Stevie Wonder was in his creative prime in the early seventies, after renegotiating his contract with Motown. His new terms gave him complete artistic control, allowing him to create full length recordings conceived as albums, rather than collections of singles, and other songs. He began working with Tonto's Exploding Head Band, a UK electronic duo, who utilized the Tonto synthesizer (more about that here); and he got really into a funky clavinet thing. The combination of the two dominated the sound of the first few albums under his new contract, and obliterated any remaining remnants of the "Little" in "Little Stevie Wonder". This was when he began creating his own legacy.
Here's a few things from that era. Above is a video from August, 1973, from Top of the Pops. (Note: TV tape, the song ends at 2:10, then segues to another channel with some weird dancers). The first live set below is from a show at the Rainbow, in London in January, 1974. (I'm not direct linking to the download, but you can get it at Aquarium Drunkard). After that is a link to Troubled Souls Unite, who have two songs ("Superstition" and "Higher Ground") from the same set (streaming) so you can see if you want the whole set. Captain's Dead has a live set from Brighton, UK in July, 1973, comprised of 11 individual mp3s. Those are also available streaming, individually, so you know what that means (play them all at once, of course).
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Stevie Wonder - Live at the Rainbow Theatre (1/31/74), full set download at Aquarium DrunkardStevie Wonder - Superstition, Higher Ground (Live, 1/31/74), streaming at Troubled Souls Unite
Stevie Wonder - Live in Brighton (7/4/73), Full set, 11 mp3s (and streaming) at Captain's Dead
Stevie Wonder, Official site
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