, the Yamaha.

00:23:06:23 - 00:23:24:19
Unknown
You face I it's one of my favorite bass sounds and I love I love bass players. You know, there's my best friend, two bass players. Some great bass players play Moog bass at the same, you know. Yeah. But I think there's something really special about it. Yeah. Especially like the, the mono synth bass is one of my favorite ever.

00:23:24:20 - 00:23:32:03
Unknown
Basements. Yeah. So we're gonna play a little and then I want you to explain to folks what that is about.

00:23:32:05 - 00:23:38:20
Unknown
This is Stevie just playing the bass, Moog.

00:23:38:22 - 00:23:58:07
Unknown
Oops. Going down is. Did you hear? How? It's a little different each time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it's in the pocket. Damn. Even without the drums.

00:23:58:09 - 00:24:16:07
Unknown
So. Yeah. So the the synth bass. Yeah, is really interesting. So, you know, at the time, all of these sensors are monophonic, at least, the ones that he's using for the bass, they've got a set, which means that you can only play one note at a time, which means that if you strike, like if you're hitting a note and you hit another note.

00:24:16:09 - 00:24:27:18
Unknown
Yeah, it like, cuts the previous note off. You can't, like, make a chord. Or what happens if you play a try it. Yeah. Just one one note happens. So when you hear like.

00:24:27:20 - 00:24:33:15
Unknown
Anytime that he does you hear this a lot on this album. So it'll be like.

00:24:33:17 - 00:25:01:01
Unknown
Like he'll go he'll hold the note low. Yeah. And then hit it up high. And there's glide that can happen on. Yeah. Put your mental or mental so you hear these like funky things that can happen. Yeah. And then sometimes he'll do like a yeah very specific thing like oh yeah. Because of again the monophonic and even a run can be sounds super, super clean in this style.

00:25:01:01 - 00:25:17:22
Unknown
So this is just like a really simple. And this is not as, not as nice as what Stevie is working with here. But a lot of times I it's not like, yeah, but yeah that's how the he's getting those like really incredible funky like riffs that are between the beat. The root note of things has been so great.

00:25:17:22 - 00:25:31:07
Unknown
It's been this the other way. Yeah. I'm going to jump to maybe a part where he's getting into some of that. Just looking at the waveform. This is just the bass. Yeah. You can hear the in the attack of things like he's slurring things essentially.

00:25:31:09 - 00:25:38:21
Unknown
All that stuff man. So good. And when you add in the drums.

00:25:38:23 - 00:26:03:13
Unknown
And I think oh he's just so fucking that he's got, you know, the envelope filter on there that's making it sort of sound like a while of black. Oh, and this is super melodic playing, right. Yeah. But he's like one of the greatest bass players of all time. Oh, no. Stop talking. That.

00:26:03:15 - 00:26:13:19
Unknown
Oh this is that part where it's like, oh, they.

00:26:13:21 - 00:26:35:16
Unknown
Preset. He's too high tonight. Yeah. So so much great stuff on here. So that's bass then. He's playing the drums here. The friend say the cymbal. Stop. Oh come on Phil.

00:26:35:18 - 00:26:57:00
Unknown
Keyboards again in the drumming. Not nearly as perfect as what a high level studio drummer now would do. But so funky. And I think that on I know on some of the ones on talking book for sure. Like he would lay down the drums first. So that's kind of crazy if you think about just like the two in the form in his head.

00:26:57:00 - 00:27:14:11
Unknown
Yeah. So like he he's when you're tracking, it's like you're playing all the instruments. Obviously you have to do them one at a time. So he's having to kind of like sing along and think about all these different sections. Now he wrote it. So I guess it's like that's not hard for him. But it starts out, oh I don't know.

00:27:14:11 - 00:27:25:08
Unknown
That's pretty good studio drumming actually.

00:27:25:10 - 00:27:33:17
Unknown
And he's got to think about that. That's like three times you know, versus two times.

00:27:33:19 - 00:27:45:23
Unknown
With the bass and then the keyboard stuff. I gotta get off.

00:27:46:01 - 00:27:51:12
Unknown
To.

00:27:51:14 - 00:28:00:08
Unknown
That Fender Rhodes I don't.

00:28:00:09 - 00:28:27:02
Unknown
Yeah. So then we go put the monster on the TV screen. You see the vocals is what everyone pays. Jake's. No, the puffin says it's a the same. And this kind of that where the screen is this rendering. What do you call that? Phaser? I'm two. I do, but I let go a slight phaser. Yeah, there's something on there.

00:28:27:04 - 00:28:36:21
Unknown
So that's that whole tone we're talking about, man. Singing that in so well in tune is super hard to have too. I yeah.

00:28:36:22 - 00:29:03:17
Unknown
So it kind of all ends up on this like minor bluesy kind of a thing. But because of. It's a very unusual way to get there. Too high to, I've never, ever owned, But this is something. So the production on this album, Stevie Wonder, Malcolm Cecil and Robert Mark Olaf, who, worked on the, you know, the first four records of the classic period.

00:29:03:20 - 00:29:20:15
Unknown
They worked really closely together at the Record Plant in Media Sound in New York. They were really, I mean, not only with the synthesizer, with the old Moog, I think both ways. You know what? I'm just gonna split the difference because I can never remember the correct way. Moog. Moog? We don't know. Don't look at me blankly, sir.

00:29:20:17 - 00:29:39:16
Unknown
I know I forgot which way I sing, but with that and then the title, which we're going to get into, we haven't heard that yet. The incredible multi timbral, you know, thing that, that Cecil and Marty left had developed, that Stevie really brought to life during these sessions. So just to say that, like, I'll, there's a lot that went into the production of this.

00:29:39:16 - 00:30:05:13
Unknown
So when you hear stuff like, like this, that's a superficial paradigm in the way it's bouncing around. You had a chance to make it world as opposed to just, you know, flat like that. That has a big part. Like when you start adding in, but no dice. The stuff very nice. It sounds weird when it's on its own.

00:30:05:15 - 00:30:07:20
Unknown
You.

00:30:07:21 - 00:30:12:04
Unknown
Know.

00:30:12:06 - 00:30:30:20
Unknown
And think that great segue section. So it's a good first track. I believe it is. I believe now I remember I believe it is Moog because I believe how we can remember that. Bob Moog. Bob that's the way he's, you know, the guy who invented it. I don't pronounce it. I should go, I gotta ask my dad. My dad knew Bob a little bit at University of Pennsylvania back in music school around the same time.

00:30:30:20 - 00:30:48:01
Unknown
But I would say in anybody's defense, who says Moog, it's literally like phonetically two O's right next to each other. It's hard not to see it and say anything but Moog. So at the end of this, we're going to come back to that, later in our categories at the end of the track. So there's some fun. What other, what other tracks got lined up for us?

00:30:48:01 - 00:31:05:17
Unknown
Well, I got visions, Sumi, I love visions. I like title track, title track. Right. And before we get into it, I just want us to hear. It's always fun to hear the artists talking about this. The lyrics on this album, I think, are as good as it gets for Stevie. Yeah, and that's saying a lot because, like, he was a real lyricist.

00:31:05:23 - 00:31:20:06
Unknown
He, he wrote the lyrics for almost all of his songs for, for many of them. And you know, I think on this record, he really had stuff dialed in in such a varied way, and there's such a part of the story there in a lot of ways, the easiest part for the listener, you know, we're talking about hotels.

