WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.740 Welcome to the Deep Dive, the show that gets 00:00:01.740 --> 00:00:04.099 right to the core of the source material to bring 00:00:04.099 --> 00:00:06.620 you the stories that matter. Today we are taking 00:00:06.620 --> 00:00:10.160 a deep dive into the life, the music, and the 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:14.019 profound tragedy of one of soul music's absolute 00:00:14.019 --> 00:00:18.100 titans, Marvin Gaye. It's such a complex story. 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:19.980 It really is. I mean, when you talk about musical 00:00:19.980 --> 00:00:23.050 giants, his story is just... It's so compelling 00:00:23.050 --> 00:00:25.550 and honestly so heartbreaking. Born Marvin Penske 00:00:25.550 --> 00:00:28.030 Jr., he had these incredible titles, you know, 00:00:28.030 --> 00:00:30.210 the Prince of Motown, the Prince of Soul. And 00:00:30.210 --> 00:00:32.710 his career, it spanned from 1957 all the way 00:00:32.710 --> 00:00:35.630 to 1984. Right up until his death at just 44 00:00:35.630 --> 00:00:38.030 years old, the day before his 45th birthday, 00:00:38.090 --> 00:00:40.130 which is just unbelievable. That's brutal. So 00:00:40.130 --> 00:00:42.329 our mission today is to really unpack that huge 00:00:42.329 --> 00:00:44.750 shift in his career. We want to understand how 00:00:44.750 --> 00:00:47.929 he went from being this in -house session player 00:00:47.929 --> 00:00:50.469 at Motown. A guy who was shaping that famous 00:00:50.469 --> 00:00:53.229 Motown sound. under very, very tight control. 00:00:53.490 --> 00:00:56.450 Exactly. How did that guy become this fiercely 00:00:56.450 --> 00:00:59.250 independent, self -producing revolutionary who 00:00:59.250 --> 00:01:02.630 completely redefined what soul music could even 00:01:02.630 --> 00:01:05.390 be about in the 1970s? It's that core duality, 00:01:05.409 --> 00:01:08.390 isn't it? It is. The man who could give us the, 00:01:08.430 --> 00:01:12.269 I mean, the sublime sensuality of let's get it 00:01:12.269 --> 00:01:14.959 on. is the same man who gives us the profound 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:17.799 social commentary of what's going on. How does 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:19.659 that happen? Yeah. How does all that personal 00:01:19.659 --> 00:01:22.180 turmoil, the strict upbringing, the addiction, 00:01:22.299 --> 00:01:26.620 the financial chaos, how does that fuel his greatest 00:01:26.620 --> 00:01:28.739 art? Well, what's so fascinating is that the 00:01:28.739 --> 00:01:31.000 sources show he wasn't just following trends, 00:01:31.260 --> 00:01:33.480 he was creating them. He was one of the very 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:36.980 first Motown artists to actually break free from 00:01:36.980 --> 00:01:39.200 Barry Gordy's production machine. And that opened 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:40.939 the door for others, right? It absolutely did. 00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:44.269 He basically... created the blueprint for artists 00:01:44.269 --> 00:01:46.730 like Stevie Wonder to go in and demand their 00:01:46.730 --> 00:01:49.230 own creative freedom. So his influence is still 00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:51.510 being felt today. Oh for decades. I mean it goes 00:01:51.510 --> 00:01:54.730 way beyond just classic soul and R &B. His later 00:01:54.730 --> 00:01:57.689 work that smooth sophisticated groove. Quiet 00:01:57.689 --> 00:02:00.069 Storm. He basically invented Quiet Storm and 00:02:00.069 --> 00:02:02.409 you can trace his vocal arrangements that layered 00:02:02.409 --> 00:02:04.989 sound straight to the neo -soul movement of the 00:02:04.989 --> 00:02:07.450 90s and 2000s. So to really get it we have to 00:02:07.450 --> 00:02:09.300 start at the beginning. I have to go back to 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:11.280 where all that conflict started. His childhood. 00:02:11.479 --> 00:02:14.180 His formative years in Washington, D .C. Let's 00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:16.560 dig into that. A really hard start. He was born 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:19.639 April 2, 1939, and the environment was tough 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:22.479 right from the beginning. He grew up in the Fairfax 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.860 apartments in southwest Waterfront, D .C. And 00:02:24.860 --> 00:02:27.379 this area at the time was known for being pretty 00:02:27.379 --> 00:02:31.099 disrepaired, overcrowded, lots of shacks, you 00:02:31.099 --> 00:02:33.759 know, not even consistent running water or electricity 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:35.819 for a lot of people. He and his friends had a 00:02:35.819 --> 00:02:38.539 nickname for it. Simple city. Right. Half city, 00:02:38.580 --> 00:02:40.939 half country. Which really captures that rough 00:02:40.939 --> 00:02:44.240 sort of isolated feeling. But as difficult as 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:48.620 the neighborhood was, his home life was, it was 00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:51.000 on another level of destructive. His father, 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:53.500 Marvin Gaye Sr., was a minister. And his mother, 00:02:53.620 --> 00:02:56.180 Alberta Gaye, a domestic worker. And they were 00:02:56.180 --> 00:02:58.539 part of the House of God Church, which is a very, 00:02:58.580 --> 00:03:01.219 very strict denomination based on Pentecostalism. 