Stevie Wonder-Time to Open the Vaults?

[young america]

Next year I believe will be Stevie Wonder's 50th anniversary as a recording artist. With all of these Motown reissues and previously unreleased material coming out over the years, he seems to be the holdout.
He's teased from time to time about having more shelved material than his albums, but it seems like a good time as any to have a collection out. No idea what lurks in the vault, but I'm sure enough to fill 2 or 3 great discs. [[or more?)

[Motown_M_1056]

Stevie controls most of his material. isn't it up to him what he wants released?

[theboyfromxtown]

Years ago, maybe 1990 something....the manager at UK Motown announced in the Times newspaper that on average, Motown released about a third of the recorded output. [[At that time, the Velvelettes percentage was 20%)

How many cd's are there of Stevie's 60's music......has anything like twice that many been put out since? The answer is no, of course not.

It's a big shame for me. My favourite producer is Hank Cosby and Mr Cosby worked actively with Stevie.

[rovereab]

With Stevie's recent lack of success I would have thought he should welcome the opportunity to get some exposure and sales. If releasing vaulted songs is good enough for other Motown artists it should be good enough for him too.

If as we are told, it is down to him as to whether vaulted songs are released, then it seems a rather selfish attitude on his part!

[bradsupremes]

I always thought Stevie didn't have much of a say over the output of his 60's material because his contract during the 60's didn't allow him to have that kind of control - very much like the contracts of most of the artists. Wasn't it his 1971 contract which allowed him to have full control and rights over the material he wrote, produced, and recorded after 1971? I always assumed that didn't include anything not prior to 1971 since that was fully under Motown's control.

[theboyfromxtown]

Brad

When I put myself in Stevie's position, I can understand why that might be. If I was a current artist, I would want my new product being promoted and not the old...and I would be unhappy if that didn't happen.

Stevie is not simply an artist, he's a Motown artist and a legend in his time. He must have huge influence in how his career is planned out.

[soulster]

Stevie controls most of his material. isn't it up to him what he wants released?

He owns the master tapes, two-track and multitracks starting with "Music Of My Mind". Motown has copies of mostly everything after that point. Motown can release whatever it wants, but if they want to use the first generation two-track album masters, it ain't gonna happen.

[vcq]

Not sure about what's in the vaults, but I can tell you that over here in Japan are numerous reissues of out-of-print Little Stevie albums like I Was Made To Love Her, Tribute To Uncle Ray, The Twelve-Year-Old Genius, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie and Stevie At The Beach. HW mentioned upcoming reissues of these early titles, but I ended up buying one in Japan since my guess is that it will be several years at least before these see the light of day in the US / Europe. They're in cardboard covers featuring the original LP art and not cheap at about 2,800 yen each [[around $35 US Dollars), but it's better than nothing [[although the MP3s are available from iTunes). I just don't see a market for these kinds of reissues in the US.

[young america]

Sure, I can understand if Stevie was out there touring and recording constantly. It would interfere with his newest project..however he has released exactly ONE new album in 15 years. Not exactly prolific. Time 4 Love was a fine record, but the younger generation will always discover him through the classic 1970s albums. If Wonder himself claims there is more unreleased material than released recordings, I have no doubt there's probably a good chunk just between 1971-1980, the biggest influential years. I just can't see why this could be damaging in any way, especially with his track record for new releases. We have until 2015 or so..?

Not to say that Stevie should ever stop recording! We love him!!

[soulster]

I do have a bootleg of some outtakes made during the Songs In The Key Of Life era. Some tapes were put up on ebay, and people pitched in and bought them. They were mastered by a big-name engineer.

[bradsupremes]

I would love to hear more of his 60's recordings, but I don't see what's holding Motown back from releasing any 60's vaulted material. I'm sure Stevie may say whether he wants the songs released or not, but he doesn't have control over them like his recordings from the 70's to the present. They did release a few like "Are You Sure Love Is The Name Of This Game," and "I Gave Up Quality For Quantity," but they could do a whole 60's Lost & Found.

[jobeterob]

One objection that has been voiced by some artists is that a lot of the vault material was never completed and was never intended for release and some of them feel it damages their reputation. There has been at least one Motown artist that was very pissed off at Universal or the Brits for releasing material he didn't consider finished.

Bob Margoulieff and Malcolm Cecil were the engineers that worked with Stevie or built the synthesizer they used and had a bad falling out with him; they too felt they didn't get paid what they were promised; have they leaked or sold some things they had?

[tomato tom]

I hope there is something that Sylvia Moy was involved with in the vaults. Im Wondering???/ [[my fave Stevie Tune) Paulo xxx

[theboyfromxtown]

Rob

Those tracks that were on that artist's albums were finished masters. He might not have thought they were finished to his standard and he is entitled to hold such an opinion. It was a big disappointment that he was unhappy because a lot of effort went into its release.

BTW, Paulo.....that is mine too.......and I play it constantly...and I even know it in Italian now! The best version of it is on the Stevie Wonder "Century" Box set.

[tomato tom]

I have it!!! What a great uplifting tune.Cao.....Paulo xxxx

[soulstevie]

Rob

Those tracks that were on that artist's albums were finished masters. He might not have thought they were finished to his standard and he is entitled to hold such an opinion. It was a big disappointment that he was unhappy because a lot of effort went into its release.

