tavis: good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. tonight part two of our special conversation with the legendary stevie wonder. on december 18 he'll be celebrating the 15th anniversary of his holiday benefit, house full of toys, this year many stars will be featured. in january the nation will pause to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the king holiday, a holiday stevie wonder helped make a reality back in 1986. we're glad you've joined us, night two with the iconic stevie wonder, coming up right now. >> all i know is his name is james and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> -- you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley.

with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: once stevie wonder and i got it going, there was no way we were going to fit our conversation into just one show. so here is part two with the iconic musician and songwriter, stevie wonder. tavis: over the last year we have had everybody from mr. goshedy, the -- mr. gordy, the chairman, to lionel, and now we close this year with stevie

wonder, motown 50. we all know that motown would not have turned 50 without little stevie wonder. when you look back on that 50-year journey, what do you make of your contribution to motown as we know it 50 years later? >> well, i don't know. i mean, to me it's an amazing story. just the story of berry gordy who needed $750-some dollars to do this record that he did and going to new york and working with, you know, jackie wilson, working with barrett strong, writing some great songs back then, obviously meeting smokey robinson and what a great songwriter/lyricist he is. and think of the contribution that he's made to american music. i don't know, i just feel,

again, it's a blessing. the way it all started for me was outside playing with my friends. i heard these kids playing some git ars a little ways away, and i wanted to go where they were. and my mother had a rule, obviously that, i couldn't go across the street by myself. but i had to find a way of doing it. i think that particular day me and my friends, we did this thing where we'd go in the alley, you know. we call it snapping now, but play instruments. it was crazy. there was this family that owned this kind of car repair shop a couple of blocks away from where i lived. and the alley was right in back of their place and the heinz brothers' repair shop, and i guess they heard us making noise in the back. said some bad words and all that kind of craziness.

so he came, you know, oh, boy, why do you use your mouth for such horrible things? you have so much you can do. you can sing. spiritual songs. do wonderful things. ♪ you're right. i shouldn't do that. lord, i love you jesus, help me lord. ♪ i love you so much ooh ooh ooh help me lord ♪ i know i was wrong ♪ i'll do it right next time ♪ ♪ [laughter] and so then he gave me about a dollar's worth of change. that's what i needed. [laughter] to do what i needed to do. the guitars are still going a few blocks away. and i told my friend, ok, i'll give you a quarter if you walk me across the street. i want to hear his music, and

we'll get some candy. so we got some candy and i walked over there, and there i was. and there were curtis russo and john glover, who were on the front porch playing guitar. i had my little bongos, and that's how it all began. john glover's mother, you know, the family was the late ronnie white of the miracles. and ronnie really heard me when they were off tour and worked it out for me to go to motown to audition, and that's really how it began. and it's just amazing when i think about that. i think about how many nights i would pray that we had a refrigerator, that we had a stove, how many nights i would pray that my -- well, my mama hit the numbers. no. [laughter] tavis: sounds like looking back on winna. >> i always wanted my mother to be queen for a day. i used to watch that show. it came on television.

and to think that in our lifetime i was just to be able to do things for the family, to be at motown. all the things that we experience like right now, just a split second from now they'll just be memories in our mind. but to have a place where you have many blessings that you can remember, and as much as they are no longer tangible, they are so deeply embedded intangibly in our minds that we can remember and thank god for them. that's what i do. that's what i feel. berry gordy told me, when he first heard me sing, you know, your singing's ok, but i like your harmonica playing better. >> speaking of your beloved mother, the word on the street -- the word on the street is that you are working -- uh-huh, uh-huh, i like it, i like it.

the word on the street is that you're working on a gospel record maybe. is that true? >> yeah, i am. it's going to be called "gospel inspired by lula." my mother's name was lula, lula mae. wow, so many women. out of control. so glad i turned out to be a nice guy. i do believe in women, though, i really do. [laughter] tavis: for yourself or for your kids? >> oh, my kids, no. i would blind-handle them in a minute. believe it. [laughter] that would be a yes. [laughter] tavis: how does a kid like stevie wonder, how do you -- >> i didn't see me doing it. [laughter] tavis: how does a kid who can't even see get himself in trouble, stevie? you couldn't even see how to get into trouble. >> come on, now.

