If you were putting together a list of the greatest synth bass parts of all time, the one from Stevie Wonder’s Boogie On Reggae Woman - taken from 1974 album Fulfillingness' First Finale - would have to be on there.
Played by Stevie on a Moog synth, not only is it a great sound, but it’s also full of slides, bends and a ridiculous amount of groove.
Now, in an interview with the BBC’s Sidetracked podcast, Wonder has been explaining how he and his collaborators, Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil - owners of the enormous TONTO modular synth - came up with the part, and how its groove inspired the rest of the song.
“When I was working on that, it started with a Moog synthesizer,” Wonder told presenter Annie Macmanus. “I think I had Bob and Malcolm - that’s Bob Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil - come up with a bass sound I wanted.”
By way of demonstration, Wonder goes on to play the iconic bassline on his Harpejji - an instrument that he’s been exploring for the past eight years or so - singing the super-relaxed vocal part for good measure.
“The groove was a kind of blues groove, and I think I drank a beer, because I wanted to have a kind of slurring sound in my voice,” he explains.
Told by Macmanus that the vocal has a laidback feel, Wonder joked: “I was very laidback - laid out, almost.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Wonder offers a more general insight into how he approaches the songwriting process.
“Usually for me, I write the melody first,” he says, before explaining that he hears melodies in his mind. “And along with the melody you do hear the chords in your mind,” he adds.
Taking Love’s In Need Of Love Today - the opening track from 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life - as an example, Wonder says that “I had the chorus kind of together,” with the verse melody and chords coming later.
Tantalising, we also learn that, even though he’s just turned 75 - or “three times 25,” as he puts it - Stevie isn’t done with recording, though there’s no word on when his next album - if indeed it will be an album - will be released.
“I’m going to put music out,” he confirms. “I’m working on my project, which is called Through The Eyes Of Wonder.”
You can listen to the full Sidetracked interview on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
