Talking Book, a review of the cover album by Macy Gray (429 Records, $15.99)
It has often been said (and frequently on the TV show American Idol) that Stevie Wonder’s songs seem deceptively simple, yet they are actually complex and difficult to sing. Thus, it may seem odd that Macy Gary, with her raspy voice and somewhat narrow range, has elected to not only cover a Stevie Wonder song, but an entire album of Stevie Wonder. Talking Book – the first of her albums that I’ve listened to – is a re-working of Wonder’s classic 1972 release, and Gray covers all 10 of the original tracks in order.
Surprising though it may be, the results show that Gray’s judgment is just fine and she generally adds some energy and unique flavors to Wonder’s sometimes understated original versions. (In college, I often listened to Talking Book and felt it was filled with great songs. But his recordings seemed like preliminary, unfinished versions.)
“You Are the Sunshine of My Life” now comes off as nice and breezy and jazzy, with a few Brasil ’66 touches. It would be the perfect song for a Sunday drive in a top-down convertible in southern California.
With “You and I (We Can Conquer the World),” Gray adds a sense of joy and hopefulness to the romantic tome. “Blame It on the Sun,” one of Wonder’s almost-lost classics, is now brought back to life. The sorrow for a love, once here, now gone, lies just on the edge of Macy’s voice. “Tuesday Heartbreak” sounds like a track from a romantic movie soundtrack (hint, hint). And the essential song, “Superstition,” is now spooky and moody, but awfully nice. Gray presents the listener with a seemingly daydreamed version of Stevie Wonder’s simply great original.
“Big Brother” is more upbeat than the original recording. In a word, it’s sweet. Three of the songs, “Maybe Your Baby,” “You’ve Got It Bad Girl,” and “Lookin’ for Another Love,” are perhaps too true, too close to the original versions, but with Stevie that’s not such a bad thing. And Talking Book closes on the bright spot “I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever).” Here Wonder’s romantic anthem is presented in an arrangement that makes it sound as if two songs were merged into a medley. A sense of joyfulness returns with traces of Johnny Nash-style sound (“I Can See Clearly Now”) heard in the background.
As a concept, attempting to recreate (and perhaps improve upon) one of Wonder’s better albums seemed far from promising. It was, after all, forty years ago that the vinyl album arrived in record stores. But Macy Gray holds her own and, strangely enough, her world-weary voice presents just the opposite message – that she loves life and the music of Stevie Wonder.
I have the feeling that Stevie Wonder will be quite pleased with this audio valentine; something that may also be true for a number of music purchasers.
Highly recommended.
Joseph Arellano
Stevie Wonder’s album Talking Book was released on October 28, 1972. Macy Gray’s cover version was released on October 30, 2012. A review copy was provided by a publicist.
This review originally appeared on the Blogcritics Music site: http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-macy-gray-talking-book/ .
Joseph's Reviews 