For Once in My Life (Stevie Wonder album) explained

For Once in My Life
Type:	studio
Artist:	Stevie Wonder
Cover:	Foronceinmylife.jpg
Released:	December 6, 1968
Recorded:	Mid 1967 December 1967 - February 1968 April - August 1968
Venue:	35:15
Studio:	Hitsville U.S.A., Detroit, Michigan
Genre:	Soul^[1] jazz^[2] pop^[3]
Label:	Tamla
Producer:	Henry Cosby, Don Hunter, Stevie Wonder
Prev Title:	Eivets Rednow
Prev Year:	1968
Next Title:	My Cherie Amour
Next Year:	1969

For Once in My Life is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder on Motown Records, released in November 1968. Then 18 years old, Wonder had established himself as one of Motown's consistent hit-makers. This album continued Wonder's growth as a vocalist and songwriter, and is the first album where he shares credit as producer. It featured four songs that hit the Hot 100 charts: "For Once in My Life" (No. 2), "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" (No. 9) and the modest hits "I Don't Know Why" (No. 39) and "You Met Your Match" (No. 35). It also marked the debut of the Hohner Clavinet on a Stevie Wonder album, which would become a mainstay on albums to come.

Track listing

Side one

1. "For Once In My Life" (Ron Miller, Orlando Murden) 2:48
2. "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" (Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy, Stevie Wonder) 2:45
3. "You Met Your Match" (Lula Mae Hardaway, Don Hunter, Wonder) 2:37
4. "I Wanna Make Her Love Me" (Henry Cosby, Hardaway, Moy, Wonder) 2:52
5. "I'm More Than Happy (I'm Satisfied)" (Henry Cosby, Cameron Grant, Moy, Wonder) 2:56
6. "I Don't Know Why" (Hardaway, Hunter, Paul Riser, Stevie Wonder) 2:46

Side two

1. "Sunny" (Bobby Hebb) 4:00
2. "I'd Be a Fool Right Now" (Cosby, Moy, Wonder) 2:54
3. "Ain't No Lovin'" (Hardaway, Hunter, Riser, Wonder) 2:36
4. "God Bless the Child" (Arthur Herzog Jr., Billie Holiday) 3:27
5. "Do I Love Her" (Wonder, Moy) 2:58
6. "The House on the Hill" (Lawrence Brown, Berry Gordy, Allen Story) 2:36

Personnel

• Stevie Wonder  - vocals, harmonica, piano, organ, clavinet, drums, percussion
• The Originals  - backing vocals
• The Andantes  - backing vocals
• Earl Van Dyke  - piano on "For Once in My Life"
• James Jamerson  - bass
• Uriel Jones  - drums
• Robert White  - guitar
• The Funk Brothers  - all other instruments^[4]

In other media

"I'd Be a Fool Right Now" would be remixed in 1977 for Wonder's Looking Back Anthology.

Notes and References

1. Book: Considine, J.D.. Stevie Wonder. . 2004 . . 4th . Brackett . Nathan . Hoard . Christian . 0-7432-0169-8 . 885-886.
2. Book: Considine, J.D.. Stevie Wonder. . 2004 . . 4th . Brackett . Nathan . Hoard . Christian . 0-7432-0169-8 . 885-886.
3. Web site: Pitchfork Staff . The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s . . August 22, 2017 . Most significantly, it marked the first of Wonder’s pop albums to feature the clavinet.... April 15, 2023.
4. The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 8: 1968 [liner notes]. New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records