Thursday, December 31, 2015

Rolling Stone's List of the 50 Best Albums of 2015



As the curtain falls on 2015, it might be hard to remember any albums released this year besides Adele's record-breaking, generation-uniting, triple-platinum-and-counting 25. But there was so much more to hear. Kendrick Lamar's Molotov-cocktail-tossing hip-hop, D'Angelo’s razor-sharp R&B and Kamasi Washington's restorative jazz all made major statements, feeling like three crucial dispatches from the #BlackLivesMatter protests under three black-and-white covers.

Read more @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-best-albums-of-2015-20151201#ixzz3vdGRAQN8

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

MGMT Tease Return in 2016




It appears as if Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser are readying a comeback as MGMT. A message on the band’s Twitter account noted that “2016 is the year MGMT re-dominates your mind hole.”

Read more @ jambands.com

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Motley Crue: Where Do They Go From Here? (UCR)




With the Dec. 31 conclusion of Motley Crue‘s final tour looming, one question remains: Where do they go from here? 

Read More of Corbin Reiff's article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Motley Crue: Where Do They Go From Here? 

Monday, December 28, 2015

moe. Plan ‘Star Wars’ Bustouts for January 1 (jambands.com)



On Halloween, moe. presented a Star Wars themed show that saw the group put a special twist on some of their originals. Along with interspersing clips from various Star Wars films an jamming on the iconic John Williams score, the band turned some of their originals into Star Wars tunes, including “Shoot First” into “Han Shot First,” “St. Augustine” into “Senator Palpatine,” “Moth” into “Hoth” and others.

Read more @ jambands.com

Sunday, December 27, 2015

On the turntable this Sunday...In Search of..



In Search of... is the debut album released by N.E.R.D. The group originally released it in Europe in 2001, where Kelis' Neptunes-produced album Wanderland, was better received. Similarly to Kelis' early work, the original version of In Search of... juxtaposes hip-hop and rock influences and styles.
In 2002, the album was re-released worldwide with the electronic production backing replaced by backing provided by 1960s-style power pop band Spymob, giving the new version of the album more of a rock-oriented sound. The skits and the intro were also dropped, significantly shortening the play length.

Read more @ Wikipedia

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Randall Bramblett and The Mega-Blasters Will Join Widespread Panic on New Year’s Eve




Randall Bramblett and The Mega-Blasters horn section will once again sit in with Widespread Panic on New Years Eve. The Georgia jamband icons confirmed the news on their Facebook page earlier this week. Widespread Panic will close the year at Atlanta, GA’s Fox Theatre from December 29-31. The stretch of shows is their first proper headlining shows at the intimate Fox since their 25th anniversary celebration in early 2011.

Read more @ jambands.com 

Friday, December 25, 2015

Thursday, December 24, 2015

2015’s Coolest Rock Stories (Ultimate Classic Rock)




As 2015 comes to a close, your friends at Ultimate Classic Rock are taking a look back at the year that was — specifically, some of the best, worst and weirdest stories we’ve covered over the last 12 months.

Read More of Jeff Giles' article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: 2015's Coolest Rock Stories 

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Florence and The Machine, My Morning Jacket and More Cover Eagles of Death Metal for Charity (jambands.com)




After the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13 that included an assault on the Eagles of Death Metal concert, the band put out a request to the music community asking artists to cover their “I Love You All the Time,” a track off their most recent album, with the promise that they would donate all royalties to charity.

Read more @ jambandscom 

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Chris Stapleton: Country's Breakout Star Talks Big Year, New Music (Rolling Stone)




There's an inscription inside Chris Stapleton's wedding ring that doubles as one of the highlights of his concerts: "You Are My Sunshine." Before he and his wife Morgane said, "I do," the former Ms. Hayes had the title to the oft-covered Jimmie Davis classic secretly engraved in Stapleton's wedding band.

Read more @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/chris-stapleton-countrys-breakout-star-talks-big-year-new-music-20151218#ixzz3uhpd0574

Sunday, December 20, 2015

On the turntable this Sunday...A Very Special Christmas




A Very Special Christmas is the first in the A Very Special Christmas series of Christmas-themed compilation albums produced to benefit Special Olympics. The album was released in 1987, and production was overseen by Jimmy Iovine for A&M Records. A Very Special Christmas has also raised millions of dollars for the Special Olympics. The cover artwork was designed by Keith Haring.