00:03:01.219 --> 00:03:04.280 So a really rigid moral code. And the sources 00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:07.099 are. I mean, they're shocking when they describe 00:03:07.099 --> 00:03:08.979 their relationship with his father. It's brutal. 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:11.800 From age seven all the way into his teens, his 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:13.879 life was just a series of what are described 00:03:13.879 --> 00:03:16.780 as brutal whippings from his father for any tiny 00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:19.280 mistake. It's more than just discipline. It sounds 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:21.419 like psychological tyranny. That's exactly how 00:03:21.419 --> 00:03:23.719 Marvin described it. There's this one quote that 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:25.639 just says it all. He said living with his father 00:03:25.639 --> 00:03:28.759 was, quote, like living with a king. A very peculiar, 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:32.780 changeable, cruel, and all -powerful king. A 00:03:32.780 --> 00:03:36.219 king. That word choice is so telling. It's about 00:03:36.219 --> 00:03:40.439 absolute, unpredictable power. And that dynamic, 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:43.180 that fear, it just defined his entire emotional 00:03:43.180 --> 00:03:45.580 life. And the sources are clear. It almost broke 00:03:45.580 --> 00:03:48.659 him. The only place he found any comfort was 00:03:48.659 --> 00:03:51.460 from his mother. Her love, her encouragement 00:03:51.460 --> 00:03:53.539 of his singing. He said it was the only thing 00:03:53.539 --> 00:03:56.219 that kept him from suicide. So his music, his 00:03:56.219 --> 00:03:58.539 genius, it's tied directly to his own survival. 00:03:58.780 --> 00:04:01.599 Exactly. Singing wasn't a hobby. It was a lifeline. 00:04:01.780 --> 00:04:04.199 It was an escape. It was the validation he never 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:06.180 got from his father. He started singing in church 00:04:06.180 --> 00:04:08.439 when he was just four. And his father would sometimes 00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:11.099 play piano for him. But the dream of doing it 00:04:11.099 --> 00:04:13.120 professionally, that really clicked when he was 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:16.920 about 11, after he sang Mario Lanza's Be My Love 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:19.279 at a school play. That's an interesting choice 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:22.060 for a kid. So sophisticated. It is. And it shows 00:04:22.060 --> 00:04:24.699 you the kind of artist he wanted to be. His influences 00:04:24.699 --> 00:04:27.279 were all over the map. You had the fire from 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:29.259 his father's sermons. Which you hear in that 00:04:29.259 --> 00:04:32.560 rasp later on. For sure. But he also loved doo 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:34.899 -wop groups like the Moonglows. And he said the 00:04:34.899 --> 00:04:37.839 Capri song, God Only Knows, was critical to his 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:40.850 awakening. But he always wanted to be a crooner. 00:04:40.990 --> 00:04:45.129 Always. Frank Sinatra was his idol. He loved 00:04:45.129 --> 00:04:48.949 Billy Eckstine, Nat King Cole. That smooth, silky 00:04:48.949 --> 00:04:51.550 vocal style was what he aspired to. Which is 00:04:51.550 --> 00:04:54.129 the complete opposite of the gritty R &B sound 00:04:54.129 --> 00:04:56.470 that Motown would demand from him. And that's 00:04:56.470 --> 00:04:59.170 the central tension of his early career. So that 00:04:59.170 --> 00:05:02.129 conflict at home, it just spilled out into rebellion. 00:05:02.529 --> 00:05:04.329 Yeah, his father was kicking him out of the house 00:05:04.329 --> 00:05:06.879 constantly. So he drops out of high school at 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:10.939 17 and enlists in the Air Force in 1956. He's 00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:12.879 looking for some kind of structure. He was trying 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:14.740 to find a better kind of regimentation than the 00:05:14.740 --> 00:05:16.800 one he had at home. It was a total failure. He 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:18.579 hated it. He thought he'd be working on jets, 00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:21.199 but they had him doing menial labor. So he faked 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:23.459 a mental illness to get a discharge. He did. