Let's Get It On

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Untitled
This article is about the album. For the song, see Let's Get It On (song).

Let's Get It On is a studio album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released August 28, 1973 on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records.[1] Recording sessions for the album took place from June of 1970 to April of 1972 at Hitsville U.S.A. and Golden World in Detroit, Michigan and from February to July of 1973 at Hitsville West in Los Angeles, California.[2] Let's Get It On was Gaye's first venture into the funk genre and sexually-themed music. The album has been noted by music critics for its sexually explicit content, leading to it being called "one of the most sexually charged albums ever recorded".[3][4]

Following his critically acclaimed and socially conscious album What's Going On, Let's Get It On's commercial success, music and content helped establish Marvin Gaye as a sex icon. The album became Gaye's most commercially successful album of his career and for Motown, as it further expanded his creative control during his tenure for the record label.[3] The recording sessions for Let's Get It On helped to push Gaye's multi-tracking vocals to the forefront of his music and also influenced future R&B and soul production.[5] The album's sexual balladry and seductive, funky sound influenced later soul music and helped pioneer slow jam music, as well as the quiet storm and contemporary R&B genres.[1] Let's Get It On has been regarded by many critics as a landmark album in R&B and soul music and ranks near the top of many publications' "best album" lists in disparate genres.[6] Template:RS500[7]

Conception

I mumble things into the microphone... I don't even know what I'm saying, and I don't even try to figure it out. If I try, it doesn't work. If I relax, those mumbles will finally turn into words. It's a slow, evolving process, something like the way a flower grows.

—Marvin Gaye, Rolling Stone interview[7]

By the spring of 1973, Marvin Gaye was suffering from writer's block.[8] After releasing his most successful album up to that point, 1971's What's Going On and the commercially successful soundtrack to the 1972 blaxploitation film, Trouble Man, Gaye had struggled to come up with material after Motown Records had renegotiated a new contract with Gaye, which allowed him more creative control. The deal was worth $ 1 million, making him the highest-earning black artist in music history at the time.[9] Gaye was also caught in a dilemma with relocating to Los Angeles, following Motown-CEO Berry Gordy's decision to move the entire label there and replace the Detroit-based Hitsville U.S.A. (Motown Studio A) with Hitsville West.[8] Along with relocation and lack of material, Gaye had struggled with his conscience. With expectations from his wife Anna Gordy, their separation, and his faith in his father and in God, Gaye had been facing pressure prior to recording, while also trying to cope with issues stemming from his father's upbringing that had been troubling him.[8]

As a child, Gaye had been forced to strip of his clothes and be beaten by his preacher father Marvin Gay, Sr., who had strictly disciplined Gaye under very moralistic and fundamentalist Christian teachings.[10] The meaning of sex became a disturbing question for Gaye. As an adult, Gaye suffered with impotence and had become plagued by sado-masochistic fantasies, which haunted his dreams and provoked his guilt. On Gaye's outlook on the matter, author and Marvin Gaye-biographer David Ritz later wrote, "his view of sex was unsettled, tormented, riddled with pain."[10] Despite his troubling past, Gaye had embarked on a new outlook on life and began incorporating his newly-found spirituality in his music, as heard on What's Going On. By winning over record executives with the success of his previous studio album, Gaye had also achieved artistic freedom, which he would use, following his brief separation from wife Anna Gordy, for a studio album that was meant, according to Gaye's intentions, to surface themes beyond sex.[10]

As with What's Going On, the album was also intended to have a deeper meaning than the general theme that was used to portray it; in the case of the former, politics, and with the latter album, love, which would be used by Gaye as a metaphor for God's love.[10] In his book Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye, David Ritz wrote of Gaye and the musical inspiration behind Gaye's second landmark record:

File:Marvin relaxin.jpg
Marvin Gaye at Hitsville

If the most profound soul songs are prayers in secular dress, Marvin's prayer is to reconcile the ecstasy of his early religious epiphany with a sexual epiphany. The hope for such a reconciliation, the search for sexual healing, is what drives his art ... The paradox is this: The sexist of Marvin Gaye's work is also his most spiritual. That's the paradox of Marvin himself. In his struggle to wed body and soul, in his exploration of sexual passion, he expresses the most human of hungers—the hunger for God. In those songs of loss and lament—the sense of separation is heartbreaking. On one level, the separation is between man and woman. On a deeper level, the separation is between man and God.[11]