On January 16, 1998, the album was certified Quadruple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of four million copies in the United States.
As of November 2014, A Very Special Christmas is the nineteenth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States during the SoundScan era of music sales tracking (March 1991 – present), having sold 2,520,000 copies according to SoundScan.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Suwannee Springfest Reveals Lineup (jambands.com)




The 20th Annual Suwannee Springfest has announced its initial lineup, which is topped by John Prine, The Del McCoury Band, Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass, Infamous Stringdusters and Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers.

Read more @ jambands.com

Thursday, December 17, 2015

UCR's Top 20 Albums of 2015



The Top 20 Albums of 2015 found some classic-rock legends pushing their craft into audacious new areas, some returning with new perspective to earlier sounds and others simply confirming their towering legends. Click through the above gallery to find out how they all ranked.

Read More of Nick DeRiso's article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Top 20 Albums of 2015 

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Luther Dickinson to Release Career-Spanning Blues & Ballads Double Album (jambands.com)



Luther Dickinson will release Blues & Ballads (A Folksinger’s Songbook: Volumes I & II) on February 5 via New West Records.

The career-spanning double album includes 21 new songs from throughout the guitarist’s life, including songs he wrote with North Mississippi Allstars, songs he learned from friends and family, songs passed down to him by his heroes and mentors, songs that have lived in the American subconscious for decades now-presented in a similar, stripped down palette of voice, guitar, drums and some blues fife and Beale Street piano...

Read more @ jambands.com

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

'A Charlie Brown Christmas' at 50: The Making of a Classic Soundtrack (Rolling Stone)



The legend goes like this: In 1963, producer Lee Mendelson made a documentary about Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, for which he needed music. One night, Mendelson was driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, tuned into a San Francisco jazz station. "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" came on the air, a drifting cut where melodies appear and then disappear, and bouncing elation is matched by tiny moments of despair. The track was pianist Vince Guaraldi's mini-hit that year, and Mendelson was struck by how it sounded simultaneously adult and childlike.

Read more @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/a-charlie-brown-christmas-at-50-the-making-of-a-classic-soundtrack-20151209#ixzz3uLLpS33K

Monday, December 14, 2015

Steve Perry Reveals Plans for New Solo Album (UCR)




Steve Perry has spent most of 2015 working on his first solo album in more than 20 years.
The former Journey vocalist shared the news during a call-in to the Mark in the Morning show on KSWD-FM in Los Angeles (via Melodic Rock), during which Perry — who was phoning to wish radio personality “Uncle” Joe Benson a happy birthday — fielded a few questions about his future plans.


Read More of Jeff Giles' article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Steve Perry Reveals Plans for New Solo Album


Sunday, December 13, 2015

On the turntable this Sunday...A Charlie Brown Christmas

A Charlie Brown Christmas is the fifth studio album by American jazz group the Vince Guaraldi Trio. The album was released in December 1965 in the United States by Fantasy Records. It is the soundtrack to the CBS Christmas television special of the same name. Guaraldi was contacted by television producer Lee Mendelson several years prior to compose music for a documentary on the comic strip Peanuts and its creator, Charles M. Schulz. Although the special went unaired, these selections were released in 1964 as Jazz Impressions of "A Boy Named Charlie Brown". Coca-Cola commissioned a Christmas special based on Peanuts in 1965 and Guaraldi returned to score the special. 

A Charlie Brown Christmas features several originals ("Christmas Time Is Here", "Linus and Lucy") as well as covers of contemporary Christmas songs ("The Christmas Song", "O Tannenbaum"). The score for the special was largely cut at recording sessions at Glendale, California's Whitney Studio. Much of this material was later re-recorded by Guaraldi at three sessions later in the year at Fantasy Recording Studios in San Francisco, alongside a choir of children culled from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in nearby San Rafael. The sessions ran late into the night, with the children rewarded with ice cream afterwards. Bassist Fred Marshall and drummer Jerry Granelli have been credited as performing on the album, although a host of musicians claim to have recorded the album.

