049: Stevie Wonder - Innervisions (1973)
“It's amazing, Stevie is not able to see with his eyes but he can see far more than any one of us. Stevie sees with his heart. His vision is full of love, promise, togetherness, peace and unity.”
—Halle Berry
John enjoyed taking part in the episode on Songs in the Key of Life so much that he demanded to host his own Stevie Wonder episode. This week, John leads Ben, Rich, and Phil in a discussion on Innervisions, Stevie’s 1973 masterwork that showed him capable of making music that could not only entertain but also speak to weightier matters of racism, spirituality, and philosophical introspection. Come join us as we admire an album that hits every bit as hard today as it did upon release, and whose presentation of the full range of human emotions suggests that, no matter how terrible things may seem, there’s always cause to have some hope.
Miscellany
The themes on Innervisions have been particularly resonant in the United States this month, but the truth is that songs like “Living for the City” had already been topical for generations by 1973, and never stopped being topical. Discord & Rhyme supports Black Lives Matter, and we cheer the amazing strides the movement has made in just the last couple of weeks.
If you’re looking for ways to help, OkayPlayer put together this list of black-owned record stores to support during the COVID-19 pandemic (and after), and Bandcamp is donating 100% of its share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund this Friday, June 19th (or Juneteenth).
The (ridiculous) cold open is a tribute to Scottish electronic duo Boards of Canada, specifically their songs “Roygbiv” and “Aquarius,” because why not.
The throwaway reference to Celine Dion singing about being “a little nappy-headed boy” is a call back to the Songs in the Key of Life episode, in which Phil referenced a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” in which Celine Dion didn’t change any of the lyrics.
John didn’t mention him by name, but one of the people he alluded to as somebody whose love of Stevie Wonder made him think he should probably get around to buying his albums was Jeff Blehar, host of the Political Beats podcast and a guest in our episode on Wowee Zowee by Pavement. Jeff is a major fan of this album, and while John can’t quite agree with his assessment of “He’s Misstra Know-It-All” as Stevie’s very best song, he totally understands it. Jeff also alerted John to the existence of the excellent At the Close of a Century box-set John mentions in the recommendations section.
Other links
Rolling Stone interviews Stevie in 1973 (Ben Fong-Torres, RollingStone.com)
Nelson George discusses Innervisions on the Heat Rocks podcast (MaximumFun.org)
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson (Penguin Random House)
A Visual History of Salsa in New York (Jessica Lipsky, Red Bull Music Academy)
What the Hell Is Synesthesia and Why Does Every Musician Seem to Have It? (Pitchfork.com)
Discord & Rhyme’s Innervisions playlist (Spotify)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
John McFerrin (host)
Ben Marlin (moderator)
Rich Bunnell
Phil Maddox
Innervisions tracklist
Too High
Visions
Living for the City
Golden Lady
Higher Ground
Jesus Children of America
All in Love Is Fair
Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing
He's Misstra Know-It-All
Other clips used
Stevie Wonder:
Keep On Running
Beach Stomp
Signed, Sealed, Delivered … I’m Yours
Look Around
I Love Every Little Thing About You
You Are the Sunshine of My Life
Superstition
Did I Hear You Say You Love Me
Others:
Boards of Canada - Roygbiv
James Brown - Get It Together
Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On
Tonto’s Expanding Head Band - Cybernaut
Mary J. Blige/John Legend - King & Queen
Ginuwine - I’ll Do Anything/I’m Sorry
Aether - Rain or Shine
B-Flatt - Back to Basics
Rochelle Jordan - Visions
Ray Charles - Living for the City
Toto - Living for the City
Maya Rudolph - Key Change Baby
Yes - The Ancient
Michael McDonald - Higher Ground
The Beach Boys - Transcendental Meditation
The Beach Boys - TM Song
Barbra Streisand - All in Love Is Fair
Syreeta Wright - I’m Going Left
Janelle Monae - Ghetto Woman
Band/album personnel (by track)
Too High
Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, Fender Rhodes electric piano, harmonica, drums, Moog bass
Lani Groves, Tasha Thomas, & Jim Gilstrap – background vocals
Visions
Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, Fender Rhodes electric piano
Malcolm Cecil – upright bass
Dean Parks – acoustic guitar
David T. Walker – electric guitar
Living for the City
Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocals, Fender Rhodes electric piano, drums, Moog bass, T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer, handclaps
Golden Lady
Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, drums, Moog bass, T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer
Clarence Bell – Hammond organ
Ralph Hammer – acoustic guitar
Larry "Nastyee" Latimer – congas
Higher Ground
Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, Hohner clavinet, drums, Moog bass, tambourine, handclaps
Jesus Children of America
Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hohner clavinet, handclaps, tambourine, handclapping, drums, Moog bass
All in Love Is Fair
Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, drums
Scott Edwards – electric bass
Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing
Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, piano, drums, Moog bass
Yusuf Roahman – shaker
Sheila Wilkerson – bongos, Latin gourd
He's Misstra Know-It-All
Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, piano, drums, handclaps, T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer, congas
Willie Weeks – electric bass
Technical personnel
Recordists – Dan Barbiero, Austin Godsey
Tape operator – Gary Olazabal
Mastering – George Marino
Recording coordinators – John Harris, Ira Tucker Jr.
Synthesizer programmers – Robert Margouleff, Malcolm Cecil
Album art – Efram Wolff
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Stevie Wonder - Jesus Children of America (this episode only)
You can buy Innervisions and other albums by Stevie Wonder at your local record store, or the usual places such as Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich, and special thanks to Mike DeFabio for production and original music. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.