Customer Reviews

Talking Book

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Innervisions"may show his genius at full form,& "Songs in the Key of Life"may be his masterpiece,but it's"Talking Book" that balances his musical genius and his emotional core. Not only are we treated to the salacious funk of"Superstition",and the georgeous"You are the Sunshine of my life",but other emotionlly charged songs that stemmed from his break-up with then-wife Syreeta Wright.From the turmoiled fueled "Maybe your Baby"&"You've got it bad,Girl"to the overtly ignored post break-up classic"Blame it on the Sun".But heartbreak gives way to the hopefullness of "You & I"(yet another buried classic ,which could pounce "I just called..."as the ultimate wedding song),"Looking for Another Pure Love",& the georgous album closer,I Believe(when I fall in love it will be forever) giving the indication that bliss is just around the corner. Only 22 at the time of recording,Wonder showed his talent was not only impressive,but most importantly,expressive.

When you think about the fact that Stevie was so young when he wrote this music, that he was taking huge artistic risks, that he was talking about serious things in serious ways while fluff abounded around him makes this album that much more significant. He didn't just write love songs; he infused deep, soul-wrenching emotion into them. I dare you to say you don't get goose pimples listening to "You and I" or "You are the sunshine of my life." On the flip side, songs like "Superstition" and "Maybe Your Baby" shows how he can jam hard-core. The brother is bad! And let's not forget the fabulous players on this record - Ray Parker, Jr. on "Maybe Your Baby" or Jeff Beck on "Looking for another Love," to name a couple. Stevie's music is incomporable, and he is a rare musical genius. This CD is a fabulous representation of what a master songwriter can produce. You should check it out.

After the personal triumph of Music Of My Mind, Stevie Wonder proved he was a true musical force with Talking Book. The album shows that Mr. Wonder could run the gamut of music stylings from ballads to hard rockers and succeed in producing memorable music. The album opens with one of his most familiar songs, "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life". The songs opens with not Mr. Wonder, but two backup singers. Mr. Wonder slides in on the third verse and takes over with smooth grace. "Maybe Your Baby" has some nice guitar work from a young Ray Parker, Jr. and "Tuesday Heartbreak has sax playing from a young David Sanborn. The album contains some great socio-political songs that Mr. Wonder is known for with the stinging "Big Brother" standing out. Mr. Wonder was going through the breakup of his first marriage at the time and songs like "You & I", "You Got It Bad Girl", "Looking For Another Pure Love" (Jeff Beck contributes his guitar work to the song) and the aforementioned "Tuesday Heartbreak". When Mr. Beck was laying down his guitar track, he asked if Mr. Wonder would write a song for him for his new album. Mr. Wonder came up with "Superstition" and then deemed that it was too good to give up. He was right as the song is one of his best with its combination of funk, rock and soul and that evil sounding guitar riff. It became his first number one song since his first single, "Fingertips, Pt. 2". Mr. Beck was none too happy about the situation. Talking Book proved to be a huge success and set Mr. Wonder hurtling towards the stratosphere.

This album sounds pretty good. I have, like others, been unsure about the quality coming from AF these days. I "try before I buy" on most of these discs if you know what I mean. It's a shame that there is a wealth of information on Steve Hoffman's site (the main AF mastering engineer), but any criticism posted about AF gets deleted immediately by his Gestapo.

Oh, and this definitely didn't use the master tapes. Steve won't let anyone. I wouldn't get too excited about that because a good 30 inch per second analog dub can be unnoticeable from the original. However, AF should be up front with customers about the source they used. Would you rather them keep the "From the Original Master Tape" label on there but it not be true? That's what they were doing (see AF Simon & Garfunkel "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme"). Several times it's been proven to be untrue. For $30 discs, they should tell us what source they used.

I would recommend this disc, but I would say "caveat emptor" for AF discs in general. Wait for others to review them (and don't look on Steve Hoffman's site for that info). The DCC label was before my time (AF is a reincarnation of DCC) but I have downloaded several old DCC discs. The magic that was on those is gone, and AF has been shown to lie and cover up about the sources they used. Too bad.

This brilliant work by Motown's first child prodigy has become the standard by which all R&B is judged. Filled to the brim with gorgeous melodies, gentle keyboard textures, and romantic, but never sappy lyrics, "Talking Book" has weathered every trend in music and is still without peer. This seminal release from a man who is justifiably called a genius is still a class act. The opening "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" is a pop music standard that sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday and is probably the greatest love song ever written. Stevie's understated electric piano, the soft bongo playing in the background, the sprightly horns on the chorus and beautiful vocals by Lani Groves, Jim Gilstrap (on the intro) and Wonder himself all combine to make this song the perfect intro to a classic album filled with brilliant, timeless music. Pointing out highlights is almost pointless, this being a complete, cohesive work of art. The songs presented here perfectly complement each other and create an open-ended song-cycle that ebbs and flows in all the right places. The funky, paranoid "Superstition" (a no.1 R&B and pop hit) is matched by the extended, slow, bass/clavinet drenched "Maybe Your Baby" which itself is innovative in it's use of multi-speed and altered vocals, wicked rock guitar and Stevie's searing lead vocal. The ballads are wonders unto themselves; the acoustic guitar blessed "Blame It On The Sun", the stark and hopefully romantic "You And I", and a pair of smooth-as-butter ballads, the jazzy, easy paced "Lookin' For Another Pure Love", and the drop- dead beautiful "You've Got It Bad Girl" are the most sonically pleasing confections on the album. Highlighted respectively by a great guitar solo (do it Jeff!) and synthesizer solo Stevie stretches out to astounding effect on these numbers. (Special note: The 'Jeff' Stevie is referring to is none other than Jeff Beck, in case there are still 2 or 3 people in the world who don't know.) This is the record that forever put 'Little Stevie Wonder' to rest and showed the world that a gifted musician, composer and singer was claiming his place in moderm music and effectively launched one of the single greatest runs (both creatively and commercially) in the history of pop music. No collection is complete without it.