00:31:20:06 - 00:31:38:03
Unknown
None of that actually really matters hearing the words, but how that relates to the music and the production and how Stevie played the stuff and presented it. But we have this wonderful little thing. We can just listen to a little bit of it, of Stevie. Just talking about, and reciting actually some of the lyrics to visions before we go.

00:31:38:05 - 00:32:04:07
Unknown
You know, lately we've been getting into writing very heavily and just do the thing, and it's going to be on the album, which will probably be the title tune. Yeah, I'm going to be called Inner Visions, and, a song is visions, and, one of the lines of the song is, people hand in hand have a legacy of milk and honey land where hate, dream and love forever stands.

00:32:04:09 - 00:32:26:11
Unknown
Or is this a vision in my mind? This is the law was never passed. But somehow all men feel the truly free at last. And we really go on this path through space and time. Oh, is this a vision in my mind that says I'm the one who made you really get a feel for, you know, Stevie, interacting and reciting.

00:32:26:11 - 00:32:44:06
Unknown
This is poetry. Really? You know, as just the lyrics are beautiful. Yeah, it's beautiful, even on its own, separate from the music. But I think it's so insightful, you know? And then as we go on and listen to it, this beautiful intro, with the music, you know, kind of where he's coming from. And this is Malcolm Cecil on the bass, I see.

00:32:44:06 - 00:33:02:21
Unknown
So, yeah, one of the producers and engineers on here play. It was originally a jazz bass player. So it's two guitars, not Steve. You know, it's the only time on the record really, except for some background vocals. But it's not Steve.

00:33:02:23 - 00:33:43:07
Unknown
Dean Parks and David Walker on on guitars people and and hand hope I live to see the new canon. Dylan. Where? Hey, it's a dream in love. Forever still. Or is this the vision in my mind? You.

00:33:43:09 - 00:34:16:07
Unknown
The laws never pass. Second verse. Oh man, feel that. Live free at last. Have free. Really. So it's just, it's amazing to me. Like space and time. Oh, is this a vision in my mind?

00:34:16:09 - 00:34:21:00
Unknown
You.

00:34:21:02 - 00:34:52:02
Unknown
The bridge here is not one who make believes classics. I know the leaves are green. The they only turn to brown when autumn comes around. I know just what I say. The day is not yesterday. And all things have an ending.

00:34:52:03 - 00:35:13:22
Unknown
But what I'd like. Yeah. So this. This composition is written in the L.A. We can sit here, listen all day. Right. Exists in until the big wakes from universal come after us. But the idea of, like, this song is written in the traditional Arbor, great American Songbook. Kind of a form, you know? That's why I said when we go to the bridge and it's such a story, it's such a journey.

00:35:13:22 - 00:35:35:23
Unknown
And, you know, Stevie, I think, you know, he's known for his incredible, intonation, which is just singing in tune. But doing it while singing a lot of really challenging things, obviously without autotune, without, like, a lot of overdubs and all these kind of things. But also, I think his diction, like the clarity of the words, not only the ideas but the delivery of it, is pretty stunning.

00:35:35:23 - 00:35:57:12
Unknown
Yeah, we talked about this on Talking Book about how he sometimes gets overlooked. I think especially from from the more the music nerd side of things, like, yeah, people like us, for what, an incredible vocalist he is, just on that front. If he didn't write anything, if he didn't play anything, if you were just a singer. Yes, singing someone else's songs, he would still be one of the goats.

00:35:57:12 - 00:36:18:16
Unknown
Like he's still so incredible on that instrument. And then you mix in this. I mean, this is the second song on the album, right? This is the title track. And listen to all of the harmonic textures that we've already had, like all of these things that you would never see on anyone else's album, especially someone who's making, like the highest level Grammy Award winning.

00:36:18:16 - 00:36:44:16
Unknown
Yeah, Billboard Top ten, like all of this stuff. Like, you're not hearing this on any, but you're hearing like one, four, five ones, right? Chord progressions, these chords that Stevie Wonder is, you know, and frankly, like, a little bit more sophisticated than even the jazz stuff. I know that's happening around this time. Right? Like it's really something like, I mean, it's like you could if you turn this into a Herbie Hancock album.

00:36:44:17 - 00:37:01:11
Unknown
Yeah, it wouldn't be out of the question. Like, it wouldn't. It wouldn't seem weird. You know, this track so had hundreds came out in 73 to I believe and, like this track is more jazz than anything on Head On. Well, I can't say that it's Herbie Hancock and he's like, you know what I'm saying? Like, it's just the composition.

00:37:01:11 - 00:37:17:05
Unknown
It's a cousin. It's a first cousin. Yeah, that. Yeah. And the fact that, I mean, what a great time when you could have something like this. This is a second track. And like, young folks maybe don't realize because it's all about, like, individual tracks, but like, it matter what you started the record with and what came next like that could make or break things.

00:37:17:05 - 00:37:32:18
Unknown
So like, this was a lot of a lot of context in the era of the album, which is this is sort of the golden era of the album. Yeah, the LP. Oh, so like, I love that this golden era of the opera really is like, yeah, it's so you're absolutely right. Track order and what starts aside really, really matters.

00:37:32:18 - 00:37:58:08
Unknown
But I mean this is like so introspect. This is very fulfilling. This first finale material. This is so introspective. It's so like the lyrics are a little bit cryptic, but he's delivering them very clearly. It's very, like as you say harmonically is very challenging, beautiful. I think the melody on this is what really holds it together. And a lot of Stevie's stuff, like where you can make it this very satisfying thing, even if you're kind of like, what the heck's going on?

00:37:58:11 - 00:38:25:22
Unknown
It's not the melodic movement of it. The harmonic is very satisfying, but pretty complex. Long song form. Yeah. Just incredible stuff. Absolutely. So that takes us to track number three. This is probably the most, you know, recognized. Beloved, this was the second hit. Is certainly his most socially conscious. Yeah. Of the hits specifically. And this is a boys but also an undeniably.

00:38:26:00 - 00:38:51:10
Unknown
And that's just bass drum surrounded by full bodied. It's all pretty, all the drums. His parents give him love in the storytelling to keep him strong, moving in the blues direction and just enough, just enough for the city.

00:38:51:12 - 00:39:37:14
Unknown
His father was, oh, for 14 hours. And you can bet is that groove is it barely makes a dollar for his battle against a synth bass. Scrub the floors for many, many bass believe she hardly gets a penny advantage. Just enough. Just enough for the city day to day. There's to.

00:39:37:16 - 00:40:09:01
Unknown
Stevie's use of like space in between. On the first day, I was like, pull it down. You don't want me to. Don't make it stop. Somebody to walk to school. She's got to get up earlier. Oh, the old. But never are the dirty syringes. This just enough for this? Oh, don't show everyone this on masterpiece. Oh, I promise not to do this.

00:40:09:02 - 00:40:34:01
Unknown
No. Counter melody. Stand me. Me on the title. Patience. I think it's on, but soon on happiness. Let's find the jump. All right. Okay, we'll break this thing down. But the lyrics to or so this might be his, like, best lyrical song ever. Just. He's so subtle. It's not. It's an incredible story, obviously like a social message, but he's like painting pretty rich characters.

