Stevie Wonder changes musicians’ lives!
Stevie Wonder is the legend whom most practising musicians come across and whom has a life-changing impact on them.
Stevie’s natural groove and ability to so purely express music remain untouched. His songwriting, keyboard skills, harmonica playing, and vocal phrasing are second to none.
Initially known as Little Stevie Wonder, he was discovered on the streets of Detroit where he’d be seen playing his harmonica as if it was the easiest thing in the world.
Picked up by Berry Gordy’s Motown, he released his first two albums in 1962, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie and Tribute To Uncle Ray (Ray Charles was his idol).
At the time of release and when he recorded his third album, The 12 Year Old Genius, Stevie was, as the title suggests, 12 years old!
On these first three albums, we got Fingertips, Hallelujah I Love Her So, and Drown In My Own Tears. All these tunes were covers.
Stevie’s next albums would also be covers, he recorded Smile, On the Sunny Side of the Street, Get Happy, When You Wish Upon A Star, and Blowin’ In The Wind, before the first big hit he actually wrote arrived in 1965 with Uptight (Everything Is Alright).
The following year, Uptight was released on the album Down To Earth, here we find the amazing A Place In The Sun, written specifically for Stevie by Ronald Miller and Bryan Wells.
In 1967, Stevie is now 17 years old and already releasing his 7th studio album! This one’s named I Was Made To Love Her and contained the title track as well as Respect, My Girl, and Can I Get A Witness. As you can tell, we’re seven albums in, and it’s all covers and some co-writes!
The next two are a Christmas and an instrumental album. This sets us up for his 1968 release For Once In My Life, again, written by Ronald Miller.
Initially, this was a slow ballad released in 1965, Stevie’s version is what we all know. On this album we also get Sunny and God Bless The Child (Billie Holiday).
1969 and the hits keep coming in Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday, and My Cherie Amour. On this album, we also find covers of At Last and Light My Fire.
Stevie post-1960s
1970 and he’d released two live albums, these are a bit of a Greatest Hits of everything listed above, plus Fred Niel’s Everybody’s Talkin’ and Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water.
As the final track, we also get one of his biggest hits Signed, Sealed, Delivered, which is also the name of his next album. This is where you find his amazing Beatles cover of We Can Work It Out as well.
I can not emphasize this enough. It’s almost been a decade now and he is still mainly releasing covers, after 15 albums! There’s a lesson here for us all…
In 1971, the first album that Stevie released with only originals came out. Named Where I’m Coming From, it has no big tunes on it!
Next, we get Music Of My Mind (1972) Stevie has now signed a new deal with Motown, giving him full artistic control. Still, there are no hits.
The same year he dropped Talking Book containing his signature song Superstition, You Are The Sunshine Of My Life, and I Believe (When I Fall In Love) shuts up any critics!
1973 and we get Inner Visions, and now it’s getting a bit crazy. Here we get Too High, Living For The City, Golden Lady, Higher Ground, All In Love Is Fair, Don’t You Worry ‘bout a Thing, and He’s Misstra Know-it-all.
His next release (1974) is nowhere near the same level, only Boogie On Reggae Woman is a proper tune here, but that’s fine because next, we get one of the best albums ever recorded.
1976 and on Songs In The Key Of Life, we have I Wish, Isn’t She Lovely, Sir Duke, and As, four of the best tunes you’ll ever hear!
This is followed by a greatest hits album with six (!) sides called Looking Back and a film soundtrack called Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants.
1980 and another classic Stevie Wonder album lands in Hotter Than July. Here we are treated to Master Blaster, Happy Birthday, and Lately.
After another greatest hits album and soundtrack for the film The Woman In Red, containing his best-selling single of all time, I Just Called To Say I Love You, we get the last Stevie Wonder album with a proper classic on it.
It’s 1985 and Stevie released In Square Circle and the tune is Part Time Lover. Perhaps not the best production, but still a great tune.
He does keep releasing albums after this but the tunes have dried up, saying that – Stevie had a pretty intense run!
If you haven’t already, you should immediately go and listen to his entire back catalogue. It contains some of the finest music ever written, and performed!
I’m sure Stevie is the musician who changed most practising musicians’ lives, will this be the case for you too?
Stevie Wonder Tunes | Related Pages
All In Love Is Fair
You can learn to play All In Love Is Fair by Stevie Wonder using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| C#madd9 | C#madd9/B | A#m7add4 |
All is fair in love, love’s a crazy game…
At Last
You can learn to play At Last by Etta James using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| F | Dm7 | Gm7 | C7 | F | Dm7 |
At last, my love has come along…
Blowin’ In The Wind
You can learn to play Blowin’ In The Wind by Bob Dylan using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| G C G/B | D/A D G | G C G/B | G |
How many years can a mountain exist, before it’s washed to the sea…
Can I Get A Witness
You can learn to play Can I Get A Witness by Marvin Gaye using chords, lyrics, TAB, backing track, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| Eb Ab | Db Ab | Eb Ab | Db Ab |
Ah listen, everybody, especially you girls…
Everybody’s Talkin’
You can learn to play Everybody’s Talkin’ by Harry Nilsson using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| Cmaj7 G6 | Cmaj7 G6 |
Everybody’s talkin’ at me…
For Once In My Life
You can learn to play For Once In My Life by Stevie Wonder using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| F Faug | F6 D7b9/F# |
For once in my life, I have someone who needs me…
Higher Ground
You can learn to play Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
||: Eb7 Gb6 Ab7 | Eb7 Gb6 Ab7 :||
People, keep on learnin’. Soldiers, keep on warnin’…
I Wish
You can learn how to play I Wish by Stevie Wonder using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and a Spytunes video guitar lesson.
| Emb7 Ab | Ebm7 Ab | Emb7 Ab | Ebm7 Ab |
Looking back on when I was a little nappy-headed boy…
Isn’t She Lovely
You can learn how to play Isn’t She Lovely by Stevie Wonder using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| C#m7 | F#9 | B11 | E6 |
Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she wonderful…
Master Blaster (Jammin’)
You can learn to play Master Blaster by Stevie Wonder using chords, lyrics, TAB, backing track, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| Cm | Cm Bb | Ab | Ab G |
Everyone’s feeling pretty, it’s hotter than July…
My Girl
You can learn to play My Girl by The Temptations using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| C | F | C | F |
I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day…
Respect
You can learn to play Respect by Aretha Franklin using chords, lyrics, TAB, backing track, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| G7 | F7 |
(Oh) What you want, (Oh) Baby, I got it…
Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)
Learn to play Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie Wonder using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| F | Dm |
Like a fool, I went and stayed too long…
Sir Duke
You can learn to play Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| B | G#m | G | F#7 |
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand…
Sunny
You can learn to play Sunny by Bobby Hebb using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| Em7 | G9 | Cmaj7 | F#m7b5 B7 |
Sunny, yesterday my life was filled with rain…
Superstition
You can learn to play Superstition by Stevie Wonder using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| Ebm7 (Ab7/Eb Ebm7) | Ebm7 (Ab7/Eb Ebm7) |
Very superstitious…
Stevie Wonder on the web
Artists & Bands
Behind every single tune you learn, there’s an artist or band with an entire catalogue of music, waiting to be discovered.
Find out more about these great Artists & Bands, and let their tunes guide you to success.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was an article about Stevie Wonder tunes, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
