Soul Strut 100: # 45 - Stevie Wonder - Innervisions

RAJ

I will slowly be unveiling the Top 100 Soul Strut Related Records as Voted by the Strutters Themselves.

# 45 - Stevie Wonder - Innervisions



The list so far:

# 100 - Jr. and His Soulettes - Psychodelic Sounds
# 99 - Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul
# 98 - Donny Hathaway - S/T (1971)
# 97 - Bernard Wright - ???Nard
# 96 - Tom Scott - Honeysuckle Breeze
# 95 - People Under the Stairs - Question in the Form of an Answer
# 94 - Harlem River Drive
# 93 - Black Moon - Enta Da Stage
# 92 - Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear
# 91 - Muddy Waters - Electric Mud
# 90 - Les McCann - Layers
# 89 - Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
# 88 - Leroy Hutson - Hutson (1975)
# 87 - ESG - S/T (1981)
# 86 - Can - Tago Mago
# 85 - Bohannon - Stop & Go
# 84 - WILLIAM DEVAUGHN - Be Thankful For What You Got
# 83 - Power of Zeus - The Gospel According to Zeus
# 82 - Gang Starr - Hard To Earn
# 81 - The J.B.???s - Doing It to Death
# 80 - Parliament - Osmium
# 79 - McNeal & Niles - Thrust
# 78 - The Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Malik
# 77 - Earth, Wind, and Fire (1971)
# 76 - Dr. Dre - The Chronic
# 75 - Black Sabbath (1970)
# 74 - Trap Door / An International Psychedelic Mystery Mix (2006)
# 73 - Bob James - One
# 72 - Matthew Larkin Cassell - Pieces
# 71 - The Beginning Of The End - Funky Nassau
# 70 - Big Bear - Doin??? Thangs
# 69 - Steely Dan - Aja
# 68 - Quasimoto - The Unseen
# 67 - Curtis Mayfield - Curtis/Live! (1971)
# 66 - Al Green - Im still in love with you
# 65 - The Beatnuts - Street Level
# 64 - Archie Whitewater - Archie Whitewater (1970)
# 63 - Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca & the Soul Brother
# 62 - Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
# 61 - The J.B.???s - Food For Thought
# 60 - Don Blackman (1982)
# 59 - Niagara - (Tiddies)
# 58 - Can - Ege Bamyasi
# 57 - Whatnauts - On the Rocks
# 56 - The Mohawks - Champ
# 55 - McDonald and Giles (1971)
# 54 - Darondo - Let My People Go
# 53 - Dorothy Ashby - Afro Harping
# 52 - Beastie Boys - Paul???s Boutique
# 51 - Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu of Ethiopia
# 50 - Lyman Woodard Organization - Saturday Night Special
# 49 - Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul
# 48 - Lyn Collins - Think (About It)
# 47 - James Brown - In The Jungle Groove
# 46 - Bill Withers - Still Bill

Please discuss your reactions to this record. The thread will be archived later here.

About


Innervisions is the sixteenth album by American musician Stevie Wonder, released August 3, 1973 on Motown Records; a landmark recording of his "classic period".[1] The nine tracks of Innervisions encompass a wide range of themes and issues: from drug abuse in "Too High," through social anger in "Living for the City," to love in the ballads "All in Love is Fair" and "Golden Lady."

As with many of Stevie Wonder's albums the lyrics, composition and production are almost entirely his own work, with the ARP synthesizer used prominently throughout the album. This instrument was a common motif among musicians of the time because of its ability to construct a complete sound environment. Wonder was the first black artist to experiment with this technology on a mass scale, and Innervisions was hugely influential on the subsequent future of commercial black music. He also played all or virtually all instruments on six of the album's nine tracks, making most of Innervisions a representative one-man band.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innervisions

Related Threads

if Inner Visions was private

the greatest run of albums???

MOJO Top 70 SOUL albums


Media

HarveyCanal

Stevie was the equivalent of like my 3rd parent when I was a kid. And Living Just Enough for the City might as well have been my right arm. Doesn't get any more serious than Stevie Wonder.

pkny

"Visions" is still one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.