blind don't mean you can't. i mean, you know, listen. you know, i have seven children, so i guess i know some things. [laughter] tavis: i guess you figure it out, yeah. >> yeah. but, i mean, you know, my thing was always trying to do as much as i could possibly do, you know. i wanted to do all the things the other kids did in the neighborhood. so as many things as i could do, i did. and some of those things i shouldn't have done, i did. there was the wax, you put your hands in the wax and make hands out of that. i did that. and the other kid got burned, but i didn't get burned. [laughter] tavis: you were playing a commord a moment ago -- a chord a moment ago to the lyric, looking back on the lyttle nappy-headed boy. tell me when and where, and i think about, isn't she lovely,

tell me about the process of putting your own life into your own lyrical content. you grew up in detroit, and you dedicated another song to your daughter, who now sings background with you. how do you put your own life into a hearic? >> i think pulling my life night is pulling everyone's life into it that can relate to that experience. when aisha, before she was born, i believed that our child was going to be a girl. she thought it was going to be a boy. i was right. [laughter] but i started working on the -- "snl" ♪ isn't she lovely ♪ isn't she wonderful ♪ dada dada tavis: less than a minute old.

♪ i can't believe what god has done ♪ to us he's given life to one ♪ isn't she lovely made from love ♪ tavis: ba, ba, ba, ba. there you go. he just tried to write a song in here. but you put your life into that, though. >> i just was so excited about the fact that i was going to have my first child. and it was just exciting. i was playing this what used to be called the dream machine. it was myself and greg, who was sitting on this -- tavis: great keyboardist. >> yes. he was playing the top and bottom, i was playing the other part. we had the rhythm machine going. and i just kept playing that melody and it just stuck, like

"isn't she lovely" felt like that's what the song should say. and i don't know, i was just really, really excited. and then obviously we found out that it was going to be a girl, and outside of the fact that i won the bet, it was just a wonderful moment. and so i just took that moment  that i felt, and when i sat dow to really write words to it, i  just tried to put together as best i could the experience that i had had and how i felt. and even today, when i hear the song, i think of those things. the exciting thing about a songwriter is that, you know, particularly if you're a songwriter and an artist and you play the parts and you're

producing it and all that, you have various times where you critique what you do. when i had the words and i wrote the music, i thought, wow, this has got to be right, i've got to sing it right. and so i just sort of took every single emotion that i felt from the moment that i -- the melody and the chords, when i wrote the hearic, and then when i sang it -- hearic, and then when i sang it it was another emotion, and then when i heard it on the radio for the first time, it was like drk ok, i cried, i cried. tavis: every time i see you, which has been countless times, and aisha stands next to you and sings with you, it brings me to tears knowing that she grew up and she's singing the song that you wrote for wher when she was in her mama's belly. >> there are other songs, obviously, but other songwriters

can say i named my child after this song or he was born when this song was out. i'm sure, you know, the mothers as well and fathers thought when they had their son, isn't he lovely. again, it's that place of being love. you have to be that. tavis: can you imagine how incredible the world would be -- >> if we could come together and say, listen, we have differences, but listen, don't let our differences cause us to spew out hate and negativity and evil things. i mean, it's ok to have an opinion. you know what opinions are like. tavis: everybody got one. >> exactly. so it's ok to have an opinion, but don't spew out hate. sometimes i'm very disappointed

how some people in our family of communicators, whether it be a songwriter or a rapper, you know, always talking about negativity or a singer or a columnist or someone who basically gets off on trying to create the negative. i think if we can inspire everyone and encourage them to do the very best that they can, consequently meaning all of us, then we can move forward. can you imagine the miracles that would happen? >> here's what makes me revel in your genius. do you recall -- and when i get in these arguments about stevie wonder being greater than everybody else, this is the calling card. this is the card that i throw out on the table when we talk

about who's the greatest. do you recall how old you were when you wrote "songs in the key of life"? >> when i started writing it? tavis: yes, how old were you when you started writing songs "writing "songs in the key of life"? ? >> i was about 25. tavis: how do you write "songs in the key of life" at the age of 25, stevie? that's the coldest thing ever. >> you've got to remember that 25 is a great time. you've passed that 21 thing and you -- it's a high point, a high peak in life where you're old enough to see what you've discovered but you're opening to discovering more. and i think that's one of the great things about that age. unfortunately, we have war in the world, and so the youngest minds, the brilliant minds, are

sent off to war. i think that you have brilliant people with great possibilities, and that's why i really am not for war, i really am no. and i hope as well that i can get with whatever leader it may be, whether it be in iran or whether it be in north korea, whether it be in south korea, wherever, and just say, look, we have a choice in life. we can per pet wait life and make this world the -- perpetuate life and make this world the as great a place as it's meant to be, or we can destroy it. let's find a way where we can sit down at a table and really

talk it out and work it out. because you see here my view is, here's how incredible to me god is. if you think of every single continent that there is, on every continent there is something, a natural resource that continent has, that they can really survive with that, but a lot of the developed nations have taken those things from those places and have claimed it. so, therefore, they're dependent on those other nations. but we have it all. we can really do it all, everyone. i think if we can just allow everyone to do and use what they have to trade and really make their nations greater and better, as well as us coming together to say, hey, there's enough for everyone.

