a step closer 2 greatness 4 the beginning of a new phase

in late 1969,19 year old stevie wonder appeared on dick clark's american bandstand on which he performed his classic 'my cherie amour'and also on the program they played several album cuts from his "my cherie amour"album including the much under appreciated mellow 'angie girl'.during wonder's appearance on the show,he was interviewed by mr.clark.clark asked him what was the latest thing he was working on musically and stevie replied

by saying 'well i'm doing an arrangement on one of the beatles songs,but i'm not going 2 tell you what it is'....this song that wonder later unveil from the studio is his funkafied update of the beatles 'we can work it out'which would later appear on his next album "signed,sealed,&delivered" which was wonder's first album of the new decade of the 1970s where he was listed as a producer for the first time in his career.stevie was testing the waters of creative freedom."signed,sealed,&delivered" alongside that of "where i'm coming from"(1971)would be the last two albums that wonder would work with outside arrangers before he would ultimately gain full creative control of his music from the early seventies and onward.now with that being said,his "signed,sealed,&delivered"album was a giant leap from him musically and his genius was growing in full bloom.'never had a dream come true'opens the album with a laid back groove and has a socially conscious message.'we can work it out'is wonder's remake of a classic beatles song that was written by john lennon and paul mccartney.wonder updates this song via clavinet funkafied and giving the song a new twist.the groove is so irresistible it sounds as though wonder wrote it himself.'signed,sealed,&delivered'the album's biggest hit was also co-written with l.garret,lula hardaway(stevie's mother),and his new wife at the time the beautiful syreeta wright.in fact,when the beautiful syreeta was being interviewed outside during a 1994 biography of wonder she mentioned that when stevie turned the song in 2 motown's a&r department when one producer walked in and heard the song by saying "that song ain't s---!"/syreeta mentioned that stevie had a look of expression on his face in that he was determined that the song would be a success and the song went on to become a million seller.the spiritual 'heaven help us all'(which was written by ron miller)is so spiritually uplifting in that it brings you closer to god.the song also has healing content that is for people who are downtrotten in a world of loneliness,homelessness,racism,violence and is a passionate plea to god save all humanity and mother earth from the evils of destruction from mankind.'you can't judge a book by its cover','sugar','joy(takes over me)','i gotta have a song'and 'anything tou want me to do'are more funky upbeat songs from this album.'don't wonder why'is a slower paced moderate ballad-a song about a man who yearns for the attraction from a woman who ignores him and is hurt by the fact that no matter the nice things that he does for her it is not good enough for her. it is the album's longest track clocking in at nearly 5 minutes,while the majority of the album's other tracks are under three minutes long.the brilliant 'i can't let my heaven walk away'is a song of regret about a man who misses his woman and wants to regain her love:'i don't know what i've done wrong,i look up and find my heaven gone'-this song also has very nice backing vocals from his background singers.'something to say'the album's final track has a similar groove to 'i've got you'which is also the final track from his 1969 album "my cherie amour"only this time on 'something to say'he confirms to his woman that no matter what people do who'll try to put them down by stating that their love won't grow-but it does'nt matter because they will always be together and that their love is eternal.stevie wonder's "signed,sealed,and delivered"album brings him a step closer to his greatness for his next album "where i'm coming from" which was the true start and blueprint of his musical explosion for the rest of the seventies....

Classic Motown sound

I really love this album. NEVER HAD A DREAM COME TRUE, HEAVEN HELP US ALL, SIGNED SEALED & DELIVERED, WE CAN WORK IT OUT and SUGAR are Soul/Pop masterpieces. This is a true gem, one of the last Motown albums that sounds like classic Motown. Truly wonderful, in spite of the album cover.

Signed,Sealed And Ready To Be Shipped

Stevie Wonder is still a ways away from his 70's breakout sound but he's getting alot closer.His heavy use of the clavinet

and funky material like "You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover"

and a cover of The Beatles "We Can Work It Out" get the ball rolling.He still serves up the classic title hit as well as

some interesing tunes like "I Can't Let My Heaven Walk Away".

But as with all period Motown releaes it has it's padding-

marked by formless filler material between the singles.But that

would change in the next couple years!