Artistic Control at Motown
The second, quite distinct phase of Marvin Gaye’s career began in 1971 with What’s Going On. Along with Stevie Wonder, Gaye was one of the first Motown artists to gain complete artistic control of his records. What’s Going On was a self-composed and produced concept album.
Berry Gordy Jr., stated that he didn’t understand the record and was reluctant to release it. Marvin Gaye was vindicated when the album hit Number Six and spun off three Top 10 singles: “What’s Going On,” “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” and “Mercy Mercy Me (the Ecology).” These were impassioned, timeless statements on Vietnam, civil rights, and the state of the world.
Marvin moved to Los Angeles in 1972 where he wrote his first score. Trouble Man was the film. In 1973, Marvin answered What’s Going On with Let’s Get It On. Written in collaboration with Ed Townsend, the title song was an instant smash. “Distant Lover” stands as a towering ballad in the history of soul.
In the middle of the decade Marvin moved into his custom-built studio in the heart of Hollywood. In spite of the luxury of the new facility, though, Gaye suffered writer’s block. It took Leon Ware, a vastly underrated singer-songwriter, to break the block. The result was Ware’s scintillating production, “I Want You.”
Gaye’s rocky marriage of 14 years to Anna Gordy Gaye was the subject of Here, My Dear. Gaye was left reeling from the divorce settlement; he filed for bankruptcy, and his ex-wife later considered suing him for invasion of privacy over the content of Here, My Dear. (The album had been precipitated by court hearings in 1976, when a judge instructed Gaye to make good on overdue alimony payments by recording an album and giving his wife $600,000 in royalties.)
With Anna Gordy he fathered a son, Marvin Gaye III. He married his second wife, Janice, in 1977 and that year had a Number One hit, “Got to Give It Up, Pt. 1.” They had two children: Nona, who has since become a recording artist in her own right, and Frankie.