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:26.000 And the official review from his sergeant is 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.060 almost prophetic. It said, Airman Gay cannot 00:05:29.060 --> 00:05:32.120 adjust to regimentation nor authority. Airman 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:34.290 Gay couldn't, and Marvin Gaye wouldn't. That's 00:05:34.290 --> 00:05:36.290 right. And he carried that right into his music 00:05:36.290 --> 00:05:39.230 career. He forms a group, the Marquise, works 00:05:39.230 --> 00:05:41.610 with Bo Diddley, but nothing really hits. Then 00:05:41.610 --> 00:05:43.389 he joins Harvey and the New Moon Glows, which 00:05:43.389 --> 00:05:45.329 takes him to Chicago. And he's already showing 00:05:45.329 --> 00:05:47.829 that versatility. He's singing lead on Mama Lucy, 00:05:47.970 --> 00:05:51.529 but he's also doing session work for huge stars 00:05:51.529 --> 00:05:54.410 like background vocals on Chuck Berry's back 00:05:54.410 --> 00:05:57.290 in the USA. And it's Harvey Fuqua who eventually 00:05:57.290 --> 00:05:59.970 brings him to Detroit. September 19th, 1960. 00:06:00.860 --> 00:06:04.620 He signs with Motown's Tamla subsidiary, but 00:06:04.620 --> 00:06:06.980 not really as a star, more as a session guy. 00:06:07.060 --> 00:06:08.639 The drummer, right. He was making five bucks 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:11.100 a week. Five dollars a week. And then comes the 00:06:11.100 --> 00:06:14.300 name change. He was recording as Gay, G -A -Y. 00:06:14.459 --> 00:06:18.620 He adds the E. Why? Well, partly for that sophisticated 00:06:18.620 --> 00:06:21.819 jazz crooner image he wanted. Gay just sounded 00:06:21.819 --> 00:06:24.500 more like a standard singer. But some sources 00:06:24.500 --> 00:06:26.560 say it was also to distance himself from his 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:29.220 early failures. And maybe from his father. And 00:06:29.220 --> 00:06:32.079 from his father, it was his first real act of 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:35.759 rebranding, creating a new identity. But as he 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:38.480 was about to find out, a new name doesn't mean 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:40.459 you escape the regimentation. I'm at Motown. 00:06:40.620 --> 00:06:43.420 So he gets to Motown, and he's still fighting 00:06:43.420 --> 00:06:46.120 this war inside himself, you know, the crooner 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:48.339 versus the commodity. And he's pushing back from 00:06:48.339 --> 00:06:51.759 day one. He famously refused to go to Motown's... 00:06:52.139 --> 00:06:54.540 grooming school the charm school which was mandatory 00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:57.180 absolutely mandatory he said later he regretted 00:06:57.180 --> 00:06:59.839 it but it just shows you he was never gonna let 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:02.199 them mold him completely right he was willing 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:06.319 to be producible but not groomed and his first 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:09.180 real hit as a songwriter was for someone else 00:07:09.180 --> 00:07:12.240 beachwood four five seven eight nine for the 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:15.740 marvelettes in 62 then his first solo hit stubborn 00:07:15.740 --> 00:07:18.160 kind of fellow comes later that year. And he 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:20.579 gets it by leaning into that gospel rasp they 00:07:20.579 --> 00:07:22.759 wanted. And it worked. It hit number eight on 00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:25.480 the R &B charts. Then he follows it up with Hitchhike. 00:07:25.699 --> 00:07:28.279 He's finding a formula. But what's amazing is 00:07:28.279 --> 00:07:30.839 how he could just flip a switch. Eddie Holland 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:32.699 said he had one of the sweetest and prettiest 00:07:32.699 --> 00:07:35.279 voices, but could take any rough rock and roll 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:37.600 song and just own it. He really was their most 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:40.620 versatile male vocalist, even when he hated the 00:07:40.620 --> 00:07:43.180 songs. Pride and Joy becomes his first top 10 00:07:43.180 --> 00:07:46.220 pop hit in 63. Yeah. And then he just becomes 00:07:46.220 --> 00:07:49.939 this hit machine. Working with Holland Dozier 00:07:49.939 --> 00:07:52.560 Holland on How Sweet It Is, then with Smokey 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:55.560 Robinson on I'll Be Doggone, and ain't that peculiar. 00:07:55.939 --> 00:07:58.600 And those Smokey songs were massive. His first 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:02.199 number one R &B singles. Million sellers. he's 00:08:02.199 --> 00:08:05.360 a huge star and deeply deeply unhappy because 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:07.300 at the same time he's putting out these albums 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:10.079 of jazz standards the music he actually loved 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:11.980 and they're tanking the hits he doesn't like 00:08:11.980 --> 00:08:14.019 or making him a household name and the music 00:08:14.019 --> 00:08:16.360 he loves is a commercial failure it's the ultimate 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:19.149 compromise And that really came to a head during 00:08:19.149 --> 00:08:21.610 the duets period. First with Kim Weston on It 00:08:21.610 --> 00:08:23.990 Takes Two, which was a big hit. But the real 00:08:23.990 --> 00:08:26.649 magic, the iconic pairing, was with Tammy Terrell. 