Stevie At The Beach

**mysterysinger** · 07-02-2023, 07:14 PM

Stevie Wonder's album "Stevie At The Beach" has seen little activity on CD over the years. The only official release on CD being the Japanese mini-LP version of 2008. https://www.flickr.com/photos/cookep...57641811585263

This is in contrast to most of his other albums which have been released a few times on CD.

I know there is also the Oldays unofficial release of 2018 which has 2 extra tracks but my post is about official releases.
https://www.discogs.com/release/1347...e-At-The-Beach

So why has it been consistently overlooked for CD? In fairness it is a patchy affair with several tracks being harmonica instrumentals and there is an unevenness about the album which doesn't seem to have great mixing. Stevie's voice is still high on the vocals.

There are some very good songs in "Castles In The Sand" and "Sad Boy" for example. However these two tracks plus "Hey Harmonica Man" appeared on the Stevie Wonder "Greatest Hits" CD [[volume 1) so perhaps they thought that to be enough.
https://www.discogs.com/release/6403...est-Hits-Vol-1

Stevie At The Beach
01 Castles In The Sand [[Vocal) 2:11
02 Ebb Tide 1:45
03 Sad Boy 2:28
04 Red Sails In The Sunset 2:01
05 The Beachcomber 1:46
06 Castles In The Sand [[Instrumental) 1:52
07 Happy Street 2:19
08 The Party At The Beach House 2:03
09 Hey Harmonica Man 2:38
10 Beach Stomp 2:38
11 Beyond The Sea 2:46

I still find it a little puzzling about the lack of CD releases for this album. Any further thoughts?

**mysterysinger** · 07-02-2023, 07:17 PM

"Sad Boy"

**Philles/Motown Gary** · 07-03-2023, 12:35 AM

I bought Stevie's "Castles In The Sand" LP for next to nothing in a close-out bin back in the mid-60s. As early Motown albums go, just before developing The Motown Sound, I actually like this album. I later bought the Japanese CD version upon its release which, of course, sounds even better.

**WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance** · 07-03-2023, 02:18 AM

Originally Posted by Philles/Motown Gary

I bought Stevie's "Castles In The Sand" LP for next to nothing in a close-out bin back in the mid-60s. As early Motown albums go, just before developing The Motown Sound, I actually like this album. I later bought the Japanese CD version upon its release which, of course, sounds even better.

I never really considered buying this album; I just thought it wouldn't be anything I'd really get excited over- but now you've got me heading to Amazon and Discogs to see about scoring a copy- vinyl and/or CD.

**mysterysinger** · 07-03-2023, 04:01 AM

One thing I hadn't really appreciated was that there was a kind of film tie in with this album, even though it's mentioned there in the sleeve notes on the reverse of the LP cover. Indeed Stevie's acing debut in a film called "Muscle Beach Party". Now by the CD era Stevie had some sway in release of his back catalogue I think and I've seen comments that he was embarrassed about his appearance in the movie [[plus I believe there may have been others in the series??).

Here's Stevie performing "Happy Street" which shows he had movie success at his fingertips....

**motony** · 07-03-2023, 05:21 PM

At the movie theater in Hollywood, Fl. my Mom took me & my 2 brothers & Annette came up in a limo, everyone was screaming we could not hear her speech, but when she got in the limo to leave my brother, Randy tapped on her window & she blew him a kiss. When Stevie appeared in the movie, you would have thought he was there LIVE from the audienece reaction.

**Philles/Motown Gary** · 07-04-2023, 01:10 AM

Originally Posted by WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance

I never really considered buying this album; I just thought it wouldn't be anything I'd really get excited over- but now you've got me heading to Amazon and Discogs to see about scoring a copy- vinyl and/or CD.

I don't want to mislead you, Waiting. If you're expecting a Motown masterpiece like Stevie's "Uptight" LP or his "I Was Made To Love Her" album, you're gonna be sadly disappointed. However, considering how un-Motown-like some of those early album releases were, "Stevie At The Beach" isn't half bad. Don't forget to try eBay, too. Probably your best source for finding those amazing Japanese pressings!

**Philles/Motown Gary** · 07-04-2023, 01:23 AM

Also, Waiting, I think the version of Stevie's "Happy Street" which Mystery provided above is the movie version. Here's the version from "Stevie At The Beach":

https://youtu.be/7jNnck0KFKM

**mysterysinger** · 07-06-2023, 10:32 AM

On the "Sad Boy" video, credits are given as

Producer: Dorsey Burnette
Composer Lyricist: Gerald Nelson
Composer Lyricist: Dorsey Burnette

The rear album cover also shows the track produced by Dorsey Burnette as above but it's the only one to be so. That's pretty interesting.

