'Music of My Mind' was recorded between late May 1971and early January 1972 at Media Sound Studios in New York City, the iconic Electric Lady Studios, and Crystal Sound in Los Angeles, California. It was produced by Stevie Wonder, and released on the Tamla Records label on March 3, 1972.
Following his 21st birthday, Stevie negotiated a new contract granting him complete artistic control over his work.
'Music of My Mind' is Stevie's artistic coming-of-age album recorded with pioneering synthesizer engineers Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, heavily utilizing a room-sized analog synth setup known as TONTO an acronym for "The Original New Timbral Orchestra" to create warm, organic, and psychedelic textures that avoided sounding sterile.
Aside from a few guest contributions; Buzzy Feiten on guitar, Art Baron on trombone and backing vocals from his then-wife Syreeta Wright (above), Stevie multitracked his own vocals, drums, harmonica, piano, and clavinet. This is the album that brilliantly established the blueprint for his legendary classic era.
Already an established star before this, but for all intents and purposes, 'Music of My Mind' is essentially the debut of Stevie Wonder: The Legend. From this point forward for the rest of the 1970s Stevie's life will be one long recording session with him rushing into the studio whenever inspiration strikes and committing any musical idea he had onto tape, most of which ended up becoming absolutely stunning pieces of music.
This is the album that starts his legendary 1970s classic era on actually a rather understated note. There are no major hits on here the same way the next four albums have huge radio classics to call their own. Everything here could justifiably be labeled under the category of "deep album cut" with the only possible exception being the eight-minute masterpiece "Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)" which only barely scraped into the bottom of the Top 40.
'Music of My Mind' is where Stevie Wonder embarked on a journey of extensive experimentation and creative exploration.
The freeload is a sweet sounding, remastered limited edition SHM-CD, that was reissued for the Japanese domestic market (a "JDM" to music collectors) in 2009.
For the freeload, what are some of your favorite so-called "deep album cuts"?
The track I'm thinking of has no name and is quite short. I don't think the term "Easter egg" was in use back then. but it'sto be found on the fourth side of Rahsaan Roland Kirk's LP, "The Case of the 3 Sided Dream in Audio Color ." One night, a couple of us ripped to the tits, decided to put the fourth side on to see if it was indeed absolutely blank. The stylus tracked the silent grooves for what seemed a lifetime, when suddenly, a demonic peal of laughter and Rahsaan's inimitable voice lept from the speakers, blowing our minds. What followed was a typical bit of Rahsaan audio mischief: some weird ramblings recorded over a phone and strange answer phone recordings.
ReplyDeleteI looked up the discography for Yes, because I knew that there were a few charting singles and platinum albums in their history. "And You and I" hit #42 in the USA, fer gosh sakes!
ReplyDeleteI really can't believe that I made my parents listen to "Close To The Edge" so often over dinner, but they were willing (if never enthusiastic). I was also fond at that time of Who's Next, so I'll cite "Bargain" as another relatively deep cut.
For an obscure song from and obscure album, I'll cite Seatrain's "North Coast" (by Andy Kulberg, and Jim Roberts, with a little guest hassle from Sha Na Na).
D in California
I've learned over the years that one person's notion of a "deep cut" (mine) often turns out to be something someone/some/many/most else love....go figure. This is especially true for someone like Dylan (I'd say "Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream"), I think...similarly The Stones ("Live With Me"). Here's a reach: Elvis "Mess of Blues." I do love that song and he is the Elvoid, but still, pretty great version.
ReplyDeleteTo me a “deep cut” is a track from an album, that was not a hit single in say the top 50 more or less. The Stones and Dylan are chock-full of "deep cuts". "Winter" from 'Goats Head Soup', and "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" from 'Blood on the Tracks'. Almost every song on 'Exile'
Delete.
Sounds right. Also, Mose Allison has some.
DeleteAh. In the US Mess of Blues was just the b side to It's Now or Never but in England INON had copyright problems so they put Mess of Blues out as an a side. Got to no 1.
DeleteMose's My Backyard is probably an lp full of deep cuts. He recorded that in NO and of the local guys that played on it said it was a very confusing experience. Allison spoke little and mostly appeared indifferent to them, if not hostile at times (and, these guys were/are very well respected jazz musicians). They figured it was a payday and shrugged it off as a learning experience. Months later they started to get calls from other artists with major label contracts wanting to hire them and most were from referrals from Mose.
