Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life (1976) - 2Lp

Songs in the Key of Life is the eighteenth album by American recording artist Stevie Wonder, released on September 28, 1976, by Motown Records, through its division Tamla Records. It was the culmination of his "classic period" albums. The album was recorded primarily at Crystal Sound studio in Hollywood, with some sessions recorded at the Record Plant in Hollywood, the Record Plant in Sausalito, and The Hit Factory in New York City. Final mixing was performed at Crystal Sound.
An ambitious double LP with a four-song bonus EP,Songs in the Key of Life became the best-selling and most critically acclaimed album of Wonder's career.
Songs in the Key of Life was Stevie Wonder's longest, most ambitious collection of songs, a two-LP (plus accompanying EP) set that -- just as the title promised -- touched on nearly every issue under the sun, and did it all with ambitious (even for him), wide-ranging arrangements and some of the best performances of Wonder's career. The opening "Love's in Need of Love Today" and "Have a Talk with God" are curiously subdued, but Stevie soon kicks into gear with "Village Ghetto Land," a fierce exposé of ghetto neglect set to a satirical Baroque synthesizer. Hot on its heels comes the torrid fusion jam "Contusion," a big, brassy hit tribute to the recently departed Duke Ellington in "Sir Duke," and (another hit, this one a Grammy winner as well) the bumping poem to his childhood, "I Wish." Though they didn't necessarily appear in order, Songs in the Key of Life contains nearly a full album on love and relationships, along with another full album on issues social and spiritual. Fans of the love album Talking Book can marvel that he sets the bar even higher here, with brilliant material like the tenderly cathartic and gloriously redemptive "Joy Inside My Tears," the two-part, smooth-and-rough "Ordinary Pain," the bitterly ironic "All Day Sucker," or another classic heartbreaker, "Summer Soft." Those inclined toward Stevie Wonder the social-issues artist had quite a few songs to focus on as well: "Black Man" was a Bicentennial school lesson on remembering the vastly different people who helped build America; "Pastime Paradise" examined the plight of those who live in the past and have little hope for the future; "Village Ghetto Land" brought listeners to a nightmare of urban wasteland; and "Saturn" found Stevie questioning his kinship with the rest of humanity and amusingly imagining paradise as a residency on a distant planet.

Tracklist

Side A
A1. Love's In Need Of Love Today  (7:05)
       Percussion [Collinga] – Eddie "Bongo" Brown 
A2. Have A Talk With God (2:42)
       Written-By – Calvin Hardaway, Stevie Wonder   
A3. Village Ghetto Land  (3:25)
       Written-By – Shatema Byrd, Stevie Wonder 
A4. Contusion  (3:45)
       Backing Vocals – Artece May, Josie James, Michael Gray, Shirley Brewer
        Featuring – Wonderlove 
A5. Sir Duke  (3:52)
       Alto Saxophone – Hank Redd
        Tenor Saxophone – Trevor Lawrence
        Trumpet – Raymond Maldonado, Steve Madaio 

Side B
B1. I Wish (4:12)
       Alto Saxophone – Hank Redd
        Backing Vocals – Renee Hardaway
        Tenor Saxophone – Trevor Lawrence
        Trumpet – Raymond Maldonado, Steve Madaio  
B2. Knocks Me Off My Feet  (3:35)
B3. Pastime Paradise (3:20)
       Percussion – Bobbye Hall, Raymond Maldonado  
B4. Summer Soft (4:16)
       Organ – Ronnie Foster
        Percussion – Nastee Latimer  
B5. Ordinary Pain (6:22)
       Alto Saxophone – Hank Redd
        Backing Vocals – Charity McCrary, Deniece Williams, Linda McCrary, Lynda Laurence, 
        Madelaine 'Gypsy' Jones, Mary Lee Whitney,     Minnie Riperton, Sundray Tucker, Syreeta 
        Wright, Terry Hendricks
        Vocals – Shirley Brewer 

Side C
C1. Isn't She Lovely  (6:33)
C2. Joy Inside My Tears (6:29)
       Backing Vocals – Susaye Green
C3. Black Man (8:29)
       Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Hank Redd
        Trombone – George Bohanon, Glen Ferris
        Trumpet – Steve Madaio 

Side D
D1. Ngiculela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing (3:48)
       Percussion – Amale Mathews, Charles Brewer, John Fischbach, Josette Valentino, Marietta 
        Waters, Nathan Watts, Nelson Hayes, Renee     Hardaway, Shirley Brewer
        Translated By [Spanish] – Raymond Maldonado
        Translated By [Zulu] – Thoko Mdalose Hall 
D2. If It's Magic (3:11)
       Harp – Dorothy Ashby
D3. As (7:07)
       Backing Vocals – Mary Lee Whitney
        Drums – Greg Brown
        Guitar – Dean Parks
        Keyboards – Herbie Hancock 
D4. Another Star (8:19)
       Alto Saxophone – Hank Redd
        Backing Vocals – George Benson, Josie James
        Flute – Bobbi Humphrey
        Guitar – George Benson
        Percussion – Nathan Alford, Jr.
        Tenor Saxophone – Trevor Lawrence
        Timbales – Carmello Hungria Garcia
        Trumpet – Raymond Maldonado, Steve Madaio 

A Something's Extra Bonus Record  33 RPM EP (Tamla T 340EP)

A1. Saturn  (4:54)

• Mike Sembello – lead guitar
• Ben Bridges – rhythm guitar
• Gregory Phillinganes – keyboard
• Stevie Wonder – all other instruments

A2. Ebony Eyes (4:10)

• Nathan Watts – bass
• Jim Horn – saxophone
• Peter "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow – steel guitar
• Stevie Wonder – lead vocals, tack piano, talkbox, drums

B1. All Day Sucker (5:06)

• Ben Bridges – rhythm guitar
• Mike Sembello – rhythm guitar
• W. G. "Snuffy" Walden – lead guitar
• Stevie Wonder – lead vocals, background vocals, bass synthesizer, Clavinet, drums
• Carolyn Denis – background vocals

B2. Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)  (3:58)

• Nathan Watts – bass
• Stevie Wonder – Fender Rhodes, harmonica, drums

Companies, etc.

• Phonographic Copyright (p) – Motown Record Corporation
• Record Company – Motown Record Corporation

Credits

• Arranged By, Composed By, Lead Vocals, Performer [Musician], Producer, Written-By – Stevie Wonder
• Bass – Nathan Watts (tracks: A4 to B1, D3, D4, E2, F2)
• Drums – Raymond Pounds (tracks: A4 to B1)
• Keyboards – Greg Phillinganes (tracks: A4, C1, C2, E1)
• Lead Guitar – Mike Sembello (tracks: A4, A5, B5, E1, F1)
• Liner Notes [Spanish Translation] – Raymond Maldonado
• Liner Notes [Zulu Translation] – Thoko Mdalose Hall
• Rhythm Guitar – Ben Bridges (tracks: A4, A5, B4, E1, F1)

Notes

Collector's album includes two records (2 x LP), a something extra (7", titled 'A Something Extra for "Songs In The Key Of Life"') and 24-page lyric booklet. All records pressed on black vinyl.

Released:  1976  

Recording Location: Crystal Industries Inc., Hollywood, CA 

Hit Factory Studios, New York, NY 

Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, CA 

Genre: Funk / Soul 

Style: Soul, Disco 

Length: 1:44:53

Label - Motown Records ‎– 5C 154-97900/1, Motown ‎– EP 97000/1

Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life (2LP)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8onGPxBveFrSER5RnA3cWFrNmc/view?usp=sharing

A Something's Extra Bonus Record (EP)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8onGPxBveFra3ZDLVRQYS1TbUE/view?usp=sharing