Fulfillingness' First Finale
A quieter, more reflective album that went to number one and won Album of the Year.
Stevie Wonder, 1974
- Released
- 22 July 1974
- Studio
- Record Plant and Westlake, Los Angeles; Mediasound and Electric Lady, New York
- Label
- Tamla
- Producer
- Stevie Wonder
- Length
- 42:21
Margouleff and Cecil were associate producers on the album, the last of the four they worked on with Wonder. Its tone is more reflective and somber than Innervisions, and the arrangements of They Won't Go When I Go and Creepin' are sparse. You Haven't Done Nothin' criticizes the Nixon administration, with the Jackson 5 on backing vocals. James Jamerson played acoustic bass on Too Shy to Say, Sneaky Pete Kleinow played pedal steel, Sergio Mendes wrote the Portuguese lyrics for Bird of Beauty, and Paul Anka, Minnie Riperton and Deniece Williams were among the voices.
It spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Top LPs chart and eight non-consecutive weeks at the top of the Soul LPs chart, between 5 October and Christmas 1974. You Haven't Done Nothin' reached number one on the Hot 100 and the soul chart, and Boogie On Reggae Woman reached number three on the Hot 100 and number one on the soul chart. At the 17th Grammys it won Album of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal and, for Boogie On Reggae Woman, Best Male R&B Vocal. Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums placed it at number 413, and it appears in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Track listing
- Smile Please3:26
- Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away5:01
- Too Shy to Say3:31
- Boogie On Reggae Woman4:54
- Creepin'4:17
- You Haven't Done Nothin'3:27
- It Ain't No Use3:58
- They Won't Go When I Go5:59
- Bird of Beauty3:46
- Please Don't Go4:06
Personnel
- Stevie Wonder vocals, most instruments
- Michael Sembello guitar
- Reggie McBride bass
- James Jamerson acoustic bass
- Sneaky Pete Kleinow pedal steel guitar
- Paul Anka backing vocals
- Minnie Riperton backing vocals
- Deniece Williams backing vocals
- The Jackson 5 backing vocals on You Haven't Done Nothin'
- The Persuasions backing vocals on Please Don't Go
- Bobbye Hall congas and bongos on Smile Please, cuica on Bird of Beauty
- Jim Gilstrap backing vocals on Smile Please
- Rocky Dzidzornu congas on Boogie On Reggae Woman
- Sergio Mendes Portuguese lyrics on Bird of Beauty
- Robert Margouleff associate producer, synthesizers
- Malcolm Cecil associate producer, synthesizers
More from Stevie Wonder
Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius (1963), Talking Book (1972), Music of My Mind (1972), Innervisions (1973), Songs in the Key of Life (1976), Hotter than July (1980), Songs in the Key of Life - The EP (2026)
Sources
- Fulfillingness' First Finale, Wikipedia
- Malcolm Cecil obituary, Chronogram
- Fulfillingness' First Finale (master release), Discogs
- Boogie On Reggae Woman, Wikipedia
- You Haven't Done Nothin', Wikipedia