00:08:26.790 --> 00:08:29.250 Starting in 1967, they were just lightning in 00:08:29.250 --> 00:08:31.629 a bottle. Ain't no mountain high enough, your 00:08:31.629 --> 00:08:33.590 precious love. Ain't nothing like the real thing. 00:08:33.730 --> 00:08:36.450 It was just hit after hit. The chemistry was 00:08:36.450 --> 00:08:39.529 undeniable. But that joy was just cut short so 00:08:39.529 --> 00:08:43.690 brutally. October 14th, 1967, during a concert. 00:08:44.090 --> 00:08:48.470 She collapses right in his arms on stage. Diagnosed 00:08:48.470 --> 00:08:50.809 with a malignant brain tumor, her career was 00:08:50.809 --> 00:08:53.970 over just like that. and it completely shattered 00:08:53.970 --> 00:08:55.730 him. You can see how that would just make the 00:08:55.730 --> 00:08:58.110 whole hit -making machine feel so empty. Totally 00:08:58.110 --> 00:09:00.870 empty. And then, to make it worse, right after 00:09:00.870 --> 00:09:03.690 she collapses, Motown releases what becomes his 00:09:03.690 --> 00:09:06.190 biggest hit yet. I heard it through the grapevine. 00:09:06.350 --> 00:09:08.870 It goes to number one on the Hot 100 for seven 00:09:08.870 --> 00:09:13.289 weeks, sells over four million copies, and he's 00:09:13.289 --> 00:09:15.850 just sinking deeper and deeper into depression. 00:09:16.090 --> 00:09:18.149 The ultimate irony. And this is when he says 00:09:18.149 --> 00:09:20.889 it. He says the success is something he... didn't 00:09:20.889 --> 00:09:23.830 deserve. He says, I felt like a puppet, Barry's 00:09:23.830 --> 00:09:26.090 puppet, Anna's puppet. And he was married to 00:09:26.090 --> 00:09:28.649 Barry Gordy's sister, Anna, which just added 00:09:28.649 --> 00:09:30.669 another layer of control. Total suffocation. 00:09:30.669 --> 00:09:33.149 And even his voice on Grapevine, that famous 00:09:33.149 --> 00:09:35.389 raspy voice, was something the producer Norman 00:09:35.389 --> 00:09:37.370 Whitfield pushed him to do. He didn't even want 00:09:37.370 --> 00:09:39.970 to sing it that way. No, but he said he was into 00:09:39.970 --> 00:09:42.690 being producible. He was still playing the game, 00:09:42.830 --> 00:09:45.210 adopting this tough man voice he heard from David 00:09:45.210 --> 00:09:47.789 Ruffin and Levi Stubbs because he knew that's 00:09:47.789 --> 00:09:50.080 what sold. So he's wearing a vocal costume, basically. 00:09:50.259 --> 00:09:52.679 Exactly. And that costume, that whole facade, 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:55.019 it just completely fell apart when Tammy Terrell 00:09:55.019 --> 00:09:58.039 finally died in March of 1970. That was the breaking 00:09:58.039 --> 00:10:00.539 point. The absolute breaking point. That's when 00:10:00.539 --> 00:10:02.860 he decided if he was going to sing at all, it 00:10:02.860 --> 00:10:06.379 had to be his truth. No more puppets. After Tammy 00:10:06.379 --> 00:10:08.799 Terrell's funeral, he basically went into hiding. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:13.159 He was depressed. And he made this really extreme 00:10:13.159 --> 00:10:17.240 attempt to just... leave music entirely. It's 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:19.700 almost unbelievable. He tried out for the Detroit 00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:22.779 Lions. The NFL team. Yeah. He was seriously training 00:10:22.779 --> 00:10:24.659 to be a professional football player. It was 00:10:24.659 --> 00:10:27.240 the ultimate escape attempt. The Lions said no, 00:10:27.320 --> 00:10:30.620 of course. The liability was just insane. Imagine 00:10:30.620 --> 00:10:33.039 injuring the Prince of Motown. But even in that 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:35.639 failure, he found something he needed. He became 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:38.580 friends with two of the players, Mel Farr. And 00:10:38.580 --> 00:10:40.220 Lem Barney. And those are the guys who ended 00:10:40.220 --> 00:10:42.299 up singing backup on the song that changed everything. 00:10:42.519 --> 00:10:44.539 Before that song, though, he records a cover 00:10:44.539 --> 00:10:46.659 of Abraham, Martin and John. And that's when 00:10:46.659 --> 00:10:49.320 he says it out loud. He asks, with the world 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:51.440 exploding around me, how am I supposed to keep 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:54.740 singing love songs? That was the question. And 00:10:54.740 --> 00:10:56.940 the answer came from Obie Benson of the Four 00:10:56.940 --> 00:10:59.840 Tops. Benson saw Police Brutality at an anti 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:02.580 -war rally in Berkeley and had the initial idea 00:11:02.580 --> 00:11:05.000 for the song. He brought it to Marvin, and Marvin 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:07.919 just ran with it. And the recording of that single 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:10.799 in 1970 sparks the biggest fight of his career 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:13.740 with Motown. Ah, Barry Gorey despised it. He 00:11:13.740 --> 00:11:16.059 refused to release it. He said it was too political. 