Quote:
Originally Posted by Rainard Jalen
Many of Wonder's songs were co-wrote and a lot of the cleverness in the finished product is not owed to the songwriting itself but to the production, which also was not done by Stevie.
Prince on the other hand wrote most everything himself and produced it all too...oh, and often played all the instruments. For me, it's a no brainer: Prince is the victor.
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Hi, came across this site while doing some googling.
You do realize that Stevie Wonder has his own recording studio, and that he actually knows how to operate equipment , right? On many of his albums/songs, you can see that he has written, played instruments and produced the tracks himself. Obviously he's blind, so there are going to be some things out of his hands, but I have no doubt whatsoever that what you hear on the albums is the sound as Stevie himself intended, not someone else. Stevie often plays all the instruments himself as well. He usually does produce his own albums and material as well.
Let's take a look at the Innervisions credits:
Too High - Every instrument was Stevie. Background vocalists were used, that's it.
All In Love Is Fair - Scott Edwards plays bass. Everything else is Stevie.
Living For The City - All Stevie.
Jesus Children Of America - All Stevie.
Higher Ground - All Stevie.
On the other tracks, people are credited for things like shakers, hand claps, bongos, etc... things Stevie likely could have done himself but opted not to for whatever reason (he recieved a Motown contract from Berry Gordy when Gordy saw him do drums, bongos and harmonica).
This is just one album, I'm sure he picked up more skills as the years went by. Prince is damn talented, and I have mad respect for him, but I simply can't put him on Stevie's level. Nothing Prince has done has matched up to Innervisions, Talking Book or Songs In The Key Of Life for me. Contrary to what some say, I think Stevie's 80's work and beyond has been really good, to say the least. I know a lot of people love 70's Stevie and little else, but I guess that's the pitfalls you face when you reach unimaginable heights when you're barely halfway through your twenties. The fact is that if Stevie's only work had been in the 80's, he probably would still be remembered as a very successful solo pop/r&b star. In terms of consistency, quality and overall talent, I would vote very few people over Stevie Wonder, if any.