What Happened: The Tug-of-War over 'Superstition' by Stevie Wonder

By Leila Abdul-Rauf

Collaborations can bring the unexpected, as was the case with music legends Stevie Wonder and Jeff Beck in 1972. The story went something like this: a huge fan of Stevie's work, Jeff had his representatives contact Motown Records CEO Berry Gordy to ask if Stevie would be willing to collaborate, to which Stevie readily agreed. According to Beck, "the original agreement was that [Stevie Wonder would] write me a song, and in return, I'd play on his album, and that's where 'Superstition' came in."

Wonder originally wrote the song as a thank-you gift for Jeff playing guitar on Talking Book, the album that featured "Superstition" as its first single. Later in 1972, Beck would begin recording his version of the song with his power trio, Beck, Bogert & Appice, for their debut album, and the plan was for Jeff to release his version first.

While Jeff Beck is best known as a guitarist, Stevie was inspired to write the song by…his drumming. When the two first got together, Jeff laid down the original drum beat while Stevie was out of the room. Upon re-entering the studio, Stevie asked Jeff to keep the beat going while he improvised over it, and out came the famous funk riff from his Hohner Clavinet model C that formed the heart of "Superstition."

Unfortunately things didn’t work out as planned for Jeff Beck. Motown decided they wanted to release "Superstition" as the first album single, correctly predicting it would be a huge success. Between the delay of Beck, Bogert & Appice's album release and Motown's decision, Stevie Wonder's version – on which he sang and played all instruments except for trumpet and saxophone performed by Steve Madaio and Trevor Lawrence – came out first and soared to the #1 spot in the Billboard Hot 100.

Jeff Beck's version eventually had its day in the sun one year later in 1973. A heavier and bluesier take on the song, the Beck, Bogert & Appice version emphasized Beck's virtuosic soloing, backed by a pounding rhythm section of Tim Bogert on bass and drummer Carmine Appice, who contributed a thrashing drum solo. It was a minor hit, but didn't come close to the success of Stevie Wonder's version, which was a major disappointment for Jeff Beck. As a result, relations were tense between the two musicians for some time. Fortunately, Jeff got over it enough by the time he recorded his first solo album in 1975, Blow by Blow, by including two of Wonder's compositions, "Thelonius" and "Cause We've Ended as Lovers." Better still, Jeff joined Stevie for a performance of the song in 2009 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary.

With the funkiest clavinet riff ever, its upbeat groove, and Stevie's signature vocals, the success of "Superstition" was inevitable. Things don't always work out as intended, but the original Beck-Wonder collaboration gave each of them something invaluable: Beck's drumming helped to spawn a hit of the century, and in turn, Wonder's influence forever changed Beck's career.

Leila Abdul-Rauf is a multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Oakland, CA. A private guitar and voice teacher, Leila has recorded and performed locally and internationally for two decades in countless music projects.

"Stevie Wonder 1973" by Motown Records is in the public domain.