00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:18.259 He was terrified it would kill his crossover 00:11:18.259 --> 00:11:20.480 audience. He thought it was the worst business 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:23.500 decision imaginable. But this wasn't the Marvin 00:11:23.500 --> 00:11:25.919 of the 60s. He had nothing left to lose emotionally. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:29.240 he gave gordy an ultimatum a total ultimatum 00:11:29.240 --> 00:11:31.220 release the single or i will never record for 00:11:31.220 --> 00:11:34.419 you again and gordy caved and he was completely 00:11:34.419 --> 00:11:37.899 wrong the song was a massive instant hit number 00:11:37.899 --> 00:11:41.419 one r b in a month sold over 2 million copies 00:11:41.419 --> 00:11:44.679 and that success gave him all the power He seized 00:11:44.679 --> 00:11:47.679 it. He demanded and got total creative control. 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:50.820 And he recorded the entire What's Going On album 00:11:50.820 --> 00:11:53.980 in 10 days. 10 days. It was one of Motown's first 00:11:53.980 --> 00:11:57.419 truly autonomous works. The artist was in charge. 00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:01.200 And the themes. I mean, for 1971, this was revolutionary. 00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:04.360 Right. Racism, police brutality, drug abuse, 00:12:04.580 --> 00:12:07.299 the environment on Mercy, Mercy Me. It was immediately 00:12:07.299 --> 00:12:10.019 hailed as this landmark record. AllMusic called 00:12:10.019 --> 00:12:12.519 it the most important and passionate record to 00:12:12.519 --> 00:12:14.570 come out of Soul Music. But the innovation wasn't 00:12:14.570 --> 00:12:17.009 just lyrical, right? It was structural. Absolutely. 00:12:17.350 --> 00:12:21.289 He pioneered the song cycle. The idea of an R 00:12:21.289 --> 00:12:23.669 &B album where the songs flow into each other, 00:12:23.789 --> 00:12:27.090 creating one cohesive piece of art, no filler. 00:12:27.250 --> 00:12:29.990 Like a concept album. Exactly. And that idea, 00:12:30.090 --> 00:12:32.169 that structure, it directly influenced Stevie 00:12:32.169 --> 00:12:34.250 Wonder, Barry White, so many others who were 00:12:34.250 --> 00:12:36.149 also fighting for their own artistic freedom. 00:12:36.409 --> 00:12:38.230 Is the sound of an artist finally unshackled? 00:12:38.309 --> 00:12:40.470 And the accolades poured in. Billboard called 00:12:40.470 --> 00:12:43.289 him... trendsetter of the year and decades later 00:12:43.289 --> 00:12:46.049 in 2020 rolling stone would name what's going 00:12:46.049 --> 00:12:48.809 on the single greatest album of all time and 00:12:48.809 --> 00:12:50.909 you have to stop and think about that risk he 00:12:50.909 --> 00:12:53.450 put his entire career all his financial security 00:12:53.450 --> 00:12:57.389 on the line for that one song it's an incredible 00:12:57.389 --> 00:13:00.169 act of integrity he won the war and he got the 00:13:00.169 --> 00:13:05.049 spoils in 1971 he signs a new contract with motown 00:13:05.049 --> 00:13:08.230 for one million dollars which was the Biggest 00:13:08.230 --> 00:13:10.649 deal ever for a black artist at the time. He 00:13:10.649 --> 00:13:13.970 had it all. The freedom, the money. But then 00:13:13.970 --> 00:13:17.490 came the question, what do you do next? And following 00:13:17.490 --> 00:13:22.139 up a masterpiece is notoriously difficult. He 00:13:22.139 --> 00:13:24.019 tried with another political album, You're the 00:13:24.019 --> 00:13:26.820 Man, in 72, but the single didn't really take 00:13:26.820 --> 00:13:29.059 off, so the album got shelved. The moment for 00:13:29.059 --> 00:13:30.779 that kind of prophecy had sort of passed. So 00:13:30.779 --> 00:13:32.860 he pivots again. He moves to L .A. and starts 00:13:32.860 --> 00:13:34.960 thinking about acting. He even scored a film, 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:37.440 the blaxploitation movie Trouble Man. The title 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:39.700 track was another big hit for him. But he walked 00:13:39.700 --> 00:13:42.399 away from Hollywood. And his reason why is so 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:44.799 telling. It is. He said he didn't have the fortitude 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:46.759 to play the Hollywood game. He knew they would 00:13:46.759 --> 00:13:48.860 eat my rear end like a piece of meat. He was 00:13:48.860 --> 00:13:51.269 terrified of becoming a puppet again. So he went 00:13:51.269 --> 00:13:53.909 back to the one place he had total control, the 00:13:53.909 --> 00:13:56.370 recording studio, and he shifts from the prophet 00:13:56.370 --> 00:13:59.429 to the sensualist. Let's get it on. In 1973, 00:13:59.870 --> 00:14:03.450 the title track is his second number one pop 00:14:03.450 --> 00:14:05.750 single. And it was such a brilliant move. He 00:14:05.750 --> 00:14:08.269 turned the focus from the body politic to the 00:14:08.269 --> 00:14:11.769 physical body. It was hailed for its sheer sensuality, 00:14:11.769 --> 