Marvin Gaye - 2 Classic albums on 1 CD
‘That Stubborn Kinda Fellow’
‘How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You’
 

That Stubborn Kinda Fellow

This is very early Gaye material from around 1963 at a point when a young Marvin was just beginning to make a name for himself at Motown. The backing vocals were provided by non other than Martha & the Vandella’s and references to these songs can be heard on-line in my interview with Martha some years ago. Please follow the link at the end of this review.

Television footage of a young Marvin Gaye always tend to show him singing ‘Hitch Hike’ complete with dance routine calling for motorists to stop and give him a lift to his intended destination. At the time when ‘Pride and Joy’ was issued as a single the Motown Sound was clearly developing into a dance oriented style and this song was no exception, as was the title song which remains one of the most collectable UK singles on Oriole.

Martha Reeves once told me that singing backing vocals for Marvin was magical in the sense that the songs were often recorded in one take and what your hear on this CD is exactly how it was without today’s technology for re-mixing etc. Late in 1963 saw Marvin release the now legendary standard of ‘Wherever I Lay My Hat’ which surprisingly didn’t make a UK release until many years later when it appeared on the flip side to ‘Too Busy Thinking Bout My Baby’ in 1969. The end result being that it became in some ways amongst collectors as a double ‘A’ side.

So good was the song that blue eyed soul singer Paul Young decided to record it in the eighties and took it to the top of the UK charts.

How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You

1964 saw this album issued in the UK on our Stateside label and remains to this day a much sough after title. By this time the UK mod movement had taken the Motown sound under their belt and were picking up on those songs that were danceable. ‘Your A Wonderful One’ was perfect for those all-nighter sessions quickly followed by ‘Baby Don’t You Do It’ and possibly rate amongst his best.

That same year also saw the release of ‘How Sweet It Is’ and whilst Junior Walker also had a version issued in 1967 which was more uptempo than Marvin’s original, it was the former that most Motown fans liked best. On a more slower note ‘Try It Baby’ found a market amongst the R & B/Blues collectors of the period and whilst a pleasant song sadly doesn’t compare with the aforementioned titles.

If you haven’t yet heard ‘Need Somebody’ then check out your original copies of ‘Grapevine’ and play the ‘b’ side and enjoy Marvin at his best with this song that didn’t make much of an impression when I first heard it, but after a few plays I was totally hooked.

The rest of this CD is made up of course of all the other songs that appeared on the original vinyl LP including the original sleeve artwork with the bonus of a deluxe outer sleeve. Marvin Gaye fans will undoubtedly have the majority of these songs already but here again is a golden opportunity to acquire a brand new pristine copy of two of his great albums from 1963-64.

Personal rating 10/10
Expect to pay around £14.99 in the UK
http://www.umusic.com
http://www.motown.com

UK Tracklisting;

'That Stubborn Kinda Fellow'

Stubborn Kind Of Fellow/Pride And Joy/Hitch Hike/Get My Hands On Some Lovin'/Wherever I Lay My Hat/Soldiers Plea/
It Hurts Me Too/Taking My Time/Hello There Angel/I'm Yours You're Mine.

'How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You'

You're A Wonderful One/How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You/Try It Baby/Baby Don't You Do It/Need Your Lovin'/
One Of These Days/No Good Without You/Stepping Closer To Your Heart/Need Somebody/Me And My Lonely Room/
Now That You've Won Me/Forever/