''Where I'm Coming From'' is the 13th album by Stevie Wonder. The album was released by Motown Records on April 9, 1971 and peaked on the Billboard Pop Albums at #62, and on the '' Billboard'' R&B Albums Chart at #7. All nine songs were written by Wonder and Motown singer-songwriter
Syreeta Wright
Syreeta Wright (February 28, 1946 – July 6, 2004), who recorded professionally under the single name Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights we ...
, his first wife. It was the last album produced under his first contract with Motown Records. Including live albums, this is Stevie Wonder's fifteenth album overall, and thirteenth studio album.
History
Motown's founder
Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record l ...
had maintained tight control over his company's productions, but as the artists' careers progressed, they began to feel the need for the allowance of
social consciousness
Social consciousness or social awareness, is collective consciousness shared by individuals within a society.Marvin Gaye, who wanted to expand with new styles and musical techniques, some of which became more apparent in the earlier album ''
For Once In My Life
"For Once in My Life" is a song written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records' Stein & Van Stock publishing company, and first recorded in 1965.
It was written and first recorded as a slow ballad. There are differing accounts of ...
''.
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 covert 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 later recording "Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You?)") was also successful. Much of the rest of the album was
social commentary
Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...
and war-themed songs.
The album foreshadows Wonder's "classic period" albums with its
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
approach and range of material. Wonder further developed the use of the
Hohner
Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg. Since its foundation, and though known ...
clavinet that was to be fully explored on the classic period albums. Like Wonder's earlier albums, several tracks on ''Where I'm Coming From'' use Motown studio musicians
the Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972.
Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...
, and also make use of string orchestras. This is also the first Stevie Wonder album to feature Wonder playing synth bass on the majority of its tracks – the two exceptions being "Think Of Me As Your Soldier" and "Take Up A Course In Happiness," which feature electric bass.
Reception
Released at around the same time as Marvin Gaye's '' What's Going On'' album, with similar ambitions and themes, they have been compared; in a contemporary review by
Vince Aletti
Vince Aletti (born 1945) is a curator, writer, and photography critic.
Career
Music industry
Aletti was a contributing writer for ''Rolling Stone'' from 1970 to 1989. He was the first person to write about disco in an article published by the m ...
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. It was first known for its ...
'', Gaye's album was seen as successful, while Wonder's album was seen as failing due to "self-indulgent and cluttered" production, "undistinguished" and "pretentious" lyrics, and an overall lack of unity and flow.
Syreeta Wright
Syreeta Wright (February 28, 1946 – July 6, 2004), who recorded professionally under the single name Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights we ...
Paul Riser
Paul Riser (born September 11, 1943) is an American trombonist and Motown musical arranger who was responsible for co-writing and arranging dozens of top ten hit records. His legacy as one of the " Funk Brothers" is similar to that of most of ...
and Stevie Wonder. One version of the original record label listed the final song as "Sunshine In Their Eyes/Everything Is Happenin'".
;Side one
# "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
;Side two
# "I Wanna Talk to You" – 5:18
# "Take Up a Course in Happiness" – 3:11
# "
Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer
"Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" is a 1971 song by Stevie Wonder, featured on his album ''Where I'm Coming From''. The song is a ballad, describing a failed relationship using the metaphor of changing seasons. Co-written by Syreeta Wright a ...