Four Discs Just Start to Encompass Stevie Wonder

Record companies are notorious for trying to squeeze extra bucks out of music fans, so the first question likely to come to mind when examining any four-disc boxed set is, “How much filler did they have to put in here to stretch the collection to four discs?

It’s a tribute to Stevie Wonder that the question that comes to mind when you pick up Motown’s four-disc retrospective of his career is, “How much good stuff did they have to leave out to keep the set down to four discs?”

Even though there is room for 70 songs on “Stevie Wonder: At the Close of a Century,” you could fill all those slots with just his pop and/or R&B; hits over the last four decades--songs from 1963’s “Fingertips--Pt. 2” to 1995’s “For Your Love.”

But that greatest-hits approach would ignore too many classic album tracks that were never released as singles, such as “Isn’t She Lovely” from “Songs in the Key of Life.”

By combining Wonder’s signature hits with a generous supply of album tracks (including “Isn’t She Lovely”), the Motown set is a fitting tribute to one of the absolute giants of the modern pop era.

Yet there is still so much outstanding Wonder material left out (including virtually all of the extraordinary “Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants,” the double-album soundtrack from 1979, that you almost feel Motown should have stuck a “Vol. 1” after the title.

**** Stevie Wonder’s “Stevie Wonder: At the Close of a Century” (Motown). The set begins with “Fingertips--Pt. 2,” the live, harmonica-driven 1963 recording that introduced 12-year-old Wonder to the national Top 10. It’s the natural place to start, even though Wonder had three earlier singles, including one with the intriguing title “I Call It Pretty Music, but the Old People Call It the Blues.”

Skipping Wonder’s next single (1965’s “High Heel Sneakers”), the set continues with that year’s “Uptight (Everything’s Alright),” one of the most invigorating Motown singles ever.

“Century” then tends to concentrate on the hits, including his versions of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” and the Beatles’ “We Can Work It Out,” as well as the wonderfully melodic “My Cherie Amour” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours.”

Though Wonder co-wrote both “Cherie” and “Signed,” it’s his singing that impresses you most on the ‘60s recordings. It wasn’t until the ‘70s that he stepped up to a higher creative level and established himself as an all-around-creative force: singer, writer, musician and producer.

Disc 2, which focuses on the ‘70s, kicks off with “Superstition,” the memorable, high-energy hit from 1972’s “Talking Book” album, before diving generously into Wonder’s landmark trio of Grammy-winning albums: “Innervisions,” “Fulfillingness’ First Finale” and “Songs in the Key of Life.”

After just a single number from “Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants,” Disc 3 concludes with seven tunes from 1980’s “Hotter Than July,” which is generally considered Wonder’s last great album. Disc 4 finishes up with odds and ends, from the sprightly “That Girl” and the Oscar-winning “I Just Called to Say I Love You” to the 1996 teaming with Babyface on “How Come, How Long.”

With more than two dozen studio albums to draw from, there is more than enough material to justify a “Vol. 2.”

*** Margie Joseph’s “Margie Joseph Makes a New Impression/Phase II” (Stax). In the ‘60s, the Stax/Volt sister labels were at the center of Southern R&B;, which offered a grittier, more blues-driven sound than the pop-accented flavor of Motown R&B.; Stax/Volt was the recording home of Otis Redding, Booker T. & the MG’s, Sam & Dave and Eddie Floyd, among others.

Joseph, a Mississippi native whose chief influences were Aretha Franklin and Sarah Vaughan, was just out of her teens when she joined the Stax/Volt family in 1970. After registering an R&B; hit in 1971 with a remake of the Supremes’ “Stop! In the Name of Love,” she and producers Fred Briggs and Darryl Carter began experimenting with a mix of the Stax and Motown approaches. They sometimes aimed for arrangements closer to the old Stax (“Punish Me”) and sometimes closer to lusher Motown (“Sweeter Tomorrow”).

They didn’t have much success commercially, but there are some interesting tracks on Joseph’s first two albums, both of which are being released for the first time on CD in this single-disc album. Joseph later enjoyed greater R&B; success at Atlantic Records, including a Top 10 R&B; version of Paul McCartney’s “My Love” in 1974. But this music is her most intriguing work.

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