"He's Misstra Know-It-All" is a single by Stevie Wonder for the Tamla (Motown) label, from his Innervisions album, which reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1974.[2] The song takes the form of a mellow ballad with a steady beat, principally a solo performance with Wonder providing lead vocal, background vocal, piano, drums, handclaps and congas. Ethereal flute-like sounds are provided by his TONTO modular synthesiser. Willie Weeks, on electric bass, is the only other musician. Towards the end of the song the mood changes to a stronger feel, more strident singing and with hand-claps emphasising the beat, half-beat and quarter-beat.
| "He's Misstra Know-It-All" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Stevie Wonder | ||||
| from the album Innervisions | ||||
| B-side | "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover" | |||
| Released | April 1974 | |||
| Recorded | 1973[citation needed] | |||
| Genre | Soul, pop[1] | |||
| Length | 3:25 (single version) 5:38 (album version) | |||
| Label | Tamla | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Stevie Wonder | |||
| Producer(s) | Stevie Wonder | |||
| Stevie Wonder singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Official audio | ||||
| He's Misstra Know-It-All (album version) on YouTube | ||||
The song was released again in 1977 in both the UK and US as the B-side to "Sir Duke".
The song is essentially a long description of a know-it-all confidence trickster character who is a "man with a plan", who has a slick answer to all his critics and who has "a counterfeit dollar in his hand." It has been alleged that this is a reference to United States' President Richard Nixon, who resigned the same year the song was released.[3][4][5]
Track listing
editA. "He's Misstra Know-It-All" – 3:25 (Stevie Wonder)
B. "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover" – 2:32[6] (Wonder, Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy)[7]
Personnel
edit- Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, piano, drums, handclaps, TONTO synthesizer, congas
- Willie Weeks – electric bass
References
edit- ^ John McFerrin. "Stevie Wonder- Innervisions". Archived from the original on July 2, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
- ^ "Official Charts Company - Stevie Wonder". Official UK Charts. July 23, 2012. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
- ^ Arthur Chappell, "The Story In The Song - Stevie Wonder - He's Misstra Know It All", Bubblews, January 10, 2014. Archived April 22, 2015, at archive.today.
- ^ Daniel E. Frick, "Reinventing Richard Nixon", 2008.
- ^ Lynskey, Dorian (May 4, 2007). "Readers recommend: Songs about politicians". The Guardian.
- ^ "Stevie Wonder – He's Misstra Know It All", discogs.com.
- ^ "Stevie Wonder – He's Misstra Know It All" Archived December 5, 2014, at the Wayback Machine at Discogs.
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