At Last!Stevie Wonder's four "70's Power Albums" get a serious digital makeover.For years the CDs sounds as if they're from a fourth generation master,let alone the original album packaging being chopped up for its smaller predecessor.After hearing At The Close Of A Century and it remastered sound on many tracks,the treatment for Talking Book was around the corner.Not only does it sounds as if I'm in Electric Lady studios(among others) but the packaging includes the original notes,lyrics as well as the translation of the braile message originally inside the gatefold.As for the songs,the clavinets sounds more squashy(Maybe Your Baby)and sinister(Superstition),while the synths on Blame It On The Sun(my favorite song of all time)makes the sadness prevelent in the songs lyrics even more deeper.The jazz inflections in You've Got It Bad Girl and Lookin' For Another Pure Love sound sharper now making you wish Stevie play this type of music more often.You & I ,already remastered for the recent boxed set finally does away with the left channel glitch after the "Don't Worry What Happens To Me"line.Kudos to Harry Weinger for his research as well as Kevin Reeves for his remastering job.Now Talking Book speaks in a more beautiful sound.

Stevie Wonder released many classic albums in the 1970's including "Innervisions", "Fulfilingness First Finale" and the epic "Songs In the Key Of Life". However, in this reviewers opinion, his late 1972 classic "Talking Book" is still Stevie's best overall album.
Like "Music Of My Mind" before it, "Talking Book" finds Stevie Wonder in complete control by writing, producing and performing most of the music himself. His natural songwriting talents combined with the latest technology and his unmistakable vocals make for what is undoubtedly a timeless classic.
Many of the tracks on "Talking Book" have become standards since their initial release including the wonderful "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life", "Tuesday Heartbreak", "Blame It On The Sun", "You've Got It Bad Girl" and the driving funk of "Superstition". Elsewhere are stellar moments such as the hard rock of the jamming "Maybe Your Baby", the folkish "Big Brother", the beautifully orchestrated piano ballad "You and I" and the dynamic spiritual closer "I Believe".
Indeed, all 10 tracks that make up "Talking Book" are some of the best music Stevie Wonder has ever made. This isn't just an album to be listened to in sections, it needs to be played from beginning to end. As mentioned above, Stevie has made albums that have equalled "Talking Book", however this album has an extra little added kick that brings it above the others.
Although I've been familiar with the "Talking Book" album since I was born, I'm very happy to say that I finally own this album all these years later.

Stevie Wonder has an impressive catalog of great albums throughout his career. But I think the three that stand out the most are from the 70's (Talking Book, innervisions, and songs in the key of life).
What a great list of songs on this album - You are the Sunshine of my life is, of course one of his greatest and most covered tunes - 'maybe your baby' and 'superstition' are downright funky - and 'Big Brother' is one of my favorite of his political songs.. All the other tracks are great too!
Stevie Wonder is truly a talent of modern music!

It's not really easy to produce a positive, almost utopic bunch of songs of joy and love without sounding boring and repetitive. But much more difficult than that is to make such a record that doesn't make ME fall asleep. What must be done to avoid this is to put a visionary genious behind the pen, the michophone and most of the instruments, and the magic occurs: a beautiful, solid, legendary record appears. The genius behind this is Stevie Wonder, probably the best singer, the best songwriter and one of the best drum, harmonica and bass players of soul (and pop music in general). Stevie's compositions reflect his accurate instinct to produce beautiful, surprising melodies; his centered lyrics reflect and irradiate his joy of living and his emotional use of his powerfull voice completes the scenario of a true masterpiece. On `'Talking Book'', besides some lovely piano-driven ballads, Wonder produces a sound that at the same time encompasses typical 70's soul arrangement pattern and takes many steps ahead, thanks to his ability to create innovative melodies and make a different, new trends-defining usage of elemnts from current soul tendencies. Highest points are funky `'Superstition'', `'I believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)'', `'Blame It On The Sun'' and clever easy-listening hit `'You Are The Sunshine Of My Life''. Genre and decade-defining, this is a true masterpiece and a musical gem for lovers of all kinds of music.

`Talking book', released in 1972, was one in a string of masterpieces Stevie Wonder released in the 1970s. The second album released after his renegotiations and resigning with Motown records, it featured his new signature experimental jazz/funk sound, and lyrics that spoke his mind.

Opening track is the #1 smash, the much loved `You are the sunshine of my life', a simple love song, intricately constructed and sunny sounding.

`You and I' is a melodramatic piano ballad featuring soaring intense vocals. Similar to his future songs like `Lately' and `They won't go when I go'. Other standout ballads are the tender `Blame it on the sun' (covered by Diana Ross) with awesome backing vocals, the jazz tinged haunting `You've got it bad girl', the brooding jazzy `Looking for another pure love' (with Jeff Beck on guitars) and the similar `I believe (when I fall in love it will be forever)'.

`Big brother' is a scathing rebuke of those in power who take advantage of the underclass. A mid tempo harmonica and conga filled piece, it has an almost folk feel to it.

The other smash hit of the album is the funky #1 `Superstition' (fantastic guitars and horns, and lyrics taking a dig at superstitious beliefs). Originally written for rocker Jeff Beck, this became Stevie's biggest hit.

The album hit #1 R&B and #3 pop, and won 3 grammys; Best male R&B vocal and best R&B song for `Superstition', and best male pop vocal for `You are the sunshine of my life'.

Pure genius!!!