— David Ritz

Gaye proceeded to record some more politically conscious material at Golden World (Motown's Studio B), before recording at Hitsville West in Los Angeles. With an experienced group of studio session players called The Funk Brothers, who had contributed to Gaye's previous studio album, What's Going On, Gaye recorded the then-unreleased "The World is Rated X" and "Where Are We Going" and the released single "You're the Man" at Golden World. "Where Are We Going" was later covered and released by trumpeter Donald Byrd. Gaye had planned a release of an album titled You're the Man, but it was later shelved for unknown reasons. (These songs were featured on the 2001 deluxe edition release of Let's Get It On.[12]) After a discussion with old friend and former singer Ed Townsend of "For Your Love" fame, Gaye agreed to record the rough draft of a song they had worked on together, entitled "Let's Get It On".[8]

Music

File:Marvin Gaye in Studio.jpg
Gaye in studio, 1973

Originally, Let's Get It On's title track was written as a religious ode to life, but was later re-written by Motown songwriter and musician Kenneth Stover.[8] Upon hearing Gaye's demo of the political version of "Let's Get It On", Townsend protested that the song should be about "making sweet love."[13] Gaye and Townsend then rewrote the lyrics to the song together with the arrangements and musical accompaniment of the demo intact.[8] The song inspired Gaye to revive previous recordings from his 1970 sessions at the Hitsville U.S.A. Studio, which he had yet to finish. The tracks from these earlier sessions included the doo-wop-leaning "Come Get to This", "Distant Lover" and "Just to Keep You Satisfied". "Distant Lover" featured Gaye crooning over serene instrumentation, which lead to a passionate wailing and soulful screams near the end. The song's lyrics chronicled the yearning its narrator feels for a lover who is "so many miles away", as he pleads for her return and laments the emptiness he feels without her. Music writer Donarld A. Guarisco later wrote of the song:

Marvin Gaye's studio recording enhances the dreamy style of the song with stately horn and strings, tumbling drum fills that gently nudge the song along, and mellow, doo wop-styled background vocals that echo "love her, you love her" under his romantic pleas. Gaye fulfills the song's promise with a rich vocal that builds from a heartbroken croon to an impassioned wail.[14]

— Donald A. Guarisco

The song later became a concert favorite for Gaye and a live version, featuring female fans screaming in the background, was released as a single off of his 1974 Live! album.[14] Gaye and Townsend worked on four songs together, including the ballad "If I Should Die Tonight", while Gaye composed the majority of the remaining four songs, re-examining older songs. "Just to Keep You Satisfied" was originally recorded by at least three Motown groups, including The Miracles, The Originals and The Monitors, and had been originally recorded as a song dedicated to long-standing love.[12] By the time Gaye recorded his own version, he had re-written the lyrics and arrangement of the song to talk about the demise of his volatile marriage to Anna Gordy Gaye, who was, ironically, the original song's co-writer.[8] "You Sure Love to Ball", recorded at Hitsville West, was one Gaye's most sexually overt and controversial singles, as its intro featured moaning sounds made by a male and female engaged in sex. The sexual nature of the album and the themes of love and lust that are presented in Gaye's lyrics were, at the time, controversial and recording such an album was deemed by Motown executives as a commercial gamble.[15] In the original LP liner notes, Marvin Gaye explained his views on the themes of Let's Get It On and his philosophy on sex and love:

I can't see anything wrong with sex between consenting anybodies. I think we make far too much of it... I contend that SEX IS SEX and LOVE IS LOVE. When combined, they work well together, if two people are of about the same mind. But they are really two discrete needs and should be treated as such. Time and space will not permit me to expound further, especially in the area of the psyche... I don't believe in overly moralistic philosophies. Have your sex, it can be exciting, if you're lucky. I hope the music that I present here makes you lucky.[16]

— Marvin Gaye

Background vocals for the album were by Gaye with the exception of "Just to Keep You Satisfied", which were done by The Originals. Most of the instrumentation for Let's Get It On was done by members of The Funk Brothers, including bassist James Jamerson, guitarists Robert White and Eddie Willis, and percussionist Eddie "Bongo" Brown. Gaye also contributed on piano during the recording sessions.[17]

Reception

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Released on August 28, 1973, Let's Get It On surpassed Gaye's previous studio effort, What's Going On, as the biggest-selling recording of his tenure with Motown. The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, charting for sixty-one weeks,[18] while also remaining at the top of the Soul Albums chart for eleven weeks, making it the best-selling R&B album of 1973.[19] The single, "Let's Get It On", was at that time Motown's largest-selling recording ever, selling over three million copies between 1973 and 1975.[20] The single has gone on to sell over 1 million copies and, on June 25, 2007, was certified platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America.[21] Two of the album's singles reached the top forty of the Billboard Pop Singles chart, including "Let's Get It On", which became Gaye's second number-one pop single, and the top thirty hit single "Come Get to This", which peaked at #23 on the chart. The third single off of the album, "You Sure Love to Ball", was a more modest charting hit peaking at #50 on the Pop Singles chart, while entering at #13 on the R&B Singles chart.[22]

