Mic Philosophy: Marv Gaye / You’re The Man (1972) (2019)

Contents:

• MARV GAYE’S LOST ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ FOLLOW UP, ‘YOU’RE THE MAN,’ SET FOR RELEASE
• MARV GAYE YOU'RE THE MAN
• MARV GAYE: YOU’RE THE MAN
• MARV GAYE - YOU'RE THE MAN

MARV GAYE’S LOST ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ FOLLOW UP, ‘YOU’RE THE MAN,’ SET FOR RELEASE

Morally right-on, emotnally vulnerable, and still milly avant-gar, Marv Gaye’s prevly unreleased 1972 album You’re the Man is the timels sound of a btible rhythm and blu. Gaye’s 1972 anti-Nixon clapbacks on You’re the Man —such as “magogu and admted mory haters should never be print”—uld jt as easily apply to the ghastly failgs of today’s crooked Tmp the 1970s, Gaye emerged as a seer, diggg for ep groov the effort to realize an all-clive, mocratic world that still seems beyond our reach.

MARV GAYE YOU'RE THE MAN

Troubled by imperial war, hypocril ernments, exclnary racial polici, and loomg elogil disasters, Marv Gaye was the mician-as-dissint, strivg for liberatn that he himself never personally managed to achieve durg his lifetime.

Wh the urse of a sgle album, Gaye uld e off as nsc, pensive, ncerned, driven, mted, topil, tough, sexy, urbane, hypnotic, tortured, troubled, hip, relig, fiant, disillned, high-flyg, fiant, blunted, and ’re the Man ptur those wi-rangg preccts, punctuatg them wh mmerizg flights to black power era funk and soul by way of nga-tged groov. It’s not a ncise, perfectly nstcted ncept album like Gaye’s 1971 What’s Gog On, his erotic 1973 Let’s Get It On or his 1976 timate masterpiece I Want You.

There was, after all, a reason Gaye chose to shelve You’re the Man.

MARV GAYE: YOU’RE THE MAN

And an sential qutn lgers: Is You’re the Man really a fished rerd that Gaye would have wanted released? But hearg 47 years after was abandoned, You’re the Man throws time self to relief, offerg revisnist sight to how Gaye managed his creativy the immediate aftermath of his naway early ’70s one year before the release of “You’re the Man, ” 1971, Gaye shed his crooner-baret Mr. Gaye rried the msage mic torch of Motown artists like The Temptatns, Edw Starr, Martha Reev, and Steve Wonr to gurate the early 1970s FM-rad era of the black prott rerd.

MARV GAYE - YOU'RE THE MAN

And alongsi figur like Isaac Hay and Curtis Mayfield, Gaye helped turned 1971 to the year where black albums mattered as much or more than all acunts, however, Gaye privately stggled wh how to follow up What’s Gog On.

In 1972, Gaye was and out of studs Detro and L.

To be near Motown’s new headquarters, Gaye nervoly abandoned plans to release all those other songs he’d been workg on for a year, pursug stead other optns like his duet album wh Diana Ross, and an origal sre to the film Trouble Man. A year later, 1973, Gaye released the mercial smash Let’s Get It On, his official stud follow-up to What’s Gog On, ntroversially leavg behd his excursn to polil subject matter favor of boudoir by his What’s Gog On llaborator Kenh Stover, and one of the last tracks he ever rerd at Motown Detro, You’re the Man’s srchg tle tune remas an astonishg synthis of the queasy, tricky state of Amerin electoral polics the early 1970s—’s an orphaned masterpiece about hollow mpaign promis disnnected om polil actn have imperiled Amerin mocracy.