It Took Two: Marv Gaye’s Duet Legacy | The New Yorker

Contents:

• MARV GAYE
• IT TOOK TWO: MARV GAYE’S DUET LEGACY
• 10 SURPRISG FACTS ABOUT MARV GAYE
• MEET MARV GAYE’S 3 KIDS INCLUDG SON OM HIS WIFE ANNA’S UNRAGE NIECE DENISE GORDY
• 10 SURPRISG THGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MARV GAYE!
• 20 YEARS AGO, MARV GAYE TOOK 'NATNAL ANTHEM' TO NEW HEIGHTS
• MARV GAYE IS SHOT AND KILLED BY HIS OWN FATHER
• THE UNTOLD TTH OF MARV GAYE
• THE TRAGIC STORY OF MARV GAYE AND THE UNTIMELY ATH OF A SOUL LEGEND
• MARV GAYE'S 1973 H SGLE HELPS MONKEY GET ON
• THE STORY OF MARV GAYE'S 'WHAT'S GOG ON'
• THE STORY OF... 'WHAT'S GOG ON' BY MARV GAYE

MARV GAYE

Blsed wh an exceptnally wi range that enpassed three distct vol styl—a piercg falsetto, a smooth mid-range tenor, and a ep gospel growl—Gaye bed great technil prows wh rare mil dividualy. Gaye also displayed dazzlg virtuosy by overdubbg (buildg sound track by track onto a sgle tape) his own voice three or four tim to provi his own rich harmony, a technique he would employ for the rt of his reer.

Here, My Dear (1979) brilliantly alt wh Gaye’s divorce om Gordy’s sister Anna (the first of the sger’s two tumultuo divorc)’s growg addictn to e exacerbated his psychologil stggl. Gaye, who ced his chief fluenc as Ray Charl, Cly McPhatter, Rudy Wt (lead sger for the doo-wop group the Five Keys), and Ltle Willie John, was ducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1987.

IT TOOK TWO: MARV GAYE’S DUET LEGACY

He received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement an artist who employed urban soul mic to exprs social and personal ncerns, as well as a sger of exquise sensivy and romantic grace, Gaye left a legacy that has wined sce his mise, and his mic has bee a permanent fixture Amerin pop. The story of Motown tryg to fd Marv Gaye a duet partner, which hovers the background of the new reissue “Marv Gaye & His Women, ” is one of the great melodramas of Amerin pop mic—vexed, tragic, ultimately triumphant, and wh a fillip of false optimism at the end.

10 SURPRISG FACTS ABOUT MARV GAYE

” They also saw him, their grand visn, as a half of a powerhoe duet team; Berry Gordy’s md, duet albums doubled the potential ctomer 1964, the label paired Gaye wh Mary Wells, then the queen of Motown.

MEET MARV GAYE’S 3 KIDS INCLUDG SON OM HIS WIFE ANNA’S UNRAGE NIECE DENISE GORDY

Motown, now flailg a b, put Gaye wh a third sger, Oma Page (sometim misintified as Oma Heard): they rerd a few sis that went fourth time was the charm. The rult—phed along by Terrell’s crystal-clear vols and Gaye’s imable batn of softns and urgency—went top twenty, and they followed up wh songs like “Your Prec Love” and “If I Could Build My Whole World Around You.

“It Tak Two” is a ebullient sgle that hts at what might have been had Wton stayed at Motown; and the Ross sis both build on the Terrell era and gture toward Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, who had replaced Gaye and Terrell as the domant duet act soul addn to llectg all of Gaye’s important duets, the album also serv as a remr of the way romantic duets were once central to pop.

That’s the lson of the Gaye llectn and any other top-notch duet: two heads (or voic) are not necsarily better than one, but they are more tertg, and more rewardg, and more than the sum of their parts.

