Track Listing

1. Love Having You Around - Malcolm Cecil, Stevie Wonder, Robert Margouleff, Rick Rowe, Joan DeCola
2. Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)
3. I Love Every Little Thing About You - Stevie Wonder, Robert Margouleff, Malcolm Cecil, Rick Rowe, Joan DeCola
4. Sweet Little Girl
5. Happier Than The Morning Sun
6. Girl Blue
7. Seems So Long
8. Keep On Running
9. Evil - Malcolm Cecil, Robert Margouleff, Stevie Wonder

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10124 in Music
• Released on: 2000-05-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 48 minutes

CD Description
Like other albums to follow, Stevie wrote the vast majorityof the material on MUSIC OF MY MIND. Compared to his studiowork of three years prior, this music feels worlds away in many senses. That which was grand, conventional and bounteous is replaced with a feel that is at once personal, progressive and downscaled. Performing almost entirely solo, Stevie ties overdubs of keyboards, drums, harmonica and his delectable singing into well-woven audio tapestries that make his head an attractive place to spend time in.
Tunes like, "Girl Blue" wrap haunting melodies in piquant chords that echo through the soul. "Superwoman" is a summery Fender-Rhodes groove that segues to an inspired vocal rhapsody--coupled withBuzzy Feiten's guitar work, it's truly riveting. Fast, frolicking clavichord and a sweet, unaffected message make for splendid Sunday morning listening on "Happier Than The Morning Sun". Driven by a dutiful chorus, "Keep On Running" is a merry romp that never seems to stop, and you'll wish it didn't. It's been said of Stevie that "The man is his own instrument"--these recordings burst with this truth.

Customer Reviews

Wonder-full stuff!
Stevie did get better on the following albums, but by any standards this is still five star fare. This was his second album since taking total creative control from Motown (the first was 'Where I'm Coming From'), though still recorded and released on Gordy's label.

As a drummer I'd like to draw attention to the occasional tempos shifts in Stevie's drumming. There are several very noticeable shifts on 'Love Having You Around', the opening track. But does it ruin this excellently effusive number? No... Modern music's slavish adherence to the click is, I believe, helping destroy the freedom and feeling - the 'soul' if you like - that lies at the heart of good music (another good example would be Chameleon by Herbie Hancock, a monstrosity of musical excellence and funky groove, that ends at a significantly higher tempo than it began at, but does that lessen it's magnificence, I think not!).

'Superwoman/Where Were You When I Needed You' is Wonder at his best, as is the simple sentimental groover 'I Love Every Little Thing About You'. 'Girl Blue' and 'Seems So Long' also belong to Stevie's sentimental side, whilst 'Evil' belongs to his epic/consciousness themed catalogue. 'Happier Than The Morning Sun' has a similar feel to Talking Book's 'Big Brother' keys-wise, tho' the lyrics are obviously quite different. 'Sweet Little Girl' and 'Keep On Running' are the closest you get to filler, but they are still purty good...

Fabulous, from Stevie's golden era, and well worth having.

Essential if you love Talking Book and Innervisions
Music Of My Mind was the first album Stevie had complete control over, playing everything himself bar a guitar part and a trombone part. Half the album is as good as anything he did later on; Love Having You Around is a seven minute funk masterpiece with one of the most intricate vocal arrangements he ever put together and Superwoman is a great ballad (shame about the chauvinistic lyric though).

However, tracks like Seems So Long and Sweet Little Girl, while accomplished, are clearly just experiments for what Stevie was about to do next. Pick up Talking Book, Innervisions and Songs In The Key Of Life first; you'll never regret it, and then you'll appreciate this and Fullfillingness' First Finale so much more.

Rugged, messy, charming- overflowing with sex appeal
It is fascinating to look at Stevie Wonder's music evolve throughout the 70s (his only decade in my opinion). By the end of the decade, he had produced Hotter Than July, which boasted more great songwriting, great musicianship, and a great new "tidy" sound. However, those people who felt it was missing something should turn to Music of My Mind- which is worlds away from the trimmed, poppy sound of HTJ.

Right from the start, it is clear that we are in for something different with Love Havin' You Around, a +7 minute funk jam years ahead of its time. Stevie is never afraid to change mood quickly- after the roughly stylish, and downright sexy opener, we move to Superwoman, which is moving, captivating, hypnotic, and simply beautiful.

I Love Everything Little Thing About You, and Seems So Long also seem to be where the album peaks, but you would do well to find much here that you don't like. The ridiciulously enjoyable Sweet Little Girl, the cool Girl Blue, and the genuinely moving Evil will entertain for sure, and it is an absolute delight to hear an uncompromised Stevie Wonder do his thing.

It is true that you might not fall in love with this album straight away (I recieved it along with Hotter Than July as a gift, and initially preferred HTJ before succumbing to MOMM's inescapable charm), but once you get to know the songs, it is a guaranteed grower. It seems like this album is neglected amidst all the praise of Songs in the Key, Talking Book, and Innervisions- But I honestly consider it superior to the formers, and only just inferior to the latter. Respect.