Read on Twitter
In honor of #StevieWonder70 one of my favorite lines in the entire music tradition is when Donny Hathaway opens his version of Superwoman--in tribute to Stevie--with "in the Black pool of genius"
Along with his recognition of Stevie's "genius" Donny locates it (and himself) in a long tradition, makes both #StevieWonder70's brilliance and his own tribute communal, rooted in tradition as opposed to just being individual
#StevieWonder70 repays the tribute years later in one of his sets in 2008 in a tribute to #DonnyHathaway, doing a rendition of Donny's "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" and transitions into "The Ghetto":
The fact that #StevieWonder70 calls #DonnyHathaway "incredible" in 2008, along with Donny locating #StevieWonder as being "in the Black pool of genius"--their mutual respect and affection for each other--makes me incredibly happy.
I'm going to add this clip of @lalahhathaway doing a version of #StevieWonder70's Golden Lady to this thread just because y'all know my love for Lalah's brilliance and commitment to craft:
We also get this treat: Lalah and #StevieWonder70 doing "Where Is The Love" from the brilliant Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack album in 72 (an album I reference regularly on here):
I'll be posting thoughts and songs in celebration of #StevieWonder70 all day, but on this last post, I really don't know if we (collectively) understand the GIFT that Lalah Hathaway is to our lives and to the music. Jesus. Speaking of the #BlackPoolOfGenius, she is steeped in it
The album from #StevieWonder70 that sits with me the most, that is most present with me is Talking Book. In the 3 album suite with Where I'm Coming From and Music Of My Mind, it still blows my mind that my man was 21 and 22 when he dropped these albums
Gotta add this moment with #StevieWonder70 and @SheilaEdrummer singing Happy Birthday to @lalahhathaway in 09:
Which means of course I have to say #HAPPYBIRTHDAY to #StevieWonder70 who gave us all so much over such a long time. Even his Happy Birthday song--which we never do justice by singing the verses!--was in tribute to Martin Luther King and connected to his pursuit of a King holiday
Here's #StevieWonder70 with @lalahhathaway and @SheilaEdrummer at that same party doing Glamorous Life, including a wonderful moment with Stevie on harmonica:
And here's #StevieWonder70 performing Overjoyed at the Library of Congress on the occasion of his having been awarded the Gershwin Prize:
One of my absolute faves from #StevieWonder70: I Was Made to Love Her, with a heavy focus on The Funk Brothers backing him:
Here's a vid of #StevieWonder70 in the studio with his classic As:
One of my FAVORITE moments on video from #StevieWonder70 is this clip of him on Soul Train:
"I'm telling you people for your information" #StevieWonder70 I was barely on this earf when he made this appearance, but I'm just old enough to remember when people said "for your information" as part of the slang of the day. It was a hilarious phrase!
Here's #StevieWonder70 and @herbiehancock doing St. Louis Blues:
And of course we have to get the classic All I Do in the #StevieWonder70 rotation. I can't believe he had this all star rotation singing backing vox for him: Eddie Levert, Betty Wright, Michael Jackson, Walter Williams and Jamil Raheem:
One of #StevieWonder70's all time funkiest songs is Maybe Your Baby from Talking Book in 72:
And one of #StevieWonder70's most hopeful, most idealistic songs is on that same album: I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever):
So my first "job" ever was sweeping up, mopping, and taking out the garbage in a record store in Cleveland when I was a shorty and I still have vivid memories of #StevieWonder70's double album Original Musiquarium being out then. Here's Ribbon In the Sky:
I made all of $2 a day at that job and loved it. Price Rite record store, in the Martin Luther King Plaza on Wade Park in Cleveland. I vividly remember That Girl and Do I Do from that album too:
The guy who owned that record store, Mr. Thomas Wheatt, used to give kids quarters for the video games if they got honor roll or merit roll, so I definitely used to bring my report cards in and play plenty of Pac Man and Centipede and everything else that was out in the early 80s