Did Dorsey write or produce for any other artists whilst at Motown [[aside maybe from on the Melody label)?

**WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance** · 07-06-2023, 01:40 PM

Originally Posted by Philles/Motown Gary

I don't want to mislead you, Waiting. If you're expecting a Motown masterpiece like Stevie's "Uptight" LP or his "I Was Made To Love Her" album, you're gonna be sadly disappointed. However, considering how un-Motown-like some of those early album releases were, "Stevie At The Beach" isn't half bad. Don't forget to try eBay, too. Probably your best source for finding those amazing Japanese pressings!

I have a feeling that this is one of those albums where, because I'm really not expecting much, it'll end up being one of those things I enjoy way more than I ever thought. I do like "Harmonica Man." There's something that seems oddly dopey about it and yet it's just always a nice, fun song to play in the car, lol. I also like the bass line; it's kinda stilted but, again it's a fun thing to play on my own bass. "Castles In The Sand" surprised me with how beautiful a performance it actually is. And "Happy Street" is one of those things I keep re-discovering when I hear it on The Complete Motown Singles. This song, with those bongos that seemingly pick up speed as the song goes on is like a drug. Stevie sounds so confident and strident here, like he was having fun singing the song. I never think I'm going to get into this thing but it's such a genuinely good time, I hit the "repeat" button several times. And again, something about the bass line that I really like. I checked out the link you posted and that sounds really good. So, I think your post about the album was kind of like confirmation on some level like, OK, I already like 3 of these songs this'll be a nice, breezy bit of fun to have. So I went ahead and got this and the Contours "Do You Love Me" on ebay!

**Philles/Motown Gary** · 07-06-2023, 09:46 PM

Originally Posted by WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance

I have a feeling that this is one of those albums where, because I'm really not expecting much, it'll end up being one of those things I enjoy way more than I ever thought. I do like "Harmonica Man." There's something that seems oddly dopey about it and yet it's just always a nice, fun song to play in the car, lol. I also like the bass line; it's kinda stilted but, again it's a fun thing to play on my own bass. "Castles In The Sand" surprised me with how beautiful a performance it actually is. And "Happy Street" is one of those things I keep re-discovering when I hear it on The Complete Motown Singles. This song, with those bongos that seemingly pick up speed as the song goes on is like a drug. Stevie sounds so confident and strident here, like he was having fun singing the song. I never think I'm going to get into this thing but it's such a genuinely good time, I hit the "repeat" button several times. And again, something about the bass line that I really like. I checked out the link you posted and that sounds really good. So, I think your post about the album was kind of like confirmation on some level like, OK, I already like 3 of these songs this'll be a nice, breezy bit of fun to have. So I went ahead and got this and the Contours "Do You Love Me" on ebay!

Congrats, Waiting! You're sure to like your "Stevie At The Beach" CD. Haven't played mine in a while, but there's also a nice ballad or two on there that will surely add to your enjoyment. BTW, at this point in Stevie's fledgling career at Motown, 'Stevie At The Beach" flopped, as did the intended hit single "Castles In The Sand" which I, personally, love. Frustrated with not knowing how to market Stevie, Berry vowed to give Stevie just one more chance before dropping him from the label. Lucky for Stevie AND us, "Uptight" was a major smash, and the accompanying album from which it came is among Motown's finest!

PS: It's always bugged me, however, that Motown didn't include Stevie's "Workout Stevie, Workout" single on his "Beach" album. I think it would have made the album even stronger.

**WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance** · 07-06-2023, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by Philles/Motown Gary

...at this point in Stevie's fledgling career at Motown, 'Stevie At The Beach" flopped, as did the intended hit single "Castles In The Sand" which I, personally, love. Frustrated with not knowing how to market Stevie, Berry vowed to give Stevie just one more chance before dropping him from the label. Lucky for Stevie AND us, "Uptight" was a major smash, and the accompanying album from which it came is among Motown's finest!

Sylvia Moy really was the hero of this period in Stevie's career. She volunteered to work with Stevie- if I remember correctly, it seems nobody else was up to the task. She knew something radically different was needed and thank goodness she had a keen ear and a great sense of what would work for Stevie and what wouldn't.