Fulfillingness' First Finale
Studio album by
Stevie Wonder
ReleasedJuly 22, 1974
Studio
GenreProgressive soul[1]
Length42:21
LabelTamla
Producer
Stevie Wonder chronology
Innervisions
(1973)		 Fulfillingness' First Finale
(1974)		 Songs in the Key of Life
(1976)
Singles from Fulfillingness' First Finale
  1. "You Haven't Done Nothin'"
    Released: August 1974
  2. "Boogie On Reggae Woman"
    Released: November 1974

Fulfillingness' First Finale is the seventeenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, released on July 22, 1974 by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. It is the fourth of five albums from what is considered Wonder's "classic period".[2][3][4]

The album was Wonder's second to top the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart, where it remained for two weeks, and also reached number one on the Billboard Soul LPs chart, where it spent nine non-consecutive weeks.[5] At the 17th Annual Grammy Awards, it won in three categories: Album of the Year (Wonder's second consecutive win in this category), Best Male Pop Vocal, and Best Male Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance (for "Boogie On Reggae Woman") at the ceremony held in 1975. Retrospectively, the album was voted number 413 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000)[6] and included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[7]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
The Austin Chronicle[9]
Christgau's Record GuideA−[10]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[11]
The Great Rock Discography7/10
Los Angeles Times[12]
MusicHound4/5
Q[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[14]
The Village VoiceB+[15]

Recording

Following the epic scope and social consciousness themes of Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale, in contrast, projected a more reflective, personal, and somber tone. The musical arrangements used in several songs, especially the bleak "They Won't Go When I Go" and the understated "Creepin'", were sparse compared to those of some of Wonder's other 1970s tracks. Wonder had not completely foregone social commentary, as evidenced by the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "You Haven't Done Nothin'", which launched a pointed criticism of the Nixon administration bolstered by clavinet, drum machine, and a cameo by the Jackson 5.

Track listing

All songs written by Stevie Wonder, except "They Won't Go When I Go", written by Wonder and Yvonne Wright.

Side one
  1. "Smile Please" – 3:26
  2. "Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away" – 5:01
  3. "Too Shy to Say" – 3:31
  4. "Boogie On Reggae Woman" – 4:54
  5. "Creepin'" – 4:17
Side two
  1. "You Haven't Done Nothin'" – 3:27
  2. "It Ain't No Use" – 3:58
  3. "They Won't Go When I Go" – 5:59
  4. "Bird of Beauty" – 3:46
  5. "Please Don't Go" – 4:06

Personnel

"Smile Please"

"Heaven Is 10 Zillion Years Away"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Hohner clavinet, drums, Moog bass
  • Paul Anka – background vocal
  • Syreeta Wright – background vocal
  • Shirley Brewer – background vocal
  • Larry "Nastyee" Latimer – background vocal

"Too Shy to Say"

"Boogie On Reggae Woman"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, Fender Rhodes, piano, harmonica, drums, Moog bass
  • Rocky Dzidzornu – congas

"Creepin'"

"You Haven't Done Nothin"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, Hohner clavinet, bass drum, hi-hat, cymbal
  • Reggie McBride – electric bass
  • The Jackson 5 – background vocals
  • Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil – synthesizers
  • Horns, drum machine – uncredited

"It Ain't No Use"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Fender Rhodes, drums, Moog bass
  • Lani Groves – background vocal
  • Minnie Riperton – background vocal
  • Deniece Williams – background vocal

"They Won't Go When I Go"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, piano, T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer
  • Bob and Malcolm – programming Moog

"Bird of Beauty"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, Fender Rhodes, Hohner clavinet, drums, percussions, Moog bass
  • Bobbye Hall – cuíca
  • Shirley Brewer – background vocal
  • Lani Groves – background vocal
  • Deniece Williams – background vocal
  • Sérgio Mendes – Portuguese lyrics[16]
  • Drum machine – uncredited

"Please Don't Go"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, piano, Fender Rhodes, harmonica, handclaps, drums, hi-hat, Moog bass
  • Michael Sembello – acoustic guitar
  • The Persuasions – background vocal
  • Shirley Brewer – background vocal
  • Deniece Williams – background vocal

Selected cover versions

Charts

Weekly charts

Year Chart Position
1974 Soul Albums 1
Top LP's & Tape

Singles

Year Single Billboard
Hot 100		 Billboard
Hot Soul Singles
1974 "You Haven't Done Nothin'" 1 1
"Boogie on Reggae Woman" 3 1

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kendall, Jo (May 5, 2019). "Record Collection". Prog. Retrieved January 23, 2021 – via PressReader.
  2. ↑ Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2001). All music guide: the definitive guide to popular music (4 ed.). Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 447–448. ISBN 0-87930-627-0.
  3. ↑ Cramer, Alfred William (2009). Musicians and composers of the 20th century. Vol. 5. Salem Press. p. 1645. ISBN 978-1-58765-517-3.
  4. ↑ Brown, Jeremy K. (2010). Stevie Wonder: Musician. Black Americans of Achievement. Infobase Publishing. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-60413-685-2.
  5. ↑ "Fulfillingness' First Finale – Stevie Wonder". AllMusic. July 22, 1974. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
  6. ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 154. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  7. ↑ Dimery, Robert (December 5, 2011). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: You Must Hear Before You Die. Octopus. ISBN 978-1-84403-714-8.
  8. ↑ Allmusic review
  9. ↑ Moser, Margaret (May 19, 2000), Review: Innervisions. The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
  10. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: W". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 9, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  11. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
  12. ↑ Hilburn, Robert (April 1, 2000). "Motown Releases Remind Us of Stevie Wonder's Impact". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Q review". Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2009.
  14. ↑ Brackett, Nathan, and Christian David Hoard, eds (2004), Rolling Stone review, The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, Simon and Schuster, p. 885.
  15. ↑ Christgau, Robert (October 24, 1974). "Consumer Guide (49)". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Bird of Beauty" partial Portuguese lyrics provided by Sergio Mendes
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