GOSPELCONNOISSEUR.COM SALUTE TO BLACK MUSIC MONTH

In day two of our salute to Black Music Month, we honor “The Prince Of Soul”

“Most fear stems from sin; to limit one’s sins, one must assuredly limit one’s fear, thereby bringing more peace to one’s spirit.”   (Marvin Gaye)

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (in the style of his hero Sam Cooke, he added the “e” to his surname as an adult) was brilliant, enigmatic, and headstrong, and he was an innovator. It has been 25 years since his tragic death, but today Marvin remains as influential and exciting as ever. Rolling Stone recently named Marvin no. 6 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time. One of the most gifted, visionary, and enduring talents ever launched into orbit by the Motown hit machine, the career of 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. As an artist who broke away from the controlled atmosphere of Motown Records in the 1970s, he influenced the careers of label mates such as Stevie Wonder, The Isley Brothers, and later Michael Jackson to gain creative control and produced/co-produced their own albums.

Marvin scored 41 top 40 hit singles on the pop chart between 1963 and 2001, 60 top 40 R&B singles chart hits from 1962 to 2001, 18 Top Ten pop singles on the pop chart, 38 Top 10 singles on the R&B chart, 3 number-one pop hits and 13 number-one R&B hits and tied with Michael Jackson in total as well as the fourth biggest artist of all-time to spend the most weeks at the number-one spot on the R&B singles chart (52 weeks). In all, Gaye produced a total of 67 singles on the Billboard charts in total, spanning five decades, including five posthumous releases. His records—and his ringtones and his DVDs—are still going gold today.

He began singing in church at the age of three, quickly becoming a soloist in the choir. Later taking up piano and drums, music became Marvin’s escape from the nightmarish realities of his home life – throughout his childhood, his father beat him on an almost daily basis. His father was a ordained minister in the House of God – a conservative Christian sect fusing elements of orthodox Judaism and Pentecostalism which imposes strict codes of conduct and observes no holidays.

He would have been 70 this year, but Marvin Gaye will go on forever.

Check out the clip of Marvin singing “His Eye Is On The Sparrow”