What else can be said about Marvin that hasn't been said! One of my musical heroes without a doubt. I recently told someone that when looking at the full spectrum of his career from the early 1960's to 80's, one could see his musical evolution and progression easily, from the doo-wop stylings of his early recordings to the popular Motown Sound, from the social commentary to funk and disco of his later recordings. I mean, I was on a Marvin kick one day during this summer, listening to nothing but him all day and I was so amazed by the range of his work. His voice will never be matched by anyone and his vocal technique was so interesting (take a look at one of his concerts and watch how he sings and moves his microphone while trying to belt out those notes! AMAZING!) Left us way too soon.

Haven't been able to stop listening to this since I got my hands on the marvelous Deluxe Edition of Let's Get It On back in 2005....great outtake!

I'd Give My Life To You: http://vimeo.com/14131022

Another one of my favorites:

[Edited 9/26/10 17:22pm]

silverchild said:

What else can be said about Marvin that hasn't been said! One of my musical heroes without a doubt. I recently told someone that when looking at the full spectrum of his career from the early 1960's to 80's, one could see his musical evolution and progression easily, from the doo-wop stylings of his early recordings to the popular Motown Sound, from the social commentary to funk and disco of his later recordings. I mean, I was on a Marvin kick one day during this summer, listening to nothing but him all day and I was so amazed by the range of his work. His voice will never be matched by anyone and his vocal technique was so interesting (take a look at one of his concerts and watch how he sings and moves his microphone while trying to belt out those notes! AMAZING!) Left us way too soon.

True that! But we definitely need to get out the word so others can discover/re-discover his amazing music. Can't let the musical genuises fade into obscurity! Can't help but wonder what else he would have given us as musical gifts... Still, Marvin left a musical legacy that can't be imitated.

Marvin Gaye was brilliant and we're lucky his music is still here long after he was taken.

I Want You is a stone cold classic and anyone who disagrees is wrong.

One of my favorites outtakes is the unedited mix of "I Wanna Be Where You Are":

[Edited 9/26/10 17:44pm]

Timmy84 said:

One of the greatest that ever did it.

Just watch these two performances of "Grapevine" in the different times in Marvin's career.

For such an artist that hated performing he sure was an excellent live performer.

This is by far my most favorite performance of him (you can even see a glimpse of James Jamerson):

[Edited 9/27/10 5:27am]

missfee said:

Timmy84 said:

One of the greatest that ever did it.

Just watch these two performances of "Grapevine" in the different times in Marvin's career.

For such an artist that hated performing he sure was an excellent live performer.

Like I told you in the orgnote, Marvin was a contradiction. He might've hated live performing but for the time he was on the stage he was one of the greatest to do it live. The entire Montreux performance was a masterpiece considering the shape he was in at the time. You wouldn't have thought he was on drugs around this point.

silverchild said:

Haven't been able to stop listening to this since I got my hands on the marvelous Deluxe Edition of Let's Get It On back in 2005....great outtake!

I'd Give My Life To You: http://vimeo.com/14131022

Another one of my favorites:

[Edited 9/26/10 17:22pm]

This and "Love Me Now or Love Me Later" signaled what his life was all about. It's great how Marvin used his personal pain and put it into his music, which is one of the few facts I agree with David Ritz about. He made darkness into beautiful music.

Timmy84 said:

missfee said:

For such an artist that hated performing he sure was an excellent live performer.

Like I told you in the orgnote, Marvin was a contradiction. He might've hated live performing but for the time he was on the stage he was one of the greatest to do it live. The entire Montreux performance was a masterpiece considering the shape he was in at the time. You wouldn't have thought he was on drugs around this point.

Exactly. Just like his idol, Ray Charles, Marvin was a functional drug addict. You can't tell he was high during this performance, but if you look at him when he performed on Motown 25, his eyes were glassy as I don't know what. He was obviously high during that performance but still did very well singing.

[Edited 9/27/10 9:25am]

missfee said:

Timmy84 said:

Like I told you in the orgnote, Marvin was a contradiction. He might've hated live performing but for the time he was on the stage he was one of the greatest to do it live. The entire Montreux performance was a masterpiece considering the shape he was in at the time. You wouldn't have thought he was on drugs around this point.

Exactly. Just like his idol, Ray Charles, Marvin was a functional drug addict. You can't tell he was high during this performance, but if you look at him when he performed on Motown 25, his eyes were glassy as I don't know what. He was obviously high during that performance but still did very well singing.

[Edited 9/27/10 9:25am]

Exactly.

Love Marvin. His voice was pure and beautiful.