Released a week prior to the broadcast premiere of the special, A Charlie Brown Christmas sold well, and became increasingly famous in the ensuing decades. It is among the most popular Christmas albums in the United States, where it has been certified Triple Platinum, having shipped at least three million copies. As of November 2014, A Charlie Brown Christmas is the tenth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States during the SoundScan era of music sales tracking (March 1991 – present), having sold 3,410,000 copies according to SoundScan.

The Vince Guaraldi Trio's A Charlie Brown Christmas has been voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry list of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" sound recordings.


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saturday, December 12, 2015

50 Years of 'Rubber Soul': How the Beatles Invented the Future of Pop (Rolling Stone)




Happy 50th birthday to Rubber Soul, the album where the Beatles became the Beatles. It was the most out-there music they'd ever made, but also their warmest, friendliest and most emotionally direct. As soon as it dropped in December 1965, Rubber Soul cut the story of pop music in half — we're all living in the future this album invented.

Read more @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/50-years-of-rubber-soul-how-the-beatles-invented-the-future-of-pop-20151203#ixzz3tXW2WYrM

Friday, December 11, 2015

Scott Weiland: 20 Essential Songs (Rolling Stone)




Last Thursday night, Scott Weiland was found dead on his tour bus at the age of 48. Throughout a two-decade-plus career with Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver and various solo ventures, the singer became just as well known for his personal demons as for his obvious musical talents, but his recorded legacy stands strong. Weiland's signature baritone delivery, glam-derived swagger and way with a tender hook made him one of the standout voices of the Nineties and beyond. Here are 20 essential songs from his sizable catalog.

Read more @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/scott-weiland-20-essential-songs-20151204#ixzz3tTDzhNid

Thursday, December 10, 2015

New Website Phinest Version Seeks the Best of the Best of Phish (jambands.com)



A new website, Phinest Version, is trying to find the best versions of all the fan-favorite Phish songs by asking band connoisseurs to name and vote on which live version they think is the best of the best.

Read more @ jambands.com

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Joe Satriani Unveils Details of 2016 G4 Experience Guitar Clinic (UCR)




Joe Satriani will bring his G4 Experience guitar clinic back for its third annual outing in 2016. Scheduled for Aug. 8-12, 2016, the G4 will take the action from Cambria, Calif., cross-country to Long Island, N.Y. — a move that, as Satriani explains on the event website, is about much more than a simple change of scenery.


Read More of Jeff Giles' article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Joe Satriani Unveils Details of 2016 G4 Experience Guitar Clinic 

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Bruce Springsteen, ‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection': Album Review (UCR)




Back in 1979, Bruce Springsteen was all set to release the follow-up to the previous year’s Darkness on the Edge of Town. After legal problems made the wait between that album and its predecessor, the breakthrough Born to Run, a long three years – an eternity in the ’70s – Springsteen was more than ready to get back into the studio.

Read More of Michael Gallucci's review
 @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Bruce Springsteen, ‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection': Album Review 

Monday, December 7, 2015

The Arcs Almost Finished with Next Album (jambands.com)




After releasing an EP that features Dr. John and David Hidalgo, Dan Auerbach told Billboard that he and his band The Arcs are “really close” to finishing their next album, which would be a follow-up to this year’s Yours, Dreamily,.

Read more @ jambands.com

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Eagles of Death Metal to Play with U2 in Paris, Continue Tour (jambands.com)





Eagles of Death Metal, who were playing at Paris music venue Le Bataclan on November 13 when it suffered a terrorist attack that left 89 dead, are reportedly returning to the French capital this weekend...

Read more @ jambands.com

On The Turntable this Sunday...Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!




On December 18, 1966, MGM released a soundtrack LP in conjunction with the television special. CD releases include albums produced by Island (1995) and Mercury Records. In the recorded version, Boris Karloff does all voices except Cindy Lou Who (which is again voiced by Foray). The song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" includes all verses with their original rhyming lyrics and the isolated song tracks have different durations due to being re-recorded.

