Signed, Sealed & Delivered: The Soulful Journey Of Stevie Wonder
by Mark Ribowsky

He’s misstra show-and-tellit- all

Born premature and left blind from over-oxygenation in an incubation tank, the odds were against Steveland Morris from the start. As Ribowsky himself notes, Steveland’s mother’s hometown was Hurtsboro, Alabama – it might as well have been Hardtime, Mississippi. The young boy quickly found an aptitude for music, though, whipping up churchgoing crowds with his harmonica schtick and getting in at Motown as a not-so- minor minor.

Yet, while Berry Gordy in the 60s didn’t seem to know what to do with a teenage charge who was – artistically-speaking growing up – faster than “Pops” would have liked, Wonder’s innervisions ensured that, with the help of engineers/producers Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, 70s soul would be partially defined by a run of synthdriven albums, from Music Of My Mind to Fulfillingness’ First Finale. Wonder’s spurt enabled him to hold Motown at ransom and overtake Gaye, Sly and JB as the marketable face of troubled soulsters; yet without a drug addiction or any other rock’n’roll vice, it was up to his own ditherings, dubious tight-knit circle and an indecision that bordered on the crippling to bring Stevie down. Not that you’d know it – he remains an inscrutable, bankable draw today, despite the inarguable drop in quality output. Ribowsky tells the eyebrow-raising tale with the equal amounts of respect and incredulity it deserves.

4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars

ISBN 9780470481509, 319 pages

Reviewed by Jason Draper
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