TS: Marvin Gaye's I Want You and Here, My Dear

it seems dense [productionwise] and claustrophobic, it's long and wears you out like a cd version reissue of a double lp should - cf tago mago, 1999. [conversely, i think double lps on vinyl should be catchier than this, in order to keep you going back to the turntable eagerly] it isn't classic, the way goin' on and gettiton and even i want you are: but i see it sort of like the plastic ono band lp, a difficult record for hardcore fans to return to when in a mood to commune with gaye's spirit

It's a fucking brilliant record.

"I Want You", however, represented a step in a more interesting direction, with Marvin Gaye returning to the concept album form while mildly incorporating synths in his sound. And IMO he took this even a step further on "Here My Dear".

Hard to pick a fave among his albums, but it may be that I mights as well simply land on his sole 80s album, the brilliant "Midnight Love".

"midnight love" is mostly dreck

Here, My Dear is without doubt my favorite Marvin Gaye album, not to say it's the best one (who knows?). I haven't listened to I Want You in about ten years and I remember there being a couple of good album tracks but not loving it.

I'm listening to When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You, and it's just brutal. I fell in love with this song when I was younger and didn't have much lived experience to filter through it. Now I hear it and the courage to put it all out there like he did just floors me. Maybe he's just more vain than me but I just can't imagine putting out so much of myself on record like he did there. Then again, Marvin never had a blog...

Does anyone else think Marvin is ready for "critical reevaluation" lately? It's been a long time since "What's Going On" was the greatest soul record of all time or whatever, so long that people don't talk about how great a singer, interpreter he was

Here, My Dear is an incredible album, and "When Did You Stop Loving Me..." truly one of the greatest things he ever did. I know it all off by heart. I love singing it more than any other Marvin song.

I find I Want You less appealing, it's the lesser of his four great 70s albums, seems to me like an inferior version of Let's Get It On. Still enjoyable though.

FWIW What's Going On is the single greatest LP I've ever had the pleasure of hearing

I Want You is bleh, but what I've heard of Here, My Dear is fairly incredible musically, even when it gets too literal lyrically.

UGH welcome to the RONG thread u fongs

'i want you' is amazing front->back btw
also love leon ware's 'musical massage'

maybe im too much of a romantic but i will take 'i want you' over 'here my dear' any day

Agreed with deej.

I don't like choosing between those two as they are IMO his two best and most underrated albums. "Here My Dear" contains some of the best songs he ever did, but the fact that it might have been better had he limited himself to a single album means I will probably end up going for "I Want You".

I Want You is bleh

For shame, Alfred.

I find I Want You less appealing, it's the lesser of his four great 70s albums, seems to me like an inferior version of Let's Get It On. Still enjoyable though.

it is impossible to have sex while 'lets get it on' is playing

If you don't like I Want You, your sexual equipment is broke.

Here My Dear is definitely a really striking, deeply weird album. It's also relentlessly languid -- less a collection of tunes than grooves and melodic fragments Marvin coos over. But as interesting as the concept is, it's also a bit...offputting. I see why so many people are fascinated by it -- I'm less certain how anyone could LOVE it. It's almost designed to repel being loved, much like the man himself.

Well put, but that's kind of the appeal behind the record isn't it? I'd say it's an honest record but that's not the right word. Some of the most compelling things about the album are when he's trying to convince himself and the listener about the rightness of his actions. I mean, does anyone believe his version of events in "Is That Enough"? "You Can Leave..."? That he was really falling in love again in "Falling In Love Again"? But its endlessly fascinating to figure out where he's trying to fool me and when he's trying to fool himself.

I'd agree that this could be deeply offputting if not for his essential charisma, and also that there aren't really any tunes on it, but some (some) great grooves and fragments. It's just a really engaging piece of work, that I get tired of and bored by but every few years comes back fresh

I think it's fair to say that both are OK, despite remarkable moments (mostly on HMD).

Btw. it took ages for "Here My Dear" to be re-released on CD at all. Today, the rest of his 70s to 80s output has been remastered again and again while there is still no remaster at all of HMD.

Agreed, Billy -- also well put. To be clear, I like HMD quite a bit.

I Want You, OTOH, is altogether different--in some places, very Barry White--but among the richest, most deeply sensual records I've ever heard. That Let's Get It On was seen as his loverboy masterpiece surely had to have crimped its critical acceptance. But melodically, it's quite possibly his strongest record (certainly helped by Leon Ware) -- with several songs--the title track (and the awesomely dark fuzz guitar intro), "Come Live Me, Angel," "Feel All My Love Inside," "After the Dance"--outright classics.

This was also the record that made me love Marvin and realize how spazzed out he really was. Obv., HMD is off the charts weird, but this is every bit as crazed, trading HMD's fatal obsession--divorce--for graphic (and pornographic) sex. It's my fave for sure -- and the 2-CD Motown deluxe edition is completely worth it.

This thread reminds me that I need to buy In Our Lifetime.

