''Music of My Mind'' is the fourteenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American singer, songwriter, and musician

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

. It was released on March 3, 1972, by

Tamla Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''motor'' ...

, and was Wonder's first to be recorded under a new contract with

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

that allowed him full artistic control over his music. For the album, Wonder recruited

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

pioneers Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff as associate producers, employing their custom

TONTO Tonto is a fictional character; he is the Native Americans in the United States, Native American (either Tonto Apache, Comanche, or Potawatomi) Friendship, companion of the Lone Ranger, a popular American Western (genre), Western character crea ...

synthesizer on several tracks. The album hit No. 21 in the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' LP charts, and critics found it representative of Wonder's artistic growth. It is generally considered by modern critics to be the first album of Wonder's "classic period".

Recording

Wonder became interested in using

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s after hearing the music of electronic group Tonto's Expanding Head Band. 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." 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 Superwoman is the name of several fictional characters in DC Comics. Most of them are, like Supergirl, women with powers similar to those of Superman, such as flight, invulnerability, and enhanced strength. In 1942, DC Comics trademarked the n ...

", which was played by Howard "Buzz" Feiten.

Release and reception

When ''Music of My Mind'' was first released on March 3, 1972, it became a 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. Contemporary critics viewed it as Wonder's final step into artistic maturity. In ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', 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.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

of ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American rock music magazine and entertainment company, founded in Detroit, whose initial print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor ...

'' believed that, like

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

, 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. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' particularly praised the

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

work on the single "Keep on Running." 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 Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

'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". The album was voted number 645 in the third edition of

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

'' (2000). In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 284 on the magazine's list of

the 500 greatest albums of all time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indu ...

; it was number 285 on the 2012 version of the list, and 350 on the 2020 edition. In 2008, the album was re-released in the UK to coincide with Wonder's European tour. 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 Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

''.

Track listing

Personnel

– 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, 6, 8), Moog bass (all), tack piano (4) * Art Baron – trombone (1) * Buzz Feiten – electric guitar (2) * Malcolm Cecil – Moog programming, associate producer, engineering * Robert Margouleff – Moog programming, associate producer, engineering *

Syreeta Syreeta Wright (born Rita Wright, February 28, 1946 – July 6, 2004), known mononymously as Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights were songs ...

– background vocals (4) *Uncredited – background vocals (1, 8, 9) *Joan DeCola – recording *Rick Rowe – recording

Charting singles

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control Stevie Wonder albums 1972 albums Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios Tamla Records albums Albums produced by Stevie Wonder Albums produced by Malcolm Cecil Progressive soul albums