He's Misstra Know-It-All
| "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 | |||
| Format | 7" 45 RPM | |||
| Genre | Soul | |||
| Length | 6:08 (Full-length version) | |||
| Label | Tamla | |||
| Writer(s) | Stevie Wonder | |||
| Stevie Wonder singles chronology | ||||
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"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 May 1974.[1] 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.
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 Richard Nixon.[2]
Track list
A. "He's Misstra Know-It-All" – 6:08 (Stevie Wonder)
B. "You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover" (Wonder, Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy)[3]
Personnel
- Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, piano, drums, handclaps, TONTO synthesizer, congas
- Willie Weeks – electric bass
Covers
- Danny Grant, from the album The Light Of Day
- Moxy Früvous, from the album Fruvous Live
- Heleen van den Hombergh, from the album Here, There & Everywhere
- Eric Van Aro, from the album Friends
- The Synthesizer Rock Orchestra, from the album Classic Trax of Stevie Wonder
