Marvin Gaye - The Very Best of Marvin Gaye

Another Marvin Gaye overview/introduction? Why not? Pulling together the usual hits from "I'll Be Doggone" to "Grapevine," "What's Going On" to "Let's Get It On" to "Sexual Healing"--all musts for any R&B or pop fan--this two-CD set also offers treats for the Marvin connoisseur. Foremost are the previously unreleased "Where Are We Going?" which marries Nixon-era (and beyond) social concerns to a lilting groove that brings to mind Spinners records of the period, and an alternate mix of Gaye's rare version of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow." Very Best also pays proper tribute to Gaye's final years at Motown with the full 11-plus minutes of the intensely, casually funky "Got to Give It Up," Here, My Dear's smoldering "Anger," and several tracks from the under-heard Love Man/In Our Lifetime sessions. More than just a profit-generating package from the parent company, it's a loving, rounded selection that's sure to widen newcomers' perceptions of a great artist's creativity and spirit. --Rickey Wright Amazon.com

Excellent!

One of the greatest CD's to purchase to bring back memories of the 60's. Needs to be in every music lovers library. Excellent! December 12, 2007

Well I'm not on the "Grapevine" or the "Vine" so..

Despite risking being called a crybaby...

First off, I want to talk about this album.

But before I do, I really, really resent systems that advantage one set of people over another. Period.

My life work in teaching is about that actually. I really, really resent that I've written reviews for Amazon (not always so awful) and then find the company putting "some people" that do this rather insignificant and somewhat hilarious task of "writing" about things "one might then go buy" (in a world that needs to deeply consider the ramifications of this consumption ....myself included...) I find it annoying that some that really write no better are in a free "gets" program to which I am not invited.

It gets to me.

I wonder about that, how is it fair that a system that's called a "Vine Voice " is now serving to bring to "some" here special products for review? I looked into it, the theory that they are somehow especially good at reviewing. That's a kind of slap. At least to me, or those "not included" that might....have exerted a bit of real life effort reviewing with care too.It is consistent with something I call "offending a good customer."
But here are their words..."
.....is a program that enables a select group of customers to post opinions about new and pre-release items to help their fellow customers make educated purchase decisions. Customers are invited ....based on the trust they have earned in the Amazon community for writing accurate and insightful reviews. ....with free copies of products that have been submitted to the program by vendors."
Well isn't that great? Well for them I suppose it is. And the trust thing. I really could talk to that. I could challenge that outright.

Was effort the defining feature?
(Which I do not think really has much to do with it.)
It can't be a feature of their spending either, I know that, don't ask me why. I just do.

And I will consider it with a series of "lessons" I've learned dealing in this space, some good, some harder. I have other more pressing issues, lots, realer ones, ones that are much worse like kids systematically disadvantaged in education. Oh, that's the same kind of thing. But I "pick up on" things like this. I have eyes.


So I'm reviewing a basically good album about another possibly better harmonizing Grapevine. A song that's kind of fun to sing. On the right day, if you feel cheerful or messed with actually....maybe a bit self-righteous. I'm not sure when you'd sing "Sexual Healing", maybe if you were watching the Silver Steak and needed a song afterwords to express yourself on the subject of trains and meeting a stranger that changes your life. But, no, Henri Mancini would be better. But not like a sing-a-long as this is. So maybe if you watch the Eddie Murphy Hot Tub clips and want a song...maybe then. Actually it was a tune that mortified me at the time. But, overall I enjoyed these songs. Recall them in the context of those days. Saw him sing a number of times.

I wouldn't mind laying back and listening to these songs right now. But I'm too tired. And too ticked that this vine is "exclusionary" and people accept membership knowing that.

That was exactly the problem our country/folks really never figured out.
Go Gaye.

Here's what the site said of Gaye...."One of the most gifted, visionary, and enduring talents ever launched into orbit by the Motown hit machine, Marvin Gaye blazed the trail for the continued evolution of popular black music. Moving from lean, powerful R&B to stylish, sophisticated soul to finally arrive at an intensely political and personal form of artistic self-expression, his work not only redefined soul music as a creative force but also expanded its impact as an agent for social change."

I guess I will cry. November 5, 2007

Great introduction to the Man and his Music....................

Yeah it's missing some of the other great songs from Marvin. That means go buy the album that contains the other hits. January 12, 2007

Marvelous Marvin

The name Marvin Gaye says it all. They don't call him Marvelous Marvin for nothing. Truly one of the most gifted vocalists-performers of all time - an excellent compilation.
This CD is loaded with great tunes and I can't think of anyone who can match Marvin's song list. It's long, wide and deep. An incredibly talented man. I Want You, Ain't That Peculiar, Inner City Blues and Trouble Man really stand out for me - these songs are quite unusual and really stand the test of time and I can't imagine anyone even trying to do it like him.
You can't say enough about him. June 24, 2006

a cd collection item

I Love this cd. Since im only 21 I don't really know anything about marvin gaye but from what people and parents tell me, until now. I brought this cd and WOW this has shown me a lot about Marvin Gaye and though out his life. I think that this is my favorite cd I have in my collection.I Love every song on here. I can't say which songs its missing to have it even more complete but its fine the way it is.I would recommend this cd to my age so they can learn about real soul music. For me it wasnt just about buying it to listen to, it was about my history. I feel that not only can you go to the library, watch the history channel, but i also can just push play on my stereo. I really listen to this cd and envy all the people that witness his performance when he was alive. my favorite song on here to me is the where are we going. I won't break down every song cause i believe that if a person like marvin gaye then they would like it anyway. listening to this cd he is my favorite artist, not rkelly, and not usher. I think this cd should be in everyone randb collection. November 22, 2005

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