The Best Marvin Gaye Retrospective

It took Motown nearly 20 years to finally get it right, and release the first career spanning collection of Marvin Gaye's music. It begs the question one question, however: what took them so long? Marvin Gaye was arguably the most influential rhythm and blues artist of his generation and this moderately priced 29 track double C.D. is the best retrospective of Gaye's work. It is the only "Best of" CD that will aquaint the casual fan with the scope of Marvin's career. There are some unreleased treats for the collector, but the avid fan will want it because it's the first comprehensive set of Marvin's hits since the refinement of digital technology. Many of Marvin's early hits were actually mixed through car radio speakers, so they would sound good on an AM car radio, which was the primary method of marketing music in the early sixties. The muddy mixes of many of Marvin's early hits are cleaned up, and the upper and lower registers of don't "bleed" into mid range sounds.

Marvin Gaye acquired and lost three monetary fortunes during his 23 year musical career. Each time Marvin was confronted with failure, he successfully reinvented himself and gained an even wider following. He became the first black popular music performer to gain complete artistic control over his work, which laid a blueprint for independence to guide other black artists, most notably fellow Motown musician, Stevie Wonder. Marvin Gaye introduced topical and political commentary into his music with his transcendental 1971 album, "What's Going On." Curtis Mayfield may have predated Gaye in the use of social commentary, but no album produced, before or since, has carried the stunning immediacy of "What's Going On." It has become an artistic benchmark by which all other musical accomplishments have been measured.

"The Very Best of Marvin Gaye" doesn't overlook any aspect of Marvin's multifaceted career. The dapper young star of the Motown stable with a string of AM radio hits, his successful pairing with Tami Terrell and Kim Weston for duet albums, his stellar 1970s career as both a protest artist and singer of jazz infused love ballads and his final incarnation as the sleek singer of "Sexual Healing" in his trademark smoking jacket. Marvin Gaye lived in an era that produced the most talented rhythm and blues singers in history. In the ten year span from 1963 until 1973 artists like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Al Green were either emerging or established performers.

Despite all of his personal demons, Marvin Gaye's career spanned well into the 1980s, when most of his peers from the golden age of soul had either died prematurely or had developed a formulatic approach by using the same production template for every album. Marvin refused to use a cookie cutter approach. Marvin Gaye wasn't afraid of taking chances, reinventing himself and redefining his artistry.

Beautiful, Definitive, Fantastic¿ the best ever Compilation

What can I say. There has never been such a beautiful Marvin Gaye compilation. I've owned every LP, CD and DVD. This is the nicest thing I've ever seen on Marvin. But nuff about me. The sound quality on this-the remastering-is sensational in every way. I hear things I never heard on songs like "Grapevine," "Hitch Hike," "You," "What's Going On," "Inner City Blues," the list goes on. Also offered here for the first time are two previously unreleased songs. The newly discovered "Where Are We Going?" and the alternate version of the rare gem "His Eye Is On The Sparrow." Plus other rarities like the single only releases "You're The Man" and "Ego-Tripping Out." Another MAJOR point is that aside from the out-of-print boxed set "The Master," the is the only Motown compilation that has the CBS track-and final masterpiece from MG- "Sexual Healing." So you get EVERY HIT on these double CD set. Deluxe, beautiful digipak packaging (with photos I have never seen before) done by the same guys who brought us the other jewel of the year, "What's Going On (Deluxe Edition)." These are by far the best Marvin Gaye releases ever. Pick the latter up if you haven't done that yet. You will LOVE the unreleased, new song "Where Are We Going?" It sounds like it was recorded yesterday. The wonderful essay by Gaye biographer (and "Sexual Healing" author) David Ritz should not be overlooked. very refreshing. This CD is for all ages and colors.

Excellent career-spanning compilation

This comprehensive collection contains all Marvin's important American hits as well as highlighting other aspects of his music, including his political songs of the seventies. His British hits were sometimes different from his American hits. Three UK top ten hits are missing, though as this is an American compilation, there is no reason why they should have been included. Abraham Martin and John was an American hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - perhaps it was felt that Marvin's version was better for the UK market. You are everything, a duet with Diana Ross, made the UK top five. Onion song, a duet credited as being with Tammi Terrell but recorded with a stand-in, made the UK top ten.

The classic American hits (not all of which charted in Britain) are all here including Can I get a witness, How sweet it is, I'll be doggone, Ain't that peculiar, I heard it through the grapevine, Too busy thinking about my baby, That's the way love is. What's going on, Mercy mercy me, Trouble man, Let's get it on and Got to give it up. Some of his duets are here, too, including Ain't no mountain high enough, Your precious love, If I could build my whole world around you, Ain't nothing like the real thing, You're all I need to get by (all with Tammi Terrell) and It takes two (with Kim Weston).

Marvin always considered himself a balladeer like Frank Sinatra or Nat King Cole rather than a typical R+B singer, but his early attempts to establish himself in this role were not a success. Eventually, he did gain acceptance as a balladeer after proving that he could do the R+B material - compare his definitive version of I heard it through the grapevine with the Gladys Knight version, released a year earlier. Marvin actually recorded the song before Gladys but Berry Gordy initially rejected his version. It shows what perseverance can do.

Marvin once again had Berry Gordy worried when he completed his anti-Vietnam album, What's going on. Motown had always been primarily a singles label so this album was completely alien to the marketing department, although it appears that many people at Motown loved it. Once again, Marvin was right. The album was a huge success and three of its tracks are here - they are the first three on CD 2.

This double-CD is a nice introduction to the music of Marvin Gaye, one of the finest soul singers of the twentieth century.