Marvin Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) – You're The Man (1972)
This prophetic political masterpiece was supposed to have been the title track to the unreleased followup LP to Marvin's landmark album What's Going On.
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Marvin Gaye was one of the most important artists of the twentieth century, a superstar with a troubled personal life who nonetheless helped shape the culture of the 1960s and 70s through the power of his music.
His prophetic political masterpiece “You’re The Man (Pts. 1 & 2)” was released as a single in 1972. It was supposed to have been the title track to Gaye’s unreleased followup LP to his landmark album What's Going On.
The album was ultimately shelved because according to Gaye, Berry Gordy felt this song was too political, the same concerns he originally had about the What’s Going On material, and as a result, Motown didn’t promote the single. It only reached #7 R&B and #50 on the Billboard Hot 100, a far cry from the #1 R&B / #2 Pop success of “What’s Going On.”
Gaye co-wrote the song with Kenneth “Kenny” Stover (August 21, 1948 – December 2010), a Motown songwriter. Stover also contributed backing vocals to the iconic song “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” (1971) from What's Going On, an album that featured two songs co-written by his brother Elgie Stover.
Over the years, Motown included the single version of “You’re The Man” on several compilations, but it wasn’t until March 29, 2019 that the full album was finally released to much critical acclaim.
Some of the song’s lyrics are more relevant today than ever with the dangerously incompetent, unfit for office, lifelong racist and wannabe dictator Donald Trump having made it to the White House once, and still trying to scam his way back in again. Especially the warning it gave us that “demagogues and admitted minority haters should never be President.”
Gaye’s tragic death, shot and killed by his own father in a domestic argument gone horribly wrong, came one day before what would have been his 45th birthday. But his music lives on and will enlighten our world forever.
More info:
“In Rare Interview, Marvin Gaye Says He Left the U.S. To Get ‘More Respect’,” by Nelson George, Record World, January 31, 1981.
“The Fire From Within: The Conflicted Journey and Spritual Trials of Marvin Gaye,” by Travis Atria, Wax Poetics, Vol. 2, Issue 1, March 2021.
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