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. For the Democratic candidate for District 25 in Texas and the former head of the Houston NAACP, please see Al Green (politician). 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.
. As noted, Gaye helped gave rise to the "singer/soulwriter" in Black music. The next year, Green was inducted into the Gospel Music Association's Gospel Music Hall of Fame. The "What's Going On" cover also featured Marvin Gaye's only daughter, Nona Gaye, a successful singer and actress in her own right. Green released in 2003 a non-religious (secular) album entitled I Can't Stop, his first collaboration with Willie Mitchell since 1985's He is the Light.

Diddy, ?uestlove, Britney Spears, and Gwen Stefani[3] (http://www.aaaw.org/press/pr_10_22_01.html). The Grammys presented Green with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. Blige, Bono, Destiny's Child, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Nelly Furtado, Alicia Keys, Aaron Lewis, Nas, *NSYNC, P. In 2000, Green published Take Me to the River, a book discussing his career. 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. Green's first secular album in some time was Your Heart's In Good Hands (1995), released to positive reviews but disappointing sales, the same year Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 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. His 1994 duet with country music singer Lyle Lovett blended country with R&B, garnering him ninth Grammy, this time in a pop music category.

In 1999, the R&B world paid its respects to Gaye in a tribute album, Marvin Is 60. First, he released a duet with Annie Lennox, "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" for Scrooged, a Bill Murray film. Marvin Gaye was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. After spending several years exclusively performing gospel, Green began to return to R&B. Former Motown alum Diana Ross also paid tribute with her Top 10 pop single "Missing You" around the same time. In 1984 director Robert Mugge released a documentary film, The Gospel According to Al Green, including interviews about his life and footage from his church. A year after his death, The Commodores made reference to Gaye's death in their 1985 song "Night Shift". From 1981 to 1989 Green recorded a series of gospel recordings, garnering eight "soul gospel performance" Grammys in that period.

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. His first gospel album was The Lord Will Make a Way. Even before Gaye died, there had already been tributes to the singer. He then concentrated his energies towards pastoring his church and gospel singing, also appearing in 1982 with Patti Labelle in the musical Your Arms Too Short to Box With God. died of pneumonia in 1998. In 1979, Green was injured while performing and interpreted this accident as a message from God. Marvin Gay, Sr. 1977's The Belle Album was critically acclaimed but did not regain his former mass audience.

After some posthumous releases cemented his memory in the popular consciousness, Gaye was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Continuing to record R&B, Green saw his sales start to slip and the critics grew steadily harsher. kill him instead of having to commit suicide. Green converted to Christianity after recovering from the assault and in 1976 became an ordained pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis. 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. She then killed herself in an adjacent bedroom. He threatened to commit suicide several times after numerous bitter arguments with his father, Marvin, Sr. On October 18, 1974, Green's girlfriend, Mary Woodson, poured boiling grits on him as he was showering, causing second-degree burns on his back, stomach and arm.

Gaye's refound fame pushed him even deeper into drug addiction and he attempted to isolate himself by moving into his parent's house. Call Me was a critical sensation, and was also just as popular at the time; it is one of his most fondly remembered albums today. Midnight Love included "Sexual Healing", one of Gaye's most famous songs, and his final big hit. Let's Stay Together (1972) was an even bigger success, as was I'm Still In Love With You (1972). He negotiated a release from the label and signed with Columbia Records in 1982 and released Midnight Love the same year. The next LP, though, Al Green Gets Next To You (1970), was a massive success that included four gold singles as Green developed his vocal and songwriting talents. 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). The album was a moderate success.

In Europe, Gaye began working on In Our Lifetime?, a complex and deeply personal record. Green's debut album with Hi Records was Green is Blue, a slow, horn-driven album that allowed Green to show off his powerful and expressive voice, with Mitchell arranging, engineering, and producing. 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. Mitchell predicted stardom for Green, coaching him to find his own, unique voice at a time when Green had previously been trying to sing like his heroes Jackie Wilson, Wilson Pickett, James Brown, and Sam Cooke. After a failed single and a rapidly failing new marriage to a teenage girl, Gaye moved to Hawaii. Al Green met bandleader Willie Mitchell of Memphis' Hi Records in 1969, when Mitchell had hired him as a vocalist for a Texas show with Mitchell's band and then asked him to sign with the label. 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. The Soul Mates' subsequent singles did not sell as well.

As part of the divorce settlement, Gaye agreed to record a new album and remit a portion of the royalties to Anna as alimony. The band, now known as the Soul Mates, recorded "Back Up Train" and released it on Hot Line Music; the song was an R&B chart hit. Gaye released I Want You by himself as his marriage finally ended in 1975. Curtis Rogers and Palmer James, two members of the Creations, formed an independent label called Hot Line Music Journal. 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. Green formed a group called Al Greene & the Creations in high school. 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. He was kicked out of the group by his father because he was caught listening to Jackie Wilson.

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. They toured extensively in the mid-1950s in the South until the Greenes moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, when they began to tour around Michigan. 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). The son of a sharecropper, he started out at age nine in a Forrest City quartet called the Greene Brothers; he dropped the final "e" from his last name years later as a solo artist. 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). April 13, 1946) is an American gospel and soul music singer, born in Forrest City, Arkansas. 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. Al Green (b.