Naive Teen Idol OTM x 1,000,000.

listening to the double CD remaster of Hear My Dear now, and it sounds great - so much more vivid than the original CD. the alternate versions are great as well, especially 'Anger' and 'Time To Get It Together', my two favourites from the original album.

Why i love ILM. Bought I Want You today, and kinda realised that, despite owning 6 other MG records, i have no real handle on him. I 'know' LGIO and WGO of course and all the hits - I have the Anthology - but I've never had any real connection with him. IWY on initial hearing sounds like a great, involving record, and I know where there's a copy of Here My Dear i can lay my hands on so that's next......

"sparrow" is a motherfucker of a song. that free sax.

listening to the double CD remaster of Hear My Dear now, and it sounds great - so much more vivid than the original CD. the alternate versions are great as well, especially 'Anger' and 'Time To Get It Together', my two favourites from the original album.

― Hüsker Dü is what Tears For Fears pretends to be (stevie), Tuesday, December 9, 2008 1:10 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i think i actually prefer the alternate versions! sparser, the synths are mixed lower...feels more of a piece w/"whats goin on"

Just discovering HMD. "Is that enough" is such a smoked-out jam. Lots of amazing hypnotic grooves, and his background vocals are always as interesting as the leads. Also that cry of Aaaannaaa! Shivers.

Been obsessed with I Want You the last few months. It's so intimate and economical, and I feel like it hangs together better than most of his records. Maybe that's because it limits itself to just one winning theme, or maybe it's because it's less singles saturated than some of his other records, so I never feel like I'm pulled out of the record. Either way, I love this thing.

the sing-songy spoken bits in the title track are so odd.

in Here, My Dear that is

Anna Gordy has passed:

http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-anna-gordy-gaye-20140201,0,7263024.story

92.

Didn't realize that she and Marvin had reconciled at one point.

RIP Leon Ware

"Time to Get It Together" is such a weird song. Around 1:30 in you can hear someone sliding up the volume on the bass drum. it kicks with authority for a brief spell and then fades back to normal again for the rest of the song. apparently gaye played most of everything on the album. if so, it comes together in an astounding way on this song. the arrangement snaps together in such an odd but natural way that it could only come from a single mind.

Marvin was a killer drummer. Trouble man swings

what marvin gaye fan in their right mind would've panned "here my dear" when it came out???? this record is incredible

how awesome is "is that enough"

Quite.

The dinky organ he plays in the outro rules.

also after about ten years of listening to it i've realized i want you is my favorite album of all time or close

It's no contest my favorite Gaye album, at any rate.

Marvin Gaye with the music and backing vocals removed is astonishing pic.twitter.com/iNbjY7F4bI

— Paul Haine (@paul_haine) September 3, 2019

Wow!

I love this album. wonderful grooves throughout, beautiful mournful harmonies. thanx to the person bumping the (when did you stop tweeting me) when did twitter stop being cool? thread for reminding me of it today.

“Is That Enough” must be the best song ever to mention “attorney fees”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_8TVyvwFuM

This remix of Anger (from the bonus CD) is a jam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDOkZETWxzE

*this album being Here, My Dear obviously

xps

I like it a lot, but this is no longer the most underrated Gaye album, In Our Lifetime? is.

I've been promoting it on ILM since the Dubya years.

things you don’t care about: whatever happens to be the most underrated Marvin Gaye album at a particular moment in time

Do you like In Our Lifetime?

This remix of Anger (from the bonus CD) is a jam.

haven’t listened to it in years, but I don’t remember ever liking it as much as HMD.
have it lined up right now tho!

xp

I Want You > In Our Lifetime > Here, My Dear

no matter how many times i hear this, my reaction remains the same: holy shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbfh30z1_u8

"i want you" (vocal and rhythm only)

yep

yep yep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpiCwb85K7w

I always feel like these albums are two chapters in the same sad story - Here My Dear, Marvin's marriage falls apart. I Want You picks up a coupla years later, and now he's chasing women who are too young for him and leave him feeling like an old fool, lost in a world he doesn't understand anymore and caught up in a blizzard of cocaine that shrinks his dick and leaves him dazedly wandering the disco in search of cheap thrills when he really wants love.

Didn't I Want You come out first? Your narrative still works, though.

Ah, possibly! But the heart knows no discogs.com structure.

I got in a big car wreck last week in NE DC. The officer who helped was an older guy named officer Gay. After a while I broke down and asked if he was from the famous family from DC and indeed he was. Never met him though

Are you OK?

Yes thanks! Head on collision totaled car but not my fault and just caused soreness

I was like “I just bought the David Ritz book about Marvin” and he just kinda smiled blankly

Glad you're ok. Some folks involved in DC soul scene over the years, like the now late Reverend Sandra Truesdale of the Legendary Musicians organization, would mention how they knew Marvin Gaye from school, but wow, still some family in the area too.

I was like “I just bought the David Ritz book about Marvin” and he just kinda smiled blankly