00:14:14.450 but it was never crude. It was spiritual. It 00:14:14.450 --> 00:14:17.230 really cemented that image of him as the ultimate 00:14:17.230 --> 00:14:20.879 soul. Romantic. And the sound is so different 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:22.419 from what's going on. It's much more intimate, 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:25.639 sparser. Deliberately so. But even in the realm 00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:28.580 of love songs, he was pushing boundaries. The 00:14:28.580 --> 00:14:30.820 song You Sure Loved a Ball got pulled from the 00:14:30.820 --> 00:14:33.000 radio for being too sexually explicit. He was 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:34.639 always challenging the system, no matter the 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:37.240 subject. And the mid -70s were his absolute peak 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:40.139 financially. He's touring, making $100 ,000 a 00:14:40.139 --> 00:14:42.559 night. $100 ,000 a night. He puts out I Want 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:44.480 You, which is another number one R &B album. 00:14:44.600 --> 00:14:46.440 The live album, Live at the London Palladium, 00:14:46.539 --> 00:14:48.940 sells 2 million copies. mostly because of the 00:14:48.940 --> 00:14:51.419 studio track on it. Gotta give it up. An absolute 00:14:51.419 --> 00:14:53.899 classic. So on the surface, he's on top of the 00:14:53.899 --> 00:14:57.279 world, but underneath, his personal life is just 00:14:57.279 --> 00:14:59.440 completely falling apart. The cocaine addiction 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:02.509 is getting worse. And his marriage to Anna Gordy 00:15:02.509 --> 00:15:06.269 ends in this really bitter divorce in 1977. Which 00:15:06.269 --> 00:15:08.230 leads to one of the strangest albums ever made. 00:15:08.389 --> 00:15:11.049 Here, my dear. As part of the settlement, a portion 00:15:11.049 --> 00:15:13.269 of the royalties from his next album had to go 00:15:13.269 --> 00:15:16.210 directly to Anna as alimony. So he made an entire 00:15:16.210 --> 00:15:19.490 double album about their breakup. A raw, painful, 00:15:19.889 --> 00:15:22.610 brutally honest album that of course performed 00:15:22.610 --> 00:15:25.490 poorly. It was like public therapy and it cost 00:15:25.490 --> 00:15:27.730 him a fortune. He marries Janice Hunter, but 00:15:27.730 --> 00:15:30.399 that also ends in divorce. and the whole time 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:33.600 his finances are just in a death spiral. Cocaine, 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:37.080 a lavish lifestyle, and the IRS. He ends up owing 00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:39.980 over $4 .5 million in back taxes. Which forces 00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:42.120 him to flee the country. The Prince of Motown 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:44.860 becomes an exile. He lands in London at the start 00:15:44.860 --> 00:15:47.519 of the 80s, and he's completely lost artistically. 00:15:47.580 --> 00:15:49.919 He's trying to make this disco record, Love Man, 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:52.659 and it's just not working. He reworks it into 00:15:52.659 --> 00:15:55.259 an album called In Our Lifetime. which is much 00:15:55.259 --> 00:15:57.259 more about religion, the end of the world. Yeah. 00:15:57.340 --> 00:16:00.080 Really heavy themes. And this is where the final 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.379 Motown betrayal happens. A rough mix of the album 00:16:03.379 --> 00:16:05.879 gets stolen and sent back to Motown headquarters. 00:16:06.299 --> 00:16:08.960 And they just release it without his permission. 00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:12.460 An unfinished album. They remixed it. They changed 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:15.080 the cover art. They even took the question mark 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:17.159 off the title, which completely changed the meaning. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:20.019 He was furious. I can't even imagine. He said 00:16:20.019 --> 00:16:22.240 it was like someone stealing an unfinished Picasso 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:25.009 and selling it. That was the end of his relationship 00:16:25.009 --> 00:16:28.090 with Motown. Forever. So he ends up in Ostend, 00:16:28.169 --> 00:16:31.850 Belgium. Of all places. On the advice of a promoter 00:16:31.850 --> 00:16:35.350 named Freddy Couser. And weirdly, this exile 00:16:35.350 --> 00:16:39.080 becomes his salvation. How so? He got away from 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:41.100 the heavy drug scene. He started exercising, 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:43.679 going to church. He started to heal. His own 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:45.580 lawyer said it was the best thing that ever has 00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:47.980 been to Marvin. And that stability, that clarity, 00:16:48.120 --> 00:16:50.320 it set the stage for one of the greatest comebacks 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:52.620 in music history. He gets out of his Motown contract, 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:55.580 signs with CBS, and in Austin, he writes and 00:16:55.580 --> 00:16:58.700 records a song. Sexual Healing. The song becomes 00:16:58.700 --> 00:17:01.570 the biggest hit of his entire career. It's number 00:17:01.570 --> 00:17:03.950 one on the R &B charts for a record 10 weeks. 