fingertips
{{short description|1963 single by Stevie Wonder}}
{{about|the song by Stevie Wonder|other uses|Fingertips (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Fingertips
| cover = Fingertips2.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Little Stevie Wonder
| album = The 12 Year Old Genius
| A-side = Fingertips – Part 1
| B-side = Fingertips – Part 2
| released = May 21, 1963
| recorded = June 1962
| studio =
| venue = Regal Theater, Chicago
| length = *6:40 (full version)
- 2:49 (single part 1)
- 3:09 (single part 2)
| label = Tamla
T 54080
| writer = Clarence Paul, Henry Cosby
| producer = Berry Gordy, Jr.
| chronology = Stevie Wonder
| prev_title = Contract On Love
| prev_year = 1962
| next_title = Workout, Stevie, Workout
| next_year = 1963
}}
"Fingertips" is a 1963 hit single recorded live by "Little" Stevie Wonder for Motown's then Tamla label.
Overview
Written and composed by Wonder's mentors, Clarence Paul and Henry Cosby, "Fingertips" was originally a jazz instrumental recorded for Wonder's first studio album, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie. The live version of the song was recorded in 1963 during a Motortown Revue performance at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois.{{cite book|first=C.|last=Semmes|title=The Regal Theater and Black Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oW3JAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA187|date=2 April 2006|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US|isbn=978-1-4039-8330-5|pages=187–}} Containing only a few stanzas of improvised lyrics, "Fingertips" is essentially an instrumental piece, meant to showcase Wonder's talents on the bongos and the harmonica.
="Part 2"=
The edit point that begins "Part 2" of "Fingertips" is when Wonder shouts "Everybody say 'yeah!'", initiating a call-and-response exchange with the audience. After a couple of sung verses, each followed by Wonder's brief harmonica playing (solos accompanied only by the audience's rhythmic clapping),{{Pop Chronicles |25|5 |Stevie Wonder}} Wonder appears to bring things to a conclusion, right after slyly (and humorously) playing a line of "Mary Had A Little Lamb" on his harmonica, making everyone laugh. On the night of the recording, Wonder, as usual started to leave the stage and the band went into the exit music, as musician and emcee Bill Murray (known professionally as Winehead Willie){{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6NuPn_TNogC&pg=PA99 |title=Motown: Music, Money, Sex, and Power |chapter=Battle of the Stars |last=Posner |first=Gerald |author-link=Gerald Posner |publisher=Random House |page=99 |isbn=9780307538628 |date=April 2, 2009 |access-date=November 9, 2016 |via=Google Books}} exhorted the crowd to "give him a hand"; however, Wonder unexpectedly changed his mind, returning to sing the "goodbye" encore. The other musicians were caught out, and the bass players had changed over to prepare for the next act on the bill, Mary Wells.{{Cite web|url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/stevie-wonder-makes-hot-100-debut-by-his-fingertips/|title=Stevie Wonder Makes Hot 100 Debut By His 'Fingertips'|first=Paul|last=Sexton|website=udiscovermusic|date=June 22, 2019}} As Wonder moves into his impromptu encore, the new bass player, Joe Swift, having replaced Larry Moses, can be heard on the recording, yelling out: "What key? What key?"{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V6Cu3SEKObkC&pg=PA28|page=28|title=Stevie Wonder|author= Tenley Williams|publisher=Infobase Publishing|date=January 1, 2002|isbn=9781438122632}}
=Release=
The live version of "Fingertips" was released on May 21, 1963, as a two-part single, with Part 2 (with the encore) as the B-side. The 707 mono features "Sunset" and "Contract on Love". By August, the single B-side had reached the top of both the Billboard Pop Singles and R&B Singles charts.{{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=803}} "Fingertips" was Motown's second number-one pop hit (following The Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman"), and launched the then 13-year-old Wonder to prominence. The single's success helped Wonder's live album, Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius, reach number-one on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, making him the youngest artist to accomplish that feat. {{cite web|url=https://classic.motown.com/story/stevie-wonder-3/ |website=Motown|title=Stevie Wonder|access-date=2025-02-16}} Because of Part 2's success, it would later feature on various compilation albums just as the full recording. In Canada the song reached number 6.{{cite web|url=http://chumtribute.com/63-08-12-chart.jpg| title=CHUM Hit Parade - August 12, 1963}}
Both the studio and live versions of the song featured drumming by Marvin Gaye, who had been playing drums for Wonder and other Motown artists and would become a big Motown star in his own right.{{cite book|first=Les|last=MacDonald|title=The Day the Music Died|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wvlGJVRUkIIC&pg=PA226|date=8 July 2010|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=978-1-4691-1356-2|pages=226–}}
Personnel
- Vocals, bongos, and harmonica by Little Stevie Wonder
- Drums by Marvin Gaye
- Bass by James Jamerson, Larry Moses, Joe Swift
- Horn Arrangement by Johnny Allen
- Recording engineer, Ron Steele Sr.
In popular culture
The song is used in trailers for Jordan Peele's movie Nope.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/video/nope-super-bowl-ad-jordan-peeles-latest-universal-horror-film/|title=Nope: Watch Super Bowl Ad|date=February 13, 2022|first=Matt|last=Grobar|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=February 14, 2022}} as well as in More American Graffiti.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{discogs master|master=239987|name=Little Stevie Wonder: Fingertips}}
{{Stevie Wonder}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Category:Cashbox number-one singles
Category:Songs written by Henry Cosby
Category:Songs written by Clarence Paul