Stevie Wonder/Rock Revolutionary Part 2

batmon

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batmon

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pickwick33

Stevie was extremely respected amongst his white rock peers back then. Peter Frampton and Jeff Beck big-upped him every chance they got. (Frampton had a hit single with a remake of "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours.")b,121b,121There's an early-seventies interview that Michael Nesmith did with Hit Parader magazine where he admitted being knocked out by Stevie's newest stuff (this was after Stevie had gone "progressive," but just before his Stones tour/Talking Book breakthrough). And when the Bottom Line opened in NY around '74 (is that club still around?), Stevie jammed with Johnny Winter and Dr. John (I've seen photos from that event). So, yeah, Stevie was definitely "welcome to the club" for a few years there.b,121b,121Around the middle of the seventies, critics and other folks were looking for that one act that would define the decade the way Elvis did in the fifties and the Beatles did in the sixties...Stevie was considered a prime candidate along with Springsteen and Elton.

SPlDEY

hmm..b,121b,121Hendrix covered I was made to love her on the BBC sessions.b,121b,121Chilli peppers covered Higher ground.b,121b,121I have footage of him playing drums for an Italian prog rock band in the 70's.. b, 21b, 21don't know if that counts.b,121b,121I'm also dressing up as him today for halloween. b, 21b, 21- spidey

pickwick33

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Quote:/font1h,121b,121hmm..b,121b,121Hendrix covered I was made to love her on the BBC sessions.b,121b,121h,121

font class="post"1b,121b,121Myself, I wouldn't count that, since that was before Stevie got experimental with the synths & keyboards. During that period, from '71-'78, that's when the rock crowd was REALLY showing the love.b,121b,121Although Stevie DID get to jam with Hendrix once (it's mentioned somewhere in that 'Scuse Me While I Kiss The Sky Hendrix bio)...b,121b,121/font1

Quote:/font1h,121b,121I have footage of him playing drums for an Italian prog rock band in the 70's.. b, 21b, 21h,121

font class="post"1b,121b,121Were they on the same show together? Sounds interesting...

batmon

Question 2:b,121b,121Was he a "Rock Revolutionary" within the "Black Musical" realm or moreso in the "White Musical" realm? b, 21b, 21Who do u think "copied" him more in terms of Rock? The Funk cats,Prog Rock cats,etc?b,121b,121

skel

Noddy Holder of Slade is a massive SW fan, and holds forth on the subject whenever the opportunity arises.

batmon

Cool but im not really talmbout fans per se. b, 21Im talmbout the changes/reactions/responses that took place after Stevie went "experimental" specifically in the Rock community.

pickwick33

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Quote:/font1h,121b,121Question 2:b,121b,121Was he a "Rock Revolutionary" within the "Black Musical" realm or moreso in the "White Musical" realm? b, 21b, 21h,121

font class="post"1b,121b,121A little bit of both. It took the 'hood a while before it could adapt to Stevie's new sound, but by the time Talking Book came out, he could do no wrong as far as the Local Black Exp. was concerned.b,121b,121Understand, in 1971-72, synths were still a new thing as far as black music went. Plus, everybody still thought of Stevie in terms of love songs like "My Cherie Amour." So they were shocked to see him doing this Sly Stone-ish rock/soul sound. There are stories about him playing the Apollo and people being confused when he came out with the talk box and the interracial band. This was around the time of Where I'm Coming From and Music Of My Mind; Stevie himself noted that down south the brothers weren't going for his new thing. That would change with "Superstition."b, 21b, 21On the white side of the fence, it was different. He'd be opening shows for the Stones or playing a gig at the Bitter End in NYC, and the white audiences loved the new direction right away. Plus, back then FM rock stations (and audiences) were more open towards black music...maybe not so much the singing groups, but definitely the more progressive folx like Stevie, War, Curtis, Isleys, etc.. When Wax Poetics did that article on Mandrill last year, one of them said that their earliest acceptance came from rock circles.b,121b,121/font1

Quote:/font1h,121b,121Who do u think "copied" him more in terms of Rock? The Funk cats,Prog Rock cats,etc?b,121b,121 b, 21b, 21h,121

font class="post"1b,121b,121You know, I don't think he was outright "copied"...I think people like Frampton just took bits and pieces here and there and applied it to their own thing. But I can't think of any rock guys from that time who just outright Xeroxed his sound.

batmon

"copied' wasnt/isnt the correct word. b, 21b, 21Direct Influence. Conscious Borrowing.

djdaze

I know he's huge in the "sub-par mock jazz" genre

batmon

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Quote:/font1h,121b,121I know he's huge in the "sub-par mock jazz" genre b, 21b, 21h,121

font class="post"1b,121b,121b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/funnypost.gif" alt="" /1

pickwick33

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Quote:/font1h,121b,121"copied' wasnt/isnt the correct word. b, 21b, 21Direct Influence. Conscious Borrowing. b, 21b, 21h,121

font class="post"1b,121b,121I think the answer would still be the same. There would be conscious borrowing, but like with Frampton, it would be filtered through some other stuff. If somebody like an Edgar Winter or somebody played a clavinet, say, the line of smoke would always be traced back to Stevie. But even then, Edgar would just take a little Stevie and add it to his own thing. Nothing too overt.

SPlDEY

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Quote:/font1h,121b,121I have footage of him playing drums for an Italian prog rock band in the 70's.. b, 21b, 21h,121

font class="post"1b,121b,121Were they on the same show together? Sounds interesting... b, 21b, 21h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121Yep I can't remember the band name right now..b,121b,121Something like Formula 5? Italian TV. Stevie tearing it up on drums.b,121b,121My thoughts on this subject.b,121b,121The key sounds with Tonto were so advanced that not even rock musicians could duplicate them. Nobody rocked a Clavinet like Stevie since. A few of his contemporarys namely Jeff Beck were inspired, but definitely never pushed the envelope like him. b, 21b, 21Were Rock musicians influenced by him? Definitely, but is it audible in the music. b, 21b, 21Not so much. b, 21b, 21- spidey

Cosmo

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Young_Phonics

STEVIE VALIDATED!

skel

From Hammer of the Gods, page 209b,121b,121/font1

Quote:/font1h,121b,121"Trampled Underfoot" started as a John Paul Jones clavinet riff related to Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition'.b, 21b, 21h,121

font class="post"1b,121b,121Who'd have thought it, LZ being 'influenced' by someone else's song?b,121b,121In other places, LZ go to dinner with SW and George Harrison, LZ having dressed as trannies to freak out Harrison, but end up embarrassed as SW takes it as a practical joke against his blindness.b,121So no sticking around for coffee and brandies then.