DeleteI'll do a Mose feature in the near future, and recount some of the "adventures" my husband Jerry and I had with Mose and his wife Audre.
DeleteWould love to read your Mose stories! A couple of deep cuts that I love from Tom Verlaine's first two solo albums: "Mr. Bingo" and "Penetration" (not the surf instrumental).
DeleteI'll go the Babs route (if that's OK?) and go with a deep album. Although Dinah Flo also scraped the charts, the album "My Time" by the great Boz Scaggs is relatively forgotten or unheard. And it was, imho, a better record than the next 3 or 4 which were big(ger) hits. And while I'm at it, there are 3 (count 'em) Aretha albums from 74-75 that seem to have fallen thru the cracks, but are as excellent as her best work. I'll leave it to the detectives here to figure out which ones they were!!
ReplyDelete'Slow Dancer' (album and song) is another one.
DeleteYou guys may find this Boz post of interest: https://voodoowagon.blogspot.com/2026/09/boz-scaggs-retro-rock-82-11-paramount.html
DeleteThere are THOUSANDS of 'em.
ReplyDeleteFour In The Morning -Jesse Colin Young
In Time -Jefferson Airplane
Cloudburst At Shingle Street -Thomas Dolby
Stay Hungry - Talking Heads
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ReplyDeleteHere are some favorite deep cuts in no particular order (& yes, there are thousands more):
ReplyDeleteIt's No Game - Bowie
Badge - Cream
Invocation And Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin - Mothers Of Invention
Early In The Morning - Nilsson
One Of These Days - Pink Floyd
Hackensack - Monk
Lookout Joe - Neil Young
Oleo - Miles
Television Man - Talking Heads
Thanks Babs
Badge caught my eye--nice.
DeleteI like everyone's suggestions so far, but I gotta be me and go for the really obscure:
ReplyDeleteLocked groove of electronic crickets (plays forever) at the end of the first side of Brian Eno's "Taking Tiger Mountain"
Side A of early vinyl copies ends with the sound of chirping crickets locked into the inner groove:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taking_Tiger_Mountain_(By_Strategy)
~Jon
the Eno is an excellent move
DeleteI love those synth clicky noises, and I've always heard them as "crickets," too.
DeleteDelbert McClinton's cover of an Emmy Lou Harris song, Two More Bottles of Wine. He did it on 2 separate lps, but the one that gets me is on Keeper of the Flame. Also, on Jobim's lp Tide, there's a great little nugget called Takatanga that is ethereal.
ReplyDeleteEmmylou's version WAS the cover, Delbert wrote it and recorded it first.
DeleteThanks for the education!
DeleteLove the song, love the covers, but I always wonder about the line about "a warehouse in West L.A." First, I always heard "sleeping out'a a warehouse," but the Internet says "sweeping out a warehouse." Just another mondagreen. Second, I know West L.A. pretty well, and ...there aren't a lot of warehouses. Far be it from me, though, to say flatly that there are none!
DeleteEnough picking on Delbert, and thanks for getting me to look up the lyrics.
D in California
40 versions - Wire
ReplyDeleteDeep cuts from another deep cut album - Connection, Back Street Girl, Complicated, All Sold Out from Between the Buttons
ReplyDeleteLink
ReplyDeletehttps://workupload.com/file/NNG2gFTMKEC
Ooof, there are so many.
ReplyDeleteAny Gene Clark solo track will do, but let's say "Shooting Star"
The BEach Boys' "Where I Belong"
The Band's "The Saga Of Pepote Rouge"
Chep Trick's "Mandocello"
David Bowie "Sons Of The Silent Age"
and many many others...
A favorite deep album cut of Stevie's: "Summer Soft"
ReplyDeleteHmm...a "deep cut" really can't be a B-side, can it? I have a buncha b-sides I love, like Tom Petty's "Trailer," Elvis Costello's "Heathen Town..." but they're not on albums so they're not "deep" in other songs.
ReplyDeleteSo..."I Get So Excited" by Ian Hunter. It coulda been a single....