Marvin Gaye had become the biggest soul star of all in 1971, thanks to the monumental success of his What's Going On album, his remarkable statement on race, politics, war, religion, the environment, pretty much everything that was going on. But the erratic genius had stage freight (and possible paranoia) and hadn't toured the album and anywhere in four years. It took a monumental effort to get him to agree, back in his hometown of Washington, which declared Marvin Gaye day, and pulled out all the stops to honour him. After getting a parade and the key to the city, Gaye did a concert at the Kennedy Center, playing the entire recent album.
It did not go perfectly, which is probably why these tapes have sat on the shelf for decades. Obviously nervous and struggling, Gaye made several mistakes through the performance, not the least of which was starting the What's Going On album on the wrong song, side 2! He stopped the orchestra and band mid-way through a first attempt at "Inner City Blues," as he didn't like the tempo, and felt the players didn't have the right groove. When the show was supposed to be over, he apologized to the audience, said he wanted to try to do it right, and replayed "Inner City Blues" and "What's Going On."
You can't blame the band. Gaye was allowed to bring the best Motown players to the concert, including The Funk Brothers, complete with the great James Jamerson on bass, Uriel Jones on drums and Robert White on guitar. The Andantes vocal group also made a rare appearance outside the studio. David Van DePitte had done the orchestral arrangements. This was all down to Gaye. He had already had a wild, emotional day, and had his family with him, which was a whole ball of crazy right there (his father shot and killed him, you might remember). The idea had been to get into the spiritual vibe of the studio album, but it proved too complicated a show for Gaye to pull off perfectly, with not enough rehearsal and recent stage experience for the singer.
Having said all that, it's still a remarkable show, many warts and all. It starts with a lengthy medley of Gaye's '60's hits, a nod to his old self. Instead of a romp through the classics, he decided to do them as he would if they too were new, and from What's Going On. "That's The Way Love Is" was performed in a contemplative way, the audience barely recognizing it."I Heard It Through The Grapevine" got only a couple of lines, just a mere acknowledgement. "Your Precious Love" becomes a tribute to his late duet partner Tammi Terrell, for his first performance since her passing. It was as if Gaye was putting the '60's to rest as well, and telling the crowd he was a different performer now.
You can hear him struggling to bring more musical sophistication to his performance, and even though he couldn't match the album version of What's Going On that night, he gets close. It's worth hearing the moments when it works, and a little bit maddening that the magic wasn't quite there, for this one-time-only opportunity.
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