00:40:34:03 - 00:40:54:05
Unknown
Yes. You know, like the lyric verse by verse, like the the, her brother's smart. He's got more sense than many. His patience long. But soon he won't have any like those two lines. Oh, tell a story of of like, this kid's life, you know what I mean? And and I'll just say the lines right after that are some of my favorites.

00:40:54:05 - 00:41:09:12
Unknown
You right after what you just said. To find a job is like a haystack needle. Yeah. Which is so great. Like, we talk about imperfection. It's supposed to be a needle in the haystack, right? Right, right. But, like, oh, it's it's such a different way of saying it. To find a job is like a haystack, because where he lives, they don't use color.

00:41:09:12 - 00:41:37:19
Unknown
People live in just. I mean, and by the time you're starting from a boy is born in hard time Mississippi like the music is started to move up. There's this blues sensibility. And when we talk about the blues. So we got. He's moving between these sounds. It's G flat, right. And that's major and that's minor. And it's both of them.

00:41:37:21 - 00:41:51:20
Unknown
So you've got the major and minor happening at the same time. And that permeates this whole thing except for like some of the little segue sections which are kind of like, you know, the two high stuff coming back in. And then you got the lyrics on top of it, and that's before we even get to the whole skit in the middle.

00:41:51:20 - 00:42:16:01
Unknown
I mean, even the hook of of the lyrics like, live in just enough, just enough for the city. Yeah. Tells a story of like, you know, like this. Yeah, it's it's really, really smart. These lyrics are very, very smart. Which, you know, sometimes I think Stevie doesn't reach this peak of of his lyrics. Like, I just called to say I love you.

00:42:16:01 - 00:42:38:22
Unknown
Don't knock. I just called to say that's that's a great a song. He might be right. That's one of my favorites. But no, but this is like such a high level. Yeah. It's a storytelling. It's it's political, but it's like. It's like writing this. The greatest op ed in the New York Times, but you're putting it to music and it actually tells even more without being like, direct this in the middle, you know, which is heartbreaking.

00:42:38:22 - 00:42:56:20
Unknown
And yeah, I mean, also, this is 1973. I just yeah, I mean, it paints the picture, you know, even if you haven't been there like what he's talking about. And it's not like it's a journey because that the whole thing of a boy is born at hard time. It's like, that's set you up for one thing. But the going from that to New York City to the jail cell, everything.

00:42:56:22 - 00:43:14:13
Unknown
But on the musical side, like the beginning of this, like to me, the other great thing about this, this song should have been first on the record. I mean, actually, no, I don't think so. But I'm saying most people would say that most people would put this because it feels good. Yeah, yeah. So we've got to. You mean it's not a series of chromatic and whole tones?

00:43:14:13 - 00:43:37:13
Unknown
Yeah, I know exactly. Yeah. Like this is introductory, right. And he comes in vocally pretty soon to the beginning. I mean on too high a part Born in Hot Time. This is like, this would be the beginning of telling the whole story. But I love where it's placed on the record. Third after visions, because, like, now you've got to this.

00:43:37:13 - 00:43:57:06
Unknown
This is really like the Magnus opus of oh, I like that term. I don't even know what it means. I read it, opus. It's not Magnus isn't Magnus even Magnus opus is a chess player. That's what I mean. This is like the. He's the Magnus opus of soul music. All right. Okay, so when we talk about. I know you love the bass, the Moog, and we've got some fun stuff already at the beginning here.

00:43:57:06 - 00:44:09:01
Unknown
This is just the bass. And some kick drum too. A little feathering, maybe.

00:44:09:03 - 00:44:16:22
Unknown
Oh, there Derek comes in. Okay. That's interesting. It doesn't come in at the beginning. Is the attack. Yeah.

00:44:17:00 - 00:44:27:06
Unknown
Man, that's like the perfect move. Move. Moog bass sound. Look look look. Here comes the bass drum.

00:44:27:08 - 00:44:55:06
Unknown
Our separator might be messing it up a little, but you feel it, right? It's like it's the heartbeat. Right? And then you got his parents give. Oh, he's already in love. Then the affection to keep him strong. Moving in the right direction. Live in just enough. Just enough for the city. Hey, Yes. Okay. I can't tell you.

00:44:55:06 - 00:45:16:21
Unknown
Like, how thrilling every one of his drum fills are. We get to break this. We're going to make a podcast really? Just about Stevie, because it's like it's this combination of, like, expected and like, whoa. And, like, grooving and sloppy and perfect and perfect. It's. I don't know how he does this, you know? And I wouldn't be surprised if this was one take that he did this and that.

00:45:16:21 - 00:45:37:15
Unknown
He and he had to lay all this down with just the drums, where he's imagining the other things that he's going to do. He's not like riding off the energy of the bass or whatever. It's all in his imagination for the city. But he's going from just a, just the words just use a groove, in other words.

00:45:37:17 - 00:46:07:11
Unknown
And you can bet he barely makes a dollar. His money goes scrub the floors for many clean sheets. Harley gets a bit and then again, just all the vocal details are happening in there. Every phrase has some turn to it. Every, you know, every 10th word has some kind of expression put on it. Yeah. That is telling the story without even having to understand what the lyrics mean.

00:46:07:11 - 00:46:30:11
Unknown
You get it? Like, man, he just did. Exactly. Check this out. Exactly what you're talking about. Check the way he is. This phrase for the city, I mean. Yeah. Like, it's it's so beautifully in the moment. He's letting things happen. He's letting the music come to him. He's letting the spirit flow through whatever it is you're you want to, you want to put on that?

00:46:30:11 - 00:46:47:08
Unknown
I mean, it's it's so seamless in everything he does from the literally the ground up. Right? The kick drum, the bass, all the way up to the the soaring vocals, all that. Yeah. I mean, the outhouse to the to the top floor. I mean, he's just covering it, like. And he's got it all, like, sort of mapped out what's needed.

00:46:47:10 - 00:47:26:17
Unknown
Yeah. And then these background vocals are Stevie, I believe they put the Segway. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. Oh. Here's another, another great Phil coming up for. Oh, that's why I love you so much. So good to see the show. But then I stay missing all these little stuff that, like, I don't think studio musicians would necessarily do without direction from Stevie.

00:47:26:19 - 00:47:50:03
Unknown
And it's it's him doing it. It's him playing bass and being playful. So, so I know on proper authority this is no secret. His drumming was very influenced in this period from singing is like a brother less for the meters here. Yeah. He was going down the middle. It's his face and method by this point. But every seven seconds it started here.

00:47:50:05 - 00:48:09:05
Unknown
They find the jump. It's like a haystack. You know what? That's so they don't use colored people? Yes. You just stand up for the shit. Hey, hey.

00:48:09:07 - 00:48:27:07
Unknown
Hey. Yeah. So the whole thing is just. Yeah, I mean, this this song's been broken down and been loved a lot. And then he gets to the skit. Do we want to? I mean, let's kind of move on. Like, you can go in and check that out. One thing interesting about this played on the radio. They used to always cut that off.

00:48:27:07 - 00:48:52:03
Unknown
I cut the shit out. Yeah. Well, I mean that was just like, I think the single maybe didn't have it. I'm not sure that was there. But you got all these great sections where you just kind of sit in the booth, just end up gonna sit there. Guys. We got we got to explore that here. So we're talking about this just enough for the Safdie for Sidney.

