You probably don’t need us to remind you that MARVIN GAYE’S career was something of a roller coaster – ups, downs and unpredictability! That unpredictability was most evident in his live shows in the last decade of his life – but those shows always became memorable affairs; none more memorable than his performance at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum on January 4th, 1974.
Again you probably know that the show was recorded and the subsequent album was released later in 1974. That album was a 9 tracker and it went #1 on the Soul/R&B Album Chart for two weeks in addition to climbing to #8 on the Pop Album Chart. It also garnered a GRAMMY® Award nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance!
Now the good news for Gaye fans. The live album is winning re-release on March 28th – just a few days ahead of what would have been Gaye’s 86th birthday (April 2) via Motown/Ume.
The set, ‘Marvin Gaye Live!:Deluxe Edition’, delivers 14 tracks – the whole show, in fact. Included for the first time are electrifying versions of ‘Flying High (In the Friendly Sky)’, ‘Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)’, ‘Come Get To This’ and ‘Keep Gettin’ It On’. You also get the introduction and the overture and Marvin’s thanks to the band which was marshalled by Gene Page and included James Jamerson on bass and Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ creative partner, Ed Townsend.
Amongst the many highlights is what Marvin called his “Fossil Medley” – an 11 minute mix of these early Motown classics – ‘I’ll Be Doggone’, ‘Try It Baby’, ‘Can I Get A Witness’, ‘You’re A Wonderful One’, ‘Stubborn Kind Of Fellow’ and ‘How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)’.
