Marvin Gaye

Through his work is widely influential, it eventually became a neo-soul cliche to cite Gaye, Stevie Wonder, or Donny Hathaway as an influence, regardless of whether or not the citing artists' music actually reflected the qualities and creatvity inherent in Gaye's work.
. In addition, Gaye's music was often used as one of the reference point for what became known as nu soul or neo soul in the late-1990s: a nostalgic-based sound that seeks to duplicate a 1970s soul music feel, while adding hip hop and contemporary R&B elements to the mix. In 1991, Guthrie bought the church that had served as Alice Brock's former home, which had been made famous by the song, and converted it to the Guthrie Center (http://www.guthriecenter.org), an interfaith meeting place that serves people of all religions. As noted, Gaye helped gave rise to the "singer/soulwriter" in Black music. He collaborated with poet Adrian Mitchell to tell the story of Chilean folk singer and activist Víctor Jara in song. The "What's Going On" cover also featured Marvin Gaye's only daughter, Nona Gaye, a successful singer and actress in her own right. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice.

Diddy, ?uestlove, Britney Spears, and Gwen Stefani[3] (http://www.aaaw.org/press/pr_10_22_01.html). He also had a minor hit with his song "Coming into Los Angeles". Blige, Bono, Destiny's Child, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Nelly Furtado, Alicia Keys, Aaron Lewis, Nas, *NSYNC, P. Guthrie also made famous Steve Goodman's song "City of New Orleans", a paean to long-distance rail travel. The single, which was also a reaction to the September 11, 2001 tragedy, featured contributions from a plethora of stars, including Christina Aguilera, Mary J. The song also provided the scenario (and much of the soundtrack) for the film Alice's Restaurant (movie). Two years later, in October 2001, an all-star cover of "What's Going On", produced by Jermaine Dupri, was issued as a benefit single for Artists Against AIDS Worldwide. (compare with the song "Haddocks' Eyes" in Through the Looking-Glass).

In 1999, the R&B world paid its respects to Gaye in a tribute album, Marvin Is 60. To quote one of the song's Carrollian twists:. Marvin Gaye was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. There are many parodies of the song as well. Former Motown alum Diana Ross also paid tribute with her Top 10 pop single "Missing You" around the same time. Alice's Restaurant was revised and updated some years later to protest Reagan era policies, but the second version has not been released on a commercial recording. A year after his death, The Commodores made reference to Gaye's death in their 1985 song "Night Shift". The first recording of the song was done at the exact same time as the Apollo 11 Moon Landing.

In 1983, the British group Spandau Ballet recorded the single "True" as a partial tribute to both Gaye and the Motown sound he helped establish. The lyrics to the song can be found at this location on Guthrie's web site: [1] (http://www.arlo.net/lyrics/alices.shtml) Although it has some fantastical elements, it is based on a true story. Even before Gaye died, there had already been tributes to the singer. "Alice's Restaurant" is regularly played on some radio stations every Thanksgiving. died of pneumonia in 1998. The song describes how Guthrie was hauled into court for littering some of Alice's garbage after discovering that the dump was closed for Thanksgiving, and because of the resulting criminal record he was eventually rejected as unfit for military service when he was called up for the draft. The characters in the story, including both Alice and "officer Obie", who arrested him, became famous in their own right as a result of the song. Marvin Gay, Sr. Alice, in this case, was restaurant owner Alice Brock, who lived in a former church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

After some posthumous releases cemented his memory in the popular consciousness, Gaye was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. The song, a bitingly satirical protest against the Vietnam War draft, recounts a true Thanksgiving adventure that began at Alice's Restaurant, where "you can get anything you want (excepting Alice)". kill him instead of having to commit suicide. His most famous work is "Alice's Restaurant", a story song that lasts 18 minutes and 20 seconds. On April 1, 1984, one day before his forty-fifth birthday, Gaye was shot and killed by his father in an argument, becoming a famous victim of filicide. Gaye's relatives claimed that he had purposely pushed his father to the edge so that he could have Marvin, Sr. He graduated from the controversial Stockbridge School of Massachusetts in 1965, and briefly attended Rocky Mountain College. He threatened to commit suicide several times after numerous bitter arguments with his father, Marvin, Sr. He was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1947.