Possum Slim

Living For The City provides a similar sort of social commentary that Mayfield was singing about at the same time, that we easily take for granted in these more enlightened times.

Fantastic album of course.

finelikewine

brilliant album.

added to the soulstrut top 100 spotify list:

bluesnag

This album is the one I most often say is my favorite overall album of all time.

fishmongerfunk

i od'd on this record many years ago and i don;t think i can get into as i once did as a result, but like others said, that record is basically a part of me. and the ladies love this record too...essential getting down to it music.

mrmatthew

crabmongerfunk said:

i od'd on this record many years ago and i don;t think i can get into as i once did as a result, but like others said, that record is basically a part of me.

Was thinkign the same thing to.
I Could die a hapy man never having to hear Living For The City or Higher Ground again...but the other tracks on this album are so solid!
Golden Lady, Jesus Loves You Childern of America, etc....geesh.

LaserWolf

I've been listening to this longer than most. Think I will listen to Living For The City again today.
Ray Charles also recorded it, if you want a change.

Hopefully all you all have voted so I can safely quote SW, "He tries to vote, but to him that's no solution"

DocMcCoy

While there may be individual Stevie songs I like more than anything on Inner Visions, I don't think there's another Stevie album I like more.

ketan

an album in the middle of one of the greatest runs of new creative output in music hx. i'd say it's tied for my second favorite album by him (tied with hotter than july, after tb).

crabmongerfunk said:

i od'd on this record many years ago and i don;t think i can get into as i once did as a result, but like others said, that record is basically a part of me.

i still love listening to most of the songs, although i tend to skip higher ground and living for the city.

pkny said:

"Visions" is still one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.

ditto.

one of the best thing about yootoob is the endless series of live stevie wonder footage that pops up...





and then there's this:



what are some other good covers/versions of too high? there's the hugo m and the freddie h. ??

fishmongerfunk

ketan said:

other good covers/versions of too high?

dr music does what i am told is a ridiculously sick version of that tune with ill doug mallory vocals on their rci album...can anyone here rip that one?

Dante

this is one of the very few records i actually pick up to give as a gift to unbelievers.

stratasphere

crabmongerfunk said:

ketan said:

other good covers/versions of too high?

dr music does what i am told is a ridiculously sick version of that tune with ill doug mallory vocals on their rci album...can anyone here rip that one?

Joe Farrell and Paul Horn do instrumental covers that I enjoy. This is a record that should be in every collector's collection.

Hollafame

Seminal album by any standard.

Sleeve is displayed prominently (among others) on my office wall.

hogginthefogg

Not sure if this really belongs in this thread, but any time someone brings up Stevie covers, I have to mention Desmond Dekker's weird but beautiful version of "For Once In My Life":

[Edited because I still can't embed videos.]

The understated organ solo always kills me.

I also love Innervisions, but Songs in the Key of Life has "As," which is probably my all-time favorite Stevie joint.

Jonny_Paycheck

speaking of covers, this was the one song on my old tape "Ambershine" that people always really were like, "Fuck dude. this shit!"

I remember Grouch being really mad at me because he had a beat on this and I guess he didn't like his own version as much.

DJCire

For me this was fire - Too High was my fave but the one that sticks out is that I could really listen to this from start to finish.

Flomotion

Lyrically his hardest hitting album and probably the most musically sophisticated,at least it is for my money. Jesus Children of America is the track I never tire of ... Very close to a perfect album and by far my favourite 70s Stevie production. Depsite how many of these were pressed I've always found it tough to find a cheap copy of this in decent condition, I guess because it's one those records which got played to death by pretty much everyone who bought it.

Big_Stacks

Hey,

It's great that "Innversions" has been recognized on the Soul Strut 100, because I've always thought of this LP as slept on. I played this record incessantly as a little kid, especially "Golden Lady", "Don't You Worry About a Thing", "Too High", and "All in Love is Fair." I hope "Fulfillingness First Finale" receives similar love on this list, since it's the other Stevie Wonder LP that doesn't seem to get enough love. Again, I think the Soul Strut brain trust was dead-on in proppin' "Innervisions" on its 100 list.

Peace,

Big Stacks from Kakalak