Lookin' For Another Pure Love

Album: Talking Book (1972)
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Songfacts®:

  • On his Talking Book album, Stevie Wonder runs an obstacle course of love, with jubilant "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" and "You and I (We Can Conquer the World)" contrasted with the fractured "Tuesday Heartbreak" and "Maybe Your Baby."

    "Lookin' For Another Pure Love" fits the latter category, as Stevie has lost his girl and seeks a replacement. He was going through some ups and downs in his personal life, dealing with a divorce from fellow songwriter Syreeta Wright around the time he was making the album. Wright, though, kept working with Stevie and even co-wrote a song on the album: "Blame It On The Sun."
  • The main instrument on this one is the Fender Rhodes piano, which Stevie played himself. In the studio, his engineers set up an array of instruments he could easily access, and even created a system for him to control multiple synthesizers at once. Wonder spent a lot of time in the studio working on his own, often at very odd hours. On this track, he also played Moog bass and drums.
  • Jeff Beck played guitar on this track - Wonder shouts him out by saying "Do it Jeff" as he starts his solo.

    At one point, Beck was slated to record Wonder's song "Superstition" as reciprocation, but Stevie ended up keeping it for himself and including it on the album.

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