Gaye's refound fame pushed him even deeper into drug addiction and he attempted to isolate himself by moving into his parent's house. Arlo Guthrie is an American folk singer who is the son of folk singer and composer Woody Guthrie. Midnight Love included "Sexual Healing", one of Gaye's most famous songs, and his final big hit. Mystic Journey (1996). He negotiated a release from the label and signed with Columbia Records in 1982 and released Midnight Love the same year. Alice's Restaurant - The Massacree Revisted (1996). When Motown issued the album in 1981, Gaye was livid: he accused Motown of editing and remixing the album without his consent, altering the album art he requested, and removing the question mark from the title (rendering the intended irony imperceptable). More Together Again (1994).

In Europe, Gaye began working on In Our Lifetime?, a complex and deeply personal record. 2 Songs (1992). Tax problems and drug addictions haunted him, and after failing to get Motown labelmate Smokey Robinson to loan him money to take care of the tax issues, Gaye was forced to move to Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1981. Son of the Wind (1992). After a failed single and a rapidly failing new marriage to a teenage girl, Gaye moved to Hawaii. All Over the World (1991). The result was 1978's Here, My Dear, a deeply personal album that so clearly detailed the sour points of Gaye's former marriage that Anna Gordy considered suing him for invading her privacy. Someday (1986).

As part of the divorce settlement, Gaye agreed to record a new album and remit a portion of the royalties to Anna as alimony. Precious Friend (1982). Gaye released I Want You by himself as his marriage finally ended in 1975. Power Of Love (1981). Gaye refused to sing if he couldn't smoke in the studio, and the duets album was recorded by overdubing Ross and Gaye at separate studio session dates. Outlasting the Blues (1979). Gaye, a longtime marijuana user, refused to put out his joints out for the pregnant Ross, who immediately complained to Berry Gordy about the issue. One Night (1978).

Gaye teamed up with Diana Ross for Diana & Martin, an album of duets that began recording in 1971, while Ross was pregnant with her first child, Rhonda. The Best of Arlo Guthrie (1977). 1973's Let's Get It On was a sexually and romantically charged album that was very successful on the charts and remains "a record unparalleled in its sheer sensuality and carnal energy." [2] (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:4sj20r8ac48n). Amigo (1976). It has been called "the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices." [1] (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ui6xlfwe5cqu~T1). Together In Concert (1975). What's Going On became one of the most memorable soul albums of all time, and, based upon its themes, the concept album became the next new frontier for soul music. Arlo Guthrie (1974).

Gordy eventually gave in, certain that the record would flop; What's Going On ended up having three Top Ten singles. Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys (1973). Gaye stood his ground; he wanted to be able to express himself, and not Gordy's or Motown's version of himself, on record. Hobo's Lullaby (1972). He considered the record far too political and unfamiliar in sound to be commercially successful. Washington County (1970). When Gaye delivered the album and single for release, Berry Gordy refused to release the album. Running Down the Road (1969).

The partygoers are portrayed by Mel Farr and Lem Barney of the Detroit Lions, whose acquantances Gaye had made during his short-lived football career. Arlo (1968). On the finished track, as Gaye musically ponders on the state of the world, a party can be heard going on in the background, from which Gaye's voice is purposefully detached. Alice's Restaurant (1967). Four Tops member Renaldo "Obie" Benson and songwriter Al Clevland wrote an initial rough version of the song, which Gaye took and collaborated with them to finish. The album's first single, also titled "What's Going On", addressed the political and social troubles of the world in a soulful, introspective way, contrasting to the more dramatic socially concious records made by Sly & the Family Stone and The Temptations over the previous three years.

