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Brilliant, enigmatic, and headstrong, Marvin Gaye was an innovator.
He arrived at Motown after leaving Washington, D.C. as one of Harvey Fuqua's Moonglows. A yen to croon Tin Pan Alley standards didnt pan out, but once Gaye wrapped his sleek pipes around the soulful "Stubborn Kind Of Fellow" in 1962, stardom enveloped him. The incendiary "Hitch Hike," "Pride And Joy" and "Can I Get A Witness" sold like crazy in 1963, and Marvin oozed silky sensuality on the 1965 classics "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)," "I'll Be Doggone" and "Aint That Peculiar." "I Heard It Through The Grapevine," recorded in late 1966 but not released until summer 1968, became a monster record that still resonates. Marvin also recorded in the sixties a series of electrifying duets with Mary Wells, Kim Weston and his ultimate singing partner, the ravishing but ill-fated Tammi Terrell.
At the decade's turn, Marvin seized full control of his output with the deeply personal, socially aware 1971 masterpiece What's Going On. Gaye's stratospheric reign continued with the albums Let's Get It On, Trouble Man and I Want You, and the smash hit "Got To Give It Up." At the end of the seventies, Marvin delved deeper into autobiography, with the albums Here, My Dear -- a sprawling 2-LP set detailing his marriage and ultimately divorce to Anna Gordy -- and In Our Lifetime, a philosophical and seriously funky masterwork that became his last Motown album.
Look for more about Marvin's evolution in the seventies as this space gets in gear...
Peace
RIP Marvin Gaye 1939-1984
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