The cat. # (Sussex SUX 236) shows this was released right after Bill Withers' "Lean On Me." The CBS Pitman label fonts: Turns out I have exactly one 45 by them, that came out in '73: Issued a few months before Sussex left Buddah distribution and went indie for its remaining two years of existence.
Funny (peculiar), but in that case true . . . but then, my collecting priorities have always been eclectic . . . one reason I have that one in particular is the Pitman type on the label, and it being one of the last Buddah-distributed Sussex' . . .
I don't recall one of these types of records pertaining to the '68 election but there was this one for '72:
We the people? Elections? Break-ins? Looks like it's time to announce the next Billboard Soul #1 single: Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye The first time I heard this was at a dance my sister encouraged me to go to to meet girls. I was 10 years old, and one year away from jr. high. It was just down the street and around the corner from our house, so I didn't have to stay if I got uncomfortable. What a powerhouse this record was! Of course, it's typical of soul artists. After a string of funky or socially relevant songs, they always turn to matters of love and sex. It's always annoyed me. But, who could have thought marvin would take such a radical turn? And, it was at this time Marvin gained a new image of doing sweaty make-out music, and he never really shook it, nor did he ever try to. "The Love Man" fit perfectly. There is a story behind the actual recording of this song that involves his new love interest, an underage Janice that happened during or after the separation from his wife Anna Gordy. According to David Ritz book "Divided Soul", he was doing the first take when the girl and her mother walked into the control booth. When Marvin saw her during the second verse, he used her as his muse and started singing this sexy song to her. This is a song we'll also be discussing soon on the other Billboard thread too.
Hoo boy, hilarious stuff! I was thinking that this would be one I hadn't heard, but when I listened to the part credited to Spiro Agnew (the Jimmy Castor Bunch clip "gotta find a woman") my memory was refreshed...I did hear this numerous times back in the 70s. I would have loved to hear some enterprising producer put something out like this on our recent presidential election. Maybe it can't be done anymore because of copyright laws.
Wow! What must a 10 year old have thought hearing a highly sexual song like this at a dance no less. Marvin certainly dove all in with this song and the LP it came from. No coy or veiled references here - You Sure Love To Ball indeed! And I absolutely love this. What's Going On > Trouble Man > Let's Get It On > and one more iconic number to come. Pure bliss! Bravo.
It was a different time. No one thought of it. It was just a good song. I guess some of you just grew up in a more socially conservative area.
I love Marvin Gaye almost above any other human. But this song is so played. It was not that much of a melody in the first place. It got played on radio for about 4 or 5 months I think, unitl it was like: "Let's get it off!". Everyone who was born then was sick of it at one time. And it is not representative of the LP, which has some of the most moving music ever.
Well, R&B isn't necessarily based in melody. But, yeah, the song, to this day, is still overplayed. It's nice to hear it once in a while, but not every day.
That was the long LP version there . . . 45's cut much of the second bridge, leaving about 3:58: Regardless of length, this nonetheless wound up the Number One Soul Song of all of 1973. Powerhouse, indeed. Besides its ultimate pop crossover which, as noted, we'll get to soon enough on the apropos thread. This was written and co-produced by Ed Townsend (who, way back in 1958, had a hit with "For Your Love" which years later would be covered by Peaches & Herb); the arranger was Rene Hall who was famous for his work with the likes of Sam Cooke during much of his RCA Victor run. So while the theme was very '70's, the pedigree of who co-produced and arranged this went way back. (I also have, in my collection, a 1964 single Townsend produced and Hall arranged on the KT label by one Theola Kilgore, "He's Coming Back To Me.") 45 plants that pressed this were the three operated by Columbia (all pressings had label type from the Santa Maria, CA plant); Superior Record Pressing; United Record Pressing; and Monarch. I natch' have the Columbia: It should also be noted that initially, Jobete (by then affiliated with ASCAP) was the co-publisher credited along with Mr. Townsend's publishing firm, Cherritown Music Pub. Co. (BMI). (Certainly based on the mono/stereo promos when this was first released in June.) Later pressings replaced Jobete with one of Motown's BMI publishers, Stone Diamond Music in terms of the publishing info for "Let's Get It On," as seen above. The B side was "in the vaults," a version of "I Wish It Would Rain" produced by Norman Whitfield.
I know. I've had the 45 ever since it was a hit. [/QUOTE] I had a different 45 from a different plant. It looks like maybe it was pressed at Monarch.
Given his personal demons, you wouldn't think Marvin could still spin out landmark singles like this on a regular basis. And yet, here he was, with another iconic track. Definitely a reflection of the more sexually explicit '70s, and the music itself is an interesting blend of traditional Motown and something much funkier, especially that guitar work in the intro.
If I heard him improvise the song, I would leave it off the album. It's not just the melody. It sounds uncatchy to me.
Is this the version on the B-side? All the posts say it's from the 1970 That's The Way Love Goes album.
Aretha Franklin - Angel (one of the most beautiful songs of all time) Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On (great but overplayed)
In short, W.B. is talking about the album version vs. the edited single version. What I posted is the album version that is on your deluxe set.
Actually I meant that B side. It sounds like they were looking for a Grapevine clone. I can't say i liked it.
The Let's Get It On album seemed to be a mixture of old and new. The B side of the title track single, as on the LP, sure represented the "old" all right . . .
Not hearing it. That entire album seems to be very contemporaneous with where Marvin was circa 1973. Motown did that quite a bit with Marvin, Stevie and anybody else with a large discography. For the flip side, they'd choose a track that was several years old, probably to prevent the deejays from playing the wrong side. The B-side of Marvin's "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" was an early sixties track, "Wherever I Lay My Hat," that must have sounded ridiculously outdated by 1969...
Just looked at the history of the album - which marked a massive change in production techniques within the Motown organization, with more complex arrangements and all. I see the oldest track on the LGOI LP (whatever that was) was recorded in 1970, and another in '72 (and production credited solely to Marvin). The newer tracks were generally produced by Mr. Gaye and Mr. Townsend.
It's also interesting to note that, maybe because of Marvin's insecurities, he mostly stayed within the Motown community of musicians, engineers, and worked at their studios.
A paradox. Stevie Wonder, from what I've read, has credited Marvin in terms of inspiring him to go out on his own - yet he went further than even Mr. Gaye had. As we'll be seeing some time soon (and again and again).
