Soulful, Funky, Tender, and Personal: Stevie Wonder's Talking Book Features Contributions from Jeff Beck and David Sanborn, Includes "Superstition" and “I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)”

Mastered on Mobile Fidelity’s Renowned Mastering System and Pressed at RTI: Silver Label Numbered-Edition LP Is Replete with Analog Warmth and Crisp Percussion

1/2" / 30 IPS analog copy to analog console to lathe

Stevie Wonder established an incredible precedent between 1971 and 1976, releasing six of the most groundbreaking, genre-blurring, genius albums ever made. Composed and written at a time when his marriage was his collapsing, the largely uplifting and eminently soulful Talking Book is arguably the best of those trailblazing records. Wonder manages to not only to restore faith in love, he also includes smart political commentary, personal-is-political messages, empowering statements, and exorcises the frustrations associated with heartbreak. Few efforts are more emotionally intense and consistently enriching.

Mastered on Mobile Fidelity’s renowned mastering system and pressed at RTI, this Silver Label numbered-edition LP presents the 1972 landmark in transparent, warm, natural sound. The nuances and details are flushed out and made part of the supremely balanced whole. Wonder’s vocals, meanwhile, are immediate and lively, the singer seemingly only several feet away, surrounded by world-class musicians.

In addition to striking diversity and passionate reach, Talking Book continues to speak to listeners more than 50 years later because of how much of Wonder himself is invested in the songs. With everlasting proclamations like “I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will be Forever)” and “You and I (We Can Conquer the World,” Wonder transcends his excruciating pain and clung to the concept of love as a higher power. Similarly, he stakes an equal part of himself in fare that confronts woe head-on (“Tuesday Heartbreak”) and reels off one of the most famous ballads (“You Are the Sunshine of My Life”) in history.

Musically, Wonder is clearly tapped into a spiritual plane, the arrangements encompassing an array of moods and styles: rocking and funky (“Superstition”), mellow and poignant, grooving and exuberant. Jeff Beck’s guitar solo on “Lookin’ for Another Pure Love” takes the song to a new level, and guests David Sanborn, Buzzy Fenton, and Ray Parker Jr. round out what’s an almost impossibly perfectly unified album.

Don’t settle for inferior-sounding versions of this visionary creation. This Silver Series LP brings Wonder’s impeccably written and performed classics to life with utmost realism and warmth. No matter what mood you’re in, Talking Book is made for you.

"Compared to my well-worn LP purchased back in the 70s, a huge layer of grunge has been lifted. Talking Book now actually throws a soundstage—and a very wide one at that—into the room, along with myriad minute bits of funk heretofore lost in the mix. With major hits “You Are The Sunshine of My Life,” “Superstition,” and “I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever),” this record brings back great memories and, from an audiophile perspective, is much more enjoyable than ever before."
--Jeff Dorgay, TONE Audio, Issue 38, June 2011