Gordy eventually gave in, certain that the record would flop; What's Going On ended up having three Top Ten singles. Grammy Awards website (http://www.grammy.com). Gaye stood his ground; he wanted to be able to express himself, and not Gordy's or Motown's version of himself, on record. NPR interview (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1082212). He considered the record far too political and unfamiliar in sound to be commercially successful. Allmusic.com artist discussion (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=MIDMR0411300853&sql=11:y698s34ba3mg~T1). When Gaye delivered the album and single for release, Berry Gordy refused to release the album. Biography at official artist website (http://www.algreenmusic.com/BIOGRAPHY.htm).

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. Al Green) #38 UK. 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. 1989 "The Message is Love" (Arthur Baker and The Backbeat Disciples feat. 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. 1988 "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" (with Annie Lennox) #9 US, #28 UK. 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. 1977 "Keep Me Cryin'" #37 US.

Gaye was inspired to write about the war by his brother, Frankie Gay, who had just returned from the front lines. 1975 "Full of Fire" #28 US. 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. 1975 "L-O-V-E (Love)" #13 US, #24 UK. What's Going On was a politically-charged and deeply personal Motown album, notable for including elements of jazz and classical music. 1974 "Livin' for You" #19 US. 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. 1974 "Let's Get Married" #32 US.

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. 1974 "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)" #7 US, #20 UK. Gaye subsequently went into self-seclusion, and did not record or perform for nearly two years. 1973 "Here I am (Come and Take Me)" #10 US. Tammi Terrell died of brain cancer on March 17, 1970. 1973 "Call Me (Come Back Home)" #10 US. 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. 1972 "You Ought to be with Me" #3 US.

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. 1972 "Look What You Done for Me" #4 US. By the time on the final Gaye/Terrell album, Easy, in 1969, Terrell's vocals were performed mostly by Valerie Simpson. 1972 "I'm Still in Love with You" #3 US, #35 UK. 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. 1972 "Let's Stay Together" #1 US, #7 UK. 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". 1971 "Tired of Being Alone" #11 US, #4 UK.

She was later diagnosed with a brain tumor, and her health continued to deterirate. 2005 "Everything's OK". On October 14, 1967, Terrell collapsed into Gaye's arms onstage while they were performing at the Hampden-Sydney College homecoming in Virginia. 2003 "The Love Songs Collection" (compilation) #91 US. 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. 2003 "I Can't Stop" #53 US. 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". 2002 "Love - The Essential Al Green" #18 UK.

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. 2001 "Feels Like Christmas". 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. 2000 "Take Me to the River" (compilation) #186 US. "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. 1995 "Your Heart's in Good Hands". 1963's "Hitch Hike" and "Can I Get a Witness" were also minor hits. 1993 "Gospel Soul".

The single was written by Smokey Robinson, who created the title as a sly reference to the sometimes moody Gaye. 1992 "Love is Reality". 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. 1989 "I Get Joy". 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. 1988 "Hi Life - The Best of Al Green" #34 UK. 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. 1987 "Soul Survivor" #131 US.

2", and co-wrote Marth & the Vandellas' 1964 hit "Dancing in the Street" and The Marvelettes' 1965 hit "Beechwood 4-5789". 1986 "White Christmas". Most notably, he is the drummer on Little Stevie Wonder's 1963 #1 hit "Fingertips--Pt. 1985 "He is the Light". As a session drummer and part-time songwriter, Gaye worked with The Miracles, The Contours, Martha & the Vandellas, and other Motown acts. 1984 "Trust in God". of Motown Records. 1983 "The Christmas Album".

After a concert in Detroit, Michigan, Gaye was recruited for a solo career by Berry Gordy, Jr. 1983 "I'll Rise Again". "Mama Loocie", relased in 1959 on Chess Records, was Gaye's first single with the Moonglows. 1982 "Precious Lord". 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. 1981 "Tokyo Live". 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. 1981 "Higher Plane".

Gaye got his start singing in the church choir, later learning to play the piano and drums to escape from his physically abusive father. 1980 "The Lord Will Make a Way". The church has very strict codes of conduct and does not celebrate any holidays. 1978 "Truth N' Time". 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. 2" #134 US. Kelly. 1977 "Al Green's Greatest Hits, Vol.

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. 1977 "The Belle Album" #103 US. 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. 1976 "Have a Good Time" #93 US. 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. 1976 "Full of Fire" #59 US. 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. 1975 "Al Green's Greatest Hits" #17 US, #18 UK.

His best records are still highly regarded, and he is often cited as one of the finest singers of his era. 1975 "Al Green is Love" #28 US. 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. 1974 "Al Green Explores Your Mind" #15 US. New York/Philadelphia: Basic Civitas. ISBN 0-465-01769-X. 1973 "Livin' for You" #24 US. Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves, and Demons of Marvin Gaye. 1973 "Call Me" #10 US.

Dyson, Michael Eric (2004). 1972 "Al Green" (compilation) #162 US. New York: Harmony Books. 1972 "I'm Still in Love with You" #4 US. The Top 100 Rock 'n' Roll Albums of All Time. 1972 "Let's Stay Together" #8 US. Gambaccini, Paul (1987). 1971 "Al Green Gets Next to You" #58 US.

ISBN 030681191X. 1970 "Green is Blues" #19 US. Cambridge, Mass: Da Capo Press. 1967 "Back Up Train". 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.