10 SURPRISG THGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MARV GAYE!

Marv Gaye add the “e” to the end of his name to dispel mors of his homosexualy and to distguish himself om his father, Marv Gay Sr., wh whom he did not get along. Before sgg his own h for Motown Rerds, a young Marv Gaye spent his early years at Motown as a dmmer for The Suprem, Stevie Wonr, The Marvelett and more. You may or may not know that Marv Gaye’s first wife, Anna, is the elst sister of mic in and Motown founr Berry Gordy, makg Marv an official member of the Motown fay.

The great sger would later reveal shortly before his ath that the boy was adopted, a revelatn that was later proven to be Gaye on stage at De Doelen, Rotterdam, Netherlands, July 1, 1980.

20 YEARS AGO, MARV GAYE TOOK 'NATNAL ANTHEM' TO NEW HEIGHTS

"Soul sger Marv Gaye hugs his children, Nona Gaye and Frankie Chirstian Gaye at an event cir 1981 | Photo: Getty ImagThe picture showed Marv Gaye III's three sons and his two dghters huddled together and sg wh a picture of himself and his wife photoshopped to Gaye III is also a mician, jt like his father; he released a track tled "Can't Take My Ey Off You" 2013 and posted a picture of the track ver on Twter wh a lk to watch the vio letter talked about how their father would handle the GAYEThe late Marv Gaye also had two more children, asis om his son Marv Gaye III. FRANKIE GAYEAlthough not much is known about his third child Frankie Gaye, he once joed his siblgs to pen down a letter to clear misnceptns about the succsful lawsus agast Rob Thicke and Pharrell Williams's h song "Blurred L.

" The letter also talked about how their late father would have reacted to the said if he were alive, he would embrace the technology available to artists, but he would also be vigilant about protectg artist's rights and givg cred where is IS MARVIN GAYETheir late father, Marv Gaye, was a talented sger and is known for his ol jazz mic and his ntroversial lyrics.

MARV GAYE IS SHOT AND KILLED BY HIS OWN FATHER

What many of may not have ‘heard through the grapeve’ as of yet, is the extremely touchg thg that Marv did for Tammi when she was the fal stag of bra ncer and attendg his Gaye and Tammi TerrellMarv Gave Tammi One Last Opportuny To Do What She LovedIt’s been reported by some of Terrell’s loved on, that at the end of 1969, jt before Tammi’s passg 1970, she ma her last public appearance wh the help for her iend, Marv Gaye. Tammi rarely went out public at that time due to her failg health, but on that day when Gaye was performg at the Apollo Theater, she felt well enough to there, Marv spotted Tammi the crowd om the stage and quickly walked off stage to sg wh her. Sadly, months later Tammi took her fal breathe on May 16, 1970 at the young age of Gaye Went Into Years-Long Deep Deprsn After Terrell PassedTerrell’s ath took a major toll on Marv Gaye and drove him to a ep prsn.

” Gaye reportedly felt like the succs wasn’t served whout Tammi beg here to celebrate what she helped build their duets Eulogiz Tammi, The Rt Of Motown Reportedly Banned From FuneralMarv Gaye livered the logy at Tammi’s funeral and although he was very overwhelmed wh grief and his voice repeatedly cracked throughout, he managed to betifully logize the woman he viewed as a ‘sister, ’ as their song, “You’re All I Need To Get By” played softly the background. Ernt Garrett, stated Tammi’s mother banned everyone om Motown om the funeral EXCEPT Marv Gaye, bee she felt that he was her only te iend there. Gaye dropped out of high school and enlisted the Air Force as a basic airman at the age of 17 bee their relatnship had not improved signifintly by 1956.

THE UNTOLD TTH OF MARV GAYE

Marv Gaye performed some of his bt duets wh Tammi Terrell, cludg “A’t No Mounta High Enough, ” “You’re All I Need To Get By, ” and “A’t Nothg Like The Real Thg. A teenage Marv Gaye served as the dmmer for The Suprem, Stevie Wonr, The Marvelett, and other micians durg his early years at Motown before rerdg his own succs for the label. Gaye had been gone for a while, but 2015, when Pharrell Williams and Rob Thicke were acced of stealg Gaye’s song “You Had To Give It Up” and utilizg their song “Blurred L, ” his name was once aga mentned the media.