Let's Get It On received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who praised Gaye's sexual innuendo and energy in his lyrics and the record's seductive sound groove. Music writer Rob Bowman cited Let's Get It On as "one of the most erotic recordings known to mankind."[18] Upon release, a Billboard magazine reviewer called the album "fine in terms of vocal attack and material... touches on the excellent in terms of instrumental support", while citing the title track and "Distant Lover" as the album's best recordings.[18] Music writer Lindsey Planer called Let's Get It On a "hedonistic R&B masterpiece."[12] In a review of the album for Allmusic.com, contributer Jason Ankeny later wrote of the record:

...Gaye turned to more intimate matters with Let's Get It On, a record unparalleled in its sheer sensuality and carnal energy. Always a sexually charged performer, Gaye's passions reach their boiling point... With each performance laced with innuendo, each lyric a come-on, and each rhythm throbbing with lust, perhaps no other record has ever achieved the kind of sheer erotic force of Let's Get It On, and it remains the blueprint for all of the slow jams to follow decades later — much copied, but never imitated.[1]

— Jason Ankeny

The music atmosphere of the 1970s was heavily influenced by the record's success and its sexual content. Because of the album's commercial success, Let's Get It On sparked a series of sensual concept albums released by such artists as Barry White, Al Green and Isaac Hayes.[5] Several other musicians such as Prince, D'Angelo and R. Kelly were heavily influenced by the album and went on to release successful slow jam singles. Marvin Gaye himself would have similar success with his follow-up release, 1976's I Want You, which featured more sexually explicit material, and 1978's Here, My Dear, which Gaye based entirely on his unsuccessful marriage to Anna Gordy.[5] Let's Get It On was later ranked #58 on The Times's 1993 publication of the 100 Best Albums of All Time.[23] In 2002, Blender magazine ranked the album #15 on their list of the 100 Greatest American Albums of All Time.[6] In 2004, Let's Get It On was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and was cited by The Recording Academy as a recording of "historical significance".[24] In 2003, the album was ranked #165 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time publication, one of three Gaye albums to be included on the list.[7]

On September 18, 2001, Let's Get It On was reissued by Motown as a two-disc deluxe edition release, featuring 24-bit digital remastering of the original album's recordings, previously unissued material, and a 24-page booklet which contains the original LP liner notes by Marvin Gaye, as well as essays from Gaye biographers David Ritz and Ben Edmunds.[12]

Track listing

Original LP

All songs written by Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend, except where noted. Side one produced by Gaye and Townsend, side two by Gaye.[17]

Side one

  1. "Let's Get It On" – 4:44
  2. "Please Stay (Once You Go Away)" – 3:32
  3. "If I Should Die Tonight" – 3:57
  4. "Keep Gettin' It On" – 3:12

Side two

  1. "Come Get to This" (Gaye) – 2:40
  2. "Distant Lover" (Gaye, G. Gordy, Greene) – 4:15
  3. "You Sure Love to Ball" (Gaye) – 4:43
  4. "Just to Keep You Satisfied" (Gaye, Gordy-Gaye, E. Stover) – 4:35

Deluxe edition

2001 Motown deluxe edition track listing.[25]

Disc one

  1. "Let's Get It On" (Gaye, Townsend) – 4:51
  2. "Please Stay (Once You Go Away)" (Gaye, Townsend) – 3:27
  3. "If I Should Die Tonight" (Gaye, Townsend) – 4:01
  4. "Keep Getting' It On" (Gaye, Townsend) – 3:13
  5. "Come Get to This" (Gaye) – 2:41
  6. "Distant Lover" (Gaye, G. Gordy, Greene) – 4:17
  7. "You Sure Love to Ball" (Gaye) – 4:46
  8. "Just to Keep You Satisfied" (Gaye, Gordy-Gaye, Stover) – 4:27
  9. "Song #3" (instrumental) (DePitte, Gaye) – 5:28
  10. "My Love Is Growing" (Gaye) – 4:20
  11. "Cakes" (DePitte, Gaye) – 3:14
  12. "Symphony" (undubbed version) (Gaye, Robinson) – 2:51
  13. "I'd Give My Life for You" (alternate mix) (Gaye) – 3:29
  14. "I Love You Secretly" (The Miracles version) (Gaye, Gordy-Gaye, E. Stover) – 4:18
  15. "You're the Man" (alternate version 1) (K. Stover, Gaye) – 7:24
  16. "You're the Man" (alternate version 2) (K. Stover, Gaye) – 4:44
  17. "Symphony" (demo vocal) (Gaye, Robinson) – 2:48