On Oct 5, 1999, Rhino Entertainment released a new CD soundtrack (which included the soundtrack for another Dr. Seuss cartoon, Horton Hears a Who). Both story collections contain selected dialogue and music numbers. The "isolated music tracks" in this edition are taken directly from the television soundtrack and are not the re-recorded tracks from earlier versions. The dialogues are the originals, being voiced by Boris Karloff for "Grinch" and Hans Conried for "Horton."

Because Ravenscroft was not credited in the closing credits as singing the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch", it is sometimes attributed to Boris Karloff. After becoming aware of this oversight, Seuss himself called Ravenscroft and apologized profusely and later wrote letters to columnists nationwide telling them that it was Ravenscroft who provided vocals for the musical number.[citation needed] Karloff received a Grammy Award in the Spoken Word category—the only major performing award of his career—for the album.

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Styx Announce $25,000 Donation for Victims of Paris Attacks (UCR)




The members of Styx have announced that Rock to the Rescue, the nonprofit organization they co-founded with REO Speedwagon, has donated a sizable sum to relief for families affected by the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.

Read More of Jeff Giles' article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Styx Announce $25,000 Donation for Victims of Paris Attacks

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Bono to Auction Off Bike Ride for (RED) Campaign (Rolling Stone)




One year after Bono was seriously injured from a bike accident in New York City's Central Park, the U2 frontman is auctioning off a bike ride to a donor as part of a campaign for his organization (RED), which raises money to battle AIDS. That ride with rock royalty can be won by donating at least $10 through the Omaze platform. The campaign launches on Tuesday, December 1st, to honor World AIDS Day, The Associated Press reports.

Read more Ryan Reed's article @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bono-to-auction-off-bike-ride-for-red-campaign-20151130#ixzz3sziQNL3C

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

My Morning Jacket Cover Eagles of Death Metal in Beacon Theatre Finale (jambands.com)





My Morning Jacket closed out their rarity-filled, career-spanning four night Beacon Theatre run in New York City Saturday night with a 21-song setlist that saw the band once again dig deep along with offering a slew of their live staples. 

Read full article @ jambands.com

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Journey Welcome Back Drummer Steve Smith, Announce 2016 Tour With Doobie Brothers (UCR)




Journey will have another busy year on the concert circuit in 2016 — and they’ll return to the road with drummer Steve Smith, who’s back in the lineup for the first time since the ’90s.


Read More of Jeff Giles' article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Journey Welcome Back Drummer Steve Smith, Announce 2016 Tour With Doobie Brothers 

Sunday, November 29, 2015

On the turntable this Sunday...Oranges & Lemons




Oranges & Lemons is the eleventh studio album by the English band XTC, released in 1989. The name of the album came from the old English nursery rhyme also referenced in the song "Ballet for a Rainy Day" on their previous album Skylarking.

The band was sent to Los Angeles to record the album, and Paul Fox was recruited for his first producing gig. The album was lushly produced with multiple overdubs on almost every track, yielding its psychedelic feel.

The album produced three singles, "The Mayor of Simpleton", "King for a Day", and "The Loving". "The Mayor of Simpleton" was a minor US hit (reaching No. 1 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 46 on the UK singles chart) and was the only XTC song ever to hit the US Hot 100 chart. It was accompanied by a music video, which resembled the opening credits of an Avengers-type TV show and saw significant airplay on MTV, especially on the alternative music show 120 Minutes. In addition, "King for a Day" reached No. 10 on the US alternative / modern rock charts. The album itself was a commercial success, reaching No. 1 on the US college / alternative album chart, No. 44 on the US Billboard Top 200 chart, and No. 28 on the UK album chart.

To promote the album and appease the stage-shy Andy Partridge, the band went on a two-week acoustic radio-station tour of the US on which they performed a few songs from the album and a few medleys of earlier hits, as well as album reject "Blue Beret". The tour commenced on 15 May 1989 in Boston and ended on 31 May 1989 at Eastern Sound Studios in Toronto before a live studio audience of two hundred people.

The album cover, designed by Yellow Submarine artist Heinz Edelmann, is directly inspired by a 1965 WOR-FM 98.7 radio advert poster by Milton Glaser.