00:17:04.329 --> 00:17:07.910 The biggest R &B hit of the 80s. A massive international 00:17:07.910 --> 00:17:11.309 success. And it's so sonically different. This 00:17:11.309 --> 00:17:13.430 is where he embraces the new technology of the 00:17:13.430 --> 00:17:16.789 era. He famously used the TR -808 drum machine 00:17:16.789 --> 00:17:19.549 all over the Midnight Love album. The sound that 00:17:19.549 --> 00:17:21.829 would define 80s R &B and hip -hop. Exactly. 00:17:21.849 --> 00:17:23.910 He was always innovating. He wins his first two 00:17:23.910 --> 00:17:25.990 Grammy Awards for that song. The album goes triple 00:17:25.990 --> 00:17:28.309 platinum. He's back on top. And he said his whole 00:17:28.309 --> 00:17:30.490 artistic purpose had changed. He said he wasn't 00:17:30.490 --> 00:17:32.950 making records for pleasure anymore. He was doing 00:17:32.950 --> 00:17:36.109 it to feed people what they need to help someone 00:17:36.109 --> 00:17:38.230 overcome a bad time. He becomes this healer. 00:17:38.250 --> 00:17:41.589 We see him at the 1983 NBA All -Star Game, singing 00:17:41.589 --> 00:17:44.069 that iconic version of the Star Spangled Banner. 00:17:44.190 --> 00:17:47.289 He's on Motown 25. He's on Soul Train. He's everywhere. 00:17:47.670 --> 00:17:50.430 But the comeback was fragile. The final tour, 00:17:50.569 --> 00:17:52.730 the sexual healing tour, it was a disaster. It 00:17:52.730 --> 00:17:56.460 was. Plagued by his co - cocaine use paranoia 00:17:56.460 --> 00:17:59.019 vocal problems he was just exhausted and sick 00:17:59.019 --> 00:18:01.839 by the end of it so he moves back home into his 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:04.240 parents house in la the artist who escaped the 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:06.480 puppet strings walking right back into the house 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:10.099 of the king and on april 1st 1984 he gets in 00:18:10.099 --> 00:18:11.779 the middle of a fight between his parents it 00:18:11.779 --> 00:18:13.680 gets physical between him and his father and 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:15.880 his father goes and gets a gun that marvin himself 00:18:15.880 --> 00:18:18.799 had given him for protection and shoots him twice 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:21.079 he was pronounced dead less than an hour later 00:18:21.079 --> 00:18:24.299 the day before his 45th birthday The cruelest 00:18:24.299 --> 00:18:27.180 possible end to that story. And his father. He 00:18:27.180 --> 00:18:29.680 pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter. 00:18:29.779 --> 00:18:32.299 They found a brain tumor, which reduced the charges. 00:18:32.819 --> 00:18:36.299 He got a suspended sentence and probation. It's 00:18:36.299 --> 00:18:39.420 just... It's an unbelievable tragedy. When you 00:18:39.420 --> 00:18:41.440 look back at his legacy, it all comes down to 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:44.079 his musicianship. He wasn't just a singer. Not 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:46.059 at all. He started as a drummer. He taught himself 00:18:46.059 --> 00:18:49.859 piano, keyboards, synthesizers, organ. A true 00:18:49.859 --> 00:18:52.359 multi -instrumentalist. Yeah. He used all kinds 00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:54.579 of percussion, and he was always exploring new 00:18:54.579 --> 00:18:57.420 sounds. Like the Mellotron on Mercy, Mercy Me. 00:18:57.660 --> 00:18:59.779 Can you explain what a Mellotron is for people 00:18:59.779 --> 00:19:02.440 who might not know? It's basically an early analog 00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:04.980 synthesizer. It's a keyboard where every key 00:19:04.980 --> 00:19:07.559 plays a little loop of tape. usually of a string 00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:09.480 section or a choir. So it gives it that sort 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:12.339 of haunting orchestral sound. Exactly. And using 00:19:12.339 --> 00:19:14.779 that on a soul record in 1971 was incredibly 00:19:14.779 --> 00:19:17.380 forward -thinking, just like using the 808 was 00:19:17.380 --> 00:19:20.059 in 1982. But the main instrument was always the 00:19:20.059 --> 00:19:23.420 voice. Always. A four -octave range. And the 00:19:23.420 --> 00:19:26.319 critic Rob Bowman broke it down perfectly. He 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:28.980 said Gay really had three distinct voices. What 00:19:28.980 --> 00:19:32.559 were they? His smooth, sweet tenor. A growling 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:35.599 rasp. and an unreal falsetto. And the genius 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:37.920 was that he would use all three at the same time. