Customer Reviews

Alfie

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This recording is full of soulful harmonica playing in the style only Stevie himself could deliver. There is not a single lick of vocals, just dreamy technicolor grooves straight out of 1968. On the slower selections, the orchestral arrangements are rather lush (not for the faint of heart!) and may strike fits of rage in pubescent teens. All joking aside, music fans will appreciate this unprecedented show of harmonica artistry. I have searched stores from San Francisco to New York; it is a rare find.

my friend turned me on to this over 20 years ago. rumor has it that stevie wanted to do a harp album, and RCA said no way. he did it anyway, and it's the bomb. just had to change his name to Eivets Rednow. Enjoy the best talent with an entire orchestra behind him. Michael B.

For the casual listener, this CD is filled with some very relaxing music. The srot of thing you'd play at the end of a hard day's work or at a candlelight dinner at home with a loved one. For aspiring harmonicists, one listen to this will let you know that you still need to practice! Enjoy.

Alfie was a side project of instrumentals that Stevie Wonder released under the name of Eivets Rednow which is his name spelled backwards. This is one of those albums that is more for the artists themselves than the public but it does contain some excellent harmonica work from Mr. Wonder. The title track, "Grazing In The Grass" and "Never My Love/Ask The Lonely" are good listens. Alfie is a decent listen but this is one is basically for completists.

I received this item in record time and in great condition, just as described! Thanks

in 1963 little stevie wonder recorded his first instrumental album entitled "the jazz soul of little stevie"/five years later in 1968,stevie records his second all instrumental album under a mysterious pseudonym his alter ego:"eivets rednow" which is stevie wonder spelled backwards.in fact,on the upper right hand corner of the original album cover-it gives away the hidden identity of the artist with the ?uestion:'how do you spell stevie wonder backwards?'there is no photograph of the talented musician on the album cover,which is replaced with a photograph of musical instruments that are blended into each other thru transparency.the music itself is just that-musical instrumentals with no vocals.this album is 50/50:50% of it has covers and 50% of it has originals. the covers are hal david&burt bacharach's 'alfie' and 'a house is not a home'/d. addrisi's 'never my love'/m.parish&h.roemheld's 'ruby'/philemon hou's 'grazing in the grass'/the originals are:'more than a dream'/'how can you believe'/'ask the lonely'/'which way the wind'/'bye bye world'/this all instrumental album has nice orchestrations combined with wonder's classic harmonica playing,his use of the clavinet.this is nice mood music 2 chill out 2 or 2 have dinner with that special someone in your life.the standout cuts are:'how can you believe'/and the combined medley of 'never my love'and 'ask the lonely'/the long and beautiful 'ruby' of which stevie leads with harmonica.the piece has relaxed strings and a few laid back horn parts.the slightly upbeat 'which way the world'is clavinet driven.this piece has plenty of horns.'bye bye world'is also clavinet controlled as well but it is more upfront in the song and it also has a good horn section.this album along with his more commercial "for once in my life album" are the first two albums that wonder makes use of the clavinet which adds more jazz,funk,and soul to his music making.stevie wonder's "eivets rednow" was not recorded 4 commercial purposes.it was recorded 4 the enjoyment 4 the artist himself and his fascination 4 the art's sake of music itself...

The problem with music is the background, it is
dated and a bit overpowering.

I can explain this entire album in a heartbeat-this is
recorded under Stevie Wonder's name spelled backwards and
consists of a series of instrumentals featuring Wonder's superb
harmonica playing over easy-listening 1960's lounge/bachelor pad
music!So an A+ grade for Stevie and a big HA!HA!HA!HA! for the music.If only Stevie couldv'e known what the future of lounge
would be-his career might've taken a very different path.Thank goodness it didn't go THIS way!

If you are a fan of Stevie Wonder you will appreciate this C.D. He and Eivets Redrow make a great,energetic team. Even though Stevie is not adding to the song with his wonderful, clever lyrics, you can still fell what the moods of a given song are supposed to be just by listening to the music.