Maps of Music

With a Song in My Heart (1963)

Where the lyrics of With a Song in My Heart take you, and where it was really made.

Stevie Wonder's third album, made when he was 13, dropped the 'Little' from his name yet did not immediately win the adult contemporary market.

Key places

Vocals recorded at Hitsville U.S.A. (1963)

Recording site Hitsville U.S.A. Studio A — Wonder's vocals for the album were recorded at Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit, Michigan. The point uses the building's coordinates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Session musicians in Los Angeles (1963)

Recording site Los Angeles — The instrumentation was played by various Los Angeles session musicians. The point is placed at the city center, not a specific studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Third studio album by Stevie Wonder
• Released December 28, 1963 on the Tamla (Motown) label
• Ten tracks, five per side
• Covers pop standards and songs from musicals and films
• Wonder was 13 years old at release
• Arranged and conducted by veteran jazz musician Ernie Wilkins
• Track 1: With a Song in My Heart, 3:11
• Track 2: When You Wish Upon a Star, 2:59
• Track 3: Smile, 3:20
• Track 4: Make Someone Happy, 5:04
• Track 5: Dream, 2:50
• Track 6: Put on a Happy Face, 2:37
• Track 7: On the Sunny Side of the Street, 3:58
• Track 8: Get Happy, 2:12
• Track 9: Give Your Heart a Chance, 2:16
• Track 10: Without a Song, 4:14

Background

• Wonder followed labelmate Marvin Gaye's example by covering pop standards
• Label president Berry Gordy aimed to establish Motown artists on a crossover basis
• First Wonder album to drop the 'Little' prefix from his stage name
• The album did not immediately bring success for Wonder on the adult contemporary market

Recording

• Vocals recorded at Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit, Michigan
• Wonder sings and plays harmonica on 'On the Sunny Side of the Street'
• Instrumentation by various Los Angeles session musicians
• Arrangement and conducting by Ernie Wilkins

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · ja.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

• Released 28 December 1963 on Tamla (Motown), Wonder's third studio album
• Label president Berry Gordy intended to establish Wonder and other Motown artists on a crossover basis
• Gordy's crossover plan matched the approach taken with Marvin Gaye and other Motown acts
• The album did not immediately bring success for Wonder on the adult contemporary market
• Wonder was 13 years old when the album came out
• The title track, 'With a Song in My Heart', is credited to Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers
• 'When You Wish Upon a Star' is credited to Ned Washington and Leigh Harline
• 'Smile' is credited to Charlie Chaplin, Geoffrey Parsons and John Turner
• 'Make Someone Happy' is credited to Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne, and at 5:04 is the longest track
• 'Dream' is credited to Johnny Mercer
• 'Put on a Happy Face' is credited to Charles Strouse and Lee Adams
• 'On the Sunny Side of the Street' is credited to Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh
• 'Get Happy' is credited to Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler
• 'Give Your Heart a Chance' is credited to Ron Miller, Orlando Murden and Kenneth O'Neil
• 'Without a Song' is credited to Edward Eliscu, Billy Rose and Vincent Youmans, and closes the album at 4:14
• Ernie Wilkins arranged and conducted the album as a veteran jazz musician

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was the first in which Wonder dropped the 'Little' prefix from his stage name, following Marvin Gaye's example of covering pop standards at 13.
• Wonder sang the vocals and played harmonica on 'On the Sunny Side of the Street'.
• Gordy's aim was to put Motown artists across to a wider audience, the crossover approach shared with Gaye.
• Vocals were recorded at Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit, while the instrumentation was made by Los Angeles session players.
• The album's track list mixes Broadway and Hollywood songs with pop standards, such as the title track from a Rodgers and Hart musical.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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