The album has been remixed for stereo and 5.1 surround sound from the original analogue tapes by Steven Wilson for upcoming release in 2015.

Read more @ Wikipedia

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving from The Showbiz Kids!




As you and your families enjoy Thanksgiving, we at The Showbiz Kids are thankful for the support and folks who continue to check out our site. Happy Thanksgiving!

-Will Fisher, The Showbiz Kids











Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Foo Fighters Release Surprise EP Dedicated to Paris Victims (jambands.com)




Over the last month on Foo Fighters’ website, the band has teased a countdown that was set to end on November 23. With that date now here, the group has revealed a surprise EP dubbed Saint Cecilia that is available to download and stream via the band’s website. Dave Grohl also penned a lengthy open letter detailing the recording process, which stretches back to last October.

Read more @ jambands.com

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

December 2015 New Music Releases (Ultimate Classic Rock)




This list of December 2015 new music releases syncs up with our looming gift-giving season, as a bundle of huge reissues arrive just in time for the holidays. We take a look at some of the most interesting of those upcoming projects, and also offer a peek into what’s in store for early 2016.

Read More of Nick DeRiso's @ Ultimate Classic Rock: December 2015 New Music Releases

Monday, November 23, 2015

Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals to Release First Album in Eight Years (jambands.com)




Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals will release their first studio album in eight years, Call It What It Is, in the wake of their recent reunion tour. The album, due out April 8 via Stax Records, follows up 2007’s Lifeline and, as Harper told Rolling Stone, “has been a priority for a while now.”

Read more @ jambands.com

Sunday, November 22, 2015

On the turntable this Sunday...Continuum




Continuum is the third studio album by American musician John Mayer, released September 12, 2006 on Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during November 2005 to September 2006 at The Village Recorder in Los Angeles, California, Avatar Studios and Right Track/Sound on Sound in New York City, and Royal Studios in Memphis, Tennessee.[4] Production was handled primarily by Mayer and Steve Jordan. It marked a change in Mayer's musical style, and incorporated musical elements of blues and soul more heavily than in his previous work with pop-rock.

The album debuted at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 300,186 copies in its first week. It also reached the top-ten in several other countries and sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Upon its release, Continuum received generally positive reviews from most music critics and earned Mayer several accolades, including a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 49th Grammy Awards. Rolling Stone magazine named it the eleventh best album of 2006.

Mayer made the decision to name his third album Continuum at least a year before the album was released. In his column in the April 2005 issue of Esquire, Mayer wrote, "I'm obsessed with time lately, constantly crunching the numbers to get some sense of where I stand in the continuum." In his column in the September 2005 issue of Esquire he confirmed the title, writing, "I've never experienced anything like the recording process involved in making Continuum, my third-album-to-be.

The album features mainly new songs, though "Gravity" and "Vultures" are available in live versions from John Mayer Trio's Try!, and "Bold as Love", which is a Jimi Hendrix cover: the first Hendrix cover that Mayer has ever recorded as a studio release (although Mayer has recorded other Hendrix songs over time in live settings such as "The Wind Cries Mary" and "Wait Until Tomorrow"). (Mayer had played "Bold as Love" live many times prior to the release of Continuum such as on the televised Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope which aired on January 15, 2005.) The album contains a collaboration between Mayer and 8-string guitarist Charlie Hunter on the tune "In Repair". The song "Stop this Train" was written during a time of, what Mayer calls, "solitary refinement;" He was in bed suffering from double kidney stones, and living in a hotel while finding a new residence. 

Read more at Wikipedia

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Jeff Lynne’s Long-Awaited Return to Electric Light Orchestra (Paste)




For the first time in nearly 15 years, esteemed singer/songwriter, producer and musician Jeff Lynne will release a new Electric Light Orchestra album. He’s renamed the band—it’s newly minted as Jeff’s Lynne’s ELO— for the recently released LP titled Alone in the Universe.



