Looking Back (Stevie Wonder album)

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Looking Back
William Stevenson, Henry Cosby, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Bristol, Hal Davis, Berry Gordy, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Ron Miller
Stevie Wonder chronology
Songs in the Key of Life
(1976) 		Looking Back
(1977) 		Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants"
(1979)

Looking Back, also later known as Anthology, is a

limited edition.[4] The album chronicles 40 songs from Wonder's first Motown period, which precedes the classic period
of his critically acclaimed albums.

Overview

Between 1963 and the end of 1971, Wonder placed over 25 songs on

Signed, Sealed & Delivered. Most of his singles were written by Wonder himself in tandem with a variety of others, or by Ron Miller
. The hits alternated between stomping barn-burners and mid-tempo, understated ballads.

Before the long-awaited Wonder box set,

assembly-line hitmaker to individualistic artist. Unlike its other anthologies, which have been carved down from three-volume vinyl LPs to double-disc sets, Motown
simply deleted this one altogether, although vigilant collectors may be able to obtain it through used record stores. It wouldn't be until 1999's At the Close of a Century that another Stevie Wonder anthology which included material from this period would be released.

This compilation marks the first release of Stevie Wonder's 1967 original recording of "Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)," which was a 1973 hit for Aretha Franklin. It's also the only collection of his to feature material from his instrumental album Eivets Rednow.[citation needed]

Critical reception

In a contemporary review, Russell Gersten of The Village Voice wrote that, although it suffers from some poorly chosen material and omissions, the album is ultimately an "essential record" that "requires a bit more imagination and knowledge to appreciate than most anthologies, but the raw ingredients are there. Wonder worked in an era of excesses, and his fight to find meaning is—in its own modest way—uplifting."[2] The newspaper's Robert Christgau shared a similar sentiment and said that Looking Back is at the same time "flawed, long overdue, and essential."[6] He later included it in his "basic record library" of 1970s albums, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies.[7]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, writer Rob Bowman gave Looking Back five stars and said that Wonder's songs from the 1960s were unique from most other Motown artists because he had a hand in writing them and his producers rarely collaborated with acts such as the Temptations or the Supremes.[8] J. D. Considine, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992), gave the album four-and-a-half out of five stars and felt that it is a significantly better compilation than Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1971) because of how it highlights both his studio albums up to that point and several non-LP singles.[9]

Track listing

Personnel

Production

Producer Side one Side two Side three Side four Side five Side six
Henry Cosby 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 1, 2, 6, 7 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 1, 2, 4, 6
Clarence Paul 1, 4 3, 4, 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Stevie Wonder 2 3, 7 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
William Stevenson
 1 1, 2
Hal Davis 5, 6
Berry Gordy 3, 7
Ron Miller 1
Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier 2
Johnny Bristol 5

Charts

Title Information
Looking Back
  • US
    Pop Albums
    (1977) #34
  • US Top R&B Albums #15
"Castles in the Sand"
"Nothing's Too Good for My Baby"
  • US Pop Singles #20
  • US Black Singles #4

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[10] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[11] Silver 60,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ISBN 978-1136206481
    .
  2. ^ a b Gersten, Russell (February 6, 1978). "Looking Back to When Stevie Was Little". The Village Voice. New York. p. 49. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
  3. ^ Album page at Wonder's website
  4. ^ Vinyl Records Collector's Guide: Looking Back description
  5. ^ "Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  6. ^ Christgau, Robert (December 26, 1977). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
  7. ISBN 089919026X
    . Retrieved March 9, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  8. ^ Bowman, Rob. "Looking Back – Stevie Wonder". AllMusic. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
  9. ISBN 0679737294
    .
  10. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Stevie Wonder – Looking Back". Music Canada. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  11. ^ "British album certifications – Stevie Wonder – Anthology". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 14, 2022.

External links

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