Stevie Wonder's Evolving Sound: A Musical Transition

Stevie Wonder is one of the country’s most influential and celebrated pop/R&B artists of the past half-century. He has produced a cumulative 28 albums that span from his earliest years at Motown records to present day. While his desire and ability to produce music has been somewhat of a constant for the better part of five decades, Wonder’s content and sound has been anything but. Wonder overcame a transition in the latter part of the 1960’s that changed the outlook and scope of his career. As Little Stevie Wonder dropped the “Little” in his name, he gained a sense of social awareness that allowed him to experiment with both his sound and lyrical content. Ultimately, Stevie Wonder’s change in musical sound from the late 1960’s to 1970’s can

Little Stevie Wonder was modeled after the famed career of, the not-so surprising, Ray Charles. Charles was also a blind musician, whose charisma and “R&B screamer” style allowed Gordy to mold Wonder’s image after (Rolling Stone). Wonder worked in 1962 with Motown writer Clarence Paul to produce his first album called The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie Wonder under the Motown subsidiary known as Tamla. On this album, Stevie Wonder elucidated his extreme musical talent on the harmonica, drums, and keyboard. Although he doesn’t sing on this album, the album gave his audience a taste for the Soul and Jazz sound that embodied his young persona. Similarly, later in 1962, Gordy tried to cement Little Stevie Wonder’s image in his tribute to Ray Charles. Wonder made the album A Tribute to Uncle Ray, which was a series of songs dedicated to the famed Ray Charles in both covers and like-sounding originals. However, it was clear that Wonder’s sound was not like that of Charles, which left Gordy in a scramble to create an image that matched Wonder’s talent. As William Ruhlman states in his album