Disc two

  1. "Let's Get It On" (demo) (Gaye, Townsend) – 5:12
  2. "Let's Get It On, Pt. 2" (aka "Keep Gettin' It On") (Gaye, Townsend) – 3:13
  3. "Please Stay (Once You Go Away)" (alternate mix) (Gaye, Townsend) – 3:52
  4. "If I Should Die Tonight" (demo) (Gaye, Townsend) – 4:13
  5. "Come Get to This" (alternate mix) (Gaye) – 3:07
  6. "Distant Lover" (alternate mix) (G. Fuqua, Gaye, Greene) – 4:32
  7. "You Sure Love to Ball" (alternate mix w/alternate vocal) (Gaye) – 5:06
  8. "Just to Keep You Satisfied" (a capella w/alternate vocal) (Gaye, Gordy-Gaye, Stover) – 4:38
  9. "Just to Keep You Satisfied" (The Originals 1970 version) (Gaye, Gordy-Gaye, Stover) – 4:00
  10. "Just to Keep You Satisfied" (The Monitors 1968 version) (Gaye, Gordy-Gaye, Stover) – 3:10
  11. "Where Are We Going?" (alternate mix) (Gordon, Mizell) – 3:56
  12. "The World Is Rated X" (alternate mix) (Bolton, Bolton, Gordy, McLeod) – 3:52
  13. "I'm Gonna Give You Respect" (Hutch) – 2:56
  14. "Try It, You'll Like It" (Hutch, Wakefield) – 3:57
  15. "You Are That Special One" (Hutch) – 3:38
  16. "We Can Make It Baby" (Hutch) – 3:22
  17. "Running from Love" (instrumental version 1) (Bohannon, Gaye, Henderson) – 3:47
  18. "Mandota" (Bohannon, Gaye) – 3:26
  19. "Running from Love" (instrumental version 2) (Bohannon, Gaye, Henderson) – 3:54
  20. "Come Get to This" (live from Oakland) (Gaye) – 3:00

Chart history

Album

Title Information
Let's Get It On

Singles

Title Information
"Let's Get It On"
"Come Get to This"
"You Sure Love to Ball"

Personnel

Notes

  1. ^ a b c allmusic Let's Get It On - Overview . All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
  2. ^ Deluxe edition liner notes (2001), pp. 19–20.
  3. ^ a b allmusic Marvin Gaye - Biography . All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
  4. ^ Brackett (2004), pp. 325–326.
  5. ^ a b c Edmonds (2001), pp. 15–16.
  6. ^ a b Acclaimed Music - Let's Get It On. www.acclaimedmusic.net. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
  7. ^ a b c Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Edmonds (2001), pp. 7–8.
  9. ^ Marvin Gaye - Singer/Songwriter. BBC - h2g2. Retrieved on 2008-08-24.
  10. ^ a b c d Ritz a (2001), p. 2.
  11. ^ Ritz b (1991), p. 203
  12. ^ a b c d allmusic Let's Get It On (Deluxe Edition) - Overview . All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
  13. ^ Townsend (2001), p. 4.
  14. ^ a b allmusic Distant Lover - Song Review . All Media Guide. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
  15. ^ Edmonds (2001), pp. 8–9.
  16. ^ Gaye (2001), liner excerpt
  17. ^ a b Discogs.com - Let's Get It On (WL 720885). Discogs. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
  18. ^ a b c Super Seventies: Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On. Super Seventies RockSite!. Retrieved on 2008-08-26.
  19. ^ Edmonds (2001), p. 14.
  20. ^ Super Seventies - "Let's Get It On". Super Seventies. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
  21. ^ RIAA Searchable Database. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on 2008-08-18.
  22. ^ allmusic Let's Get It On - Charts & Awards . Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
  23. ^ The Times All Time Top 100 Albums - 1993. Rocklist. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
  24. ^ Grammy.com - Hall of Fame inductees. The Recording Academy. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
  25. ^ Discogs.com - Let's Get It On (Deluxe edition). Discogs. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.

References

  • Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-74320-169-8.
  • David Ritz, Ed Townsend, Ben Edmonds, Harry Weinger (2001). Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On (Deluxe edition liner notes). excerpted quotes by Marvin Gaye. Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. MOTD 4757. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • David Ritz (1991). Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-30680-443-3.

External links


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