1974 was a great year for releases by musical legends, as my previous six Decades posts have shown. Imagine getting albums from Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Randy Newman and David Bowie all in the same year. Now add Stevie Wonder to that mix, and know I still have eight more posts to go. What a time that must have been for music fans!

Wonder’s 1974 release was Fulfillingness’ First Finale, his 17th studio album. This one won the Best Album Grammy the following year, one of three times Wonder won that award (he won all three in a four-year span, becoming the only artist in history to win Best Album for three consecutive releases).

This is my least favorite of those three albums, though that says more about the greatness of the other two (Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life) than about Fulfillingness’ First Finale.

This album is relatively modest, running just ten tracks and 42 minutes. Of course, there’s nothing modest about Wonder’s musical virtuosity, as he plays nearly every instrument on each of those tracks.

The best-known song on the album is ‘They Won’t Go When I Go,’ which enjoyed a resurgence when George Michael covered it on his 1990 album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. Wonder did score a #1 hit with ‘You Haven’t Done Nothin’,’ a track aimed at Richard Nixon that featured backing vocals by the Jackson 5.

Today’s song, ‘Boogie on Reggae Woman,’ also charted, and features some nifty harmonica work.

If you’re a fan of Stevie Wonder, I heartily recommend watching the Hulu documentary Summer of Soul, directed by Questlove. It is a rousing look at a pivotal time in musical, cultural and political history and features great performances by Wonder and a host of other artists.