Where I'm Coming From

Infobox Album |
Name = Where I'm Coming From
Type = Album
Artist = Stevie Wonder


Released = April 26, 1971
Recorded = 1970–1971
Genre = Soul
Length = 34:46
Label = Tamla
Producer = Stevie Wonder
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hpfpxqq5ldje link]
*"Rolling Stone" (mixed) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/steviewonder/albums/album/229598/review/5947000/where_im_coming_from link]
Last album = "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered"
(1970)
This album = "Where I'm Coming From"
(1971)
Next album = "Music of My Mind"
(1972)

"Where I'm Coming From" is a 1971 album by Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder. This album is considered a groundbreaking record for Wonder, in that it is the first album in which he had complete artistic freedom in its production [Stevie Wonder had tooked charge of his own music starting with this album] . It was the last album produced under his first contract with Motown Records. It is Stevie Wonder's thirteeneth album overall.

History

Motown's founder Berry Gordy had maintained tight control over his company's productions, and as the artists' careers progressed, they began to feel the need for the allowance of social consciousness and artistic freedom in their recordings. Stevie Wonder was one of the Motown artists, along with Marvin Gaye, who wanted to expand with new styles and musical , some of which became more apparent in the earlier album "For Once In My Life".

Although Wonder had begun producing his own recordings, Motown still retained control over the content of his albums. Tensions increased as Wonder approached his twenty-first birthday; his contract had a clause which allowed Wonder to void it upon becoming a legal adult. When the president of Motown approached Wonder about renegotiating his contract, Wonder refused and asked for his contract to be voided.

Anticipating this event, Wonder took advantage of the fact that Motown would be forced to accept whatever he gave to them, and was able to produce "Where I'm Coming From" without any outside interference from the company. In particular, the song "I Wanna Talk To You", which portrayed a racially-charged dialog between a black man and an old southern white man (Wonder portrayed both characters) is also a subvert reference to his breakaway from Gordy and Motown (particularly apparent in the ad-libbed line "I'm gonna take my share...!")

"Where I'm Coming From", which departed drastically from the Motown Sound employed in previous Stevie Wonder albums, yielded the U.S. number-eight hit single, "If You Really Love Me". The soft ballad "Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer" (a predecessor to the Wonder's later recording "You and I") was also successful. Much of the rest of the album was social commentary and war-themed songs.

The album foreshadowed Wonder's next four albums in its production techniques, such as use of the Hohner clavinet. The most notable difference on "Where I'm Coming From" from subsequent Wonder albums was the lack of synthesizers, which Wonder first began using with his next album, "Music of My Mind". Like Wonder's earlier albums, several tracks on "Where I'm Coming From" use the company's studio musicians, The Funk Brothers, and also make use of string orchestras.

Track listing

All songs written by Stevie Wonder and Syreeta Wright
# "Look Around" – 2:45
# "Do Yourself a Favor" – 6:10
# "Think of Me as Your Soldier" – 3:37
# "Something Out of the Blue" – 2:59
# "If You Really Love Me" – 3:00
# "I Wanna Talk to You" – 5:18
# "Take up a Course in Happiness" – 3:11
# "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" – 2:53
# "Sunshine in Their Eyes" – 6:58

[http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Stevie-Wonder-Where-I'm-Coming-From-Album/CCA2C34BEBA0418348256912000C92F3 Album Lyrics]

References

*Swenson, John. "Stevie Wonder". Harper & Row, 1986. ISBN 0-06-097067-7.