"Fingertips" is a 1963 hit single recorded live by "Little" Stevie Wonder for

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

's then Tamla label.

Overview

Written and composed by Wonder's mentors, Clarence Paul and Henry Cosby, "Fingertips" was originally a jazz instrumental recorded for Wonder's first studio album, ''

The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie ''The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie'' is the debut studio album by Stevie Wonder (then billed as Little Stevie Wonder) released in September 1962 on the Tamla Motown label. The album showcases the 12-year-old Wonder's talents as a composer and i ...

.'' The live version of the song was recorded in 1963 during a Motortown Revue performance at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois. Containing only a few stanzas of improvised lyrics, "Fingertips" is essentially an instrumental piece, meant to showcase Wonder's talents on the bongos and the

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

"Part 2"

The edit point that begins "Part 2" of "Fingertips" is when Wonder shouts "Everybody say 'yeah!'", initiating a call-and-response exchange with the audience. After a couple of sung verses, each followed by Wonder's brief harmonica playing (solos accompanied only by the audience's rhythmic clapping), Wonder appears to bring things to a conclusion. On the night of the recording, Wonder, as usual started to leave the stage and the band went into the exit music, as musician and emcee Bill Murray (known professionally as Winehead Willie) exhorted the crowd to "give him a hand"; however, Stevie unexpectedly changed his mind, returning to sing the "goodbye" encore. The other musicians were caught out, and the bass players had changed over to prepare for the next act on the bill, Mary Wells. As Wonder moves into his impromptu encore, the new bass player, Joe Swift, having replaced Larry Moses, can be heard on the recording, yelling out: "What key? What key?"

Release

The live version of "Fingertips" was released on May 21, 1963 as a two-part single, with Part 2 (with the encore) as the B-side. The 707 mono features "Sunset" and "Contract on Love". By August, the single B-side had reached the top of both the ''Billboard'' Pop Singles and R&B Singles charts. "Fingertips" was Motown's second number-one pop hit (following The Marvelettes' "

Please Mr. Postman "Please Mr. Postman" is a song written by Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman, Brian Holland and Robert Bateman. It is the debut single by the Marvelettes for the Tamla (Motown) label, notable as the first Motown song to reach the ...

"), and launched the then 13-year-old Wonder to prominence. The single's success helped Wonder's live album, '' Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius'', reach number-one on the

Billboard Pop Albums A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

chart, making him the youngest artist to accomplish that feat. Because of Part 2's success, it would later feature on various compilation albums just as the full recording. Both the studio and live versions of the song featured drumming by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

, who had been playing drums for Wonder and other

artists and would become a big Motown star in his own right.

Personnel

*Vocals, bongos, and harmonica by Little Stevie Wonder *Drums by

*Bass by James Jamerson, Larry Moses, Joe Swift *Horn Arrangement by Johnny Allen *Recording engineer, Ron Steele Sr.

In popular culture

The song is used in trailers for

Jordan Peele Jordan Haworth Peele (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his film and television work in the comedy and horror genres. Peele's breakout role came in 2003, when he was hired as a cast membe ...

’s movie '' Nope''.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1963 singles Stevie Wonder songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Live singles Songs written by Henry Cosby Songs written by Clarence Paul Tamla Records singles 1963 songs Song recordings produced by Berry Gordy