TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. One of Stevie Wonder's most popular and enduring releases is the 1976 double album "Songs In The Key Of Life." The collection debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts. And its singles, "I Wish" and "Sir Duke," each went to No. 1 as well. It later won a Grammy for Album of the Year. And for its 50th anniversary, Wonder has released a four-song EP of previously unheard performances. Rock critic Ken Tucker has this review.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SIR DUKE")
STEVIE WONDER: (Singing) Music is a world within itself with a language we all understand, with an equal opportunity for all to sing, dance and clap their hands. But just because a record has a groove...
KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: Released in 1976, "Songs In The Key Of Life" was a big swing for Stevie Wonder, his most complex work up to that point, a double album aimed at satisfying his own increasingly ambitious music-making goals while also generating hit singles to keep him front and center in the culture. It succeeded in every way. This EP of four unreleased songs were recorded at the same sessions. And to my ears, its leadoff number, called "It's Easier," could be a hit single right now.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IT'S EASIER")
WONDER: (Singing) I went to see a love physician recommended to me by a good friend who said that his serum made him well. I told him of my broken heart and how love had torn my world apart and how I felt I'd be much better off in hell. He shook his head and just said, oh, well. Tell you, it's easier to say, love, bye-bye, than to hold on with a heart that longs to cry. Tell you, it's easier...
TUCKER: "It's Easier" has that remarkable quality Wonder has always possessed of lifting ordinary turns of phrase out of the commonplace to become catchy pearls of wisdom. In this case, the way Stevie sings the line it's easier to say, love, bye-bye, snapping out the bye-bye with a defensive yap, tells you everything the lyric is trying to say, which is that it's easier to give up than it is to work hard on a relationship, even as the rich, jaunty music is reminding you how great true, earned love can be. It's a theme that's picked up by the next song, "My Life Story Of Love."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY LIFE STORY OF LOVE")
WONDER: (Singing) It's my life story of love that never comes true. It's that fantasy of love that leaves me so blue and fills my empty soul with love that's left untold but keeps my lover's heart feeling gold. I'm going to take her back. I'm going to put her in my garden of love. I'm going to make her mine and let her bloom into my flower of love. And with rain and sunshine every day...
TUCKER: "My Life Story Of Love" is a perfect example of the way Wonder can take a melody that verges on soupy sentimentality and gives it the firm spine of passion. Again, the music illustrates what he's saying. In this case, the line about that fantasy of love that leaves me so blue as the song builds in intensity to reveal that the reality of love is so much more rewarding than its fantasy.
The third song, "I Can See The Sun In Late December," is another balled. This one, with a warmth meant to kindle a love in danger of growing cold.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I CAN SEE THE SUN IN LATE DECEMBER")
WONDER: (Singing) I'll bet you you can't even see the sun. Oh, but the sun is shining right before your eyes. I'll bet you you can't even see yourself, 'cause when you're lost, sometimes yourself is hard to find. I can see the sun in late December. I see forgotten treasures 'neath the sea. Tides that defeat identity washing away the beauty that was in your mind. I can hear the sounds you don't remember, the sounds of birds and trees in harmony, chords being blown by a gentle breeze making the perfect melody you left behind.
TUCKER: Here, Wonder's vocals, his lead voice as well as his own background harmonies, press hard against a melody that might otherwise be too maudlin. And his song has been heard before, recorded by Roberta Flack in 1975 in what was indeed a florid, sappy manner.
Finally, there's "I'm Into Livin'," which can now be heard as a companion piece to the more familiar "Love's In Need Of Love Today," the tune that kicked off "Songs In The Key Of Life." "I'm into Livin'" possesses a kind of debonair chipperness.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M INTO LIVIN'")
WONDER: (Singing) I used to be the best at party givin' 'cause partying used to be my name. I used to have the finest of the women 'cause playing used to be my game. Oh, but now I've given up all the things I used to do just to spend each moment of my life with you 'cause I'm into livin' for your love. I'm into livin' for your sweet, sweet love. L-O-V-E, love, your love. I'm into livin'...
TUCKER: It's a song about living for love. And listening to it, you think, has there ever been a pop musician who's been more enthralled with the idea of committed long-term romantic love? To listen to Stevie Wonder on these previously unheard, half century old, vitally fresh songs is to hear a kind of zealous emotion all too rarely heard these days. Like the man said, love is in need of love today.
MOSLEY: That's rock critic Ken Tucker.
(SOUNDBITE OF STEVIE WONDER SONG, "LOVE'S IN NEED OF LOVE TODAY")
MOSLEY: Stevie Wonder has recently begun a European and U.S. tour in which he'll play the entire "Songs In The Key Of Life" album.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE'S IN NEED OF LOVE TODAY")
WONDER: (Singing) Good morn' or evening, friends. Here's your friendly announcer.
MOSLEY: Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, how President Trump's repeated attacks on the integrity of voting systems might affect the midterm elections. We'll speak with Richard Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at the UCLA Law School, and Al Schmidt, chief elections official for the swing state of Pennsylvania. I hope you can join us.
To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram - @nprfreshair. FRESH AIR's executive producer is Sam Briger. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Ann Marie Baldonado, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaloner, Susan Nyakundi, Anna Bauman and Nico Gonzalez-Wisler. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. With Terry Gross, I'm Tonya Mosley.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE'S IN NEED OF LOVE TODAY")
WONDER: (Singing) ...Breaking many hearts. Stop it please before it's gone too far. The force of evil plans... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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