The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Arts & Entertainment => Topic started by: Nabubrush on August 03, 2007, 09:25:35 pm
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Are you going to read all this shit? Probably not, as it's all kinds of raggedy, but what the hell.
So, I may have touched on this before, but my favorite artist bar none living or dead pretty much for all time is Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder's a musical genius (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0_vTUnokNU)? You're goddamn right he is - it's a considerable understatement. 22 grammy awards. Three for album of the year: Innervisions, on which he played bass, harmonica, drums, and a variety of keyboard-type instruments; Fullfillingness' First Finale, which features guests including the Jackson 5, Minnie Riperton, Michael Sembello, James Jamerson, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, and Paul Anka; and Songs in the Key of Life, his be-all and end-all, which basically wrapped up everything he had to say about the 70s in a double album plus a 45, because he had that much to say. It's not hard to argue that Talking Book should have won in '73, except that it was up against The Concert for Bangla Desh (which was pretty unlikely to lose), as well as his own Music of My Mind.
You say "I Just Called to Say I Love You (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YxY3JCNauw) is absolute crap"? Well, DeNiro got a pass from everyone alive for the execrable 15 Minutes (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0179626/). Willem Dafoe was in xXx: State of the Union (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0329774/). Even Dylan recorded with Kurtis Blow (which is ok, but at least a little odd). There aren't too many folks out there who don't mail at least one in, now and then - and really, I Just Called isn't terrible, it's just that he's such an incredible artist and so talented that the bar is extremely high. Shit, he's in the Hall of Fame, having been inducted (in his first year of eligibility) along with the Stones, Otis Redding, the Temptations, and Dion. (I know, I know, OJ and Ty Cobb are in their respective Halls of Fame. It's different. Because.)
His work has become a little spotty as of late, due at least in part because he's in such high demand for work with other artists. He's appeared on recordings by Dave Mason, BB King, Jeff Beck, Billy Preston, Herbie Hancock, John Lennon, Flying Burrito Brothers, Buddy Miles, James Taylor, Peter Frampton, Sergio Mendes, Jimi Hendrix (yes, really), Chuck Berry, Quincy Jones, Smokey Robinson, Dizzy Gillespie,Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Lionel Hampton, Burt Bachrach. Also, Eurythmics, Prefab Sprout, Steel Pulse, Sting, Don Henley, Cyndi Lauper and all the folks you know about like Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, and Eddie Murphy. You are going to say "Nabu, what about Steven Seagal's album (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gifuxqysld0e~T1)? Well, see, that doesn't exist. Plus, the only redeeming point of that album is Stevie's harmonica playing, so it's sort of a charity thing.
There are some perhaps ill-advised moments working with other folks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtGF2m102Wg) (although dig that harp), but who else is going to give you duets with Uncle Ray (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJYUSdX-Rps), Queen Latifah (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbNDywbPDo4), Gilberto Gil (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGW2pVPUBGs), Glen Campbell (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oSQn20V0m0), Bonnie Raitt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk-4Nngo3SY), Tony Bennett (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMStRERJNsM), Bobby Darin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujFwO66GByA), Stevie Ray Vaughan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpdGk6xM2ME), Stevie Ray Vaughan again (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lO8zQN5LHY&mode=related&search=), Stephen Marley & Ben Harper (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngNIV0NAsxM), Dick Dale(!) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R43ub3z9VwM), Howard Jones/Herbie Hancock/Thomas Dolby(!!) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrbNFIMKt48), Grover, motherfucker(!!!) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8lUnI35Sd8), and, oddly, Barack Obama (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8KexTxZMro)? (Apologies for the poor quality of some links.) There's a metric fuck-ton of links out there to him performing in the 70s. I thought about putting them in here, but you can find them just as well as I can and besides, that sweet Superstition from Sesame Street's already been posted.
Ok, so at long last, what's my point? Well, it's just this. Or rather:
This (http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0F003F01B5779D7E?artistid=772848&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1). Yes, Stevie Wonder is putting on a show about 20 minutes from my house, on August 30th. We wander over to the convenient TOUAMB calendar, and we note that August 30th is my birthday. Whoo-HOOOOO! Sweet action.
Excepting the fact that I'm going to be at fucking work, right in the middle of my two-week hitch. To my wife's everlasting credit, when I told her about it, she said "noooooooooooooooo!" And when I told her that she should get tickets and go with one or more of our friends, she said that if she went to see Stevie without me, she'd be miserable the whole time. She's quite a gal.
Ah well, enjoy the links, if you're interested. I guess there's always next year, or whenever he tours again.
