Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Fulfillingness' First Finale

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Released
  
July 22, 1974

Label
  
Tamla

Release date
  
22 July 1974

Length
  
42:33

Artist
  
Stevie Wonder

Genres
  
Soul music, Funk

Fulfillingness' First Finale httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumb2

Recorded
  
Record Plant Studios and Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles; Media Sound and Electric Lady Studios in New York City

Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974)
  
Songs in the Key of Life (1976)

Producers
  
Stevie Wonder, Robert Margouleff, Malcolm Cecil

Awards
  
Grammy Award for Album of the Year, Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance

Similar
  
Stevie Wonder albums, Soul music albums

Stevie wonder smile please


Fulfillingness' First Finale is a 1974 album by Stevie Wonder; widely considered one of the albums from his "classic period". Released on July 22, 1974 on the Tamla label, it is Wonder's nineteenth album overall, and seventeenth studio album. According to Billboard magazine, it was Wonder's first studio album to top the Pop Albums chart where it remained for two weeks, while it was his third album to top the R&B/Black Albums chart where it spent nine non-consecutive weeks.

Contents

Subsequent to the epic sweep and social consciousness of Innervisions, this set projected a reflective, decidedly somber tone. The musical arrangements used in several songs while masterly could be considered sparse in comparison to others among his 1970s masterworks, evident especially in the bleak "They Won't Go When I Go" and understated "Creepin'". While largely a stripped down, more personal sounding record, Wonder had not completely foregone social commentary on the world around him. The No. 1 hit "You Haven't Done Nothin'" launched a pointed criticism of the Nixon administration bolstered by funky clavinet, drum machine, and a Jackson 5 cameo.


The album received three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, in 1974.

Reception

Fulfillingness' First Finale won Grammy Awards for Best Male Pop Vocal, Best Male Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance (for "Boogie On Reggae Woman"), and Album of the Year in 1974.

Track listing

All songs written by Stevie Wonder, except where noted.

Side One
  1. "Smile Please" – 3:28
  2. Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Fender Rhodes, drums
  3. Michael Sembello – electric guitar
  4. Reggie McBride – electric bass
  5. Bobbye Hall – congas, bongos
  6. Jim Gilstrap – background vocals
  7. Deniece Williams (credited as Denise) – background vocals
  8. "Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away" – 5:02
  9. Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Hohner clavinet, drums, Moog bass
  10. Paul Anka – background vocal
  11. Syreeta Wright – background vocal
  12. Shirley Brewer – background vocal
  13. Larry "Nastyee" Latimer – background vocal
  14. "Too Shy to Say" – 3:29
  15. Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, piano
  16. James Jamerson – acoustic bass
  17. Sneaky Pete Kleinow – pedal steel guitar
  18. "Boogie On Reggae Woman" – 4:56
  19. Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, Fender Rhodes, piano, harmonica, drums, Moog bass
  20. Rocky Dzidzornu – congas
  21. "Creepin'" – 4:22
  22. Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Fender Rhodes, harmonica, drums, Moog bass, T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer
  23. Minnie Riperton – background vocal
Side Two
  1. "You Haven't Done Nothin'" – 3:23
  2. Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, Hohner clavinet, bass drum, hi-hat, cymbal
  3. Reggie McBride – electric bass
  4. The Jackson 5 – background vocals
  5. Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil – synthesizers
  6. Horns, drum machine – uncredited
  7. "It Ain't No Use" – 4:01
  8. Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Fender Rhodes, drums, Moog bass
  9. Lani Groves – background vocal
  10. Minnie Riperton – background vocal
  11. Deniece Williams – background vocal
  12. "They Won't Go When I Go" (Wonder, Yvonne Wright) – 5:58
  13. Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, piano, T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer
  14. Bob and Malcolm - programming Moog
  15. "Bird of Beauty" – 3:48
  16. Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, Fender Rhodes, Hohner clavinet, drums, percussions, Moog bass
  17. Bobbye Hall – cuíca
  18. Shirley Brewer – background vocal
  19. Lani Groves – background vocal
  20. Deniece Williams – background vocal
  21. Sergio Mendes - Portuguese lyrics
  22. Drum machine - uncredited
  23. "Please Don't Go" – 4:07
  24. Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, piano, Fender Rhodes, harmonica, handclaps, drums, hi-hat, Moog bass
  25. Michael Sembello – acoustic guitar
  26. The Persuasions – background vocal
  27. Shirley Brewer – background vocal
  28. Deniece Williams – background vocal

Cover versions

  • "Too Shy to Say" - Later recorded by Diana Ross in 1978.
  • "Too Shy to Say" - George Michael performed the song in his Faith Tour.
  • "Creepin'" - Later recorded by Luther Vandross for The Night I Fell in Love in 1985.
  • "They Won't Go When I Go" - Later recorded by George Michael for Listen Without Prejudice, Vol 1 in 1990.
  • "They Won't Go When I Go" - Later recorded by Kevin Max for The Blood in 2007.
  • "Boogie On Reggae Woman" - Later regularly performed live by Phish and featured on Hampton Comes Alive (1999) among other live releases.
  • "Boogie On Reggae Woman" - Later recorded by Marcus Miller for Silver Rain in 2005.
  • "You Haven't Done Nothing" - Later recorded by Curumin for "Achados e Perdidos", in 2005.

    • Chart positions

    Billboard Chart information by Billboard VNU eMedia

    Album
    Singles

    Songs

    1Smile Please3:28
    2Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away5:03
    3Too Shy to Say3:28

    References

    Fulfillingness' First Finale Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA