Historical Critique of Stevie Wonder’s “You Haven’t Done Nothin’”

Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder is one of the most prolific R&B artists of the 20^th century. Setting a record for any solo artist in history, Stevie Wonder Has won 25 Grammy Awards. In addition, 34 of his singles and 12 of his albums reached the top ten in either the US or UK Billboard Charts. While, much of his work, in his “classic” period, embodied the sounds of the 70’s, his music has the ability to transcend the 70’s and remain timeless. This is supported by the constant sampling/covering of his work by contemporary rock, hip-hop, and R&B artists (Red Hot Chili Peppers covering of “Higher Ground”, Coolio adapting “Pastime Paradise” for his song “Gangsta’s Paradise”, and Tupac Shakur sampling “That Girl” for his song “So many Tears”)

Stevie Wonder was born May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan. Stevie Wonder has been blind his entire life due to complications of a premature birth. Throughout a turbulent childhood, Stevie Managed to become active in his church choir as well as master the piano, harmonica, drums, and bass all by the time he was 10. By age 11, Wonder was discovered and signed to Motown Records. By age 13, he had his first major hit with “Fingertips pt. 2”

The years of 1972-1976 are largely considered Wonder’s “classic period”, which started in March 1972 with Music of My Mind. Unlike most previous artist LPs on Motown, which usually consisted of a collection of singles, B-sides, and covers, Music of My Mind was an actual LP, a full-length artistic statement with songs flowing together thematically. Wonder’s lyrics dealt with social, political, and mystical themes as well as standard romantic ones. Musically, Wonder began exploring overdubbing and recording most of the instrumental parts himself. Wonder followed up in a fast pace with several more landmark albums; Talking Book in 1972, Innervisions in 1973, Fufillingness First Finale in 1974, and the 1976 album Songs in the Key of life which hit #1 the US Billboard charts as well as becoming a 10x multi-platinum (diamond) album. The albums that Wonder released during this period have been enormously influential. The 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide said that these albums “pioneered stylistic approaches that helped to determine the shape of pop music for the next decade”.

Stevie Wonder’s full discography can be accessed here:  Stevie Wonder Discography

The following years were considerd Wonder’s commercial period (1979-1990). It was in this phase that Wonder began to commercially reap the rewards of his legendary classic period. The ’80s saw Wonder scoring his biggest hits and reaching an unprecedented level of fame evidenced by increased album sales, charity participation, high-profile collaborations, political impact, and television appearances.

In Wonder’s current career (1990-present), he has continued to release new material, just at a markedly slower pace. Wonder remains active in the music community by continuing to tour/perform. He is constantly collaborating with other artists and lending his trademark sound to conetmeporary albums. Wonder continues to use his fame and influence for altruistic, charitable, and political means. This can most recenty be seen with his support of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

Here is a video Wonder at an Obama Rally, Michelle Obama leads him by the hand, but not well enough, as he slips and falls of the stage. He suffered no injury.

 

The piece being critiqued, “You Haven’t Done Nothin’”(which can be heard in the youtube window above), was released during Wonder’s “classic period”. “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” was first released as a single in 1974 and eventually added to his album Fufillingness’ First Finale. The song featured backup vocals by The Jackson 5. Much of Wonder’s music during his “classic period” is marked by the pressence of the Hohner clavinet and the use of the newly developing technology in synthesizers. The underlying feel of the bulk of his music, specifically “You Haven’t Done Nothin, is the funk that was being developed in the late 60’s and early 70’s by artists like James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. Funk music was a departure from the rock music of the 60’s in the essence that it de-emphasised the features prevelent in european music and put more emphasis on features that were largely African-American.  In the late 60’s and early 70’s, assosciations with “Africanness” via funk were largely perceived as being politically aggressive. In addition to the politacally active funk prevelent in “You Haven’t Done Nothin’”, the lyrics also acted as a tool to target current political frustration.

The text of, “You Haven’t Done Nothin’”, is clearly tied to the cynical frustration prevelent in America at the height of the Watergate Scandal. It is generally understood that the “voice” of the text is meant to address African American’s general frustration with politicians and specifically that of Richard Nixon. Only two weeks after the release of the song Nixon was forced to resign due to the Watergate Scandal. While this song was clearly targeted at Nixon it was also meant to address the growing political unrest of the African American Community. In the mid 1970’s many African Americans were unsatisfied with the progress of redressing racial and social inequities. Much of this frustration stemmed from: 1) the post-1968 leadership vacuum in the civil rights movement. 2) By the advent of “urban renewal” programs that threatened to eliminate many black urban neighborhoods. 3) By the erosion of the newly emerging black middle class, and by the systematic dismantling of Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” that was already underway.

Nixon

While “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” may be Wonder’s most targeted political attack, much of his work his laced with political and social undertones. In many ways, Wonder used his affluence as a famous songwriter to communicate political and social messages to the audience. Similarly, visual African American visual artists were using art as a means of bringing awareness to the African American social and political struggle. The style of abstraction was used as a medium for expression, which can be seen in the works of African American painters; Frank Bowling, Sam Gilliam, and Richard Hunt. While continuing their struggles for the progress of the civil rights movement, many African Americans saw the 70’s as a time of commercial and critical success. Just as with Stevie Wonder, this proved that African Americans were capable of overcoming racial obstacles and earning their rightful place in the contemporary art world.

Frank Bowling, Self Portrait

Meta Critique:

There are clearly limitations to the isolated use of a historical analysis. Through historical analysis, the analyst is capable of providing pertinent details about the composer and the socio/political state of the world in which the piece was composed. All of this information is critical to pursuing a thorough analysis of the piece. However, through a historical analysis alone, little is actually discussed of the piece itself. It as if a historical background is the scenery for a play. Without the scenery, the performance of the play would have no context and no setting. Moreover, scenery without a play is merely a stagnant backdrop without any clear artistic message. It is only through the dialectic conversation of the play and the scenery that artistic meaning can be conveyed to the audience. 

It is clear why Ferrara intends for a historical analysis to be the primary step in the eclectic analysis. The historical analysis illustrates the context on which many of the later stages of analysis are based. By understanding a piece’s historical significance it can most certainly impact the way one perceives the piece. This knowledge would be beneficial for a referential approach, but would need to be suspended for a Husserlian phenomenological approach.

Personally, my first listening to “You Haven’t Done Nothin” focused on the interaction of the rhythm and the melody. Following my historical analysis, I was clearly focusing on the lyrics to hear the targeted political message.

A historical analysis alone is inadequate to accurately address all levels of musical significance. It is only when a historical analysis is used in conjunction with other methods that it can properly lend its knowledge to address all levels of musical significance.

I will leave you with a beautiful portrait of Stevie in the 70’s

***

 

Works Cited

Hughes, Timothy S. “Groove and Flow:.” Diss. University of Washington, 2003.

Richard, Powell. “African American Art.” African American Web Connection – Best web resources for the African American community. Apr. 2005. Oxford University Press. 10 May 2009 <http://www.aawc.com/Submission_Art.html&gt;.

Wikipedia. 10 May 2009. Wikipedia. 10 May 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_wonder&gt;.

~ by jaygoodmanbass on May 11, 2009.