when they talk about if it's magic, i'm saying if it's magic, why can't it be ever lassing? -- everlasting? because there's enough for everyone. i'm talking about love, but love is life. and everything that has been created on this earth is a chain of what i'm talking about. tavis: i love it. i love it. i was in africa some years ago with our good friend, d-mya angelou, and we were the guest of the then president, pt rawlings. and he was telling us over dinner one night a story that -- i didn't want to call the president of the country a liar to his face. >> don't do that. tavis: you know where i'm going, right? >> don't do it. tavis: i got up out of my chair and i said, "mr. president, you cannot be serious about this."

is it true? is it true? jerry john rawlings, the president of ghana, told me he taught stevie wonder how to fly a plane. stevie flew the plane and landed the plane, and you're telling me that's true. >> i can say that the former president of ghana, jerry rawlings, showed me where everything is on the plane and i said, "i want to fly this." and there was a french crew on the plane and i think they started speaking everything, french backwards. but we took off. i took off in the plane and i flew it and i landed the plane. and it was incredible. it was amazing. it was a smooth landing. but you got to admit something. i was on that plane, so did i want to hurt me? [laughter] tavis: that plane was going to

have a smooth landing one way or the other. >> oh, yeah. but it was fun, it was an amazing experience. i didn't tell that my teacher, when i was 13 or 14, we had to fly a couple of times on a private plane from new york to detroit and once from detroit to new york, and then new york to chicago. he let me fly the plane. and because he was sort of an amateur pilot himself, we worked it out. not even bad weather. tavis: i've got three or four minutes. let me take you back to motown right quick. had a brief conversation the other day with our friend, the queen, speaking of the queen, aretha franklin. and without going into the health challenge that she faces now, your thoughts about aretha. >> i love aretha, and i've loved

her all my life. i think she's an incredible song stress, obviously. she consistently has had this incredible voice. i remember when she was singing gospel in this church. i was very, very little then. but i remember hearing over the radio in detroit and when she came out with some of the albums before she signed with atlantic, i remember those. and i'm just believing, again, that if we can get people to stop putting the negative out there and really, if they want to write something or talk about something, let's write and talk about something that would be encouraging and inspiring to her. in whatever way we do it, for those all over the world, pray or chant or whatever you do,

meditate. let's meditate, pray or chant on her getting well. and you'll believing that miracles and blessings still exist. and if we do that, we will see that. and i say the same for anyone who's dealing with any sort of challenge in life, with an illness in life. i say it for michael douglas, for anyone. if we begin to stop spewing the negative and really move into using our voices and our pens and our abilities that we have top reach millions of people to the positive, we can make a difference in the world. tavis: i'm going to close this conversation where i began. the thing that i know is most important to you, the babies. so in your own words, would you give your final thoughts about

the house of toys this year. >> i really want to see everyone there. we have some more tickets we need to sell, and you don't need to by them. very simple. tavis: we got tickets to sell and y'all need to by them. it's very simple. >> and it's a house full of toys, the 15th annual house full of toys. and the proceeds will go to buying toys for the young children as well as some of the olders young people that deserve to celebrate this day with being given something by those of us who are fortunate enough to do it. it's just that simple. so i love you and i'll see you there. tavis: are you going to play me out while i say good night? >> what do you want to hear? tavis: whatever. can stevie wonder play? ♪ like a fool who stayed too

long ♪ ooh baby here i am signed sealed delivered i'm yours ♪ hmm in that time i went and said goodbye ♪ now i'm back and not ashamed to cry ♪ ooh baby here i am signed sealed delivered i'm yours ♪ hey here i am baby ooh signed sealed ♪ oh yeah ♪ tavis: that's our show for tonight, until next time, thanks for tuning in, and as always. keep the faith. ♪ keep the fate baby ♪ keep the faith yeah ♪ ooh ooh signed sealed delivered ♪ i'm yours yours yeah baby ♪

♪ captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- ♪ ♪ [applause] >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a on his new text on religion in america. that's next time. we'll see you then. >> all i know is his name is james and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. yes.

>> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> -- you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at that time. nationwide is on your side. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television]