00:48:52:04 - 00:49:12:21
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. I mean it's a huge advantage to be has blasted. Oh, you mean to be like, there's six of me? Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Oh, is it from, the from the Social Network, a six foot three, 250 pounds, and there's two of exactly. Yeah. Stevie's like, he's like, I'm a genius vocalist and incredible harmonies. And there's six of me and I can.

00:49:13:01 - 00:49:44:08
Unknown
I can back myself up just enough and that's invested in just the only seven. So the six, even in my range that up the math look, there's this insane. Okay. So this is a great skit. Super deep and meaningful. Like, very unusual to be put on a record, I think during this time or at any time, to have so much space in the middle, what we're going to check out just a little bit on how we get in.

00:49:44:09 - 00:50:05:15
Unknown
Thanks. About with the Sound of the city. I think that's his brother. He's one of the characters, the voices, and as well, New York, just like I pitched, I say that every time I get on the subway and everything is skyscrapers and everything, that's a classic. But then jumping back, of course, they come back in and I love the way this ends.

00:50:05:15 - 00:50:50:13
Unknown
It kind of reminds me, well, we talked about that on the record last season, I believe was D'Angelo's, untitled kind of and really big take it than none other than that. But I don't know, bring that. Up down up another down up down up up up up. Oh epic. Right. Oh no no no no no no no no no no no.

00:50:50:15 - 00:51:06:18
Unknown
None other than go do it. And then he goes right into I got to switch up about the thing here. But it's a great segue. Yeah. There we.

00:51:06:20 - 00:51:16:17
Unknown
The golden incredible.

00:51:25:09 - 00:51:46:02
Unknown
Man, that was very. What's going on? Yeah. This is this Motown flavor right here. You know, and they go these tracks on, they help make a street go. The ladies. Incredible. Yeah. Harmonically rich as well. Peter, let's get into some desert island track. So your desert island track, I believe, is maybe the. Everybody says it on track on this album.

00:51:46:04 - 00:52:00:00
Unknown
Yeah. Certainly what people think of when they think of, like, one of the, one of the probably top five tracks they think of when they think of Stevie Wonder. Yeah. Higher ground. And I mean, essentially I thought you were going to say live for the city, like. But I always feel like that's the one that people think about with this record.

00:52:00:00 - 00:52:16:04
Unknown
But I think Higher Ground and Don't You worry about a thing is my desert island track. I think those are the two that have like, especially in popular culture, have like seeped through enough where it's like, you know, Higher Ground was covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, don't you worry about a thing was on like, sing two or something like that.

00:52:16:04 - 00:52:25:13
Unknown
I'm saying like, right. Okay, so let's check out a little bit of higher ground. That's about.

00:52:25:15 - 00:52:50:23
Unknown
That I'm not unbelievable. Just unbelievable. And this is one of the greatest shuffle. It's not quite as good as some super max shuffle. I mean, I don't know. Okay, maybe Phil's on this again. Now people know I can't keep up learning.

00:52:51:01 - 00:53:12:18
Unknown
I'm. I'm soldier at the shuffle like I keep up. Yeah. We talk about this instrument. I'm talking book. Right. I'm. Maybe you're baby in superstition, but this is the clavinet, right? Which is like a stringed instrument. Like a somewhat of a cousin to, like, a harpsichord. Right. And then he's got this wah pedal effect on it. The fact on it.

00:53:12:20 - 00:53:35:07
Unknown
I see what you're doing, you little envelope filter. And, it really it sounds like it could be, A guitar or a synthesizer, but it's actually like a little Eraserhead hitting a string right on each key. Yeah. This is just, like, down on a string. I think it's two on here, right? Yeah. At least. Yeah, but see if you want to master the clapping.

00:53:35:12 - 00:53:57:13
Unknown
Yeah, it's got that percussive. It's. I mean, a lot of people think it's a guitar, so. And then he's. Again like, there's, it's hard to like understate the amount of blues playing on this record and it being which is such a shocking thing for being such a popular record. It's not shocking. It's just I don't think people people will be like, oh, it sounds jazz.

00:53:57:13 - 00:54:12:01
Unknown
And there's definitely obvious jazz influences. But I think in terms of like, the Foundation loses all over the blues, like, yeah. So what we've got here is E-flat minor, and by blues, it's this song.

00:54:12:03 - 00:54:30:22
Unknown
I mean, even just the groove itself, right. So this like Chicago Shuffle in the shuffle is in the don't get, don't come. Oh. I'm sorry, you mean this like, oh, we're not there yet. They were all over.

00:54:31:00 - 00:54:57:22
Unknown
Yeah. And this is not there is a different sound on the move. Moog. But it's that same like you get the portamento thing. Yeah. Again, because you can only play one note at a time, so it cuts it off. I'm sorry. Groovin. Right? Time would say so. What about that? The hump. You got the tambourine going on to it for.

00:54:58:00 - 00:55:10:00
Unknown
Up to that, you. For you. And then Stevie down to the dominant step. That's all. Stevie. So when we talk about, like.

00:55:10:02 - 00:55:21:06
Unknown
And then getting to the four and then and then down to the dominant seventh and then back to the one.

00:55:21:08 - 00:55:47:09
Unknown
Through eight. I mean 60ft buddy guy over this. You know what I mean. Yeah. Yeah. He's varying up the higher to that I. I think having a through like playing drum track that's the whole that's that's underrated. I mean I know in jazz we do it all the time. But in pop music because you have a chance to do something different every time.

00:55:47:09 - 00:56:17:04
Unknown
Good. That's really, really good. I, I tried it let me try it again because my last time to understand a song, I know in my head I was gonna say, wanna try harder till I reach 100. And then there is such a cool. And know the way to play.

00:56:17:06 - 00:56:45:10
Unknown
It's minor pentatonic, but it always has that blues thing in it too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So my desert island track slur is don't you worry about a thing ever heard of it? Yeah, I think it's. First of all, it's hilarious. Yeah. This little, like, trying to pick up this girl with his fake Spanish. Right? I'm playing the Sonata, and I know what you have to say, but I don't listen to them.

00:56:45:10 - 00:57:09:16
Unknown
Mama, you know what? Like I said, you can't just continue playing everything on here on Paris Piru. You know? I mean, I'm a rock band, you know? I speak very, very, fluent Spanish. In 77 Chevrolet. Jean Sharp is sort of like, I guess, like, I got my shake implied, sort of shake my back. Right.

00:57:09:17 - 00:57:32:01
Unknown
It's got to jump on that note. It's okay. So keep it going. Yeah. Keep going I got it, I got oh, it's me. It's another thing. Just again the things that happen. But don't you worry about a thing. Oh yeah. How can we harmony turn out the week please I've been waiting to. So the changes here on this.

00:57:32:03 - 00:57:50:03
Unknown
So there's tell telling what changes are. So the chord the harmony the chord changes the harmony. So what is so amazing about this is what he's like 23 here to 22 or something. Yeah. Like this. So sophisticated like this is something that very 16th record though. Yeah it's true. This is like a step set another Detroit beat. It is Barry Harris my teach right.