 

Read more of Joshua M. Miller's article @ Paste

Friday, November 20, 2015

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Tom Petty to Curate Own SiriusXM Channel (Rolling Stone)




Tom Petty will soon be the recipient of his own satellite radio station as SiriusXM have revealed plans to launch Tom Petty Radio. The Petty-curated channel – which will focus on all aspects of his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career, from his solo work and the Heartbreakers to the Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch – will begin its transmission on November 20th on SiriusXM's Channel 31.


Read more @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-petty-to-curate-own-siriusxm-channel-20151117#ixzz3rl7Em6Kw

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Ween Reunites for Two Colorado Concerts (UCR)




All hail the Boognish! Ween are reuniting for their first concerts in over four years. The group will perform February 12 and 13 at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colo.

Read More of Matthew Wilkening's article @ Ultimate Classic Rock : Ween Reunites for Two Colorado Concerts

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Monday, November 16, 2015

Warren Haynes Adds US Tour Dates for 2016




Warren Haynes has added some U.S. dates for his Ashes & Dust tour, which is currently underway in Europe, with a stop at the Granada Theater in Dallas, TN on February 17th.  

Please follow the link to Warren's site for more information and to purchase tickets.


Warren Haynes 2016 U.S. Tour Dates:

February 17 Dallas, TX—Granada Theater
February 18 San Antonio, TX—Empire Theatre
February 19 Austin, TX—Emo’s
February 20 Houston, TX—House of Blues Houston
February 23 St. Paul, MN—Fitzgerald Theater
February 24 Milwaukee, WI—Riverside Theater
February 26 Cleveland, OH—House of Blues Cleveland
February 27 Lexington, KY—Lexington Opera House
February 28 Knoxville, TN—Bijou Theatre
March 1 Wilmington, DE—Grand Opera House
March 3 Jim Thorpe, PA—Penn’s Peak
March 4 Northampton, MA—Calvin Theatre
March 5 Albany, NY—The Egg 

Sunday, November 15, 2015

On the turntable this Sunday...Songs in the Key of Life



Songs in the Key of Life is the eighteenth album by American recording artist Stevie Wonder, released on September 28, 1976, by Motown Records. It was the culmination of his "classic period" albums. The album was recorded primarily at Crystal Sound studio in Hollywood, with some sessions recorded at the Record Plant in Hollywood, the Record Plant in Sausalito, and The Hit Factory in New York City. Final mixing was performed at Crystal Sound.

An ambitious double LP with a four-song bonus EP,   Songs in the Key of Life became among the best-selling and most critically acclaimed albums of his career. In 2005, it was ranked number 57 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In the same year it was preserved into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, which called it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

By 1976, Stevie Wonder had become one of the most popular figures in R&B and pop music, not only in the U.S., but worldwide. Within a short space of time, the albums Talking Book, Innervisions and Fulfillingness' First Finale were all back-to-back top five successes, with the latter two winning Grammy Award for Album of the Year, in 1974 and 1975, respectively. By the end of 1975, Wonder became serious about quitting the music industry and emigrating to Ghana to work with handicapped children. He had expressed his anger with the way that the U.S. government was running the country.  A farewell concert was being considered as the best way to bring down the curtain on his career. Wonder changed his decision, when he signed a new contract with Motown on August 5, 1975, thinking he was better off making the most of his career. At the time, rivals such as Arista and Epic were also interested in him. The contract was laid out as a seven-year, seven LP, $37 million deal and gave him full artistic control, making this the largest deal made with a recording star up to that point.   Almost at the beginning Wonder took a year off from the music market, with a project for a double album to be released in 1976.

There was huge anticipation for the new album which was initially scheduled for release around October 1975. It was delayed on short notice when Wonder felt that further remixing was essential. According to Wonder, the marketing campaign at Motown decided to take advantage of the delay by producing "We're almost finished" T-shirts.  Work on the new album continued into early 1976. A name was finally chosen for the album: Songs in the Key of Life. The title would represent the formula of a complex "key of life" and the proposals for indefinite success. The album was released on September 28, 1976 after a two-year wait as a double LP album with a four track seven-inch EP titled A Something's Extra ("Saturn", "Ebony Eyes", "All Day Sucker" and "Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)") and a 24-page lyric and credit booklet. 

Read more @ Wikipedia