Marvin Gaye: M.P.G. - 1969

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This was a really fine soul album from Marvin Gaye, perfectly bridging the period between the main part of the sixties and his socially and sexually "aware" early seventies work. It oozes quality throughout and is a bit of a hidden gem, overshadowed by 1971's What's Going On. It's a really good album. A proper album too. No Beatles covers.

By the way, the initials of the title stood for Marvin Pentz Gaye. An odd middle name. 

We start with the well-known Too Busy Thinking About My Baby. This corker of a song had been around since 1966 when it appeared on the Temptations' Gettin' Ready album. Marvin Gaye had a huge hit with it here. Despite its 1969 release date and success, it still retains that classic Motown sound that makes one think it is from 1965-67.

This Magic Moment was a Doc Pomus/Mort Shuman song originally recorded by Ben E. King in the early sixties. Marvin's version also has a brassy breeziness highly redolent of that era but it is brought up to date by a deep, rumbling James Jamerson bassline. 

That's The Way Love Is had been covered by both The Isley Brothers and Gladys Knight & The Pips, but it is Marvin Gaye's version that is the definitive version, being a masterpiece of rhythmic soul-funk. Talking of Gladys Knight, The End Of Our Road had also been covered by her back in 1967. The song has one of those archetypal Norman Whitfield twangy-funky guitar intros along with big, fatback drums. Marvin lends it his I Heard It Through The Grapevine vocal funkiness and makes it just as much his song.

Seek And You Shall Find is also very reminiscent of Grapevine in its distinctive drum sound as well as on Marvin's vocal. It is another strong number on what had been a really impressive start to the album. This is continued with the muscular ballad Memories, a slow number with an attractive groove to it.

Only A Lonely Man Would Know has Marvin turning himself into Levi Stubbs and The Four Tops. The similarity to them is clear in the melody, feel and vocal of the song. It is that real, gutsy soul with a punch sound. It's A Bitter Pill To Swallow is attractively rhythmic with lots of funky bongo percussion backing and a really catchy groove to it. Once more this is quality, vibrant, industrial strength uptempo soul. 

More Than A Heart Can Stand is a Stax-y brasser of a number that is an unusually gritty Smokey Robinson composition. Try My True Love is one of the album's marginally weaker numbers but it still has a grinding beat to it. I Got to Get To California has a funky and deep bassline and a bit of soul atmosphere about it. It is one of the album's unsung numbers. It Don't Take Much To Keep Me has that afore-mentioned thumping Four Tops vibe to it once more. I would almost say it was them if I didn't know. Anyway, it makes for a solid ending to this excellent album.

This deserves more attention that has ever gained over the years. It is definitely one for the soul cognoscenti. 

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