The Motown Sound of The Suprem, Marv Gaye, Stevie Wonr

Contents:

• BARRETT STRONG, MOTOWN TRAILBLAZER WH THE TEMPTATNS AND MARV GAYE, DI AT 81
• SPIKE LEE PAYS TRIBUTE TO MARV GAYE, THE TEMPTATNS IN ‘DA 5 BLOODS’
• MARV GAYE

BARRETT STRONG, MOTOWN TRAILBLAZER WH THE TEMPTATNS AND MARV GAYE, DI AT 81

Barrett Strong, an artist and songwrer who was prent for the birth of Motown and had a key role classic hs for the Temptatns, Marv Gaye, Edw Starr and others, has died.

“Money (That’s What I Want), ” wh Strong on strappg, raspy lead vols, went on to sell a ln pi and helped igne the pany’s eventually went behd the scen as a songwrer, teamg wh producer Norman Whfield the mid-1960s to wre smash for Marv Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips (“I Heard Through the Grapeve”), Edw Starr (“War”) and the Undisputed Tth (“Sg Fac Sometim”) was wh the Temptatns that Strong and Whfield had their most prolific succs, srg a n of hs the late ‘60s and early ‘70s wh milly adventuro, topilly relevant songs such as “Cloud Ne, ” “I Wish Would Ra, ” “I Can’t Get Next to You, ” “Psychelic Shack, ” “Ball of Confn, ” “Jt My Imagatn (Runng Away Wh Me)” and “Papa Was a Roll’ Stone. Marv Gaye, byname of Marv Pentz Gay, Jr., (born April 2, 1939, Washgton, D.C., U.S.—died April 1, 1984, Los Angel, California), Amerin soul sger-songwrer-producer who, to a large extent, hered the era of artist-ntrolled popular mic of the 1970s.Gaye’s father was a storeont preacher; his mother was a domtic worker.

SPIKE LEE PAYS TRIBUTE TO MARV GAYE, THE TEMPTATNS IN ‘DA 5 BLOODS’

Gaye sang his father’s Evangelil church Washgton, D.C., and beme a member of a natnally known doo-wop group, the Moonglows, unr the directn of Harvey Fuqua, one of the genre’s foremost matros, who reloted the group to Chigo. When doo-wop dissipated the late 1950s, Gaye had already absorbed Fuqua’s lsons close harmony.

After disbandg the Moonglows, Fuqua took the 20-year-old Gaye to Detro, where Berry Gordy, Jr., was formg Motown Rerds. Gaye, who also played dms and piano, bucked the Motown system and s emphasis on teen hs. Gaye also enjoyed a seri of succsful duets, most notably wh Tammi Terrell (“A’t Nothg Like the Real Thg” [1968]).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. It clud the chart-toppg sgl “What’s Gog On,” “Mercy Mercy Me (The Elogy),” and “Inner Cy Blu (Make Me Wanna Holler).”Other major artists—most importantly Stevie Wonr—followed Gaye’s lead and acted as producer of their own efforts. In 1972 Gaye wrote the soundtrack for the film Trouble Man, wh lyrics that mirrored his own sense of secury.

MARV GAYE

Let’s Get It On, released 1973, displayed Gaye’s sensuo si. Here, My Dear (1979) brilliantly alt wh Gaye’s divorce om Gordy’s sister Anna (the first of the sger’s two tumultuo divorc).Gaye’s growg addictn to e exacerbated his psychologil stggl.

On April 1, 1984, durg a fay dispute, Gaye iated a vlent fight wh his father, who shot him to ath. 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. He received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement 1996.As 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.