Best summed up, he the man, he was the man period. I recently discovered early recordings of Marvin Gaye before he became the Motown hit maker. He covers Nat “King” Cole songs and jazz standards with such grace and lilting ease, his innate sense of phrasing is impeccable. Some day people will give him his proper dues, and he will be placed on the same mantle that Beethoven, The Beatles and Oasis sit on.

I blame his under-rated status on “the man”, (the opposing man, and not affiliated with the man Marvin Gaye was) but that’s a whole different discussion.

Marvin Gaye Cliff Notes:

• Marvin Gaye was born in 1939.
• Marvin Gaye added an “e” to his surname to separate himself from his father and questions of his sexual orientation.
• Marvin Gaye was a session drummer for The Miracles, The Marvelettes and Jimmy Reed just before his successful solo career.
• Marvin Gaye recorded a boatload of hits. “Ain’t That Peculiar”, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, “Hitch Hike” and “Sexual Healing” are just a few, and then the duets he sang with Tammi Terrell, he was an unstoppable juggernaut.
• In 1970, after Tammi Terrell’s death from the brain cancer, a distraught and unfocused Marvin Gaye tried out for the Detroit Lions (NFL football team), and was turned down in fear of destroying his musical career.
• In 1971, Marvin Gaye released “What’s Going On”. It was the first autonomous album release from Motown, as opposed to the cut and paste Motown production style of songwriters, session players and producers.
• 1984 proved to be a difficult year, after Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father Marvin Gay Sr. in what is best described as a backwards Oedipus complex incident.

Marvin Gayedar

/mär/vin/ /ɡā/där/

noun

specific extra sensory ability which allows one to identify a person named either Marvin or Gaye

synonyms: lamest mutant power, rarely beneficial, laughable trait

“A man who claimed to possess Marvin Gayedar could not pinpoint one Marvin in a roomful of Marvins, sad.”

“The woman with Marvin Gayedar was miffed when she misidentified Lee Marvin on the game show How’s Your Marvin Gayedar?”

#ViceGodfatherOfSoulMarvinGaye, #JamesBrownWept