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When he arrived back home in DC he joined several doo-wop groups, he began
with ‘the Rainbows’, and with the help of Bo Diddly, they released there first single called
“Wyatt Earp” in 1958 on Okeh Records. This caught the attention of Harvey Fuqua and he
turned the group into ‘the Moonglows’. Harvey signed them to Chess Records and had there
first hit with “Mama Loocie” in 1959. The group attended a concert in Detroit, Michigan, and
Berry Gordy JR, of Motown Records, took on board Gay for a solo career. This was when
Marvin Gay added the “e” to his surname. It was for him to have an easier time in the show
business, and for fashionable reasons just like Sam Cooke once did. Gaye began his solo
career as a session drummer with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, among many other
groups, and eventually he married Berry Gordys sister Anna Gordy. This happened in 1961,
and he released three unsuccessful singles before his smash hit debut ‘Stubborn Kind Of
Fellow’ in 1962, which was out on Tamla. Singles such as ‘Hitch Hike’ and ‘Can I Get a
Witness’ all became major songs in the 60’s for soul music. Marvin Gaye had an angelic voice
but his pain could not be covered, it would always show and this gave realness to Marvin’s
music. With all his attempts of making it a star, Marvin never felt that he truly reached those
goals. He always wanted more than what he had got, and this lead him towards heavy drug
quantities, letting down huge shows and getting friendly with prostitutes on tours. Marvin
Gaye’s first massive album for Motown Records was called ‘Together’, were he would literally
make history in soul music. The duets with Tammi Terrell was something special, nobody
had heard such genuine love and connection on one record before. This was released in
1964, and there was no looking back. Marvin kept bringing out these wonderful albums like
‘How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You’ (1965 – Tamla), ‘Moods Of Marvin Gaye’ (1966 – Tamla),
‘In The Groove (‘1969 – Tamla), and then the biggest record that wouldn’t just shock
America, but the world itself. ‘What’s Going On’ was released and its one of those albums
that was need at the time, it question political, social and racial issues. Berry Gory did not
take this seriously, and at the start Motown did not like the album, until they found out how
many copies it sold. ‘What’s Going On’ became the sound track to the 70’s. Followed later by
the first real sound track Marvin Gaye made called ‘Trouble Man’. At the time no artist had
attempted making a sound track, and this went down really well with the public. It has a cool
Jazz sense to it with a sophisticated Funk vibe. Marvin Gaye and Anna Gaye soon divorced,
and Janice Gaye became Marvin’s second wife at the tender age of 17. This was when Marvin
created ‘Lets Get It On’; this was to ultimately define soul music. The sexually and
romantically charged voice and lyrics in this album turned on many heads. It captures how in
love Marvin Gaye was at that time with Jan. With all this success, Marvin Gaye was still having
family problems with his father, and never settled the fire between the two. Their arguments
and battles lead to Marvin’s tragic death, but even with all this success his father never said
anything that would compliment his son. This grew Marvin more hungry for fame and money,
he didn’t want to be just a million air, he wanted to be rolling in the trillions of dollars he
could earn through his voice. Berry Gordy had brought to the attention of Marvin Gaye to
Diana Ross. Diana Ross was a beautiful, hard working and independent woman, who had a
very successful career in both acting and singing. Marvin Gaye was jealous, and wanted a
slice of the pie. Berry set them up together in the studio to record one of Marvin’s worst
every duet albums, which resulted him into giving up duet singing for good. ‘Diana and
Marvin’ was released on Motown Records in 1973. It was still good music, but it didn’t
capture his connection that he had with previous duet albums. Marvin Gaye seemed to like
drama, and would argue with Jan, but deep down he really did love her. Marvin Gaye’s friend,
and producer Leon Ware then made ‘I Want You’ in 1976 on Tamla. It would feature classic
soul songs such as the angelic ‘I Want You’, ‘Come Live With Me Angel’, ‘After The Dance’
and ‘Since I Had You’, all of which are some of the finest Marvin Gaye songs ever. The purity
in Marvin’s vocals is soul touching and emotionally soothing that not many male singers can
reach. His father used to dress up in women’s cloths and sometimes Marvin Gaye would
catch him in his room looking lady like. Also, as a child he leaned more towards his mother
for comfort, and he then grew up into becoming a highly sensitive individual. This is mainly
why Marvin had such a hard life, he was sensitive yet extremely stubborn. He was confused a
lot of the time in love, relationships and other life goings on, but the music that he made
always impressed people. This is why he is such a respected and admired legend today, an
originator and innovator like no other soul singer to ever hit the music scene. Jan and Marvin
were not getting on at all, and they soon broke up, which resulted in ‘Here, My Dear’ in
1978. This featured songs directly written to Anna, entitled ‘Anna’s Song’, and the
aggressive songs ‘Anger’ was a stand out on the album. Although some critics felt that this
album was too self-absorbed and didn’t think it was Marvin’s best work. However, it has one
of my favourite Marvin Gaye tracks ‘I Met A Little Girl’ and ‘Everybody Needs Love’, which is
one of the most lyrically sensitive songs I’ve ever heard. ‘Sparrow’, ‘You Can Leave, Buts It’s
Going To Cost You’, ‘When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You’, ‘Funky
Space Reincarnation’ and ‘Falling In Love Again’ are just some of the beautiful gems that not
many of the commercial Marvin fans would get to hear. It’s a very personal album, which is
why I love it. After ‘Here, My Dear’ Marvin’s career went down hill, but still kept releasing
some great music, with albums like ‘Midnight Love’, ‘Dream Of A Lifetime’, ‘Romantically
Yours’, and ‘Vulnerable’. ‘Vulnerable’ was an exceptionally good album, it was his most
proudest piece’s of music. Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra always influenced him; and he felt
he had done those crooners justice. Marvin Gaye’s father would torment him as a child and
other kids would call his father a “sissy”, and this added another reason to why he put an “e”
to his name when he began his career. With all the fame, money, sex and drugs, attached to
Marvin’s heart was a deep sense of unhappiness. His death was described as an angel being
set free. He had held something negative towards Reverend Gay SR for most of his life, after
lots of rebellion and fight, Marvin SR shot and killed Marvin Gaye on April 1, 1984. This
happened in a house that Marvin Gaye had bought his family in Beverly Hills. It was more
intense than a ‘domestic dispute’, it was an emotionally affect situation that caused the two
to act in out of control ways that turned into heart breaking results. With Marvin Gaye JR now
spiritually at peace, he left behind music that would make him live on. He is truly a legend in
his own right, he fought to get what he wanted, and showed us that ‘without progression,
there is no progression’. Marvin Gaye will continue to inspired the young and keep the good
soul music alive.
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