00:57:50:07 - 00:58:15:15
Unknown
The things that are the little details harmonically they're happening here which makes Stevie Wonder so sophisticated. Right. So you have this this E-flat minor to this, like, you know, B-flat seven sharp, five whatever. Yeah. And then that E-flat seven and before now the this is the Stevie Wonder change here, like down a whole step two five to B but then there's this chord here.

00:58:15:17 - 00:58:28:14
Unknown
Yeah. Right. So this isn't like an E7. It's a half step above where we started. Yeah. Right. So that happened for the first time. So the first time you hear.

00:58:28:16 - 00:58:53:04
Unknown
Oh wait. But baby the second time it does it again goes back to the tonic can. Hey I like that. Those can double to the E7 again. Now this time it's functioning as a back door. Stevie loves the back door. It's a back door too. So the first time it was like a tritone sub to E-flat. Now it's a back door to G5, which is all in this I get.

00:58:53:04 - 00:59:14:13
Unknown
This is very technical, but the Barry Harris family, yeah, the things that like nerdy jazz is just like geek out about this is a pop hit. This is again on Sing to Sound. Right. So whatever. Start out with a bunch of random Spanish esque, you know, it's like, right. But instead of like a regular also just another or anything instead of like a regular back door where would be like B, B minor, E7.

00:59:14:15 - 00:59:41:18
Unknown
Yeah, it's B major seven. Yeah. This bright sound. And then he does it again here and you worry about it. You do do better play mama at that at all. This is another two five. But it's a two major seven. Oh it'll go that way right. Oh it's like so he goes down to this A-flat major like the, the little Easter eggs for, for like music nerds are all over the place in that.

00:59:41:18 - 01:00:12:10
Unknown
But especially my music nerds. We mean every human on the planet, at least for hearing it. You know, I think it's is. You don't know anything about music you just love. Like, the voice leading is so crisp. It just sounds incredible. But if you are in some of these little dots and loops of the details of how these things are made, it's really sophisticated and almost old fashioned, like it's yeah, it's some logic to it that like goes back hundreds of years and a number of different cultures 100% like, I mean, what this is not like a, you know, he's inventing music, language.

01:00:12:10 - 01:00:30:02
Unknown
It's just so rare that someone can nail it on a pop album. Yes. Effortlessly. Yeah. And he does it, like, so perfectly and beautifully. And this was the second, the last track on the second side. But it was, it was this was the third single. Like, this was not just some like huge jazz, huge hit. This is not like contusion.

01:00:30:02 - 01:00:47:03
Unknown
No on the song that the key alive for. It's like all instrumental. It's almost like I mean sometimes Stevie can pull out these like sophisticated harmony things where you're like, are you, are you like channeling Gershwin two or something all of a sudden? Like, he has, like, the knowledge of all music somehow at his hands, at his pen.

01:00:47:05 - 01:01:10:17
Unknown
And it comes out in these really interesting ways. I mean, and then when I was just coming off of Higher Ground. Yeah, which has this incredible, like authentic shuffle feel right like to this, which is like tongue in cheek and funny. Well, there's a couple tunes in between I know we're talking about, but like, I don't know, to me, this is what makes this album and all of Stevie Wonder's work incredible to listen to and just rewarding again and again and again.

01:01:10:17 - 01:01:27:09
Unknown
Listen after listen decade after decade is because there's, you know, I just realized this this week with this tune. I just was like, man, that's incredible. Like the little things he's saying in there. Oh, but these little chords and these little melodies that he puts in, not to mention the textures, the the lyrics, the inflections really, really special.

01:01:27:09 - 01:01:51:03
Unknown
It's great. And the way you describe is great. It's and I always like to think about it when it's like harmony is such a emotional trigger for humans. And so like as a songwriter, as songwriters, we're supposed to put that together, obviously with the lyrics, with the melody, with the groove. And so, like, Stevie's doing all this and actually playing all this and crafting it, but I think the harmony is kind of like, especially on tunes like, this is the thing that makes it happen.

01:01:51:04 - 01:02:10:07
Unknown
Yeah. You know, I mean, there's always like, it's always like a little bit of, of of different competing, different facets and knowing when to push the harmony level up and stuff. Yeah. And it's really like, you know, like what you're talking about is the harmonic underpinnings, the structure, the architecture of what the tune is. And I think it is.

01:02:10:07 - 01:02:24:15
Unknown
It's just like if you see the, you know, the, Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, like, anybody can look at that and be like, you've seen pictures of it, but if you actually go see it and if you run across it or walk across it, you're like, wow. And like you can just sort of bask in the glory of that.

01:02:24:15 - 01:02:35:18
Unknown
Yeah, but an engineer is going to be like, measure and be like, it's like, what's the distance between the span is 2 to 3 and all that kind of stuff. Yeah. With both like higher ground. Don't you worry about a thing. It's like, you know, we I was listening to this in the car, like, you know, Heather McCorkle.

01:02:35:18 - 01:02:52:09
Unknown
Love my wife. Loves this song. Has no idea what any of the harmony means. Doesn't care. No, but like. But she cares about how it feels. But this is what separates, I think like good artist from legendary artists, right? Is that this level of detail. There's so much love in every chord, in every bar and every voice like you.

01:02:52:09 - 01:03:04:21
Unknown
And then there's nothing's thrown away. There's nothing is thrown away. There's nothing spare. There's no fat to it. It's just this like, that's why we call it a perfect album. Well, it's not that, but, what are your apex moment? Where you go? Oh, by the way, I just before we get to that, I wanted to because I got this pulled up.

01:03:04:21 - 01:03:32:12
Unknown
You mentioned, another version of this song, and I'm taking me back to eighth grade. Higher ground. I used to think, this is amazing. This is this is this is this is the cover of Higher Ground. That was an entry point for a lot of folks in the accident. I prefer their cover of Love Roller Coaster from being Red Hot Chili Peppers, but I mean, they're kind of like, this is not an easy track.

01:03:32:14 - 01:03:49:05
Unknown
This was. But they're not achieving what Stevie did. I think when I was in eighth grade, this was my introduction to like, Stevie Wonder is like the Stevie Wonder. Cool. Because it was just he's just the guy making pop music when I grew up. Yeah. But yeah, like, you know, my dad was like, heard this and said, I should probably check out the original, right?

01:03:49:06 - 01:04:07:13
Unknown
You know, but that's way better. Yeah, yeah. That's good. But actually that's not, it's not, that's not bad. Yeah. Oh. Like they found something that probably the one Stevie tune that kind of work for their authentic sound somewhat, you know. So that's cool. Okay. So does are on tracks for me is, We did that already.

01:04:07:13 - 01:04:30:11
Unknown
Right. Hi. Ground we did this. Okay, let's go to Apex Moments. And, boom boom boom boom. Oh, yeah. Okay, so this is to high, which we listen to the first track. Of course, on this great stuff. I kind of want to jump ahead a little bit towards the end. I don't know what kind of prolong.

01:04:30:13 - 01:05:01:18
Unknown
The breakdown of this. It's already a great point. The bass is going crazy. It's like built up. Right. And then we got this final statement. I just said she's still trying to like, get here, but the way it falls apart, you say it's so like thing. And then when it comes back. Oh I was up to the for the first time it's ever gone to this.

