Marvin Pentz Gay(e), Jr., 1939-
1984. A
singer/songwriter from
Washington, DC, an archetypal
Soul Man who could speak on the pompatous of love. Broke free of the
Motown system, both musically and in the
rock star excess of his personal life. Remade his persona several times: early on, after failing as a balladeer, and later, in the wake of the changes wrought by
Dylan,
drugs, and
disco.
Gaye sang in the church choir as a kid, and joined a vocal group called The Rainbows; he also sang in The Marquees. (Did this happen before and/or after Gaye's stint in the Air Force?) The Marquees formed the basis of Harvey and the Moonglows, Harvey Fuqua's revamped Moonglows. Fuqua would go on to a long career as a producer, including work on some of Gaye's records.
Fuqua signed on with young indie Motown Records; Gaye signed on as well - but as a drummer. He married the boss' sister, Anna (her money helped start Motown). There were many classix there, from party music to Love-Man turns. He later broke free from the formula (like Stevie Wonder) to do What's Goin' On? - songs about politics, the Vietnam War, ghetto malaise, and ecology, then Let's Get it On, which was proto-Prince in its unabashed abandonment of lovesong lyrical motifs for the terre neuve (for pop music) of the bedroom.
He survived Motown's decline, with the disco-era "Got to Give it Up", but Here My Dear "celebrated" his divorces from Anna and Motown. Fun for voyeurs only. As an expatriate, he made a comeback with "Sexual Healing", spawning reggae covers and gospel music rewrites, and his own "Healed" version of the US national anthem, sung before an NBA all-star game. His family life was as troubled as Brian Wilson's, and it ended up killing him. Gaye had returned to the States and was living with his parents; during a family argument, one of many over the decades, his father, the Reverend Marvin Gay(e), Sr., shot him.