Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Soul music megastar Stevie Wonder is a fascinating figure for the pop music biographer and this 2003 published work might be of interest if you want a bog-standard biog tracing the singer through the years as the harmonica-toting 12 year old doing his tribute to uncle Roy' schtick through to his classic period in the '70s  when albums like 'Talking Book', 'Innervisions' and 'Songs In the Key Of Life' were quite simply some of the most breathtaking creations of that or any other era. The blind superstar may be fascinating but Ms Davis is a poor writer and has little or no ability to bring out the inner man lurking behind the stardom while most of her material is assembled, rather arbitrarily, from old magazine interviews. Her research too is flawed and there are several errors (the misspelling of Andrae Crouch for instance). Stevie is one of numerous R&B artists who's shown some signs of Christian faith in the past (I can remember acapella group Take 6, who had been working with the star in 1990 telling an industry meeting at GMA that Stevie was now a Christian). But Stevie's spirituality, as well as much else, isn't touched on in this account. Maybe we'll have to wait for a better journo (and Christian) like Steve Turner to write the definitive Stevie biog.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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