01:05:01:19 - 01:05:20:20
Unknown
The first time it's ever gone over. You get the fuck out. Oh, man. To me that's that's the epic. Like. And you're so reward if you listen to this whole to once you get there. Yeah. The way it ends after that is really cool too. It's kind of weird. The whole thing is weird, man. So my, I love it.

01:05:20:20 - 01:05:41:04
Unknown
It's a great apex moment. My apex moment is it's about if you can cube a minute and 39 into, don't you worry about a thing. So he spends the first, he says the two minutes of the song vocally in a fairly like low mid range in his voice. And the first time he takes it up, yeah, is so magical.

01:05:41:05 - 01:06:18:06
Unknown
Like it just grabs your attention and you're like, oh, this is a banger. Yeah. So he's got this chromatic thing, right? Which in itself is unique. Yeah. You get oh with him right here. Don't you worry about it. Say no. Me oh, don't you don't get it straight with me. And for the rest now we're up. We're we're hanging double this thing up.

01:06:18:06 - 01:06:42:09
Unknown
Oh, my God, I'm right at the top of the frame. You can hear the top of his range is amazing. That sounds so beautiful. But, you know, I love, love, love, love, love. Like, he's kind of sliding into that in a very blues behind. I think back into the chorus, don't you worry. But I think he, despite all the every day I miss you guys.

01:06:42:09 - 01:07:13:01
Unknown
I'll be standing for the song. You find the major seven, chromatic just dominating when you get it. Oh let's do it again. Let's do it again. Yes, yes. Me first three, five. Now we're up to change. You think it different? Check I it's not double to the end of the first two. That's the harmony there to see.

01:07:13:01 - 01:07:38:10
Unknown
Oh, that was fake. Yeah, yeah. Seems to do a double just the day. Oh he goes up even more. He doesn't worry about a thing Christian. Oh it was fun. But vocal performance is when you take it. Yeah. The vocal track, the vocal performance is off the charts. Good. Peter, what's your bespoke playlist for this? What do you think?

01:07:38:12 - 01:07:56:00
Unknown
Well, I'm going to go really basic because I know you got something cool, so I'm gonna hook you up. This is Stevie's classic run. You know, like like that. That playlist of of those five albums in those five years, is is. I mean, that's a deep, deep, deep, deep playlist like that. It's a world of music.

01:07:56:00 - 01:08:14:04
Unknown
It's timeless. It's timeless. And, I mean, there's a whole music education in there. There's a whole, like, kind of political, like telling you about the time and the trajectory of those five years. And, I was gonna say, you could do worse. I don't think you could do better in terms of a one artist playlist specific to a certain period.

01:08:14:08 - 01:08:31:20
Unknown
I don't think there's any. I mean, you could talk about, like, Beethoven or Miles Davis. I don't know if anybody's had a run like this, though. Yeah. I mean, this is up there. This is there's nobody above it, in my opinion. I have for my bespoke playlist, I have wabi sabi wiggle. Now, listen, wait, is that based upon the dance that I was doing when I met you?

01:08:31:21 - 01:08:57:02
Unknown
So the wabi sabi is a is a classical Japanese concept for art, where you leave in the imperfections and the wiggle is just because it makes me want to wiggle for sure. The whole, but this is like, this is what I'm saying, man is like for me. What's so touching listening to this for the one millionth time this week in preparation for this episode, is just all of the tiny imperfections, the fact that he doesn't do the same thing, you know, more than two times in a row that he's always changing up.

01:08:57:02 - 01:09:19:01
Unknown
He's playful through the whole thing on every single instrument because it's him and the fact that he he leaves in this, you know, concept even of just of being true to what he wants to do in the moment and letting the song play itself out without trying to, again, studio musician not that there's anything wrong with the studio musician vibe in that it has a place, but something really magical.

01:09:19:01 - 01:09:40:23
Unknown
When a genius gets to just do his thing for everything, it's really, really awesome. Yeah, and I think that that's that's a great title. I think what you just said about, you know, never doing something the same, like when the, when the verse comes around or when the chorus or whatever, like the connective tissue that he had, like he's not just changing it up and then it becomes like random or hard to follow.

01:09:41:04 - 01:09:59:13
Unknown
It's like, what is he changing? So he's playing like like these great fills. Like on living for the city at the same place in terms of like every eight bars or sometimes every 16. But he's changing up how he's doing it. He's still grooving into the one. Yeah. So it's like he has this great ability to, as you say, you know, to change it up.

01:09:59:13 - 01:10:22:05
Unknown
But there's never it's never a lack of cohesion. You know, quite the opposite. It's like very, very I mean on, on that whole vocal section, it goes on for another minute after that. On, on. Don't you worry about a thing where he's still like changing things up, but the essence, because of the harmony and the groove and everything that he has, holds it together and gives him that freedom to be confident and to to soar up high and say, I hit it, I'm going to go hit it again.

01:10:22:06 - 01:10:39:09
Unknown
It's such a contrast to not to again pop a B auto out here, but it's such a contrast to to how a lot of music is made in the modern era. Yeah, name names with computers, names with computers and doors and things and people just have gotten a little too clean, you know, like in general, because you can.

01:10:39:09 - 01:10:51:17
Unknown
And listen, we all fall in the trap of it. If you have ever made a record with a with principles or whatever, it's so easy to spell it. Can you just tune those vocals up or are you saying that this is just are you saying that this record is better than anything to date? The Taylor Swift is put out?

01:10:51:17 - 01:11:09:20
Unknown
Is that what you're trying to tell me? So you never say such a thing? I'm just checking. Okay, I like that the waba wabi sabi wiggle I was not the wasabi was what I put on my sushi. Okay, that I can't say that. Quibble bits. Quill bits. Okay. This, is going to kind of go against my thing of saying that this might be a perfect album.

01:11:09:20 - 01:11:30:04
Unknown
I was going to say, I'm going to say, but we have to find something like, I don't find anything like sonically or with the order of the tunes, or like there's nothing about where I could be like Earth. I wish they that I wish the drums were allowed. I mean everything to me production wise, vocally, harmonically, in terms of playing the instruments is fantastic.

01:11:30:09 - 01:11:39:20
Unknown
I mean, it could be done differently, but I couldn't be done any better. He's Mr. No at all, and I'm just gonna play a little of this. For those of you that don't remember this.

01:11:39:22 - 01:12:00:21
Unknown
Like, this is just a song that I find myself sometimes skipping over. So does that make it a quibble bit? It's not a bad song. I just feel like it's not, you know what it is, but this is 198. I agree with you. You know what it is with this in my opinion. Tell me it is. He's done this vibe better and before this.

01:12:00:21 - 01:12:09:14
Unknown
Right. So if we go back to our talking book. Yeah. Album again, the last track.

01:12:09:16 - 01:12:24:18
Unknown
Yeah. This is, this is I believe when I fall in love, it will be forever. Well, this goes to that sometime. This is unbelievable. Goes to the mountains and you know, the pianos. And when the groove comes in, it's a similar tempo and groove to these Mr. Know it all, but it's just this is it more effective? It is.

01:12:24:21 - 01:12:41:12
Unknown
This is more fun. But you know what it is to like every song can't be more effective. Every song doesn't need to go to the mountaintop. You're right. So maybe this is not a quibble, but it's just I always feel like if there's something that I mean, I'll listen to this whole record. I just did it. And and I love where it's placed and it's so balanced.

