110: Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear (1978)
“At first, I figured I'd just do a quickie record — nothing heavy, nothing even good. Why should I break my neck when Anna was going to wind up with the money anyway? But the more I lived with the notion, the more it fascinated me. Besides, I owed the public my best effort.”
—Marvin Gaye
In 1977, Marvin Gaye divorced Anna Ruby Gordy (against his wishes), and as part of the divorce settlement he agreed to pay Anna a portion of the royalties of his next album. Marvin responded by recording and releasing Here, My Dear, a 72-minute double album about his divorce, his feelings about his ex-wife, and a lot of other topics weighty and otherwise. The album was initially a critical and commercial dud, but over time the album gained a reputation as a classic and possibly Gaye's best. In this episode, John (as host) stakes a position in favor of the album and its improved reputation, while Ben stakes a position that maybe listeners and critics got it right with their initial skeptical reaction (Rich takes a middle position, generally in favor of the album but with some reservations), and this makes for a spirited conversation about an album that can't help but prompt strong emotional response. Everybody needs love, and everybody needs to hear us talk about this complicated album from one of the most complicated men ever to sing beautifully into a microphone.
Miscellany
In case there is any confusion, the opening teaser is only a dramatization; John does not, in fact, have any plans to leave podcast forever.
The list of performing musicians below is an approximation, and is an attempt to thread the needle between discrepancies in the CD listing, the Wikipedia page for the album, and the Wikipedia pages for specific songs. The CD liner notes include this comment from Marvin Gaye biographer David Ritz: “Marvin Gaye kept no records of who played on the sessions. Because of his disputes with both the musicians and the union, he listed no personnel on the original recording. This personnel list is based on the memory of Nolan Smith, the musical director for Marvin's road band and a participant in these sessions.”
While John found multiple sources (not just Wikipedia) claiming 1976 recording dates for various tracks here (as mentioned in the episode), he has since found other sources claiming almost all of the recording happened in 1977 onward. Getting consistent, clearly reliable recording information on this album was a pain, so if we got something wrong along those lines, it won't be surprising.
The liner notes of the 1994 reissue included a lengthy essay from David Ritz (linked below), and among other things is an amazing description of the inner gatefold art of the album. “The fold-out illustration gracing the inside of the original double album shows a man’s hand reaching across to the hand of a woman. He’s about to give her a record. Here, my dear. The hands are extended over a Monopoly board; on the man’s side of the board are tape recorders and a grand piano; on the woman’s side is a house, car and ring. There’s also a rose, skull and crossbones, and dice. The scales of justice sit about the game in perfect symmetry while, from the arched windows, curious observers – perhaps fans – watch. Fires burn. Symbolism is rampant. The juxtaposition of images reflects the turbulent state of Marvin’s mind, a marital mess enshrined within the somewhat decadent setting of high art.”
John realized after the fact that he got the idea to reference the Samuel Johnson quote about second marriage in the “Falling in Love Again” discussion from the Pitchfork retrospective review of this album (they gave it a grade of 8.7/10.0). We are linking their review below.
The 2008 2-CD reissue of this album is absolutely worth tracking down. In addition to including an outtake from the original album (“Ain’t it Funny (How Things Turn Around)”), it also includes alternate mixes and versions of every track, as well as the 12” instrumental version of “A Funky Space Reincarnation.”
Other links
Marvin Gaye's official website (marvingaye.net)
Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye by David Ritz (Da Capo Press)
David Ritz essay for 1994 CD reissue of Here, My Dear (albumlinernotes.com)
75 of the Best Hip-Hop Songs That Sample Marvin Gaye (XXLmag.com)
Snopes debunks Here, My Dear myths (Snopes.com)
Pitchfork review of Here, My Dear (Pitchfork)
In Praise of: 'Sparrow' (madeleinebyrne.com)
Amerigo Gazaway’s Yasiin Gaye: The Departure (Bandcamp.com)
The "corncob" tweet from dril (Twitter.com)
Discord & Rhyme's This is Comp: The Complete Motown Number Ones (discs 1-6) playlist (Spotify)
Discord & Rhyme’s Here, My Dear playlist (Spotify)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
John McFerrin (host)
Rich Bunnell (moderator)
Benjamin Marlin
Here, My Dear tracklist
Here, My Dear
I Met a Little Girl
When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You
Anger
Is That Enough
Everybody Needs Love
Time to Get it Together
Sparrow
Anna’s Song
When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You (Instrumental)
A Funky Space Reincarnation
You Can Leave, But It’s Going to Cost you
Falling in Love Again
When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You (Reprise)
Other clips used
Marvin Gaye:
Ain’t That Peculiar
Ain't No Mountain High Enough (with Tammi Terrell)
Sexual Healing
Got to Give it Up pt 1
I Heard it Through the Grapevine (single)
What's Going On
Let’s Get It On
His Eye Is on the Sparrow
Keep Gettin’ It On
Right On
The Star Spangled Banner (Live at NBA All Star Game, 1983)
If I Could Build My Whole World Around You (with Tammi Terrell)
Others:
Reks - Regrets
Ariana Grande - Thank U, Next
Daryl Hall - Stop Loving Me, Stop Loving You
Metallica - Frantic
Kingpin Skinny Pimp - Hear My Dear/Anger
The Lady of Rage - Big Bad Lady
Three 6 Mafia - Sippin' on Some Syrup
Slim Thug - O.G. Talk
Jan Jelinek - If's, And's and But's
Madlib - Episode XVI
Hi-Tek feat. Talib Kweli - Time
Amerigo Gazaway - Time (To Get It Together)
Necro - Piss
Little Brother - War
Parliament - Unfunky UFO
Musiq Soulchild - Until
Blue Boy - Funky Friday
Stevie Wonder - You Haven’t Done Nothin’
Rick Ross - Cassette Deck
2Pac feat. Buckshot - Brothaz at Arms
Gangsta Black - Don't Trust Em
Jay-Z - American Dreamin'
Count Bass D - IMEANROC&RON
The Hot 8 Brass Band - Sexual Healing
Band/album personnel
Marvin Gaye - vocals, piano, Rhodes, Roland bass, synth and horns; tape box percussion, drums
Charles Owens - tenor saxophone
Wali Ali - guitar
Gordon Banks - guitar
Spencer Bean - guitar
Cal Green - guitar
Frank Blair - bass
Eric Ward - bass
Elmira Collins - percussion
Ernie Fields, Jr. - alto saxophone
Fernando Harkness - tenor saxophone
Gary Jones - congas
Nolan Andrew Smith - trumpet
Bugsy Wilcox - drums
Melvin Webb - drums, congas, cowbell
Eddie “Bongo” Brown - congas, bongos
Odell Brown - RMI
David Stewart - handclaps
Richard “Do Dirty” Bethune - handclaps
Art Stewart - handclaps
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Marvin Gaye - A Funky Space Reincarnation (this episode only)
You can buy or stream Here, My Dear and other albums by Marvin Gaye at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing and production is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for our theme song and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.