Originally Posted by
lockhartgary
The following text is from the entry for Aretha's "Until You Come Back to Me", from Billboard's Book of #1 R&B Hits:
Both were both raised in the Motor City; both blos*somed young—he first recorded at age 11, she at 14—and both came to play towering roles in popular music, defining the form as much as reflecting it.
Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin shared an eventful year in 1973. His ground-breaking album Innervisions was released then, just days before he nearly died in an auto accident; her bold experiment with producer Quincy Jones, Hey Now Hey [[The Other Side Of The Sky), was greeted with the lowest chart position of any of her Atlantic albums to date, just as her contract with the label was expiring.
The song that was to connect the two artists was cut by Wonder in 1967. "First, I recorded it on Ste*vie," explains Clarence Paul, the Motown A&R stal*wart who helped develop the youngster's talent [see 24—"Blowin' in the Wind"]. He says co-author Mor*ris Broadnax may have played it to Aretha Franklin around that time. "Later, four or five years later, Ste*vie played it for her."
Wonder wrote the melody of the song's chorus, according to Paul. "He would always start [composi*tions] and get almost through with them, then leave them alone," he says. 'Then I put a bridge in it, and did some of the lyrics; a lot of the lyrics were written by Morris. I did the structures and everything—what*ever was missing, I put in." Broadnax, Wonder, and Paul had previously collaborated; one of their hits was the Contours' "Just a Little Misunderstanding."
Aretha Franklin taped her interpretation of "Until You Come Back to Me" on September 7, 1973. It was the one song she recorded that Friday in Atlantic's Manhattan studios, setting a melancholy mood with the piano introduction. The rest of the track featured the usual top-notch musicians, including Hugh McCracken on guitar, Donny Hathaway on electric piano, Richard Tee on organ, Chuck Rainey on bass, Bernard Purdie on drums, and Ken Bichel on synthe*sizer. Background vocalists were Ann Clark, Pat Smith, and Margaret Branch.
Later, co-producer Arif Mardin overdubbed strings, horns, and Joe Farrell's flute solo. "I had a lot to do with that record," Mardin observes, "from Cornell's guitar hooks to the orchestral arrangement—of which I'm really proud. The harmonic structure of the song is jazzy; I don't even know whether Stevie sang it."
Wonder had indeed done so, although four years passed before the recording was released commer*cially [[as part of his long-delayed Anthology set). "1 love Aretha's version," says Clarence Paul, who also cites the tune's staying power through versions by Deniece Williams and Johnny Mathis, Miki Howard, and Basia, among others. "I always figured it was a good song."
And perhaps even a deal-closer. As "Until You Come Back to Me" climbed the pop and R&B charts towards the end of 1973, Aretha re-signed with Atlantic Records.
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