Story of the Song: For Once in My Life by Jean DuShon

From The Independent archive: Robert Webb on the surprising origins of the Stevie Wonder smash

DuShon performing at the Apollo Theatre in New York, 1966 (Getty)

Generally thought of these days as a Stevie Wonder original, “For Once in my Life” wasn't always his. It was written by Orlando Murden and the lyricist Ronald Miller, and was first recorded by a Detroit jazz vocalist called Jean DuShon. She’d started out in 1961 with Phil Spector and a tune called “Talk to Me”, made a few more 45s, and, in 1966, was scouting for new material. Miller caught one of her concerts and invited her over. “Ron was so excited over my sound, he said, ‘Jean, I have a tune for you and I know that you can do it’,” she recalled.

DuShon gave the song a readthrough, and Miller liked it so much that he took her round to Chess studios. DuShon’s prototype of “For Once in my Life” was released on Cadet, a Chess subsidiary, and was soon record of the week at Detroit's WXYZ Radio. The song gained a reputation and DuShon was poised for a breakthrough. But sales suffered from poor promotion – there was even a rumour that the release was spiked by Tamla Motown's founding father, Berry Gordy, who – as Miller was under contract to Motown – wanted it for his own.