Consumer Guide Album

Stevie Wonder: Where I'm Coming From [Tamla, 1971]
Wonder produced and (with his wife, Syreeta Wright) scripted this escape from Berry Gordy's plantation, and as you might expect it's not entirely successful. Unlike his corporate masters, though, Wonder prefers sins of commission--he's always out on a limb, and if that means "classical" flutes and images like "ride the thorny mule" it also means the zany, stuttering autobacktalk of "I Wanna Talk to You" and the possible Sammy Davis cover "Take Up a Course in Happiness," not to mention the most expressive synthesizers yet recorded. And unlike the manumitted Marvin Gaye, Wonder never sounds like a simp--the sentiments may be stale, but their textures are fresh. B+