Marvin Gaye’s Full Circle Life: April 2, 1939-April 1, 1984

Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr. was born on April 2, 1939 in Washington, DC. Because he became synonymous with Motown, it is often assumed that he was from Detroit originally, but he wasn’t! He is in a wonderful class of artists that are from the nation’s capital. Marvin is also in a category of artists that I classify as “tortured genius”, because make NO mistake: Marvin was a genius. Period. When I listen to some of his music, whether it’s the lyrics, the compositions themselves, the arrangements, the instrumentation, or the vocals, I often get goosebumps. No exaggeration. It just blows my mind that someone could be that gifted. The flipside to his genius were some personal demons and struggles, which we all deal with to varying degrees…hence, the “tortured” aspect. I won’t get into these in detail, because that’s not the purpose of this blog. Also, I choose to remember my favorite artists for their wonderful work, which is why I am a fan in the first place. On that note, Marvin’s vulnerability with these things made him more endearing, and made some of his work even more relatable for me personally. After all, it should be obvious by now that the artists I love the most(and take the time to write about) are those whose music and lyrics I can relate to the most.

There are so many things that I could say about Marvin’s artistry, but I guess I should start with what I love about him the most, and what first made him who he was: his voice. In short, this man’s voice was EVERYTHING. If we’re talking strictly vocals, he is my all-time favorite male artist in that category. His tone is unique and pleasant, and all of his vocal trademarks(like his “oohs”, his falsetto, and his tendency to layer his own vocals) directly influenced generations of artists that came along during his lifetime and after, from Michael Jackson(my other all-time top favorite male vocalist) to Mariah Carey to Brandy. Layered vocals are a favorite aspect of mine in music altogether. Essentially, it is the practice of an artist recording the same lyrics in different keys and then stacking, or “layering” these recordings together to create what we hear on their albums. Some artists primarily practiced this on their background vocals(instead of using background singers), while some also incorporate it on their verses. There are many examples of both throughout Marvin’s catalog, and I will be including some of them below.

Before I get into the songs though, I just want to also recognize the diverse nature of Marvin’s artistry. Marvin began as a soul crooner on Motown in the ’60s, his work throughout that decade being reminiscent of singers like Sam Cooke and Nat King Cole. He recorded legitimate classics during this period, notably his duets with Tammi Terrell(“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, “Your Precious Love”, “If This World Were Mine”) and Motown classics such as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”. His push to gain artistic control ultimately resulted in the release of his 1971 album What’s Going On, which Motown founder Berry Gordy was not initially a fan of. Thankfully, Marvin won that battle, and the album is widely considered one of the greatest albums of all time, mainly because it addressed the issues of its time. What’s notable, however, is the fact that the subject matter of the album is still relevant today. That’s a sad fact, yet it speaks to Marvin being a true visionary; he could see issues such as climate change and environmental issues that are hot topics in recent years even then, not to mention social injustices. The album will be turning 50 in May, and it may as well have been written, recorded, and released in 2020. Overall, the album is political, socially conscious, and spiritual. Marvin followed it up with a movie soundtrack that was mostly instrumental(Trouble Man), the romance-focused Let’s Get It On, and the sensual I Want You. Live albums and other works were also sprinkled throughout, such as the unique Here, My Dear, which Marvin recorded as a result of his acrimonious separation and ultimate divorce from his first wife. Again, all vastly different albums in terms of subject matter and tone, yet still trademark Marvin in terms of vocals, style, and production.

Marvin passed away a day before his birthday in 1984. That in itself is so poignant to me, and it is where the title of this blog entry originated from. It really gives a “full circle” aspect to his life. The nature of his death in general really saddens me, and I will not be harping on it; however, I remember watching a documentary many years ago in which it was stated that people were hoping that the news was some sort of sick April Fool’s Day joke(since April 1st is April Fool’s Day, and his death was so unexpected and avoidable).

Happy Heavenly Birthday to the one and only Marvin Gaye, and may he continue to rest peacefully.

Let’s get into his work, shall we?

A Few of My Favorites

Please know that I have a high number of “favorite” songs by Marvin, so to keep this entry from getting too lengthy, I won’t be including every single song by him that I love. Also, I ADORE What’s Going On. However, since it is celebrating a milestone anniversary of 50 years in a couple months, I am purposely not including many songs from it here, as I will be writing an in-depth post on it then. With that said, here we go. 🙂

Rest in peace AND Happy Birthday to the late and forever great Marvin Gaye.