BTW, Paulo.....that is mine too.......and I play it constantly...and I even know it in Italian now! The best version of it is on the Stevie Wonder "Century" Box set.

what artist are we talking about?

[jobeterob]

Hey John & Stevie; I didn't know about the product being "finished"; that must have been very disappointing. Sorry to hear that. Stevie, I did reply privately. It was an unhappy occurrence as you can see.

[daddyacey]

It aint gonna happen ,cause just like the idea of The Supremes [[Diana,Mary and Cindy) , the Miracles ,[[with Smokey) ,and other
reunions and Stevies release of outtakes and vintage material , may represent to those artists that they are done. The revival type of show or marketing may not sit well with the egos of certain artists ,and in a way I can understand where they are comming from ,considering the iconic status than some of them have aspired to. The attitude is that of ,don't go back ,but it's O.K. to look back.
I just saw on PBS ,a show on Cab Calloway. When they approached him to do "Minnie The Moocher" ,for "The Blues Brothers " movie ,and found that they used his original 40's charts and arrangements ,he was pissed off and said "This is the shit I did in the 40's, even though he had recently did a "Disco" version of it for RCA. Some artists feel that it's being reduced to a "has been" status. Even Luther refused to reissue his previous Cotillion album ,which are quite good and very collectable.

[snakepit]

R Dean Taylor

Complained about the CD issued of his recordings which is fair enough.
Complained about UMG, ......but didn't seem to know much about the sterling work they had done on behalf of all the Motown fans worldwide.
E.G. didn't know anything about TCMS series.....

[theboyfromxtown]

Snakepit....you know me, I was trying to be diplomatic! LOLOL

Can't think who EG is but I dare say there are quite a few people who didn't know......hearsay tells me that.

I find it disappointing to learn that an artist has embarked on the hard working journey to produce music for people to enjoy...but then doesn't want it released. I have to accept it even if I dont understand the logic. We've all heard artists refer to songs as their "babies". But you wouldn't keep a real baby in a locked vault!

[roger]

Snakepit....you know me, I was trying to be diplomatic! LOLOL


Well .. this is the thread that introduced R.DEAN TAYLOR to SDF .. bang goes my nomination for a Nobel peace prize this year. :)

http://faac.us/adf/messages/109997/114055.html?1158641216

And, back to STEVIE WONDER .. there are a handful of his vaulted tracks on the Cellarful series ..

"Are You Sure Love is The Name of This Game" on Volume 1.

"I Gave Up Quality For Quantity" on Volume 2.

"At The Go-Go" on Volume 3.

"Why Don't You Come Home" on volume 4.

They are all more "Motown" than "Stevie" and personally I'd like to hear more of this material.

Roger

[westgrandboulevard]

Me too, Roger!

I still prefer Stevie's "Hitsville Studio A" sound to many of his later recordings.

[honest man]

Yes would love to have stevie's lost and found from 65-70 period, i love his style from this period, don't care to much for his earlier stuff, UNCLE RAY etc, love his covers of my world is empty, i hear a symphony anything from down to erath sessions, cheers,

[marxthespot_]

There is a distinction to be made on Stevie's "vault" material. He does own his masters from about 1972 [["Music of My Mind") onward. However, Universal/Motown owns the material before that period. It is most likely we would get vault more material from the pre-1972 period. Note that some vault items from the earlier period have appeared on "Cellarful" compilations.

I can imagine that in the unreleased items from 1972 onward there are some wonderful riches to behold...At least for now, it seems doubtful that Stevie will open his vaults...

[motown_david]

And the album I would love to see released on CD is a combination of Stevie and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas [[Roz and Lois in this instance.) It's "Live In Tokyo" from 1968 and is a recording of their concert in Tokyo. I have the album but would love to see it digitised.

[theboyfromxtown]

If there is a way of getting a mention in for the Vandellas, you can rely on David to find it!

David....was it not avaialable when i-Tunes had his entire catalogue and more, available?

[motown_david]

Don't know the answer to that one, John, but all I can say is that I like to see the product in my hands, touching and feeling it with my fingers. This i-tunes seems pretty soulless to me. Give me something physical every time. What say you, John?

[theboyfromxtown]

Stop it! It's past your bedtime and the wife is still waiting for her hot cup of cocoa!

[jobeterob]

John, for an apparently "older gentleman", you think awfully young a lot of the time.

[nomis]

I doubt it will happen while hes alive..Motown,Universal or Hip O are not slow on the ball to throw things out so the lack of Stevie vault material must be people respecting his wishes and using discretion with vault material..its his call you never know he could have a clause in his contract from 72 blocking vault tracks from release without his permission either that or respect for his artistic wishes..but onces hes gone the rules would change..laws of commerce

[theboyfromxtown]

"Respect for his artistic wishes"

Excellent description!

[RossHolloway]

I would love to see a Lost & Found done for Stevie's 60's material from 62'-69 and then a 70's set as well. I could only imagine the tunes that are just waiting to be heard. Same for Gladys Knight and the Pips, its criminal their Lost and Found never saw the light of day.

[JM27]

I do have a bootleg of some outtakes made during the Songs In The Key Of Life era. Some tapes were put up on ebay, and people pitched in and bought them. They were mastered by a big-name engineer.
Sounds like the reels which I pitched in for! They were auctioned on a site called It's Only Rock'n'Roll - I seem to recall there being 3 different auctions for 5 Stevie reels. I've always been intrigued to hear of the other reels - anyone know anything about these?