Customer Reviews

The Very Best of Marvin Gaye

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let's begin by acknowledging that Marvin Gaye was one of THE most important singing artists/stylists of the 1960s/70s and early 1980s. From 1962 to the time of his tragic death in April 1984 he had 60 R&B singles hits, most of which also scored on the Billboard Pop Hot 100 for Motown's Tamla subsidiary.

Following his death, three more would make the R&B charts, including My Last Chance, released in 1990 on Motown. He was also inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame in 1987, and in 1996 was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

So, in putting together a 22-selection CD under the title "The Very Best Of" the producers certainly had a wealth of material to choose from among his hit records. So what do they do? Include six tracks [4, 7, 11, 14, 20, and 22] that were not hits or even the B-sides of hits, and one [track 16] which was the flip of a hit - 1960's Keep On Lovin' Me Honey with Tammi Terrell [# 11 R&B/# 24 pop]. Which they do NOT include, by the way. Nor do they provide liner notes or discography of the contents.

Here's a man with a background that could fill several books and they can't find someone to give us a few pages of information. For example, it might have been of interest to some to know that, on both Good Lovin' Ain't Easy To Come By and The Onion Song the female vocalist was actually Valerie Simpson, as Tammi was too ill at the time to complete the sessions [although she is credited on the records]. That also applied to the late 1969 hit What You Gave Me, also not included here.

I like Marvin Gaye's music as much as the next person, but some people are obviously way to easy to please. Companies like Motown, MCA, BMG, etc., have to learn that the buying public demands a bigger bang for their buck these days, especially when something is hailed as "The Very Best Of" or "The Greatest Hits Of."

Quality outfits like Ace Records of London, Rhino, Varese-Sarabande, Eric, and Bear of Germany know this and go out of their way to provide us with detail-filled liner notes and, for the most part, the singles that made these people stars in the first place.

Wow. I cannot believe how one artist could have so many fantastic songs. This is an amazing compilation of his greatest stuff. Before I got this album, I was a casual listener. I knew "Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Let's Get It On," knew that he was a great artist, and was curious. Thank God that I decided to buy this cd. It has ben in my cd player since I got it, and I don't plan on taking it out any time soon. You would do yourself a favor to buy this cd.

Is it possible to see a listing of all tracks on this album? Most other albums you feature include this.

If you're an avid oldies collector, then you should skip over "The Very Best of Marvin Gaye". After all, the Amazon page does list all 22 tracks on it, and 22 songs are not nearly enough to give one the breadth and scope of a talent like Marvin Gaye. But the thing is: It is NOT a "greatest hits" set, it is a "very best of....", and those are always subject to the label owner's A/R department, and the marketing execs. As this compilation shows, this label's people are obviously not music fans or even chartologists. The songs on this compilation cannot be denied as being "among the best" of Marvin. "The Very Best of"?? Purely subjective. This disc would only be useful to plug holes in another single-disc compilation someone might have as their only Marvin Gaye album. As anyone familiar with the ways of the greedy record companies will tell you, that is enough reason for a disc like this to even exist. But if you already own one of the fine double disc comps, such as "Anthology", or the wonderful boxed set "The Master", there's no reason for you to even consider purchasing this.

You cannot fit all of Marvin's hits on a single CD but this collection has most of the essentials from a British perspective. One advantage that this has over the double CD (Very best of, which was compiled in America but released in both the UK and USA) is that it includes three UK top ten hits that are not on the double CD, these being Onion song (supposedly with Tammi Terrell, though Tammi was too ill to record the song and a sound-alike substituted), You are everything (with Diana Ross) and Abraham Martin and John (which was an American hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, not Marvin Gaye).

There is no room on this CD to explore Marvin's career in depth or to explore the many American hits that didn't chart in Britain, but it does contain all his important British hits (some minor hits have been omitted) and on that basis, it provides an excellent overview of Marvin's career. Nevertheless, before buying this, you may wish to compare it with the double CD, Very best of (now re-issued as Gold).

Customer service is good, as expected, timely, would do business with them again. Rock the rafters with this one when I am doing something I don't really want to do, but have to - makes it go better and faster ;)

This CD is the greatest collection of music ever on Marvin Gaye from Amazon com.

This cd is great. I have been searching for a track off this cd for a while and was pleased to find it available here. Abraham, Martin, & John by Marvin Gaye is a beautiful song and no one else can deliver this song like Marvin Gaye. Wonderful!

Any lover of Motown, Marvin Gaye, or soulful music has to have this CD compilation. The recording and sound transfer does justice to Gaye's clear vocals. Besides having all the essential hits "What's Going on?", "I Heard it Through the Grapevines", etc. it has two additional gems that you won't find anywhere else. There is a beautiful rendition of "You Are Everything" that Marvin did with Diana Ross and a very rare Marvin Gaye cover of "Abraham & Martin & John" which is the best version of the song I have ever heard. Even if you have all of Marvin Gaye's hits on other collections, buy this disc if only for those two inclusions. Just wonderful!

Marvin Gaye has got to be the most definitive man of soul! His politically aware songs such as, WHAT'S GOING ON and smooth, lush love songs like, SEXUAL HEALING are fine, well remembered classics. He was Motowns leading male artist and his collaboration with the queen of Motown, the equally magical DIANA ROSS, are amongst some of his greatest work with the timeless, unforgetable classic, YOU ARE EVERYTHING as well as the fabulous collection of songs he cut with Ross for their classic 1973 album, DIANA AND MARVIN. He also worked with Motowns other great female vocalsists such as KIM WESTON on the classic, IT TAKES TWO and TAMMI TERRELL (his most famous partner who sadly passed away of a brain tumour in 1970) who he cut countless classics with such as, YOU'RE ALL I NEED TO GET BY, THE ONION SONG and AIN'T NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING. This wonderful compilation offers all of these classics with notable and inevitable highlights being, I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE, LETS GET IT ON, ABRAHAM,MARTIN AND JOHN and MERCY,MERCY ME. Every tracks a classic and Gayes' voice remains as unique and unmatched as his songwriting talents. An album that must be had in any soul/R and B collection!