Marvin gaye song lets get it on
‘Let’s Get It On’: Marvin Gaye’s Profound Travelog
Marvin Gaye was at a crossroads. For the better part of a decade, he had made his career as the clean-shaven, suit-wearing “Prince of Motown.” He had a nice residence on Outer Drive in Detroit, in a tree-lined neighborhood next to his favorite golf course. He had a young son and was friends with local celebrities and athletes.
Now, Motown was relocating its headquarters to Los Angeles and Gaye faced a decision about where to base his operations. His self-produced What’s Going On had just been a smashing, image-and-culture-shifting success. His eventual emigration from Detroit was more complicated than most people realize. A new Deluxe Edition of Gaye’s 1973 album Let’s Get It On tells the detailed story of this period for the first time. The unused collection exposes a transitional period, when Marvin was moving his creative center from Detroit to L.A.
Gaye was not a stranger to the West Coast. He had recorded there, played at nightclubs enjoy The Trip and Cocoanut Grove, and regularly filmed spots for national television. He had even acted in a couple of low-budget films. But moving his whole creative venture wa
Classic Tracks: Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”
"Let's Receive It On" embraces affection and lust, the spiritual and the carnal fused together in an uplifting union. Recording it was not as simple.
By Blair Jackson
Marvin Gaye is certainly one of the most remarkable singers and songwriters this country has ever produced, a towering talent whose influence on R&B, and popular melody in general, is immeasurable. He had several unlike, distinct periods of accomplishment that stretched over a quarter-century, from the preceding ’60s until his tragic death in 1984; and each phase of his career is interesting for different reasons. With more than 50 charting R&B hits to choose from, we could be running Marvin Gaye “Classic Tracks” columns for the next few years, but for now we’ll choose his deliciously sensual masterpiece from 1973, “Let’s Get It On.”
Like so many of his African American contemporaries, Gaye (born Marvin Male lover Jr. in Washington, D.C., in 1939; as an adult, he added the “e” to emulate one of his idols, Sam Cooke) got his launch singing and playing organ in church. His father, a minister in the ultra-conservative Pentecostal
“Let’s Get It On” (M. Gaye, E. Townshend) – Marvin Gaye; Tamla label, # 1 Billboard Boiling 100, # 1 Billboard R&B – 1973. Inducted in 2013.
Marvin Gaye’s second # 1 single and biggest hit of the 1970’s was the title track and the first song recorded for his acclaimed album “Let’s Become It On”. Gaye’s song during the decade had moved away from the Motown sound that he had helped popularize with his many classic recordings during the 1960s.
“Let’s Acquire It On” was originally composed as a religious ode to life, but with the help of co-writer Ed Townshend, the lyrics were changed to better reflect Gaye’s views on love and sex. Marvin expounded on his forward thinking views on those two subjects in the album’s liner notes: “I can’t see anything wrong with sex between consenting anybodies. After all, one’s genitals are just one part of the magnificent human body. I contend that SEX IS SEX and LOVE IS LOVE. When combined, they work well together, if two people are of about the same consciousness. But they are really two discrete needs and should be treated as such.”
The song features soulful, passionate vocals and
One of the most sensual records in chart history became an American No. 1 on this outing 43 years ago. Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” hit the top to become the second of his three U.S. pop chart-toppers, and got listeners hot under the collar with its subject matter.
On the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of 8 September, 1973, “Let’s Get It On” completed its climb to No. 1, taking over from Stories’ “Brother Louie.” A week later, Gaye was replaced at the uppermost by Helen Reddy’s “Delta Dawn.” A week further on still, he had regained the crown for a second week at the summit.
The song was written and produced by Gaye with Ed Townsend, who would later contend that his initial notion with the lyric was not about sex, but about overcoming addiction, and getting on with the business of life. But Gaye was pretty clear-cut about the subject matter on the sleeve notes of the Let’s Earn It On album, which reached No. 2. “I can’t see anything erroneous with sex between consenting anybodies,” he wrote.
The groove of “Let’s Get It On” was so infectious that, on the album of the same designate, it was revisited for “Keep Gettin’ It On.&#
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