01:12:41:12 - 01:13:05:03
Unknown
Yeah. Totally. Yeah. And hey, like again I again the the back to he's Mr.. No at all. Yeah. For anybody else killing. Yeah incredible. And it's really really great. Yeah. There's something but it doesn't quite I think there's a couple because I also think and this is going to be controversial, I might piss people off, but I think this too is.

01:13:05:05 - 01:13:26:05
Unknown
Not my fave. Oh see I, I love this song. Actually I, I know, I know, this is another one people skip. Oh it's beautiful. It's composition is great. His performance is great. There's nothing wrong with it at all. Let's fair and love. Sounds like it should be on a different album. Don't I mean, I don't know, man. It sounds like it should be on.

01:13:26:07 - 01:13:43:11
Unknown
Oh, I but this is the same song. Does this work better? Does this song. So this is all in Love is Fair? But this is not Stevie Wonder's version. So if you can recognize who this is, I know. Does this work better in this context? I don't think it works better. I think it works well. Violence.

01:13:43:11 - 01:13:48:18
Unknown
And it.

01:13:48:20 - 01:14:14:08
Unknown
French one. This must be all is fair in love. Love is a crazy game. That's right. Yeah. Some orchestra sense. I mean, this is another kind of a really effective cover. I think I think she had a hit on this. Or at least I'm not good, actually. Because she. They don't really change anything on it. Yeah. And she doesn't try to sing like Stevie.

01:14:14:08 - 01:14:28:14
Unknown
She's definitely influenced a little bit their own thing. She puts her own thing and it works. So like. Like that was really good choosing. I mean, a lot of Stevie's music, we talk about like, almost being jazz standards. In a way. This is definitely one of those kind of things, I think. But these are hard songs to pull off singing.

01:14:28:16 - 01:14:45:12
Unknown
Yeah, because like, you can't hide from Stevie's version of it, you know, it's like, what are you going to do with it? But that's the thing I think if and I mean, on the second time on the bird, like he goes crazy, he it's unreal. It's amazing. I'm not I have to caveat everything is everything's great, but there's a little bit of a slow burn to it.

01:14:45:12 - 01:15:02:20
Unknown
That's looks like burnt sand. Yeah. Anyway, okay, go to small quickly. Adam hates all of this. Is saying you can't say anything bad about anything. No, but, I mean, look, we're trying to be honest here. Yeah, and look, when the bar is as high as Stevie sets it, what we're talking about is going from an A-plus to maybe an eight.

01:15:02:21 - 01:15:16:15
Unknown
Yeah, not even an A minus. I wouldn't say like for he's Mr. No at all. Peter, what are you got for this anemometer? Man? I want you to go first because I put nothing I got I'm totally paralyzed on the monitor. How snobby is this album? Is it a is it one being it's not very snobby at all.

01:15:16:15 - 01:15:31:13
Unknown
It's very accessible to an average person who doesn't have to be a music or ten. It's extremely snobby. So I'm gonna say one, I'm gonna say two. I think it's pretty accessible. I think. I think Higher Ground is like, incredible. Yeah, I think it's I mean, there's a reason these things win for Grammy record, album of the year.

01:15:31:23 - 01:15:51:22
Unknown
First R&B. Right. Did we talk about that at the beginning? No, I don't think first R&B, black soul record, whatever they were calling it then to win album of the year, which is crazy incredible. 73. That's fairly late. Shout out to Recording Academy. Yes. Oh, sorry, I'm a I'm a member. Well, you're in my car. You should be the change you want to see in the world.

01:15:51:22 - 01:16:12:11
Unknown
Peter? Yeah. I wasn't a member in 73. I was two years old. But. But I would say one. But there's a good there's a good argument to be made. It's a ten. So I'm actually going to go with five because that's the average. The argument is on talking book. Who are we hearing from that were shouting the praises of this record and saying you guys are wrong.

01:16:12:11 - 01:16:30:09
Unknown
Talking book is is not Stevie's greatest. Or why didn't you cover Inner Visions first snobs? Yeah, I know Stevie snobs. That's right, music snobs. So that would make it a ten. But I thought, like, as you said, it's still accessible to the five we average. I thought you said one. Well, it's both a one and a ten. What's the average of 1 in 10?

01:16:30:09 - 01:16:49:19
Unknown
Crazy. Every one of you, submitters officially broken. Is it better than kind of blue? It's better than Miles Davis is classic. Kind of blue. Okay, I'm going to go first, cuz I think yours is even more controversial. Okay, I'm going to say equal. And I know I haven't said that every five and every copy is no, that's not true.

01:16:49:22 - 01:17:08:21
Unknown
I've said close before I only came okay. The reason is that I don't think it's better than but it's definitely in that same top tier. Like I for sure is S tier. Yes. I think they're both kind of yeah. We're looking at kind of blue as s tier. And this I mean within SDR it's it's fruitless to try to be like who's higher.

01:17:09:00 - 01:17:25:03
Unknown
I think I prefer every Stevie Wonder album in this era to kind of blue, if I'm being honest. Yeah I think yeah. Interesting. This 1st May be the only one that I would put in that's I think talking book is first of all, I think there are two of every Stevie albums s tier that none of them are.

01:17:25:03 - 01:17:41:00
Unknown
That's not true. Okay. Well from this from this period though, there are like I think I think talking book for sure and talking book this as far as the song skill life is s tier of course is maybe it was tier, I don't know. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So that's good. So you're. Yes. It's better than Kobe and I'm equal.

01:17:41:04 - 01:18:00:04
Unknown
What about accouterments has the cover I mean I'm going nine because I think it's incredible. Upon looking at it again I'm like, wow, there's some cool stuff happening to me. But I never love the cover. Like when I was younger and first had this, I was there was something that was always a little bit not, off putting, but just it wasn't one where I was like, oh my God, this, I mean, the inside.

01:18:00:07 - 01:18:16:05
Unknown
I'm apologize, I forgot to bring my copy today, but, it's great. But I mean, nine is supposed to be like ten is supposed to be only for. So you're saying that there's never been an album cover greater than. Well, I don't even know what my rating is. I'm reading it right here. Tell them it's a ten. So you're saying this is the greatest ever?

01:18:16:07 - 01:18:31:09
Unknown
I'm saying it's it's at the top of the heap. Yes. Okay. Well I'm saying nine. I'm saying it's still that's still top of the heap. Okay. You know, it's like, you know when they do the diving, but it's just below. But yeah. Yeah. And then everyone's like ten, ten, ten. Yeah. But then someone comes and does a better dive and they get a ten, ten, ten.

01:18:31:11 - 01:18:44:21
Unknown
It's like the ten. Like the ten. It's supposed to be the great. It's supposed to be reserved for literally the greatest ever. As someone who's quick to call things perfect, you I'm not going ten. Okay. That's another thing on this out. That's what I'm saying. I don't think it's a perfect album. It's not great. There's no such thing.

01:18:44:23 - 01:19:00:07
Unknown
It's a great album, but there's no such thing as a perfect year, is it? Well, according to you, it's ten. The cover. I mean, it's not, but it's not perfect. That's again, we're getting in in the mud about the filler. This is when we lose a lot of listeners and viewers at this point. Stick around. We've got something really fun coming up.

