Superstition happened because of Jeff Beck

Well I didnt know this:

As legend has it, six-string great Jeff Beck agreed to contribute to Talking Book in exchange for Wonder writing him a song. Wonder stepped out of the room during a session, and Beck sat at the drums. Upon returning, Stevie asked him to keep playing and improvised the clavinet pattern over the guitarist’s drumbeat.

“Stevie came boogieing into the studio,” Beck recalled in Annette Carson’s book Jeff Beck: Crazy Fingers. “Then the lick came out—‘Superstition,’” said the guitarist. “I thought, ‘He’s given me the riff of the century.’”

Wonder expected the song to debut on Beck’s album with power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice.

However, that album got delayed, and Berry Gordy at Motown heard “Superstition.” The formidable label head knew a hit when he heard one, and the song debuted on Talking Book before Beck’s record came out.

Posted Oct 6, 2025, 3:32 PM UTC

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