Maps of Music

Down to Earth (1966)

Where the lyrics of Down to Earth take you, and where it was really made.

Stevie Wonder's sixth studio album was the record that re-established him as a Motown hitmaker at sixteen, after his voice had changed.

Key places

Recorded at Hitsville U.S.A., Detroit (1966)

Recording site Hitsville U.S.A. Studio A — The album's credited studio is Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit, Michigan. The point marks the building, which is the credited recording location for this album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Down to Earth: sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder
• Released November 16, 1966, on the Tamla (Motown) label
• Departure from Wonder's earlier, teen pop-driven albums
• Features the hit single "A Place in the Sun"
• Twelve tracks in two sides, with six songs on each side
• Credited producers: Clarence Paul and Henry Cosby

Background

• Released together with its predecessor, Up-Tight, as a pair of albums
• The two albums re-established the sixteen-year-old Wonder as a Motown hitmaker
• Wonder's voice had recently changed at the time of release
• Covers and standards make up much of the track list, including Dylan and Sixteen Tons

Recording

• Credited studio: Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit, Michigan
• Session musicians credited include Benny Benjamin on drums and James Jamerson on bass guitar
• The Funk Brothers are credited for instrumentation
• The Originals and The Andantes are credited for backing vocals
• Wonder plays harmonica, keyboards, drums, percussion and sings lead vocals

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Stevland Hardaway Morris, known as Stevie Wonder, was born May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan, and became blind shortly after birth.
• He signed with Motown's Tamla label at age 11 in 1961, receiving the name Little Stevie Wonder.
• His single "Fingertips" topped the Billboard Hot 100 when he was 13, the youngest solo artist ever to do so.

Career

• Music of My Mind and Talking Book (1972) marked the start of his classic period, moving away from the Motown sound toward synthesizer- and keyboard-driven music.
• Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life (1973–1976) won three consecutive Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, and he is the only artist to have done so.
• In the 1980s he campaigned to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a federal holiday and scored several number-one hits, including "Ebony and Ivory" and "I Just Called to Say I Love You".
• He has sold more than 100 million records and won 25 Grammy Awards, the most by a male solo artist.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The album was a departure from Wonder's earlier, teen pop-driven albums
• Together with Up-Tight, it re-established the sixteen-year-old Wonder as a Motown hitmaker
• The album marked a shift toward a more adult sound for the label's young star
• Its single "A Place in the Sun" became a hit

Reappraisal

• Another single, "Hey Love", later became a hit for Detroit soul singer Bettye LaVette in 1969
• LaVette's version was released as the B-side to "With a Little Help from My Friends"
• The song's later success shows the album's material lived on beyond Wonder's own version

Records

• Released on Tamla (Motown) on November 16, 1966
• Sixth studio album in Wonder's catalogue
• Japanese release in November 1981 used the original English title
• Track list runs 12 songs, with "Hey Love" closing side two

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Bang Bang" was written by Sonny Bono and is best known as a hit for Cher, and Wonder's version sits among the album's covers.
• Wonder's cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" echoes the version by The Byrds.
• "Sixteen Tons" by Merle Travis, also sung by The Platters and Tom Jones, closes side two of the album.
• Japanese commentary says the album suggests Wonder was influenced by the Beatles, especially Paul McCartney on Rubber Soul, more than by Bob Dylan.
• The first Japanese release in November 1981 kept the original English title Down to Earth.

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org

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