Hey, Harmonica Man by Stevie Wonder released on Stateside Records 1965, value £150

BORN Steveland Judkins, May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan, USA. After being placed in an incubator immediately after his birth, he received too much oxygen causing him to suffer permanent blindness. Despite this handicap he learned to play the piano at the age of seven, and had mastered drums and harmonica at nine years old. After joining a church choir his talents were suggested to Berry Gordy founder of Motown Records. Listening to his audition he signed him to the label renaming him Little Stevie Wonder and released an album The Twelve Year Old Genius, which featured his first chart entry Fingertips, a live recording taken from the album that topped the charts.

Despite a run of hit songs in the US, the UK had to wait until 1966 when Stevie entered the charts with Uptight (Everything's Alright) then had a consecutive run of 14 hits that he co-wrote still as a teenager. This prolific output of songs continued throughout the seventies and eighties having one hit record after another. Songs like I Just Called To Say I Love You and Ebony And Ivory with Paul McCartney have become classics.

Hey, Harmonica Man cannot be compared to the multi-million selling albums such as Songs In The Key of Life, Talking Book or Innervisions, that all won Grammy awards. This was the first to be released under the name of Stevie Wonder, still only a young teenager and almost six feet tall so they decided to drop the 'Little' from his name. Often, when we discover an artist whose music we really enjoy, it can be interesting to delve into their back catalogue to the music that they made while they were emerging from a period of not only musical but probably emotional growth that we too can relate and recognise in the music and songs. The simplicity and innocence of the album cover reflect the beginning of a young man about to go on to achieve success in the music world, the trademark harmonica which is still so recognisable in all his recordings is in his hands. Not the greatest album he ever made, but this is where it all began and that's what makes this album collectable.