Five Marvin Gaye masterpieces to get you started on a lifelong obsession
The drama, tragedy and passion of Marvin Gaye‘s life have often sought to reduce the genuine artistic merit of some of his finest work.
The very fact that he died just one day before his 45th birthday after being shot by his father is enough to send at home true crime detectives into a frenzy, while his penchant for bedroom hits has often rendered his music to comedic displays of sexuality. But beneath all of that is an artist whose musical legacy alone was enough. The life and times of Marvin Gaye had very little to do with why he was so revered, and rather it was the music, which over the course of two decades was carefully curated, beautifully arranged and philosophically insightful.
From the early Motown days, where the sultry voice of Gaye was understandably leveraged to deliver hit after hit, to the moment he laid down his 1971 opus What’s Going On, which saw him lift high above the realms of pop star and into transcendental leader, his career was captivating and compelling, all driven by that faultless voice.
He’s a name etched firmly into the history books of music, and so if you’re uninitiated with it, getting to know his artistry can feel like something of a daunting task. Do you just stick to ‘Sexual Healing’ and hope it will all make sense? Embrace the joy of Motown and dig no deeper? Or go all out on Gaye’s philanthropy and play What’s Going On on repeat until you’ve simply no faith left in the world.
How about a little bit of each, with this list of five definitive tracks to get you rolling.
Five definitive Marvin Gaye tracks:
‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’
This is Motown Gaye at his very best. It was a commercial smash when sung by Gladys Knight and the Pips, displaying all of the verse-chorus-hook structures required of a song willing to go that far. But with an extra smattering of musicianship, led by Gaye’s voice, it felt poignantly connected to the betrayal of the song’s sentiment.
Gaye’s yearning tenor contrasted with a heart-wrenching falsetto that was coloured in by vocal ad-libs throughout the track foregrounded his ability to lead a song into deeply transcendental realms, all while balancing the necessary sense of groove that is needed for a Motown smash hit.
‘Got To Give It Up’
It’s important to remember that Gaye wanted you to dance. While Motown encouraged you to do so as well, it wasn’t without a fee, and What’s Going On was more concerned with telling you the outright truth about the world, while ‘Got To Give It Up’ was a sugar rush of fun designed solely to get its listeners on their feet and dancing.
Gaye’s voice serves as a willing follower to the rhythm and instrumental arrangement, which is undoubtedly the star of the show. But in not competing with it vocally, Gaye uncovers a more nuanced part of his voice, using his falsetto to act as an accompanying instrument that lightly sprinkles hooks over the chorus line, giving its listeners something charming to latch onto.
‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ (with Tammi Terrell)
Gaye’s voice at its best is conversational. Throughout the seminal record What’s Going On, it feels as though that discourse is being held between us as the listeners and him as the artist, but on ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, the very best song of his partnership with Tammi Terrell, he vibrantly showcases his ability to do it with another artist.
There’s a wider understanding from both artists as to how the song ought to be served. Not caught up in a vibrato duel, the pair ride the rhythm of James Jamerson’s bass to playfully flirt and converse with each other, until crescendoing in a shared chorus that will quite simply be remembered forever.
‘Come Get To This’
Taken from his seminal 1973 album Let’s Get It On, this is a celebration of all things romance with that signature warmth of the Marvin Gaye soul sound, alongside the Funk Brothers on instrumentation and the arrangements by David Van DePitte; it was Gaye with his finest collaborators, showcasing exactly what good ‘70s soul sounded like.
The title track serves as the most recognisable track, but ‘Come Get To This’ is a better showcasing of Gaye’s melody writing and how he uses it to write something perfect for his strained vocal style. It’s also the very best celebration of his vocal ad-libs, which became something of a signature in his career and wholly showcased the sentimental feeling he had towards his songwriting process.
‘What’s Going On’
The standout song from Gaye’s standout record, this puts the iconic musician in a state of societal observation that, worryingly, 50 years on, feels more pertinent than ever, but despite the pain and anguish that surrounds the world of this track, there’s an effortless comfort to his voice that makes it feel as though everything is going to be alright.
Ultimately, though, this song is imperative listening for how it represents the wider record as a whole. What’s Going On largely follows the instrumental blueprint laid out by the title track, and the lyrics continue on his questioning narrative. Were this list a recommendation of records, then What’s Going On would firmly remain at the top; heck, it might even be submitted five times over, which means, to understand Gaye, you need to understand this record, and to understand this record, you need to understand this song.
