Stevie Wonder came to Motown in 1961 at the age of eleven, at the invitation of Ronnie White of the Miracles. White heard Wonder singing “Lonely Boy”, a song that Wonder had written, and wanted Berry Gordy to listen too! Gordy offered Wonder a contract with Tamla Records and drew up a plan with Wonder’s mother that would allow the young boy to enter the music industry.
Stevie Wonder was born Stevland Hardaway Judkins in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1950 and lost his sight soon after birth. His mother changed his family name to Morris when she left his father, when Stevie was four years old. As a child Stevie learnt to play piano, harmonica and drums, buying a harmonica for ten cents at the age of four and later being given a second-hand piano by some neighbours who were relocating. It didn’t take him long to master both instruments. He also began writing songs from an early age.
Little Stevie Wonder was the name given to him by Motown producer/songwriter Clarence Paul, who was put in charge of supervising and supporting the boy, whilst he learned his trade at Motown. Gordy came up with a five-year rolling contract, with royalties paid into a trust fund from which Little Stevie and his mother were paid a weekly sum to cover expenses. The trust fund was set up to run until Wonder reached twenty-one years of age. He was also accompanied by a tutor whenever he went on tour.
Clarence Paul quickly started working professionally with Wonder, first on an album of Ray Charles’ songs and then on an instrumental album of Paul’s own compositions, with two tracks co-written by Paul and Wonder. The three tracks which Little Stevie co-wrote for these albums are “Sunset” on the “Tribute to Uncle Ray” album and “Wondering” and “Session Number 112” on “The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie Wonder”.
Wonder’s first single release came in the summer of 1962, when Tamla issued the song “I Call It Pretty Music, But the Old People Call It the Blues”, written by Berry Gordy. As the title suggests, it is a good old Blues song with a funky edge that Stevie Wonder put into his music even at the age of twelve. It is sung with joy and includes a demonstration of Wonder’s ability as a harmonica player. It sold pretty well too, reaching number one hundred and one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. The two follow-up singles didn’t sell as well, but they give a good indication of the range of Wonder’s talent. “Little Water Boy”, written and produced by Clarence Paul, shows off Wonder’s drumming skills.
The song cleverly weaves the vocals of Wonder and Paul, one voice high and one low, with Wonder again adding a sense of enjoyment to his performance. The follow-up, “Contract On Love”, is a typical Motown song, co-written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier (who produced the recording) and Janie Bradford. The backing voices could well be those of the Temptations! The B-side is “Sunset”, from the Ray Charles tribute album, credited to C. Paul and S. Judkins, which was Wonder’s original name.
The two albums that Wonder and Paul had been working on finally appeared in the latter half of 1962, first “The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie Wonder” and then “Tribute to Uncle Ray”. Sales were low, but Stevie Wonder was in his element. He ended the year touring as a member of the Motortown Revue, performing in the theatres on the Chitlin’ Circuit, where Black artists were welcomed.
Little Stevie Wonder had his first big hit with his single “Fingertips”, released in May 1963. The original version is the opening track on Wonder’s 1962 album “The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie Wonder”, featuring the funky flute playing of Beans Bowles. For the single release (a two-sided version of the tune) Wonder played the flute melody that Bowles wrote on the harmonica. The single was recorded live at the Regal Theatre in Chicago during the Motortown Revue concert, which added real excitement to the new version, helping it to the top of both the Billboard Hot 100 and the R&B Singles Charts. The tune is credited to Clarence Paul and Hank Cosby, the arrangement to Paul and the production to Berry Gordy. Bowles’ contribution was sadly overlooked. The extraordinary talent of Stevie Wonder is demonstrated by his harmonica playing and, even more, by his work on the bongo drums. The single was included on the remarkable live album “Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius”. He was the youngest recording artist during this period to achieve the remarkable feat of going to the number one position on both the Cash Box and Billboard chart listings. Yes, he really was only twelve years old!