If one of you fuckers posts about how you saw Stevie and Marvin together for a four hour show in Kingston, Jamaica or some such crap, I'll hunt you down and kill you.
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Nabu.
Stevie Wonder is an incredible musician. I love him. I will come up to Deadhoss and sit in for you so that you can go to the show. I'll slit your boss's throat if I have to. What's it like in the summertime up there? Can I wear Carhartts?
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Stevie Wonder is one of those people I just kind of assumed was dead, nice to see he's not.
A real son of a bitch Nabu, nice of your wife to not go without you.
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Stevie is awesome. I love him.
"Superstition," for me, is like...
I heard that song, and said "wow. I love this music. I need to discover the word to describe this song, so that I can find more songs like this."
This has, so far, failed. No funk is funky enough to be in the same category as Superstition. The twang! My goodness.
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I've posted it multiple times before, and I'll probably post it again, but:
Superstition (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE&mode=related&search=&v3).
If you can't appreciate this, you are a cock.
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I love that link so much. Stevie is the best.
Dammit, who keeps taking Tiny Cans of Dr. Pepper away from me?
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Dammit, who keeps taking Tiny Cans of Dr. Pepper away from me?
Karma Police?
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I've posted it multiple times before, and I'll probably post it again, but:
Superstition (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE&mode=related&search=&v3).
If you can't appreciate this, you are a cock.
The reason I only referred to that and did not post it is because you deserve so much fuck*ng credit for originally posting that. So much credit.
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Karma Police?
Fuck, I must have inadvertently worn my "hitler hairdo". C'mon, don't crash my party.
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The reason I only referred to that and did not post it is because you deserve so much fuck*ng credit for originally posting that. So much credit.
Aww, you're sweet. I can't help but love it because it includes two of the coolest things: Stevie Wonder and old school Sesame Street.
Also: Hardaway? Is Stevie kin to Penny?
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Aww, you're sweet. I can't help but love it because it includes two of the coolest things: Stevie Wonder and old school Sesame Street.
Also: Hardaway? Is Stevie kin to Penny?
Not sure - I know the Judkins was pretty quickly changed to Morris. And speaking of that, I can't believe I spelled his first name wrong up there. It's Stevland. Damn it.
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Wait... Nabu, I don't think I know what you do for a living... but isn't this the sort of once in a life time opportunity that you must make arrangements to allow for? I mean, seriously, can't you just say your poor aunt Hortense died or something? Or that your house is on fire? Or that you're suffering from a severe case of work-related-malaise and need 50 cc's of Stevie stat or you won't make it through the night?
Also, thank you for your post. Stevie is an artist I haven't really checked out, and I appreciate the education.
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I love Stevie Wonder. He makes wonderfully optimistic music. I Just Called To Say I Love You is a great song. I can't understand why it catches so much flack. Also Stevie has worked with Paul McCartney so he gets my vote of approval for that alone. Of course that was pretty much the nadir of both of their careers, but that's beside the point. My Stevie Wonder collection isn't very deep, I only have a couple of greatest hits packages. I have Songs in the Key of Life on vinyl, I should really look into replacing that. My favorite songs are Sir Duke, For Once in My Life, Superstition, Living for the City, but my most favorite song would have to be You Are the Sunshine of my Life. It's just so dreamy and ethereal. It's like he has one foot in the 70's and the other foot in Nirvana. I wish he would go back to recording with a full band.
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Wait... Nabu, I don't think I know what you do for a living... but isn't this the sort of once in a life time opportunity that you must make arrangements to allow for? I mean, seriously, can't you just say your poor aunt Hortense died or something? Or that your house is on fire? Or that you're suffering from a severe case of work-related-malaise and need 50 cc's of Stevie stat or you won't make it through the night?
Also, thank you for your post. Stevie is an artist I haven't really checked out, and I appreciate the education.
I know this is going to seem childlike, innocent, and naive, but I told my boss I wanted to go home because Stevie Wonder was playing on my birthday because it was the truth. I could have maybe tried to put some kind of story together, but that just doesn't really work out very well for me. I need to be really aboveboard in my relationships because my shit is kind of wacky in some ways, and being untruthful puts a terrific strain on things.
Edit: I had no idea I could modify thread titles. Huh. Seems pretty obvious, in retrospect.
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The reason I only referred to that and did not post it is because you deserve so much fuck*ng credit for originally posting that. So much credit.
Ahem. (http://touamb.com/index.php/topic,2928.0.html)
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Credit where it's due, ^ and cans as well.
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Absolutely my bad, Carlos, and I'm sorry. I never saw that thread. I swear he posted it somewhere else, though.
It's all you, though. You're the man, dogg.