Tribute to Uncle Ray explained

Tribute to Uncle Ray
Type:	studio
Artist:	Little Stevie Wonder
Cover:	TributeToUncleRay.jpg
Released:	October 1962
Recorded:	1962
Studio:	Hitsville U.S.A. Studio A, Detroit, Michigan
Genre:	Jazz pop^[1]
Length:	31:13
Label:	Tamla
Producer:	Henry Cosby, Clarence Paul
Chronology:	Little Stevie Wonder
Prev Title:	The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie
Prev Year:	1962
Next Year:	1963

Tribute to Uncle Ray is the second studio album by Little Stevie Wonder, released by Motown in October 1962, shortly after The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie. Even though it was released second, it had been recorded first, when Wonder was 11 years old.^[2] The album was an attempt by Berry Gordy and Motown to associate the young "Little Stevie Wonder" with the successful and popular Ray Charles, who was also a blind African-American musician.^[3] Like Wonder's debut, this album failed to generate hit singles, as Motown struggled to find a sound to fit Wonder, who was just 12 when this album was released.

Track listing

All songs composed by Ray Charles, except where indicated.

Side one

1. "Hallelujah I Love Her So" – 2:28
2. "Ain't That Love" – 2:42
3. "Don't You Know" – 3:03
4. "(I'm Afraid) The Masquerade Is Over" (Herbert Magidson, Allie Wrubel) – 4:19
5. "Frankie & Johnny" (Traditional; arranged by Clarence Paul) – 2:51

Side two

1. "Drown in My Own Tears" (Henry Glover) – 4:01
2. "Come Back Baby" – 2:50
3. "Mary Ann" – 2:59
4. "Sunset" (Stevie Wonder as Stevie Judkins, Clarence Paul) – 3:32
5. "My Baby's Gone" (Berry Gordy, Jr.) – 2:28

Notes and References

1. Book: Breihan, Tom. The Supremes - "Where Did Our Love Go. November 15, 2022. The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. Hachette Book Group. New York. 56.
2. Book: Icons of R&B and Soul. 314. Bob Gulla. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2008. 9780313340468.
3. Ribowsky, Mark. Signed, Sealed and Delivered: The Soulful Journey of Stevie Wonder.