Marv Gaye – 10 of the bt | Motown rerds | The Guardian

Contents:

• MARV GAYE
• 5 MARV GAYE ALBUMS YOU MT OWN
• MARV GAYE ALBUMS DISGRAPHY
• 50 THGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MARV GAYE'S WHAT'S GOG ON
• MOTOWN’S TRAGIC OMEN: TAMMI TERRELL COLLAPS INTO MARV GAYE’S ARMS
• MARV GAYE & TAMMI TERRELL
• MARV GAYE – 10 OF THE BT

MARV GAYE

They beme a backg group for former Moonglows sger Harvey Fuqua, and by 1961 Gaye had moved to Detro, where he beme a ssn dmmer for Motown, playg on ton like The Marvelett’ “Please Mr.

5 MARV GAYE ALBUMS YOU MT OWN

” But Gaye began edgg toward a more emotnally and milly sophistited place wh 1968’s immortal “I Heard It Through the Grapeve, ” and 1971 he helped alter the urse of soul wh the socially nsc, plexly textured What’s Gog On. Gaye never stopped novatg—his smolrg, dis-iendly 1977 smash “Got to Give It Up” was a ccial fluence on Michael Jackson’s adult reer, and the synths and dm mache of 1982’s electro-soul burner “Sexual Healg” once aga led R&B someplace new. 3EP1967Origals From Marv GayeEP1966Marv GayeEP1965I'll Be DoggoneEP1965How Sweet It IsEP1964You're a Wonrful OneEPSglView All2020I Want You [Unrboss remix]Sgle2019A't No Mounta High Enough (DJ Komori Remix)Sgle • Marv Gaye & Tammi Terrell73er sre (2).

1981Heavy Love AffairSgle1981PraiseSgle1978Pops, We Love You (A Tribute to Father)Sgle • Diana Ross, Marv Gaye, Smokey Robson & Stevie Wonr1977Got to Give It UpSgle84er sre (5). As the 1970s dawned, Gaye grappled wh social prott on What's Gog On, the 1971 album that found the sger/songwrer chartg his own idsyncratic urse. Throughout this perd, Gaye battled personal mons, often creatg powerful art through his stggl, but they ught up wh him tragilly 1984, when he was murred by his father.

Gaye's legacy ronated over the s -- he was a touchstone for soul and pop mic that was eher sensual or polil -- but his early ath leav hangg the qutn of what he uld've achieved if he were alive.

MARV GAYE ALBUMS DISGRAPHY

A mister the Hoe of God, Reverend Marv Gay ran a strict hoehold and his son -- who would add an "e" to his surname when he signed to Motown/Tamla, partially tribute to his idol Sam Cooke -- sought refuge mic.

At the end of the year, Gaye ught the attentn of Motown founr Berry Gordy, who negotiated a al wh Fuqua for Gaye to sign to the Motown subsidiary Tamla. His 1961 but sgle, "Let Your Conscience Be Your Gui, " satisfied Gordy's needs, while the full-length The Soulful Moods of Marv Gaye skewed toward the sger's preferenc.

Over the next few years, there was tensn between Gaye's nceptn of himself as a sger and Motown/Tamla's mil directn, and the volist slowly gravated Gordy's directn.

50 THGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MARV GAYE'S WHAT'S GOG ON

In parison, 1966 was relatively quiet for Gaye -- while "One More Heartache" reached number four on the R&B chart, was his only pop Top 40 h that year -- but 1967 began wh the immortal Kim Wton duet "It Tak Two, " which peaked at 14 pop and four R&B.

"A't No Mounta High Enough" was the first of a seri of smash rerd by Gaye & Terrell which were wrten by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson.

Motown head Berry Gordy wasn't eager to embrace this change and refed to release "What's Gog On, " but after Gaye refed to rerd any other new material, Gordy relented. Gaye began work on an album lled Lover Man, but once s lead sgle, "Ego Trippg Out, " failed to chart, he scrapped the album and reloted to Mi. Motown released Motown Remembers Marv Gaye: Never Before Released Masters 1986, but the bigger project was the 1990 four-disc box The Marv Gaye Collectn.

MOTOWN’S TRAGIC OMEN: TAMMI TERRELL COLLAPS INTO MARV GAYE’S ARMS

Over the three s, Motown often repackaged Gaye's mic, sometim releasg splashy archival packag, such as 1997's Vulnerable, which revived a ballads album Gaye abandoned 1977, and 2019's You're the Man, which llected the extant 1972 rerdgs om the sger.

Then me a flurry of knockout duets wh Marv Gaye ("A't No Mounta High Enough, " "You're All I Need to Get By, " and other smart love songs penned by the Ashford & Simpson team). Wh progrs, 100 years we'll look back on the rerd as an album that broke down barriers and beme the blueprt on how to live harmonly wh each other and our, though, let's take a closer look at the makg of Gaye's masterpiece as the album reach s mid-life surround by a world still crisis. The boss at Motown thought Gaye was jeopardizg his reer wh this albumIn the fall of 1970, Gaye was so exced about the prott album he had md — and the song "What's Gog On" that he'd jt fished — that he tracked down the head of Motown Rerds, Berry Gordy, who was on vatn the Bahamas, to tell him the ia.

Bettg on 30 days of What's Gog OnAfter Gordy had been proven wrong about the succs of the sgle "What's Gog On, " he drove to Gaye's hoe to ask for the full album. This irked Gaye, bee Gordy had actively tried to stop the song om beg Gordy knew that one sure-fire way to get mic out of Gaye was to make a bet wh the sger.

