Uptight (Everything's Alright)
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Uptight (Everything's Alright)
| image = Uptight everythings alright by stevie wonder US reissue side-A.png
| alt = side-A label
| caption = One of label variants for a US reissue
| type = single
| artist = Stevie Wonder
| album = Up-Tight
| B-side = Purple Rain Drops
| released = November 22, 1965
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre =
- Soul
- funk{{cite web|last= Pitchfork Staff |title= The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s |website= Pitchfork |date= August 18, 2006 |url= https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/6405-the-200-greatest-songs-of-the-1960s/|quote= It’s all in this rich girl/poor boy tale: the freakish optimism, opulent funk...|accessdate= October 12, 2022}}
| length = 2:52
| label = Tamla
| writer = {{hlist|Stevie Wonder|Sylvia Moy|Henry Cosby}}
| producer = {{hlist|Mickey Stevenson|Henry Cosby}}
| prev_title = Hi Heel Sneakers
| prev_year = 1965
| next_title = Nothing's Too Good For My Baby
| next_year = 1966
| misc = {{Audio sample
| type = single
| file = Stevie Wonder-Everything.ogg
}}
{{External music video|{{YouTube|rXXmeYQRifc|"Uptight (Everything's Alright)"}}|header=Audio video}}
}}
"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder for the Tamla (Motown) label.{{Pop Chronicles|50|2|Stevie Wonder}} One of his most popular early singles, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" was the first hit single that Wonder himself co-wrote.
A notable success, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" peaked at number three on the US Billboard Pop Singles chart in early 1966, at the same time reaching the top of the Billboard R&B Singles chart for five weeks.{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=635}} Billboard ranked it as the 59th biggest American hit of 1966.{{cite web|url=http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1966.htm |title=Top 100 Hits of 1966/Top 100 Songs of 1966 |website=Musicoutfitters.com |access-date=September 29, 2016}} An accompanying album, Up-Tight (1966), was rushed into production to capitalize on the single's success. It also garnered Wonder his first two career Grammy Award nominations for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance.
Background
Wonder had a US number-one hit with "Fingertips" in 1963, and two more singles in the Top 40: "Workout, Stevie, Workout" (1963) and "Hey Harmonica Man" (1964) . But in 1965 at age 15 his voice had begun to change, and Motown CEO Berry Gordy was worried that he would no longer be a commercially viable artist. As it turned out, however, producer Clarence Paul found it easier to work with Wonder's now-mature tenor voice, and Sylvia Moy and Henry Cosby set about writing a new song for the artist, based upon an instrumental riff that Wonder had devised.{{cite web|url=http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Stevie%20Wonder.html |title=Stevie Wonder Page |website=Soulwalking.co.uk |access-date=September 29, 2016}} Nelson George, in Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound,George, Nelson. Where Did Our Love Go?: the rise & fall of the Motown sound By Nelson George. Omnibus Press, 2003. {{ISBN|0-7119-9511-7}} recorded that Wonder had been inspired by the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" after playing several tour dates with the Stones. As Wonder presented his ideas, finished or not, "he went through everything," remembered Moy. "I asked, 'Are you sure you don't have anything else?' He started singing and playing 'Everything is alright, uptight.' That was as much as he had. I said, 'That's it. Let's work with that.'"Mojo Magazine, January 1996, p. 32. The resulting song, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", features lyrics depicting a poor young man's appreciation for a rich girl seeing beyond his poverty.
On the day of the recording, Moy had completed the lyrics, but didn't have them in braille for Wonder to read, and so sang the song to him as he was recording it. She sang a line ahead of him, and he simply repeated the lines as he heard them. In 2008, Moy commented that "he never missed a beat" during the recording.Martin Freeman Goes to Motown, BBC television, January 6, 2009
Cash Box described it as a "rhythmic, fast-moving, chorus backed pop-r&b ditty all about a lucky fella who’s got the world on a string."{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=December 11, 1965 |page=12 |access-date=January 12, 2022 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1965/CB-1965-12-11.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}}
Personnel
- Stevie Wonder – vocals, keyboards
- James Jamerson – bass
- Benny Benjamin – drums
- The Funk Brothers – additional instrumentation
- Johnny Allen – horn arrangement
- The Andantes – background vocals
Liner notes. The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 5: 1965, Hip-O Select – B0006755-02, August 4, 2006
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1965–1966)
! Peak |
|---|
| UK Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|14 |
| US Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| US Cash Box Top 100{{Cite web |url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19660219.html |title=Cash Box Top 100 Singles (February 19, 1966) |access-date=May 23, 2020 |archive-date=January 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129175100/https://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19660219.html |url-status=dead }}
| style="text-align:center;"|3 |
| CAN RPM Top 100{{cite web|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/RPM/60s/1966/RPM-1966-11-07.pdf| title=RPM Magazine - November 7, 1966 - Page 5}}
| style="text-align:center;"|50 |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| align="left"|Chart (1966)
! style="text-align:center;"|Rank |
|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|59 |
| U.S. Cash Box{{Cite web |url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/1966YESP.html |title=The Cash Box Year-End Charts: 1966 (December 24, 1966) |access-date=May 23, 2020 |archive-date=January 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113152623/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/1966YESP.html |url-status=dead }}
| style="text-align:center;"|12 |
{{col-end}}
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|artist=Stevie Wonder|title=Uptight|award=Gold|relyear=1965|certyear=2024|source=radioscope|access-date=April 25, 2025}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Stevie Wonder|title=Uptight (Everythings Alright)|award=Gold|relyear=2007|certyear=2024|id=16121-82-1|access-date=October 29, 2024}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
Other notable versions
A note-for-note re-recording of Wonder's version was used as the backing track for Bill Cosby's 1967 musical comedy single, "Little Ole Man (Uptight, Everything's Alright)", which was a US number 4 hit. Bill Cosby is not related to the song's co-writer Henry Cosby.
In 1994, British reggae singer C. J. Lewis released a cover version under the title "Everything Is Alright (Uptight)".{{cite magazine|title=Single Releases|magazine=Music Week|page=25|date=July 9, 1994}} His version reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his second and final UK top-10 hit.{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/30178/c-j-lewis/|title=C J Lewis|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=February 17, 2023}} It also entered the top 20 in Ireland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.{{cite web|url=http://irishcharts.ie/search/placement?page=1&search_type=title&placement=Everything+Is+Alright+(Uptight)|title=The Irish Charts – Search Results – Everything Is Alright (Uptight)|publisher=Irish Singles Chart|access-date=February 17, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=CJ+Lewis&titel=Everything+Is+Alright+%28Uptight%29&cat=s|title=CJ Lewis – Everything Is Alright (Uptight)|website=charts.nz|access-date=February 17, 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Stevie Wonder}}
{{Nancy Wilson}}
{{Human Nature (band)}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Nancy Wilson (jazz singer) songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Henry Cosby
Category:Song recordings produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson
Category:Songs written by Henry Cosby
Category:Songs written by Stevie Wonder
Category:Songs written by Sylvia Moy