Fulfillingness' First Finale

Stevie Wonder's fourth album of his classic period, a number-one hit on both the Billboard Top LPs & Tape and Soul LPs charts, and a three-time Grammy winner.

Fulfillingness' First Finale is the sixteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer Stevie Wonder, released on July 22, 1974, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. It is the fourth of five albums from what is considered Wonder's "classic period". The album was Wonder's second to top the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, where it remained for two weeks, and also reached number one on the Billboard Soul LPs chart, where it spent two weeks (October 5 and October 12, 1974). At the 17th Annual Grammy Awards, it won Album of the Year (Wonder's second consecutive win in this category), Best Male Pop Vocal, and Best Male Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance (for "Boogie On Reggae Woman").

Quick Facts

Artist

Stevie Wonder

Released

July 22, 1974

Studio

Record Plant, Los Angeles
Westlake, Los Angeles
Mediasound, New York City
Electric Lady, New York City

Genre

Progressive soul

Length

42:21

Label

Tamla

Producer

Stevie Wonder
Robert Margouleff (assoc.)
Malcolm Cecil (assoc.)

Lore & Background

Following the epic scope and social consciousness themes of Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale projected a more reflective, personal, and somber tone. The musical arrangements used in several songs, especially the bleak "They Won't Go When I Go" and the understated "Creepin'", were sparse compared to those of some of Wonder's other 1970s tracks. Wonder had not completely foregone social commentary, as evidenced by the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "You Haven't Done Nothin'", which launched a pointed criticism of the Nixon administration bolstered by clavinet, drum machine, and a cameo by the Jackson 5.

Reader's Guide

All songs on the album were written by Stevie Wonder, except "They Won't Go When I Go", written by Wonder and Yvonne Wright. The track listing includes side one: "Smile Please" (3:26), "Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away" (5:01), "Too Shy to Say" (3:31), "Boogie On Reggae Woman" (4:54), and "Creepin'" (4:17). Side two: "You Haven't Done Nothin'" (3:27), "It Ain't No Use" (3:58), "They Won't Go When I Go" (5:59), "Bird of Beauty" (3:46), and "Please Don't Go" (4:06). At the 17th Annual Grammy Awards in 1975, the album won Album of the Year (Wonder's second consecutive win), Best Male Pop Vocal, and Best Male Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance (for "Boogie On Reggae Woman"). Retrospectively, the album was voted number 413 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000) and included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.