Up-Tight (1966)

Up-Tight (1966)

1966’s Up-Tight represents an important advancement in Stevie Wonder’s evolution from “Little Stevie” to the major one-stop auteur who would soon dominate the 1970’s. Driven principally by the propulsive original “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” but featuring a handful of hard bitten and inescapably tuneful soul workouts, this is the early Motown sound pushed to its logical limits of frenetic excitement. The feral energy of the Whitfield/Kendricks composition “I Want My Baby Back” exchanges the artist’s previous approachability with something more manic — for the first time in a love song Wonder doesn’t seem like he is asking for a woman’s (or an audience’s) approval. He seems to be demanding it by fiat. You might feel put off by the angry adolescent pose, but you’ll stay for the awesome talent on display. The relentless and crushingly cynical pre-nup preview “Contract On Love” is the Elvis Costello song Costello always dreamed of writing and never quite did. Big things lay ahead.