01:19:00:07 - 01:19:15:10
Unknown
What, what do you got up next, Peter? What what what is on your like? Okay, so on this, as I often like to do, it's fun for me to think about the same year. If there's other good things happening. And this is 1973. Yeah. This is if our wheelhouse had a, if my wheelhouse for recorded pop music or just music in general.

01:19:15:12 - 01:19:29:21
Unknown
So these are just a couple I didn't want to go too far because it's supposed to just be one. Right. Yeah I'm going one, two, three. Well it could be as many as one. It's our show. We do whatever we want. Herbie Hancock, Headhunters, 1973. That's a good call. James Brown, the payback, one of my favorite incredible James Brown.

01:19:29:23 - 01:19:44:14
Unknown
We should. Can we please. I'm petitioning right now. I'm going to do it publicly. Talk to him. We're the only ones who decide this. So can we please have Christian McBride on the show so that we can talk to James? Shout out Christian McBride. Mr. McBride, if you're listening, which you can definitely can't. You have. And I know that.

01:19:44:16 - 01:20:01:21
Unknown
Okay. Please come on the show and let's talk about James Brown, man driving new Jersey searching for me. Right. That's great. Bob Marley and the Wailers burnin their first or second record. Their great record. Oh, a little record called Quadrophenia. You know, I knew about that. I was a little bit of a. I was gonna say how did you get into that?

01:20:01:21 - 01:20:19:12
Unknown
I had a friend that was really into them in the 80s, and I used to listen. Are you serious? Yeah, yeah. Shout out Dave Berger. Okay, well, Quadrophenia maybe ends up on the on the list here. And then also and this is a record I was never really into, but I know it was a big record. Dark side of the moon, familiar with that little band called Pink Floyd out of the UK.

01:20:19:12 - 01:20:35:19
Unknown
Good. They might not want to talk about it. Okay. But that's it. I kind of say this stuff because you're in the air and you could be like, these are all very different records, but they're all very human record. Can I just can I give you a compliment? That's the Bob Marley, the the who? Yeah, the Pink Floyd.

01:20:36:00 - 01:20:50:12
Unknown
Very interesting picks for you. Yeah. I don't think you've ever had such varied picks. Yeah. For up Next, this vamp. It's impressive. Yeah. That wasn't a great jazz period. Like I mean it wasn't like you said it was great, but I can't tell you. Like, what was the greatest jazz record of 1973? Was that Headhunters. Is that a jazz record?

01:20:50:13 - 01:21:11:00
Unknown
Yeah, it was another. It was I have a weird one. So during this whole week where we've been listening to Inner Visions to prepare for this, I've also been like getting way into LCD Soundsystem, which is, which is like a punk dance act. So this one, one dude. And so, yeah, one man band, it's James Scott, James Murphy, and he's playing a lot of the instruments on this album.

01:21:11:00 - 01:21:40:11
Unknown
The album is called This Is Happening, and I've been listening to it with Inner Visions mixed in. Wow. And I've been struck with totally different, by the way, like nothing in common musically. Not the same like value system musically, not sonically. A little bit of, you know, there's like synths in the for the for the sort of punky dance stuff that's happening, but the wabi sabi element like the leaving, like there's a track on this Is happening where he's playing like these, like, woodblocks through the whole seven minute track.

01:21:40:11 - 01:22:01:02
Unknown
And he obviously he's just doing it in one take. Whereas like, I think on a dance record, you would hear that either looped or or sampled or programed. Yeah. And this is like this dude just playing these like woodblocks organically and it's like there's imperfections and he's he's a lot like Stevie. Like changing it up and like messing with it and having fun.

01:22:01:03 - 01:22:19:03
Unknown
And it's like, get back to that. In the music. It's a small detail. And this is from like 2010, you know, it's a it's a small detail, but it makes such a big difference to me as a human being to hear that. And so very inspired by that. And, and actually listening to these two things together, as much as they don't seem like they fit together, it's been a really fun week.

01:22:19:08 - 01:22:39:02
Unknown
Nice getting into it. The other one is, as an album by our friends at the SF Jazz Collective, which is an incredible organization out in San Francisco in the Bay area, some amazing musicians. They put out an album in 2011 called The Music of Stevie Wonder, and I believe, original compositions live in New York, a lot of them great arrangements on there, a lot of incredible arrangements by people like Miguel Zenon, amongst many others.

01:22:39:02 - 01:23:00:20
Unknown
And, our friend Warren Wolf. Yeah, friend of the studio is playing on that album and, worth checking out. Yeah. Arrangements of superstition. A bunch of visions, I think is on there from this album, so definitely worth a listen. Yeah. For sure. That's that's that's a great call. Well, this is fantastic, man. I'm so glad that we covered this record.

01:23:00:20 - 01:23:15:22
Unknown
I feel like a little bit of pressure is off, but it's a little sad. Now, you know, what should we cover next? Can folks put that in the. I mean, folks are always putting that in the comments, but that would be wonderful if. Well, yeah, we've done talking book. We did songs that we could do a songs if we wanted to do songs, we could do a songs in the Key of Life.

01:23:15:22 - 01:23:33:13
Unknown
We've done it once, but it was before this whole concept of the show was fully baked, so we might try it again. Okay, with our categories and everything, we want to direct folks to our brand new newsletter, which is called you know the Name of it, you'll read it. You just made that up. Did you know that's what it's called?

01:23:33:13 - 01:23:46:04
Unknown
Oh, I know, I was just kidding. No, no, no. Caleb. Yeah, you'll read it. So if you go to you'll hear at dot com don't go to you'll read it.com. Because we don't know if we own that. We don't. We've got so many domains we can't afford to buy anymore. So just go to you'll hear at dot com.

01:23:46:04 - 01:24:00:06
Unknown
That's it. You can learn all about that. You can leave us a voice memo. I'm just going to leave that out there. Yeah. Let people figure it out a question you can go deep dive on on different things like that. And, Oh, you know what I was thinking we could start to do? I'm gonna call it audible here.

01:24:00:08 - 01:24:20:02
Unknown
This will make it worth folks sticking around to the end. Who's here? Hi, mom. Hi, Mrs. Manners. The two mothers are here for sure. My mom does, Oh. She was, Could we tease out something that's coming? We're not going to say it's coming next week. It could be next month. We don't. But something that we know we're committed to doing just for folks at a future record to get a little, maybe controversy going.

01:24:20:06 - 01:26:22:02
Unknown
Sure. We're the initials CL is the name of the artist, and the album is t p a careful B. Everybody knows they've put in the comments for months, Peter. They've been asking for, but they don't know that we're committed to do it. So next time you'll hear.

01:26:22:03 - 01:26:35:21
Unknown
Oh.

01:26:35:23 - 01:26:52:16
Unknown
Be.

01:26:52:18 - 01:27:04:20
Unknown
At.

01:27:04:22 - 01:27:20:17
Unknown
The board.

01:27:20:19 - 01:27:29:16
Unknown
Oh.

01:27:29:18 - 01:27:32:18
Unknown
Oh!

01:27:32:20 - 01:27:49:17
Unknown
Oh!

01:27:49:19 - 01:28:08:01
Unknown
One.

01:28:08:03 - 01:28:30:18
Unknown
Oh.

01:28:30:20 - 01:28:50:17
Unknown
Oh.