Marvin Gaye – You’re The Man (UMC/Island)
Marvin Gaye - You're The Man
Release Date: 2nd April 2019
Having the opportunity to review genuinely
new material from the legend that is Marvin Gaye is something I didn’t think I’d
ever achieve without first going through some form of time travel or
regeneration process – both of which were unlikely as I’m not particularly sciencey.
However, in celebration of what would have been the great man’s 80th
birthday, UMC/Island are releasing Gaye’s previously unissued Tamla/Motown
album and it is, of course, called ‘You’re The Man’ – what else would it have
been called.
The album opens up with the title
track and we’re straight down to business with that trademark vocal riding
smoothly atop the scratchy, funk guitars and subtle organs on ‘You’re The Man’
before moving straight on to ‘The World is Rated X’ which has a real soundtrack
vibe and takes you right back to the early 70s when this was originally recorded.
On ‘Piece of Clay’, the vibe gets slowed down with some Hendrix-esque guitars
and gospel organ that leads on to Gaye performing in full ballad mode, “Father please
stop criticising your son”…”can’t you see that’s what’s wrong with the world
today, everybody wants somebody to be their own piece of clay”. Way, way, way
ahead of his time and as soulful as they come. The last track of the first side
of two twelve inches that make up this double LP is ‘Where Are We Going?’ which
finds Marvin in chilled and reflective mood, telling stories of the world
around him.
‘I’m Gonna Give You Respect’
leads on the horn section before settling in to a classic Motown soul groove
before ‘Try It, You’ll Like It’ gets the party in to full swing with swinging
guitars and a bassline that just won’t quit. Life affirming joy is delivered
via ‘You Are That Special One’ with classic Motown vibes and Gaye in playful
mood as he sings “There’s something about the way you walk and there’s
something about the way you talk, when I saw you sitting there on that shelf I
knew I had to have you for myself”. The first LP closes out with ‘We Can Make
It Baby’ full of Jackson 5 harmonies and some seriously dance inducing
percussion rippling and punching through the funky guitars.
The effortlessness with which
Marvin Gaye produces music that both makes you want to move your feet and at
the same time think about the world around you is truly something special and
makes this ‘new’ collection such an amazing find. The second LP gets underway
with ‘My Last Chance’, a mellow and soulful number that finds Gaye in
meandering, Jazz inspired form on vocal duties. ‘Symphony’ is the shortest
track on the album coming in at under three minutes but it still packs plenty
of punch with a nod towards reggae in amongst the sweeping strings and hints at
some of the beats that Trip Hop would later go on to use. The strings continue
on ‘I’d Give My Life For You’ where you cant help but turn the lights down low
and pull your lover close in for a slow dance while ‘Woman of the World’ plays on
a sumptuous organ riff to get a Stevie Wonder vibe going on.
Now, I wasn’t going to mention
this next track as I wanted to keep it all to myself but I couldn’t do that to
you, dear reader. ‘Christmas in the City’ is a dirty, sexy little instrumental slow
dance at the end of the office Christmas party with festive cheer running
through your veins and mistletoe everywhere you look. The last side of this four-sided
vinyl beast opens with a second version of ‘You’re the Man’ before ‘I Want to
Come Home for Christmas’ pours out the eggnog and sits down next to your
Christmas tree in a turtle neck sweater for some serious crooning. In the final
straight, ‘I’m Going Home (Move)’ pulls on that Sly & the Family Stone
thread with a funk motif and the kind of rhythm section most bands could only
dream off. The album (that word seems inadequate somehow) with ‘Checking Out (Double
Clutch)’ which is a spoken word blues-funk stroll down the street with your
hands in your pockets and a glint in your eye. This collection is imperious and
it baffles me as to how or why it has been kept from public consumption for so
long but we should be grateful that it’s out in the world now and we can revel
in this gloriousness like the best time capsule that there ever was.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/MarvinGaye/
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