"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter

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 ...

for the Tamla (

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 ...

) label. One of his most popular early singles, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" was the first hit single that Wonder himself co-wrote. A notable success, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" peaked at number three on the US ''Billboard'' Pop Singles chart in early 1966, at the same time reaching the top of the ''Billboard'' R&B Singles chart for five weeks. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the 59th biggest American hit of 1966. An accompanying album, '' Up-Tight'' (1966), was rushed into production to capitalize on the single's success. It also garnered Wonder his first two career

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nominations for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance.

Background

Wonder had a US number-one hit with " Fingertips" in 1963, and two more singles in the Top 40: "Workout, Stevie, Workout" (1963) and " Hey Harmonica Man" (1964) . But in 1965 at age 15 his voice had begun to change, and Motown CEO

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), also known as Berry Gordy Jr., is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and i ...

was worried that he would no longer be a commercially viable artist. As it turned out, however, producer

Clarence Paul Clarence Otto Pauling (March 19, 1928 – May 6, 1995) better known and published as Clarence Paul, was an American songwriter and record producer who was best known for his career with Detroit's Motown Records. Early life and career Born i ...

found it easier to work with Wonder's now-mature

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

voice, and Sylvia Moy and

Henry Cosby Henry R. Cosby (May 12, 1928 – January 22, 2002) was an American songwriter, arranger, record producer and musician who worked for Motown Records from its formative years. Along with Sylvia Moy, Cosby was a key collaborator with Stevie Wonde ...

set about writing a new song for the artist, based upon an instrumental riff that Wonder had devised. Nelson George, in ''Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound'', recorded that Wonder had been inspired by

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' "

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it features a guitar riff by Richards that opens and drives the song. The riff is w ...

" after playing several tour dates with the Stones. As Wonder presented his ideas, finished or not, "he went through everything," remembered Moy. "I asked, 'Are you sure you don't have anything else?' He started singing and playing 'Everything is alright, uptight.' That was as much as he had. I said, 'That's it. Let's work with that.'" The resulting song, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", features lyrics depicting a poor young man's appreciation for a rich girl seeing beyond his poverty. On the day of the recording, Moy had completed the lyrics, but didn't have them in

braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...

for Wonder to read, and so sang the song to him as he was recording it. She sang a line ahead of him, and he simply repeated the lines as he heard them. In 2008, Moy commented that "he never missed a beat" during the recording. ''

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 ...

'' described it as a "rhythmic, fast-moving, chorus backed pop- r&b ditty all about a lucky fella who’s got the world on a string."

Personnel

– vocals, keyboards *

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases un ...

– bass *

Benny Benjamin William "Benny" Benjamin (July 25, 1925 – April 20, 1969), nicknamed Papa Zita, was an American musician, most notable as the primary drummer for the Motown Records studio band The Funk Brothers. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall o ...

– drums *

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 ...

– additional instrumentation * Johnny Allen – horn arrangement *

The Andantes The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by M ...

– background vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other notable versions

A note-for-note re-recording of Wonder's version was used as the backing track for

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

's 1967 musical comedy single, " Little Ole Man (Uptight, Everything's Alright)", which was a US number 4 hit. Bill Cosby is not related to the song's co-writer Henry Cosby. In 1994, British reggae singer C. J. Lewis released a cover version under the title "Everything Is Alright (Uptight)". His version reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his second and final UK top-10 hit. It also entered the top 20 in Ireland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

References

{{Authority control 1965 singles 1965 songs 1994 songs 1994 singles C. J. Lewis songs Nancy Wilson (jazz singer) songs Song recordings produced by Henry Cosby Song recordings produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson Songs written by Henry Cosby Songs written by Stevie Wonder Songs written by Sylvia Moy Stevie Wonder songs Tamla Records singles The Supremes songs 1965 quotations Quotations from music