The Sound of Stevie Wonder: His Words and Music.(Book review)

The Sound of Stevie Wonder: His Words and Music. By James E. Perone. (The Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection.) Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006. [xiii, 187 p. ISBN 0-275-98723-X; ISBN-13 978-0-275-98723-7. $39.95.] Index, bibliography, discography, illustrations.

This volume is the first in the Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection and is written by series editor James E. Perone, professor of music at Mount Union College (Ohio). The series has an ambitious publication schedule, with a volume on Frank Zappa released in 2006 and entries on Carole King (also by Perone), Bruce Springsteen, and Bob Marley due in 2007. Perone has written on music of the Vietnam conflict, the counterculture era, and Woodstock, as well as authoring a number of bibliographies, including five titles in Greenwood Press's Bio-bibliographies in Music series.

According to the series foreword, the intent of the Singer-Songwriter Collection is ambitious as well: to focus on the artist's work and relate it to their life and the society around them, to serve as listeners' guides and "companions to the artist's recorded output" and to offer "true insight into the work of the artists they study" (p. vii). Literary, musicological, or cultural aspects of the artist's work may be emphasized, depending upon the author's expertise. Yet the intention to evaluate the entirety of an artist's recorded work, song by song, from any perspective, is unusual in popular music studies. Thus, this series has the potential to be an important contribution to the rapidly expanding study of popular music.

The introduction to this debut volume reiterates that its focus is on the music, lyrics and recordings of Stevie Wonder, with biographical information woven into the discussion. The approach is chronological, with six chapters corresponding to stages in Wonder's career, subdivided by album and then by song. Typically, there is one introductory paragraph to each chapter and to each album. Length of commentary per song varies from one to five paragraphs.

To illustrate the type of commentary included, consider Perone's discussion of a Wonder classic, "Higher Ground," from the 1973 album Innervisions. The introductory paragraph characterizes Innervisions as almost a concept album, with all songs written by Wonder, most dealing with solutions to societal problems. Perone further notes that the production style, particularly the mix between voice and instruments, is more consistent than its predecessor album Talking Book.

The first paragraph concerning "Higher Ground" gives chart information, as well as relating the song to the religious theme of "Superstition" from Talking Book. This is followed by a paragraph arguing that the lyrics of "Higher Ground" refer to struggling towards Nirvana through reincarnation as found in Hinduism. A brief description of the instrumental mix leads into a longer discussion of the song's tonal center, again with comparisons to "Superstition." There is a digression into Wonder's affinity for composing in flat keys, with speculation that this is attributable to his being a keyboard player--and an unsighted keyboard player--rather than being a guitarist. A lengthy paragraph then returns to further description of the song's instrumentation, use of synthesizers, and how Wonder avoids a mechanized sound with his funk drumming and improvisations. Finally, there is a paragraph on how a principal riff resembles one from a classic tune by the band Canned Heat.

Clearly, Perone has examined "Higher Ground" from many different angles and has many interesting ideas about it. If only these ideas could be expanded upon more fully! Just how many Wonder songs are in flat keys and how many in sharp keys? Has Wonder himself ever commented upon his affinity for certain keys? What supporting evidence might there be for the idea that the phrase "Higher Ground" refers to Nirvana rather than to the Christian concept of heaven? Are there other songs that show influences of Eastern religions? What is meant by the term funk drumming?