Have you ever sat down with an instrument and tried to write a song? Needless to say, that shit ain’t easy (much like pimpin’). This week’s edition of Grousing The Aisles looks at gigs from four of our favorite songwriters of all-time. We begin with a recent show from Stevie Wonder’s first tour since Bill Clinton was in office. Next we check out what Jeff Tweedy and the boys of Wilco did with their summer vacation. Then we go back to the heady days of the ’90s to pay tribute to the extremely underrated Matthew Sweet. Finally, we finish with a just released soundboard from the legendary Paul McCartney. Less set-up, more grousing…

Stevie Wonder 09/04/2007 DAUD [FLAC, MP3]

Stevie Wonder has returned to the road with a career-spanning show after an absence of nearly a decade. A buncha recordings from the tour have surfaced, but this bootleg from last week’s show in Saratoga, California sounds the best. Wonder gives the people what they want by sprinkling a generous portion of hits throughout the 130-minute set, including Higher Ground, Sir Duke and I Wish.

Little Stevie isn’t a guy that just comes out to play his greatest hits without addressing his audience. Wonder opened the show with an anecdote about why he decided to return to the road, and he proceeded to chat with the crowd throughout the concert. The stories are great, but the music is even better. My favorite part of this show is the relentless sequence of Signed Sealed Delivered (I’m Yours), Memphis and Boogie On Reggae Woman. Wonder’s 11-piece band is so tight that it sounds like they’ve been on the road together for years. Hopefully Stevie enjoyed his brief return to the road and will book a full tour for 2008 so that we can all have a chance to see him own the stage.

Read on after the jump for three more sweet-ass-sweet GTA downloads…