Search - Marvin Gaye :: Marvin Gaye - Greatest Hits [1976]

Fine gathering of early 70s Marvin

D.V. Lindner | King George, VA, USA | 03/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I understand the confusion of all my fellow reviews here about this one. Maybe a 50-year-old who was there when they were all new can straighten this out. This one was another `holding pattern' LP, and actually the fifth round of `greatest hits' on Marvin.There was already one, the first, called "Marvin Gaye's Greatest Hits" (Tamla 252) that was on the market by May of 1964. A very early one, it included his first singles from "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" through "You're A Wonderful One". "Greatest Hits Vol. 2" (Tamla 278) showed up in September 1967 and carried all his famous 45s from "Try It Baby" though "Your Unchanging Love."In October 1970, "Super Hits" (Tamla 300, the one with the cartoon cover) came along, and included many of the 60s hits that were on the two above, plus the important, late 60s singles: "Grapevine," "That's The Way Love Is," "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby."Next up, in April of 1974, was the three-LP Anthology (Motown 791), the most extensive up to then. It carried every important Gaye single, even the duets with Mary, Kim & Tammi, from "Stubborn" all the way up to 1972's "Trouble Man." Then came this one.This greatest hits (Tamla 348, September 1976), while every cut on it is superb, basically marked time, and made sure something `new' on Gaye was `out there' between the "I Want You" LP (March 76), and the "Live At the London Palladium" (March 1977, the one "Got to Give It Up" is from). To make sure you remembered he was there, this one reached back into the 60s for "Witness," "Grapevine" and "How Sweet It Is," but seemed mostly to exist to gather the best Gaye nuggets of the first half of the seventies. It was the first appearance of the live, hit version of "Distant Lover" on a greatest hits. And yes, the reason "Sexual Healing" doesn't appear is because it would be six more years after this album before it was even released, and for another company (Columbia).By no means is this a bad album, as you can tell yourself from the track selection, but if you simply must have every important track he ever laid down, from "Stubborn" to "Healing," your smartest move is to save your pennies for the four-disc box set, "The Master." Nothing is missing there."

Ten great songs, but there are better collections out there

Daniel Jolley | Shelby, North Carolina USA | 12/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was the first Marvin Gaye album I ever bought, and it did much to convince me I needed a whole lot more of this legendary singer's music. Any selection of a mere ten songs doesn't begin to cover all of Marvin's greatest hits, but one must keep in mind that this particular collection dates back to 1976 and is largely made up of early 70s recordings.



Eight of these 10 tracks were top 20 hits. The California Raisins saturated popular culture with the song I Heard It Through the Grapevine a few years back, but the song remains as popular as ever - back in 1968, this song shot to #1 in both the R&B and pop charts. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) was a top ten hit on both the R&B and pop charts in 1964. Can I Get a Witness, the oldest track in this collection, takes us all the way back to 1963; this hand-clapper of a tune stalled just outside the top 20 on the pop charts but peaked at #15 on the R&B charts. What's Going On, one of Marvin's signature recordings, didn't get over the hump of #2 on the pop charts but hit #1 on the R&B charts in 1971. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) followed What's Going On to the top of the R&B charts, peaking at #4 in the pop chart. Let's Get It On and I Want You feature Marvin at his smoothest, simply dripping with sensuality. Let's Get It On hit #1 on both the R&B and pop charts in 1973, while, three years later, I Want You somehow hit a wall at #15 on the pop charts despite hitting #1 on the R&B chart. If you've only heard the late Robert Palmer's cover of Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You, you've never really heard these songs at all. Trouble Man is the other top ten hit included here; it's an unusual track that is vintage Marvin, and it hit the top six in both the R&B and pop charts in 1972.



The other two songs may not have been top 20 hits, but they are excellent recordings in their own right. After the Dance is an extremely cool song that features the type of amazing overdubbed vocals that Marvin introduced in 1971's What's Going On and basically went on to perfect in 1982's Midnight Love. Closing out this collection is a live recording of Distant Lover from 1974; the energy of Marvin in concert is palpable, and it is obvious that Marvin has the crowd (especially a lot of screaming females) wrapped around his little finger.



Obviously, this is a fantastic album; it's a great introduction to Marvin Gaye for anyone unfamiliar with his work (in case you've been living under a rock for the last forty years). Realistically, though, there's little reason to buy this 1976 collection - you can find all of these songs and many, many more on any of a number of Marvin Gaye collections available today. It doesn't really matter which Marvin Gaye collection(s) you buy - the important thing is that you buy them because we will never see or hear the likes of the masterful Marvin Gaye again."

Great album, though there are more thorough compilations of

Matt Tawesson | Macomb, IL, USA | 12/04/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A great album containing 10 of Marvin's hits with the Motown label. This is a more modernized greatest hits album, because it has a lot of his hits from the later 60s up till around the mid 70s (and this title came out during the later half of 1976, while the nation was still celebrating the bicentennial). Songs like I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology), How Sweet It Is..., and several more make this album one to own. It has been out of print for quite some time, and might not be reissued anytime sooner or later because there have been other compilations having a much greater variety of songs from his career. This album does not contain "Sexual Healing" because that song was done in 1982 while Marvin was with Columbia Records. Sadly, Marvin passed away in April of 1984 on the eve of his 45th birthday, but thanks to his wonderful fame, his recordings will always be heard again and again, and his legacy will still shine brightly. God bless you Marvin! You will always be one of the best entertainers that Motown and the entertainment industry were grateful to have."