Stevie Wonder was originally presented as a prodigiously talented teenager who sang upbeat love songs and ballads.  But when he turned 21, he gained control of his career as well as access to the fortune he’d accumulated, and began to reinvent himself as an artist.  He literally was what the BBC once described as “a [young] man with the world at his fingertips.”

But Stevie Wonder had lived through the racial unrest of the ‘60s, and he felt he had more to say with his music.  “We as a people are not interested in 'baby, baby' songs anymore,” he observed at the time.  “There's more to life than that.”

So with his album, Innervisions, Stevie went beyond just romance and heartbreak.  In songs such as “Too High,” “Living for the City,” and “Higher Ground,” he also sang about the world he saw around him with its drug abuse, urban poverty, racial injustice, religious hypocrisy, and spiritual awakening.  They were strong topics for a pop record.  But they connected powerfully with music fans at the time, making that album one of the best-selling and most acclaimed of his career.  And in the midst of his bold look at the state of the world, Stevie still found reason for hope.  As he sang on the track “Visions,”

Today's not yesterday,

and all things have an ending.

It certainly is a record that still has something to say to us today.

Join Great Moments in Vinyl as we celebrate Stevie Wonders’ landmark album Innervisions.  We’ll set the stage with songs from his early career, pay tribute to that remarkable record, and then follow where his creativity took him next.

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Tickets available through EventBrite.