Gaye was inspired to write about the war by his brother, Frankie Gay, who had just returned from the front lines. The record was among the first soul records to place emphasis on political and social concerns such as environmentalism, political corruption, drug abuse, and the Vietnam War. What's Going On was a politically-charged and deeply personal Motown album, notable for including elements of jazz and classical music. As a result, he began recording the tracks that would eventually comprise his best-known work, What's Going On, handling all of his own production and most of his own songwriting.

He tried various spirit-lifting diversions, including a short-lived attempt at a football career with the Detroit Lions, but continued to feel pain with no form of self-expression. Gaye subsequently went into self-seclusion, and did not record or perform for nearly two years. Tammi Terrell died of brain cancer on March 17, 1970. Meanwhile, Gaye's marriage was crumbling and he continued to feel irrelevant, singing endlessly about love while popular music underwent a revolution and began addressing social and political issues.

Terrell's illness began a depression in Gaye; when his Norman Whitfield-produced "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" hit #1 on the US pop charts for seven weeks in 1968/1969 and became the biggest seling single in Motown history to that point, he refused to acknowledge his success, feeling that it was undeserved. By the time on the final Gaye/Terrell album, Easy, in 1969, Terrell's vocals were performed mostly by Valerie Simpson. Half of the songs on You're All I Need were actual Gaye/Terrell duets, but the other half were Terrell solo songs with Gaye's vocals overdubbed onto them. Motown decided to try and carry on with the Gaye/Terrell recordings, issuing the You're All I Need album in 1968, which featured the hits "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "You're All I Need to Get By".

She was later diagnosed with a brain tumor, and her health continued to deterirate. On October 14, 1967, Terrell collapsed into Gaye's arms onstage while they were performing at the Hampden-Sydney College homecoming in Virginia. Real life couple Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson provided the writing and production for the Gaye/Terrell records; while Gaye and Terrell themselves were not lovers, they convincingly portrayed lovers on record. Terrell and Gaye in particular had a good rapport, and their first album together, 1967's United, birthed the massive hits "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Your Precious Love".

A number of Gaye's hit singles for Motown were duets with female artists such as Mary Wells, Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell; the first Gaye/Wells album, 1964's Together, was Gaye's first charting album. He wanted instead to be a pop singer in the vein of Nat King Cole or Frank Sinatra, but settled for a blend of the styles of those artists and performers such as Jackie Wilson and his role model Sam Cooke. "Pride and Joy" (1963) became a smash hit, but Gaye was discontented with the role he felt Motown Records kept him locked in, as a romantic balladeer and crooner, aiming always for chart success in the singles market. 1963's "Hitch Hike" and "Can I Get a Witness" were also minor hits.

The single was written by Smokey Robinson, who created the title as a sly reference to the sometimes moody Gaye. Marvin Gaye's first three Motown singles were all unsuccessful; he fnally scored a minor hit with his fourth attempt, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", in 1962. Not only part of the Motown family, he also became part of the Gordy family when he married Berry Gorsy's sister Anna in 1961. Popular and well-liked around Motown, Gaye already carried himself in a sophisiticated, gentleman-like manner, and had little need of training from Motown's in-house Artist Development director Miss Maxine Powell.

2", and co-wrote Marth & the Vandellas' 1964 hit "Dancing in the Street" and The Marvelettes' 1965 hit "Beechwood 4-5789". Most notably, he is the drummer on Little Stevie Wonder's 1963 #1 hit "Fingertips--Pt. As a session drummer and part-time songwriter, Gaye worked with The Miracles, The Contours, Martha & the Vandellas, and other Motown acts. of Motown Records.

