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.Its tracks are coupled by a hoveringmist of subdued faith, of a belief in the essential rightness ofthings.On Innervisions, Stevie Wonder proves again thathe is one of the vital forces in contemporary music.Innervisions was an album greatly inspired by the urban andsocial decay that had so much become a part of the post-sixtieslandscape.Everywhere, cities were growing ever more crowded,crime-ridden, and dirty, and inner-city families were becom-ing ever more desperate.Singles like  Living for the City,with lyrics such as  His father works some days for fourteenhours/And you can bet he barely makes a dollar/His mothergoes to scrub the floors for many/And you d best believe shehardly gets a penny/Living just enough, just enough for thecity, spoke to the hopelessness of life in American cities of the1970s. It was a snapshot of a certain part of the reality of life,Wonder told Barney Hoskyns in a 2005 interview for Uncut.  Living for the City was very real for certain people.The album also featured the standout track  Higher Ground,which described a world in which soldiers continue to makewar as politicians continue to lie.As bleak as the world Wonderpainted seemed, the song also contained a message of hope inhis repeated chorus of  Gonna keep on tryin /Till I reach myhighest ground/Till I reach my highest ground/No one s gonna57Breaking OutStevie Wonder performing at the height of his powers in themid-1970s.During what is now considered his  classic period,he produced numerous hit singles and award-winning conceptalbums that cemented his reputation as one of the greatestmusicians of his generation.58STEVIE WONDERbring me down. According to John Swenson s 1986 biography,Stevie Wonder, the musician said of the song, Higher Ground was a very special song.I wrote it on May11.I remember the date.I did the whole thing the words,the music, and recorded the track in three hours.That sthe first time I ever finished a song so fast.It was almost asif I had to get it done.I felt something was going to happen.I didn t know what or when, but I felt something.In order to promote the album and denote its importance,Wonder planned a press event that was truly unlike any other.Critic Dave Marsh recalled the occasion to Werner:They put a whole batch of us on a bus in Times Square andblindfolded us.Then they drove us around for what seemedlike a long time it was probably in the neighborhood often minutes, but it felt like half an hour.They pulled up infront of some place and shepherded us off the bus and intoa cool, air-conditioned space.Each of us had a guide.Thenthey played us the record.It was an amazing thing.Totallydisorienting.The music had a clarity, a lucidity, and a flat-out power that was greatly increased by the limitation of thevisual sense; no distraction, or complete distraction, but inthe end, it really focused the whole experience, and not onlybecause the music was unforgettable, although of course itwas.It was one [heck] of a way to experience  Living for theCity for the first time.Innervisions was embraced not only by critics or one sectionof people, but by practically the entire record-buying public.The album received rave reviews and today is considered amasterpiece, even among Wonder s stellar albums of the era.In his book 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, TomMoon wrote,  Wriggling through graceful vocal melodies and59Breaking Outad-libs as daring as those from any jazz musician, Wonderspeaks truth to power.But he doesn t harangue: Everythingcomes wrapped in Wonder s resolutely bright, indomitablespirit. Songs on the album proved so popular that musiciansas diverse as Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra covered them. Living for the City inspired sermons, campaigns, and othermessages of positivism.It seemed that Stevie Wonder was now unstoppable.He hadrecorded three acclaimed albums in a row and had success-fully stepped out from the shadows of both Motown and hisyounger self.Everything was falling into place.Now, a terribleaccident would nearly destroy everything he had worked for.8Setback and ComebackOn August 6, 1973, Stevie Wonder and his cousin John Harriswere driving to a concert in Durham, North Carolina.While onthe road, they came up behind a large truck carrying a load oflogs.The truck was weaving dangerously and Harris, who wasdriving, decided to pass it.As he began to move around the vehi-cle, the driver slammed on his brakes and one of the logs brokefree.Before anyone realized what had happened, the log smashedthrough their windshield and collided with Wonder s skull.The blow knocked the singer unconscious instantly and puthim in a coma for the next eight days.His friends and familyfeared the worst: that he could die or be severely brain-damaged.In Haskins s book, longtime friend Ira Tucker recalled thoseharrowing days:I remember when he got to the hospital in Winston-Salem.Man, I couldn t even recognize him.His head was swollen6061Setback and Comebackup about five times normal size.And nobody could getthrough to him.I knew that he likes to listen to music reallyloud and I thought maybe if I shouted in his ear it mightreach him.The first time I didn t get any response, but thenext day I went back and I got right down in his ear andsang  Higher Ground. His hand was resting on my arm,and after a while, his fingers started going in tune with thesong.I said, yeah! Yeeaah! This dude is gonna make it!Wonder remained in the hospital for close to two weeks, lin-gering in and out of consciousness during much of that time.When he finally came around, he realized that the brain injuryhad taken his sense of smell.This was a particularly devastat-ing revelation for Wonder as he was already without one of hisfive senses.To now have lost two cut him off from the worldthat much more, and it filled him with dread as to what else hemay have lost [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]