Daily dose of dope
Of course today is the birthday of Stevland Hardaway Morris
And there have been many tributes to Stevie’s persona, music, and influence
Today’s dose highlights his co-creations with his first wife, Syreeta
Everyone knows about Stevie’s “golden period”
Often considered the greatest run of albums in modern music history
From roughly 1972-76
But the role of Syreeta in this is sometimes overlooked
Syreeta Wright grew up in Detroit, and started working at Motown Records as a receptionist (and then secretary) after high school
Eddie Holland (of Holland-Dozier-Holland fame) heard her signing in the office and helped put her on
Stevie caught wind of some of her writing, and they began collaborating
Soon they were kicking it together
But don’t get it twisted
When they met, Stevie was 18 and she was 22!
They were married two years later
It was, by both musical and historical accounts, a tumultuous affair
They were divorced a little over a year later
But in the middle of the marriage and the divorce, they worked together on Stevie’s Where I’m Coming From in 1971
This is the birth of Stevie’s classic period, breaking out of the Motown mold
And in 1972 the couple (who were already in divorce proceedings!) put out her debut self-titled LP on MoWest (Motown-affiliate)
The reviews weren’t great, and the sales worse
Even today, it’s considered uneven at best by the critics
Needless to say, I disagree! ?
This is the album’s closer
The AMG review calls it sacharrine
[What’s with these jaded jamokes?]
The couple share writing and trade verses
The album also has a Beattles cover (aforementioned All-Music review dubs it “badly misguided”)
And some other showcasing of Syreeta’s soprano serenades
On RateYourMusic, the experts who apparently know better than Wonder and Holland say her singing “just isn’t all that great” and her vocals are passable when the material “isn’t too demanding”
At least all acknowledge the genius that is coming out in the production
Including his use of Moogs and other synth sounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEtnJx1JS34
Eg on the Syreeta version of I Love Every Little Thing About You
Which also appears on one of his 1972 masterpieces (Music of My Mind)
Check out this interview with producer Malcolm Cecil about Music of My Mind and the classic period, where he mentions that Syreeta wrote the lyrics to I Love Having You Around
Syreeta had a big hand in both Music of My Mind and Talking Book
And, even after their split, they remained close friends and musical partners
They jointly produced her follow-up album in 1974 (the above interview points out that their divorce settlement included a guarantee that he would do another album with her!)
Also full of nuggets
In an earlier dose, we saw Herbie cover Stevie with Kimiko Kasai
And mentioned how Herbie was always hip to the new technologies
He and Stevie were both on this tip
In fact, by the late 70s, the two of them had a not-always-friendly competition
Whenever a new synthesizer was going to come out, they’d each talk to the manufacturer and try to get the first one
Offering to buy two
NOT to give to the other, mind you
Herbie said he wanted two to have one to take on the road
And Stevie wanted two so he could have one to keep in his ever-growing collection
When Fairlight was going to debut their new synth that you could program by drawing wave forms on a screen, Herbie found out that Stevie had already scheduled a visit from the company’s lone US rep to test it out
He interceded with the company execs and had the rep rerouted to his house so he could be first in line!
Happy birthday, Mr. Wonder
Hope Herbie got you some new toy as a present
