For Black Music Month, I thought I would write some pieces about some of my favorite artists and my memories of their music in my life. This may only be a series of one, but hopefully from time to time, I’ll get around to doing these. The first artist I would like to write about is Marvin Gaye.
It is generally accepted among music fans that Marvin Gaye was one of the all-time greats of R&B. I agree with that assessment, but it took me some time to get to that point. As a youngster, I never thought he was any better or worse than any other artist. My first memory of Marvin’s music was hearing “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby” on the radio that my mom was playing. That late-60s song suggested nothing to come with Marvin’s career, as What’s Going On, Let’s Get It On, I Want You, Here My Dear and other self-produced masterworks were on the way. It was only as I grew older, that I discovered the greatness of his 60s singles, as produced primarily by Smokey Robinson and Norman Whitfield. The duets with Tammi Terrell are songs that people will always point to when they talk about songs that remind them about romance.
As a kid, I tried to figure out what was so great about this guy. However, one summer my cousin came home and brought his LP collection and stereo equipment to our house. I still remember looking at all the albums, reading the notes and exploring the sounds included in the grooves. One of the things that I remember about that time spent listening to Marvin’s music was that he had a wonderful voice. I now believe that next to Sam Cooke and Luther Vandross, Marvin had the best male voice in R&B. His training in doo-wop with Harvey Fuqua served him well, as he was able to perform different voicings and parts on his songs. His mastery of how to use his voice became evident when he began to multi-track his voice on his songs. Part of my remembrance of his songs from the seventies was that I always thought that his songs had the coolest background vocalists. It took some time for me to realize that it was actually Marvin doing those parts. Songs like “After The Dance,” “Distant Lover,” “Let’s Get It On,” and “Come Get To This” and “I Want You” especially, made me think that he recruited some of his friends to sing backup for him. To this day, when I hear those songs, I listen to where the real action is: behind the lead vocal. Not that there was anything wrong with the lead vocals. Marvin would dive, swoop, and float in and around the grooves, caressing the melodies, making magic with his voice.
One of Marvin’s lasting contributions was being one of the first R&B artists who released an album with a singular statement or theme like What’s Going On that he believed in to great acclaim. It’s too bad he had to fight to release it at the time; but Berry Gordy, having built Motown on a lengthy string of hit singles that had no relation to the issues of the day, couldn’t see the benefit of the album’s release. Somehow, he relented and the rest, as they say, is history. And then, after a period of being a music messenger, he brought a new type of sexuality and sensuality to his music with Let’s Get It On and I Want You-the latter an album of songs that Leon Ware was persuaded to give to Marvin. Once Marvin put his magic to it, the rest again, was history.
One of my favorite memories about Marvin’s music was associated with the song “Got To Give It Up.” One of my mother’s friends was known to my sister and I as Uncle Smokey, because he was around a lot. Well, he loved “Got To Give It Up,” so much so that he would give me a dollar just to play that song. That may have been my first hustle. The repeated plays of that song probably had something to do with me liking it, even more now than I ever did back then. Then again, it may be the thought of my pockets getting fatter. And it wasn’t the 45 edit, this was the long album version, almost 12 non-stop minutes of groove. Even now, when my friends and family get together, it’s not uncommon to see us form a “Soul Train” line or people just getting up out of their seats to dance if this song plays.
Everyone knows about how tragically Marvin’s life was cut short, just as he was beginning a career renaissance. He had some personal issues, of that there is no doubt. Fans of R&B are thankful that this man gave us so much music that gave us all so many wonderful memories.
A hat-tip to SoulBounce.com for this post, which helped me get my thoughts together for my post.