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:40.619 By multitracking, he would layer these complex, 00:19:40.940 --> 00:19:43.339 contrapuntal vocal lines, basically creating 00:19:43.339 --> 00:19:46.759 his own one -man choir. Dolman called it the 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:49.440 ancient art of weaving. And that sound, that 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:51.579 texture, is what makes his records from what's 00:19:51.579 --> 00:19:53.819 going on forward so rich and unique. It's his 00:19:53.819 --> 00:19:56.119 sonic fingerprint. The honors he's received since 00:19:56.119 --> 00:19:59.839 his death are just immense. Grammy Lifetime Achievement, 00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:02.240 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone ranked 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:05.200 him the sixth greatest singer of all time. Three 00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:07.680 of his songs are on the list of 500 songs that 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:10.200 shaped rock and roll. And his music is still 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:13.759 making waves, even legally. The Blurred Lines 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:16.940 lawsuit in 2015 was huge. Remind us of that. 00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:19.660 His family sued Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:22.400 arguing that the feel, the groove of Blurred 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:25.259 Lines copied, gotta give it up. And they won. 00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:29.299 To the tune of $7 .4 million. And it set a precedent. 00:20:29.869 --> 00:20:31.910 It said that the vibe of a song, not just the 00:20:31.910 --> 00:20:34.690 melody or lyrics, is protectable. His groove 00:20:34.690 --> 00:20:37.190 is literally his intellectual property. He's 00:20:37.190 --> 00:20:39.789 just so embedded in the culture. His NBA anthem 00:20:39.789 --> 00:20:42.750 was the first video ever played on VH1. Grapevine 00:20:42.750 --> 00:20:45.430 had a huge comeback in Europe because of a Levi's 00:20:45.430 --> 00:20:48.130 ad. But it's so telling that his life story has 00:20:48.130 --> 00:20:50.710 been so hard to get to the screen. So many failed 00:20:50.710 --> 00:20:52.930 biopics. A lot of them blocked by his family, 00:20:53.029 --> 00:20:55.470 who are very protective of his legacy. And that 00:20:55.470 --> 00:20:57.470 recent story about Terrence Howard turning down 00:20:57.470 --> 00:20:59.130 the role. Because he was worried he'd have to 00:20:59.210 --> 00:21:01.170 kiss a man and didn't want to engage with the 00:21:01.170 --> 00:21:03.910 reports of Marvin's bisexuality. It just shows 00:21:03.910 --> 00:21:07.009 how complex and sensitive his legacy still is. 00:21:08.009 --> 00:21:11.130 People still don't know how to approach the whole 00:21:11.130 --> 00:21:13.750 complicated truth of the man. It's a lot to handle. 00:21:13.890 --> 00:21:15.750 So we've seen him go from this fearful child 00:21:15.750 --> 00:21:18.569 in Simple City to the perfect Motown puppet to 00:21:18.569 --> 00:21:21.230 this fiercely independent boundary breaking artist. 00:21:21.509 --> 00:21:24.130 His genius was always in that tension, the sacred 00:21:24.130 --> 00:21:26.589 and the profane, the crooner and the prophet. 00:21:26.970 --> 00:21:30.089 He was channeling that fight into his art. I 00:21:30.089 --> 00:21:32.670 think when you connect it all, his life really 00:21:32.670 --> 00:21:35.609 shows you the enormous price of creative freedom. 00:21:35.809 --> 00:21:37.329 He won the battle. He got the million dollar 00:21:37.329 --> 00:21:39.789 contract. He made these timeless records. But 00:21:39.789 --> 00:21:42.450 he never resolved those internal conflicts, the 00:21:42.450 --> 00:21:44.990 depression, the addiction, and especially the 00:21:44.990 --> 00:21:47.269 relationship with his father. And in the end, 00:21:47.289 --> 00:21:49.779 that's what pulled him back into danger. It raises 00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:52.220 this really interesting question for me. He had 00:21:52.220 --> 00:21:55.079 the courage to make What's Going On to risk his 00:21:55.079 --> 00:21:57.640 whole career on an act of rebellion. But he also 00:21:57.640 --> 00:21:59.259 said he didn't have the fortitude to play the 00:21:59.259 --> 00:22:01.119 Hollywood game because he was afraid of being 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:04.180 used, of being a piece of meat. So for you, listening 00:22:04.180 --> 00:22:07.480 at home, think about this. Which of those actions 00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:10.339 demanded greater fortitude? The willingness to 00:22:10.339 --> 00:22:13.220 whisk it all for a political album? Or the choice 00:22:13.220 --> 00:22:15.779 to walk away from Hollywood's glare to protect 00:22:15.779 --> 00:22:18.759 himself? What battles in your own creative life 00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:21.480 echo that same struggle between integrity and 00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:24.940 visibility that really defined Marvin Day? We'll 00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:26.599 leave you with that thought. Yeah. Thanks for 00:22:26.599 --> 00:22:27.759 joining us for this deep dive.