Tribute to Uncle Ray

Tribute to Uncle Ray
Album cover featuring a headshot of a young, smiling Little Stevie Wonder wearing dark sunglasses, set against a solid blue background with the album title "Tribute to Uncle Ray" written in stylized text.
Studio album by
Little Stevie Wonder
ReleasedOctober 1962
Recorded1962
StudiosHitsville U.S.A. Studio A, Detroit, Michigan
Genres
Length31:13
LabelTamla
Producers
Little Stevie Wonder chronology
The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie
(1962)		 Tribute to Uncle Ray
(1962)		 Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius
(1963)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStar[2]
Tom HullB[3]
New Record MirrorStarStarStarStar[4]

Tribute to Uncle Ray is the second studio album by Little Stevie Wonder, released by Motown in October 1962, shortly after The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie. Even though it was released second, it had been recorded first, when Wonder was 11 years old.[5] The album was an attempt by Berry Gordy and Motown to associate the young Wonder with the successful and popular Ray Charles, who was also a blind African-American musician.[6] Like Wonder's debut, this album failed to generate hit singles, as Motown struggled to find a sound to fit Wonder, who was just 12 when this album was released.

Track listing

All songs composed by Ray Charles, except where noted.

Side one

  1. "Hallelujah I Love Her So" – 2:28
  2. "Ain't That Love" – 2:42
  3. "Don't You Know" – 3:03
  4. "(I'm Afraid) The Masquerade Is Over" (Herbert Magidson, Allie Wrubel) – 4:19
  5. "Frankie & Johnny" (Traditional; arranged by Clarence Paul) – 2:51

Side two

  1. "Drown in My Own Tears" (Henry Glover) – 4:01
  2. "Come Back Baby" – 2:50
  3. "Mary Ann" – 2:59
  4. "Sunset" (Stevie Wonder as Stevie Judkins, Clarence Paul) – 3:32
  5. "My Baby's Gone" (Berry Gordy, Jr.) – 2:28

References

  1. ↑ Breihan, Tom (November 15, 2022). "The Supremes - "Where Did Our Love Go"". The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. New York: Hachette Book Group. p. 56.
  2. ↑ Tribute to Uncle Ray review by William Ruhlmann, AllMusic.
  3. ↑ Hull, Tom (November 2013). "Recycled Goods (#114)". A Consumer Guide to the Trailing Edge. Tom Hull. Retrieved May 17, 2026.
  4. ↑ Watson, Jimmy (September 14, 1963). "Little Stevie Wonder: Tribute To Uncle Ray" (PDF). New Record Mirror. No. 131. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 8, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2026.
  5. ↑ Bob Gulla (2008). Icons of R&B and Soul. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 314. ISBN 9780313340468.
  6. ↑ Ribowsky, Mark (2010). Signed, Sealed, and Delivered: The Soulful Journey of Stevie Wonder. Trade Paper Press. ISBN 978-0-470-48150-9.
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