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Tamla T 54074 (B), December 1962
B-side of Contract On Love
(Written by Stevie Wonder and Clarence Paul)
Over the years, more than a few Motown acts have talked about how the possibility of writing their own material helped convince them to sign with the label. If proof were needed that Motown had an interest in the future career of Stevland Morris Judkins beyond a few kiddie novelty singles, a cursory glance over the two studio LPs released on Stevie in 1962 – The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie and Tribute to Uncle Ray – would reveal no less than 3 tracks co-written by Wonder himself, all before he had attained the age of 12.
Stevie’s second album, Tribute to Uncle Ray, is a mess; a shameless attempt on Motown’s part to cash in by strongly implying a link between Stevie and Ray Charles (the only other blind black musician most white listeners were probably familiar with), where in truth no such link existed: they weren’t related, Charles wasn’t his “mentor” as described elsewhere, as far as I know they’d never actually met each other. Yet the liner notes go to town: “Little Stevie Wonder, Tamla’s 11-year-old musical genius, is blind, a similarity he shares with a famed musician and vocalist of today!” Wow, really? Sell me a copy of this album right now, please!
The LP consists of eight extremely ropey Ray Charles covers that rarely rise above the level of karaoke, Stevie simply too young and unschooled (in every sense) to handle such weighty material – shades of Michael Jackson seven years later – with two new songs tacked on at the end. One of them is a conventional R&B number written by Berry Gordy (My Baby’s Gone); the other – this one – a looping, lolloping semi-jam written by Stevie himself, along with Clarence Paul, his producer and day-to-day “handler” at Motown.
Sunset is for my money by far the best track on Tribute to Uncle Ray, only three minutes long but sounding twice that, all walls of shimmering percussion (kettledrums, cymbals, the works) and a rolling trumpet loop in the background, while Stevie’s melismatic vocals ride over the top. He gets a bit shrill in places, particularly when trying to pronounce certain words, and he’s at his best when he’s not bothering with lyrics at all, just making noises with his voice in the style of a female jazz diva, rather than a male tween – the song’s central vocal riff, Whoa, ohhh, it’s sunset, is one of its strongest features – but it’s captivating all the same, and the sax-led instrumental break at the 1:20 mark is surprisingly mature.
Not commercial enough to be a single, and I’d have been happier if he’d sung this a couple of years down the line when his voice had matured a bit, but it’s still a striking statement of intent from a young man determined even then to be taken seriously as an artist, and a fine note on which to end Motown’s fourth year.
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
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Little Stevie Wonder “Contract On Love” |
The Valadiers “I Found A Girl” |
I haven’t listened to A Tribute to Uncle Ray recently, and yes, I remember squirming at the sanitized lyrics to ‘Hallelujah..’ (she brings me coffee in my favorite cup) – but Little Stevie shows that he’s earned the right to sing Ray Charles in the Motortown Review album with an exuberantly satisfying version of ‘Don’t You Know’ – far better, I think, than the one on the Uncle Ray album.
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Indeed, I’d have been glad to hear “…Uncle Ray” redone even a year later, such was Stevie’s prodigious rate of development. (On that tip, just how good would it have been if Stevie had done a Ray Charles tribute LP in 1969 instead of 1962?)
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Always thought this was an odd little song. I find the background singers shrieking “Sunset” in the background to be a bit grating. Were those the Rayber voices?
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I’m sure that The Rayber Voices were not singing together when Sunset was recorded in 1962. Mickey Stevenson had brought in The Love-Tones (who used to be The Teardrops on Samson Records, and The Mello-Dees on his Stepp Records), as the male counterpart to The Andantes, and The Supremes, Vandellas and Temptations were also being used for backgrounds by then.
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This is a pretty great track. It’s a Clarence Paul – Andre Williams production and I think it has a lot of Williams in it. He really had a distinctive “sound” around this time to his recordings: a deep cavernous space with the chorus chanting away in the bg like they’re obssessed or possessed and a lead that combines the almost operatic and the blues. It’s very striking. Seems like there’s a kinship between this and Mary Wells’ “Oh Little Boy” (flip to My Guy) of a year and a half later. (Williams’ best track for Motown.)
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I stumbled upon this site because Sunset was played at the end of an episode of True Blood this evening entitled “Sunset”. Sunset is a really good song.
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Thanks Calliope!
And I’d just like to say a big “hello” to the thousands (!) of True Blood fans who have found this page since last night, making it the most popular entry on Motown Junkies today.
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As one of the True Blood fans (and responsible for the pingback I see below), my apologies for the intrusion, TNA.
As a Motown fan from way back (though admittedly I preferred Stax :)), I am thrilled to discover this site. It’s outstanding.
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Thanks for the kind words – and as for apologising, not at all, it’s nice to have you all here! I hope you enjoy it.
Incidentally, the traffic hasn’t quietened down since Monday, meaning this is now the fifth most popular review of all time on the site, beaten only by two Supremes songs, Marv Johnson (review #1) and the longstanding champ, Barrett Strong’s “Money” – but if 2,000 more True Blood fans see this, Little Stevie will be the new king!
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…And we have a new champion!
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As a 20-year organised hockey league player, who grew up in Manitoba, basically “living” on a backyard rink, and whose neighbour played in The NHL for 15 years (and whose preoccupation (other than R&B/Soul Music) is hockey, I guess I should be impressed and happy that this thread is now “the champ”.
Although, I must say, I’m not all that big a fan of “Trueblood”
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I concur. This is a little bit of music trivia and an iota of American cultural literacy brought to me courtesy True Blood. I have been a Stevie Wonder fan for years, but did not recognize his voice immediately. The beat is so…party line (think two rows of dancers, not dogma!)…yet compelling…and a little bit captivating. Thanks for admitting that you heard it there. You gave me the courage to admit that I had as well. I really like this song.
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Great comment, thanks! And don’t anyone worry about coming here because of True Blood, or any other reason, because…
(a) I’ve never seen True Blood, but I’m told it’s good (and even if it was awful, it pays for HBO to make Treme, so they’re fine with me), and to be honest, even if it was a show featuring a portly Hungarian man burping into the camera for two solid hours, if it got people to dig deeper into Motown history, I’d give it two thumbs up;
(b) I only got into Motown because I bought a budget Miracles best-of CD from a local shop’s closing down sale, for what works out at about eight cents in US money, and now I write this giant site. Most of the people commenting here are here because of songs they liked as children or teenagers. None of us has earned the right to look down on anyone else (not that that ever happens here anyway – the Motown Junkies regular comments crew are just about the finest bunch of folks you could hope to meet), and absolutely everyone is welcome! 🙂
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I sought out this review because this song is SO MUCH WORSE than “Little Water Boy” that I expected to be entertained by another 1 review. But no!
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This song is like a funhouse-mirror version of The Flamingoes’ “I Only Have Eyes For You” (just substitute “sh-bop” for “sunset”), everything just a little distorted. It’s weird and oddly captivating.
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