music.wikisort.org - Composition

Music of My Mind is the fourteenth studio album by American soul musician Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 3, 1972, by Tamla Records, and was Wonder's first to be recorded under a new contract with Motown that allowed him full artistic control over his music. For the album, Wonder recruited electronic music pioneers Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff as associate producers, employing their custom TONTO synthesizer on several tracks.[2] The album was a modest commercial success, but critics found it representative of Wonder's artistic growth, and it is generally considered by modern critics to be the first album of Wonder's classic period.

Music of My Mind
Studio album by Stevie Wonder
Released	March 3, 1972
Studio	Mediasound, New York City Electric Lady, New York City Crystal Industries, Los Angeles
Genre	Progressive soul[1]
Length	47:35
Label	Tamla
Producer	Stevie Wonder Robert Margouleff (assoc.) Malcolm Cecil (assoc.)
Stevie Wonder chronology
Where I'm Coming From (1971) Music of My Mind (1972) Talking Book (1972)
Singles from Music of My Mind
"Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)" Released: April 25, 1972 "Keep on Running" Released: August 15, 1972

Recording

Wonder became interested in using synthesizers after hearing the music of electronic group Tonto's Expanding Head Band.[3] Inspired after a meeting with the group's members, Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, in May 1971, he began utilizing Arp and Moog synthesizers, stating that "the synthesizer has allowed me to do a lot of things I've wanted to do for a long time but were not possible till it came along."[3] Margouleff and Cecil associate produced, engineered, and handled Moog programming for the album, and would go on to collaborate with Wonder on his next three albums. Wonder produced the album and played all of the instruments himself, except for the trombone on "Love Having You Around", which was played by Art Baron, and the guitar on "Superwoman", which was played by Howard "Buzz" Feiten.

Release and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
The Austin Chronicle	[5]
Christgau's Record Guide	B+[6]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[7]
The Great Rock Discography	7/10[7]
Los Angeles Times	[8]
MusicHound R&B	4.5/5[7]
Q	[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[10]
Sputnikmusic	3.5/5[11]

When Music of My Mind was first released on March 3, 1972, it became a modest success with both black and white audiences in the United States, charting at number six and number 21 on the Billboard R&B and pop charts, respectively.[12] Contemporary critics viewed it as Wonder's final step into artistic maturity.[13] In Rolling Stone, Vince Aletti said it showcased the ambitious use of Wonder's newfound artistic control and maturity as a songwriter, although he found some of the studio and vocal effects both gimmicky and self-indulgent.[14] Robert Christgau of Creem believed that, like Ray Charles, Wonder transcended aesthetic sensibilities on Music of My Mind, which he said featured "some of the most musical synthesizer improvisations yet", but whose individual songs were not as impressive as the "one-man album" concept.[15] Cash Box particularly praised the Moog synthesizer work on the single "Keep on Running."[16] Penny Valentine was more enthusiastic in her review for Sounds, viewing the record as a milestone in modern music and a culmination of soul music's creative maturity. She especially praised Wonder's arrangement of "intriguing vocal patterns" on what she deemed "an album of explosive genius and unshackled self-expression".[13]

The album was voted number 645 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[17] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it number 284 on the magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time;[7] it was number 285 on the 2012 version of the list,[18] and 350 on the 2020 edition.[19]

In 2008, the album was re-released in the UK to coincide with Wonder's European tour.[20]

The songs "Sweet Little Girl" and "Evil" feature prominently at the beginning and end of "Teddy Perkins", the sixth episode of the second season of the acclaimed FX television show Atlanta.

Track listing

Personnel

• Stevie Wonder – lead vocals (all), background vocals (1–5, 8), drums (all but 5), handclaps (8), T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer (2, 6, 7, 9), piano (8, 9), Rhodes piano (1–4), talk box (1, 6), harmonica (4, 6), bongos (3), clavinet (5, 8), Moog bass (all)
• Art Baron – trombone (1)
• Buzz Feiten – electric guitar (2)
• Malcolm Cecil – Moog programming, associate producer, engineering
• Robert Margouleff – Moog programming, associate producer, engineering
• Syreeta – background vocals (4)
• Uncredited – background vocals (1, 8, 9)
• Joan DeCola – recording
• Rick Rowe – recording

Charting singles

Year	Name	US[21]	US R&B[22]
1972	Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)	33	13
	Keep on Running	90	36

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1972)	Position
U.S. Billboard Pop Albums[23]	21
U.S. Billboard R&B Albums[23]	6

Year-end charts

Chart (1972)	Position
U.S. Billboard Pop Albums[24]	47
U.S. Billboard R&B Albums[25]	17

References

External links

• Music of My Mind at Discogs (list of releases)

На других языках

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- [en] Music of My Mind

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[es] Music of my mind

Music of My Mind es un álbum de Stevie Wonder, lanzado el 3 de marzo de 1972. Fue el primero de los cinco álbumes consecutivos que conforman su llamado período clásico, junto a Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale, y Songs in the Key of Life. Music of My Mind continúa con los experimentos con el sintetizador que el artista ya había iniciado en Where I'm Coming From (la primera de las grabaciones de Wonder en las que éste disponía de una libertad creativa casi total), siendo un disco más logrado que este último. En el disco, Wonder se hace cargo de la práctica totalidad de los instrumentos, incluyendo sintetizadores, pianos, armónica, batería y voces, además de desempéñar las tareas de productor, compositor y arreglista.[1]

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[ru] Music of My Mind

Music of My Mind (в переводе с англ. — «Музыка моих мыслей») — четырнадцатый студийный и первый концептуальный альбом американского соул-певца, 25-кратного обладателя премии Грэмми Стиви Уандера, выпущенный 3 марта 1972 года лейблом Motown Records.

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