MARV GAYE & TAMMI TERRELL

Gaye flew across the untry to fulfil an actg mment, all the while nstantly addg to the songs, even until the last moments before the fal mix. 'What's Gog On' almost beme a song for vol group the OrigalsIn mid-1970, after workg on the song wh lyricist Al Cleveland, Benson fally had a chance to play for Gaye after trackg him down on a golf urse.

The album hered a new look for GayeTo separate himself om the fishg-school look of other Motown artists, Gaye changed his image while rerdg this album. Many of his fans pied his fashn sense, but Gaye later admted to bgrapher David Rz that he wore them to ver up a growg bald spot on the top of his head, and was tickled to see people wear them to look Gaye, wearg his signature toque. Unlike most producers, Gaye sat down the Snakep wh the micians, leadg the rhythm sectn and playg piano stead of producg om behd the glass the Snakep, where What's Gog On was rerd.

The end of 'The Sound of Young Ameri'Both the ont and rear ver shots for the album were taken the backyard of the hoe where Gaye and his wife were livg wh their son, Marv III. In the image on the rear of the album, Gaye is surround by a swg set and toys piled up agast a wall, echog one of the album's central songs, "Save the Children. Gaye went heavy on percsn players, g Eddie Brown (Gaye's former valet) and Earl Derouen on ngas and bongos, Jack Brokensha on vib and Jack Ashford on tamboure.

MARV GAYE – 10 OF THE BT

Jam Jamerson rerd his bass l while layg flat on his backThe story go that Gaye knew he wanted Motown ssn man and key Funk Brother Jam Jamerson to play bass on the rhythm tracks, so he followed Jamerson down to a lol Detro blu club where the bassist was playg the band. Gaye axed him offstage and back to the stud, but Jamerson was so toxited he kept fallg off his stool durg the rerdg, so he lay flat on his back to lay down the bass riffs that were wrten out for him by arranger David Van DePte. Ward was gettg a one-dience-member Marv Gaye ncert but says that she was so by gettg the lyrics down rrectly that she didn't have time to enjoy Gaye sgg jt for her.

Gaye was a nervo performer at the bt of tim, but on his namake day, four years sce his last performance, sred, stoned and wh a hired band of unr-rehearsed micians, Gaye panicked and accintally started wh "Right On, " the album's first song on the send si, playg the album back to ont.

SmokeThis album was the product of many wrers, among them Anna Gordy, Obie Benson, Al Cleveland, Elgie Stover, Jam Nyx and Earl Derouen, but Gaye always claimed there was one wrer on the album who didn't receive an album cred: Smokey Robson. Those vol loops were a happy accintAnother signature sound on the album was the layerg of Gaye's vols, his abily to back his own voice and harmonize wh himself over and over. Gaye had asked engeer Ken Sands to rerd his lead vol tak on separate tracks for the song "What's Gog On" so they uld be listened back to and pared.

The three had bee close iends, and 1970 Farr and Barney both helped nvce Gaye that "What's Gog On" was the perfect song for him to sg, bolsterg the early argument om Benson.

Their voic n be heard the vol chatter at the begng of the song and, even wh ltle vol talent between them, Gaye asked the pair to sg backg vols on the whole song. Buried the mix of "What's Gog On" you n hear Gaye beatg on a rdboard box to accentuate the percsn of the ngas and the dmmg of big-band tubthumper Chet Fort.

'Father, father, we don't need to late'The lyric "Father, father, we don't need to late" "What's Gog On" speaks both to God and Gaye's own father, Marv Gay Sr. Once 'What's gog on' entered Gaye's lexin, was hard to eraseGaye began to e the lyric "What's gog on" as a placeholr when he was stuck for words.

'What's Happeng Brother'The song "What's Happeng Brother" me directly out of a nversatn between Gaye and his younger brother, Frankie, who had been to Vietnam and pleted a three-year tour of duty. The song me out of the nversatn wh Frankie and was partly atonement, as Gaye had never answered the letters his brother sent home om Vietnam.

Marv Gaye, the sportsmanIn sprg 1970, jt before the song "What's Gog On" dropped his lap, Gaye wanted nothg more than to be a profsnal football player. 'The Curse Out Man'The songs "Fly' High ( the Friendly Sky)" and "God is Love" were wrten by Gaye, his wife, Anna, and his nfidante Elgie Stover, who was nicknamed "the curse out man" at Motown.

On the album's next track, "Save the Children, " Gaye shows his two other distct voic: his macho-man style of sgg, ed on his early R&B hs, and Gaye the preacher, his reasoned, level-head spoken-word ratnal voice (which is the ma voice you hear on the track).

" Motown legend tells that was performed by sax player Thomas "Beans" Bowl, who was lled to the stud by Gaye a scramble the middle of the night to perform — but the tth is very flute on the song was played by a teenage girl named Dayna Hartwick. Hartwick rerd some flute parts durg the day but Gaye lled her back to the stud that night to perform a solo on the track — he wanted a jazz sound. Most of the Motown producers found his "growlg" sax style out of date, but a late-night ssn Gaye paid Wild Bill $500 out of his own pocket to play his tenor sax across the whole album.

In 2001, to celebrate s 30th anniversary, was released as a double CD legacy edn, which clud the origal LP, Gaye's rejected "Detro Mix" of the album, the mono mix of the sgl and Gaye's first and only plete performance of the album, live at the Kennedy Center his native Washgton, D. 2011, a 40th anniversary super luxe edn of the album was released cludg the "Funky Natn: Detro stmentals, " 14 tracks rerd by Gaye late summer and fall of 1971.

In 2016, a special 45th anniversary vyl four-rerd set was released, expandg the Kennedy Center ncert, along wh a rerd store day 10" EP featurg the album's tle track reimaged as a duet wh Gaye and ntemporary Motown artist B.