Recommendations of the Editorial team
Let me say it. Wherever I go in the world, I always take a copy of “Songs in the Key of Life” with me. For me it is the best album that has ever been made, and it always fills me with awe when I hear it. This is Stevie Wonder!
When people talk about the history of music in decades and centuries, they will speak of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. Stevie comes from Motown’s golden age when they made the best R&B records in the world in Detroit, and developed into a fantastic songwriter and a real musical nature.
Stevie Wonder – “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”:
Stevie Wonder is so multitalized that it is difficult to say exactly what makes him one of the greatest. First of all, there is the voice. Together with Ray Charles, he is the best R&B singer that has ever existed. Nobody can sing like him. When I was still young and stupid, I recorded a version of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and almost squeezed my eggs while trying to meet the high tones.
“Listen to his harmonica!”
As a keyboardist, I have often played with him over the years, and what he conjures up is amazed again and again. He can play everything – listen to his harmonica! I think I’m a very good musician, but he definitely plays in a completely different league.
Stevie Wonder could play with Charlie Parker or John Coltrane and still easily claim his own class. Stevies hits in the sixties are fantastic. But in the seventies he recorded a number of albums that are unparalleled in music history.
I think the best of the best of a period in which you just can’t do anything wrong. It was the same with Prince, who is very similar to Stevie in many ways.
Stevie Wonder is a positive, peaceful person. He loves music. He loves to play. When he comes into a room, he is all at your feet immediately. There are not many people like that. People admire you and like your records, but they feel no need to get up and hug you, but Stevie tries to do good with his music. His message is love, and in a world like ours it is noticeable.