7 August : Signed, Sealed & Delivered

Of the two notable albums released 7 August 1970, Stevie Wonder’s Signed Sealed & Delivered is the superior by quite some distance.

There is zero pretence about this; zero bullshit. It’s classy Motown from start to finish, with a hit (three hits in the US), a very good Beatles cover (We Can Work It Out), and a set of songs that suggest Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles while remaining all Wonder’s own.

Stevie hasn’t quite hit his stride yet, hasn’t discovered TONTO or hit on the style that catapulted him from merely very good to superstar, and you might want to say the record is still working within the Motown framework. I don’t care. I played it through twice without pain and would happily have it on again.

I listened on Spotify. and I daresay it’s on YouTube too.