Talking Book cover art

  Studio Album · No. 14

Talking Book Songwriting Credits by Stevie Wonder

1972 Tamla/Motown 10 tracks 43 min

Produced by Stevie Wonder  ·  Engineered by Robert Margouleff, Malcolm Cecil

Tamla/Motown SoulFunkR&B
100%
Authorship
Complete Artist

Holds writing credit on 10 of 10 tracks

Authorship Breakdown 10 / 10 documented

Who wrote the songs?

Scored across the 10 tracks with documented writers, by whether Stevie Wonder carries a lyricist or composer credit.

100%
10 trackswritten by Stevie Wonder 0 tracksoutside writers
Stevie Wonder's roles on this album

Share of the 10 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.

Lyricist100%
Composer100%
Producer100%
Performer100%

By the Numbers

10
Tracks
3
Lyricists
1
Producers
2
No.1 Singles
1972
Released

Awards & Recognition 1

Won three Grammy Awards at the 1974 ceremony: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song for "Superstition."
Data Insight

Stevie Wonder wrote most of Talking Book on his own, taking full creative control during the classic period that followed his renegotiated Motown contract. He shared writing on three tracks: "You've Got It Bad Girl" and "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)" with Yvonne Wright, and "Blame It on the Sun" and "Lookin' for Another Pure Love" with his former wife Syreeta Wright. The album leans on Wonder's mastery of the synthesizer, with Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil engineering the TONTO synth work that drives "Superstition." Talking Book marked the breakthrough that established him as a self-contained writer, player, and producer.

Talking Book is the fifteenth studio album by Stevie Wonder, released in November 1972 on Tamla/Motown and produced by Stevie Wonder, Robert Margouleff, and Malcolm Cecil. The album marked a dramatic artistic transformation, the first in a series of albums that would define the most celebrated stretch of Wonder's career, in which he took full creative control of his music and played most of the instruments himself using the then-new Moog synthesizer. 'Superstition', featuring Jeff Beck, reached number one on both the pop and R&B charts and became one of the defining funk records of the decade, while 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life' won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance. The album's synthesis of funk, soul, jazz, and electronic music was unprecedented and enormously influential on virtually every strand of black American popular music. Talking Book is the beginning of Stevie Wonder's unparalleled creative peak.

Track Listing & Credits 10 tracks

Written by the artist Written by outside writers
#TitleLyricist(s)Composer(s)Producer(s)Performers
1
You Are the Sunshine of My Life #1
Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder (Lead Vocals, Keyboards)
2
Maybe Your Baby
Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder (Lead Vocals, Keyboards)
3
You and I (We Can Conquer the World)
Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder (Lead Vocals, Keyboards)
4
Tuesday Heartbreak
Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder (Lead Vocals, Keyboards)
5
You've Got It Bad Girl
Stevie WonderYvonne Wright Stevie WonderYvonne Wright Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder (Lead Vocals, Keyboards)
6
Superstition #1
Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder (Lead Vocals, Keyboards)
7
Big Brother
Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder (Lead Vocals, Keyboards)
8
Blame It on the Sun
Stevie WonderSyreeta Wright Stevie WonderSyreeta Wright Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder (Lead Vocals, Keyboards)
9
Lookin' for Another Pure Love
Stevie WonderSyreeta Wright Stevie WonderSyreeta Wright Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder (Lead Vocals, Keyboards)
10
I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)
Stevie WonderYvonne Wright Stevie WonderYvonne Wright Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder (Lead Vocals, Keyboards)

Songwriter & Credit Spotlight 3 contributors

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For Once in My Life
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1969 42%
My Cherie Amour
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1970 58%
Signed, Sealed and Delivered
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1971 100%
Where I'm Coming From
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1972 100%
Music of My Mind
Tamla
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1973 100%
Innervisions
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1974 100%
Fulfillingness' First Finale
Tamla
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1976 100%
Songs in the Key of Life
Tamla/Motown
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1979 100%
Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants
Tamla
20 tracksProd. Stevie Wonder
1981 100%
Hotter Than July
Tamla/Motown
10 tracksProd. Stevie Wonder
1985 100%
In Square Circle
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10 tracksProd. Stevie Wonder
1987 100%
Characters
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1995 100%
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2005 100%
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Frequently Asked Questions Talking Book

Who wrote Superstition?
Stevie Wonder wrote "Superstition" by himself and is the sole credited songwriter. He built the track around a clavinet riff and played most of the instruments, with Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil engineering the synthesizer work. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of January 27, 1973.
Did Stevie Wonder write all the songs on Talking Book?
Stevie Wonder wrote or co-wrote every song on Talking Book. He wrote seven tracks alone and shared writing credit on three: "You've Got It Bad Girl" and "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)" with Yvonne Wright, and "Blame It on the Sun" and "Lookin' for Another Pure Love" with Syreeta Wright.
What singles did Talking Book produce and how did they chart?
Talking Book produced two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. "Superstition" topped the chart in January 1973, and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" reached number one later that year. Both also won Grammy Awards at the 1974 ceremony.
How many Grammy Awards did Talking Book win?
Material from Talking Book won three Grammy Awards at the 1974 ceremony. "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" took Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, while "Superstition" won both Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.
Who co-wrote Blame It on the Sun with Stevie Wonder?
Stevie Wonder co-wrote "Blame It on the Sun" with Syreeta Wright, his former wife and frequent songwriting collaborator. The two also shared writing credit on "Lookin' for Another Pure Love" from the same album. Their partnership ran across several of Wonder's early-1970s recordings.
What is You Are the Sunshine of My Life about?
"You Are the Sunshine of My Life" is a warm love song that Stevie Wonder wrote alone. It opens with lead vocals from Jim Gilstrap and Lani Groves before Wonder takes over, a deliberate arrangement choice. The song became Wonder's third number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100.
Who engineered the synthesizer sounds on Talking Book?
Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil engineered and programmed the synthesizer work on Talking Book using their TONTO synthesizer system. They served as associate producers and shaped the electronic textures heard across the album, most prominently on "Superstition." Their collaboration with Wonder spanned his classic-period albums of the early 1970s.
Is Talking Book a soul album?
Talking Book is generally classified as a soul album that blends funk and R&B with Wonder's pioneering synthesizer work. Released on Motown's Tamla label in October 1972, it runs about 43 minutes across ten tracks. The record is widely regarded as one of the strongest entries in Wonder's classic period.

Sources