After a concert in Detroit, Michigan, Gaye was recruited for a solo career by Berry Gordy, Jr. "Mama Loocie", relased in 1959 on Chess Records, was Gaye's first single with the Moonglows. With Bo Diddley, The Rainbows released a single, "Wyatt Earp" in 1958 on Okeh, and were then recruited by Harvey Fuqua to become The Moonglows. After high school, Gaye joined the United States Air Force and then, after being discharged, joined several doo wop groups, settling on The Rainbows, a popular local group in D.C.

Gaye got his start singing in the church choir, later learning to play the piano and drums to escape from his physically abusive father. The church has very strict codes of conduct and does not celebrate any holidays. Gaye was born Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (He later added the "e" to imitate Sam Cooke, who did the same) in Washington, D.C., the son of the Reverend Marvin Gay, Sr., an ordained minister in the House of God, a conservative Christian sect which takes some elements of Pentecostalism and Orthodox Judaism. Kelly.

This achievement would pave the way for the successes of later self-sufficient singer-songwriter-producers in Black music, such as Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, Babyface, and R. Subsequent releases proved that Gaye, who had been a part-time songwriter for Motown artists during his early years with the label, could write and produce his own singles without having to rely on the Motown system. Gaye forced Motown to release his 1971 album What's Going On, which is today hailed as one of the best soul albums of all time. Along with Stevie Wonder, Gaye is notable for fighting the hitmaking but creatively restrictive Motown record-making process, in which performers and songwriters/record producers were generally kept in separate camps.

His best records are still highly regarded, and he is often cited as one of the finest singers of his era. Marvin Gaye (Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr.) (April 2, 1939 - April 1, 1984) was an African American pop, soul and R&B singer who gained international fame during the 1960s and 1970s as an artist on the Motown label. New York/Philadelphia: Basic Civitas. ISBN 0-465-01769-X. Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves, and Demons of Marvin Gaye.

Dyson, Michael Eric (2004). New York: Harmony Books. The Top 100 Rock 'n' Roll Albums of All Time. Gambaccini, Paul (1987).

ISBN 030681191X. Cambridge, Mass: Da Capo Press. Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye. Ritz, David (1986).

ISBN 037-550062-6. New York: Random House. Motown : Music, Money, Sex, and Power. Posner, Gerald (2002).

Detroit Free Press. Marvin Gaye: a life marked by complexity (http://www.freep.com/motownat40/archives/040884mo.htm). Kim (April 8, 1984). Heron, W.

1973: "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)". 1973: "You're a Special Part of Me". 1970: "The Onion Song" (actually performed by Gaye and Valerie Simpson). 1969: "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Coem By".

1968: "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing". 1968: "You're All I Need to Get By". 1967: "Your Precious Love". 1967: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

1966: "It Takes Two". 1982: "Sexual Healing". 1977: "Got To Give It Up". 1976: "I Want You".

1974: "Distant Lover". 1973: "Let's Get It On". 1972: "Trouble Man". 1971: "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)".

1971: "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)". 1971: "What's Going On". 1969: "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby". 1968: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (US #1).

1965: "Ain't That Peculiar". 1964: "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)". 1963: "Pride & Joy". 1963: "Can I Get a Witness".

1973: Diana & Marvin. 1969: Easy. 1968: You're All I Need. 1967: United.

1964: Together. 1982: Midnight Love. 1981: In Our Lifetime. 1978: Here, My Dear.

1977: Live at the London Palladium. 1976: I Want You. 1974: Marvin Gaye Live!. 1973: Let's Get It On.

1972: Trouble Man (soundtrack). 1971: What's Going On. 1970: That's The Way Love Is. 1969: Marvin Gaye & His Girls.

1969: M.P.G.. 1968: In the Groove (reissued in 1969 as I Heard It Through the Grapevine). 1966: The Moods of Marvin Gaye. 1965: A Tribute To The Great Nat "King" Cole.

1965: How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You. 1964: When I'm Alone I Cry. 1964: Hello Broadway. 1963: Recorded Live on Stage.

1963: That Stubborn Kinda Fellow. 1961: The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye.