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Stevie
Wonder Blows My Mind
Written by
Dan Pashman as published on NPR.com
On Saturday night
I was fortunate enough to see Stevie
Wonder in a sold out Madison Square
Garden in his first headlining
concert in New York City in 11
years. I'll count down the top
five highlights...
5. Stevie opened the show talking
about the death of his mother last
year. He said that after spending
some time basically being depressed,
he realized he had to get out on
the road and make music, a decision
that was culminating with this
MSG show. His opening remarks were
the first indication that it would
be a special night.
4. Stevie does voices. Who knew?
He told several stories in which
he did hilarious voice impressions.
After "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" he
said, "This song was a great
hit in its day, but I think it
can be a hit again...as a country
song." He wasn't kidding.
His band picked up the song with
a twang and he shifted to a Randy
Travis-esque baritone and drawled, "Here
I am, baayyyyy-beeee, signed, sealed,
delivered, I'm yowrs..."
3. Many of us picture Stevie sitting
in front of a piano, but his first
instrument was the harmonica, and
it shows. During "Boogie On
Reggae Woman" he stood up
from the piano and tore into an
intense dueling harmonica jam with
virtuoso Frederic Yonnet. Awesome.
2. Halfway through his performance
of "For Once In My Life" Stevie
stopped the song and said there
was something that could make it
better. He said his mom's two favorite
singers were Ella Fitzgerald and
Tony Bennett. So out walks...Tony
Bennett. They then go into a crooner-style
rendition of "For Once In
My Life," and DAMN, Tony Bennett
sounds good. In fact, I later learned
that Bennett recorded this song
first, and he and Stevie won a
Grammy for their duet of the song
in 2006. Here they are performing "For
Once In My Life..."
And the number one highlight of
Saturday night's Stevie Wonder
concert in Madison Square Garden...
1. Several songs after Tony Bennett,
the instantly-recognizable drum
beat of "Superstition" kicked
in. Just then, without any announcement
or fanfare, who walks on to the
stage? PRINCE. High heels and all,
he picks up a guitar and begins
tearing it up. Madison Square Garden
went wild. And that's how Stevie
Wonder blew my mind.
Bonus content...
Read more about the MSG show here...The
NY Times used the gig as a peg
for an interesting piece about
the increasingly-strict restrictions
being placed on concert photographers...Prince
played guitar on a track off Stevie's
last album called "So What
The Fuss." Listen/watch here...We
blogged a sick performance of "Superstition" from
Stevie's guest spot on "Sesame
Street."
Dan Pashman
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