On the heels of Wonder’s initial brush with mainstream success with “Fingertips Part 2,” Gordy looked to capitalize on his young phenom’s rising stardom in manners ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime. By 1964 and Stevie On The Beach, rock’s California Gold Rush was already in full effect and Motown hit on the idea of sending Wonder out to the newly minted Hitsville West studios in California, to record a collection of songs about sun, surfing and general chillaxing. The inherent silliness of the Detroit raised Stevie enthusing about his love of all things Left Coast inherently consigns the project to baffling time capsule status, but to their credit, Stevie and the band do everything in their power to wrestle the material to the ground and on tracks like the romantic soul opener “Castles In The Sand” and the effervescent swagger of “Hey Harmonica Man” they deliver an exciting listen with the surgical precision which typified the unstoppable machine of ’60s Motown. Still, this is the sound of a very young artist executing marching orders, biding his time, and standing on the precipice of finding his true voice.