THE TRAGIC STORY OF MARV GAYE AND THE UNTIMELY ATH OF A SOUL LEGEND

At the peak of his reer, Marv Gaye was the Prce of Motown—the soulful voice behd hs as wi-rangg as “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” and “Mercy Mercy Me (The Elogy).

That life me to a tragic end on April 1, 1984, when Marv Gaye was shot and killed by his own father one day short of his 45th the physil e of Marv Gaye’s ath was straightforward—”Gunshot wound to cht perforatg heart, lung and liver, ” acrdg to the Los Angel County Coroner—the events that led to were much more tangled. Marv Gay, Sr., (the “e” was add by his son for his stage name) was a preacher the Hebrew Pentestal Church and a proponent of a strict moral he enforced btally wh his four children.

MARV GAYE'S 1973 H SGLE HELPS MONKEY GET ON

Clearly harbored unrolved feelgs toward his abive feelgs spilled out for the fal time the Los Angel home of Marv Gay, Sr., and his wife Alberta. Only one year removed om his first Grammy w and om a triumphant return to the pop charts wh “Sexual Healg, ” Marv Gaye was horrible physil, psychologil and fancial an argument between father and son lated to a physil fight on the morng of April 1, 1984, Alberta Gay was tryg to lm her son his bedroom when Marv Sr. Marv Gaye’s brother, Frankie, who lived next door, and who held the legendary sger durg his fal mut, later wrote his memoir that Marv Gaye’s fal, disturbg statement was, “I got what I wanted….

THE STORY OF MARV GAYE'S 'WHAT'S GOG ON'

Whether was his h duets wh Tammi Terrell, the polilly-charged album "What's Gog On, " or the oozg sexualy of his only Grammy-wng song "Sexual Healg, " Gaye beme a hoehold name wh the Amerin mil landspe. David Rz his 1991 revised edn of his Marv Gaye bgraphy, "Divid Soul, " noted the importance of Gaye's mic more potedly: "Marv's name has been mentned — reverential ton — on no ls than seven top-ten h rerds.

Yet those nearly 45 years of life, Gaye went om sirg to sg standards to shapg the sound of Motown to beg an in and creative geni mandg full creative ntrol of his mic — which led the way for others like Stevie Wonr.

Photographer Godey Frankel took pictur of the muny, talked to s habants, and shared a scriptn that probably would have matched Gaye's experience. The general perspective on the neighborhood at the time by surroundg (wealthier) rints was one of disgt and fear — "They radiate out sanary fluenc" (via a 2018 Public Health Report) — which explas why Gaye, his iends, and the rt of the Southwt muny probably felt like they were om another untry. Was a vlent man, and his wife and children, cludg Marv Gaye, lived fear of his punishments and the evable relig reasong behd his domtic abe (via The Vtage News).

THE STORY OF... 'WHAT'S GOG ON' BY MARV GAYE

In orr to pe a nasty home life, Marv Gaye enlisted wh the Air Force wh visns of beg a pilot like Errol Flynn, even though he was terrified of flyg.

However, most acunts of this mor change of nam, the person makg the cisn was Gaye himself, once aga stemmg om his plited relatnship wh his father.

Gaye talks about his name  "Divid Soul" and how he was eply troubled by havg the same name as his father, who is often scribed as a "sexually ambiguo man. His first partner 1964 was Mary Wells — at the time, the "queen of Motown" — but their duet rerd, "Together, " tamed her sound while gave Gaye a platform to she. Gaye was then placed wh Kim Wton, and their song "It Tak Two" beme a massive h, but after that rerd, she, too, left Motown (via The New Yorker).