"A Perfect Stranger: The Island Anthology" by MARIANNE FAITHFULL - A 2CD-Only Compilation Covering 10 albums on Island Records Between 1979 and 1995 including New Remasters, Compilation and Soundtrack Rarities, A Non-LP B-side and Promo-Only Track (Both First Time on CD) Plus Five Previously Unreleased Outtakes from 1988 Sessions (October 1998 UK Island/Chronicles 35-Track 2-CD Compilation of Kevin Reeves Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATINGS:

Overall **** to *****

Audio *****

Presentation ****

"…It Is Strange To Sleep Alone In A Place No One Knows…"

Some digital compilations scream class, and you know you must own them. 

Welcome to one such set in Universal's Chronicles Series of the Nineties (1998 in this case). "A Perfect Stranger: The Island Anthology" offered up 35-tracks covering albums between 1979 and 1995 by one of Rock's truly great conduits – the heart-on-her-sleeve 60ts ingenue and survivor Marianne Faithfull.

There is a fantastic range of material on this weighty twofer and all of it Remastered to perfection by one of my fave Audio Engineers KEVIN REEVES – a name you see across huge swaths of upgraded CD reissues covering A&M Records, Mercury, Vertigo, Blue Thumb, Verve, Polydor and Island Records to name but a few (all under the umbrella of Polygram and Universal Music Catalogue aka UMC). 

Faithfull has a career heading all the way back to 1965 with Decca and of course The Rolling Stones. This twofer chronicles her real solo years when she broke out of those constraints and forged a legacy of her own. A working-class hero is indeed something to be – lots to discuss in Broken English – to the details…

UK released 27 October 1998 - "A Perfect Stranger: The Island Anthology" by MARIANNE FAITHFULL on Island/Chronicles 524 579-2 (Barcode 731452457929) is a 35-Track 2CD Compilation covering 1979 to 1995 (17 years). It has new Kevin Reeves remasters and comprises of 26 Album Tracks, one Kurt Weill CD Compilation contribution, one Soundtrack song, one Non-LP B-side and one Promo-Only 12" Single Version (both first time on CD) plus Five Previously Unreleased songs from various Album Sessions. It plays out as follows:

CD1 (76:32 minutes):
1. Broken English
2. Witches' Song
3. Guilt
4. The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan
5. Working Class Hero
6. Why D'Ya Do It
7. Sister Morphine
8. Sweetheart
9. Intrigue
10. For Beauty's Sake
11. So Sad
12. Truth Bitter Truth
13. The Blue Millionaire (Long Version – see Notes)
14. Falling From Grace
15. Running For Our Lives
NOTES on CD1: 
Tracks 1 to 6 are from the album "Broken English" – released October 1979 in the UK on Island Records M1 and in the USA on Island ILPS 9570
Track 7 is the Non-LP B-side of a May 1982 UK 12" Single for "Broken English (Long Version)" on Island Records 12MF 100; the first seven-inch issue of "Broken English" was released January 1980 on Island WIP 6542 with "What's The Hurry?" on the B-side while the 12" version had "Why D'Ya Do It" on its B-side. "Sister Morphine" was only on the 1982 release. Track 7 is Previously Unreleased on CD
Tracks 8 to 12 are from the album "Dangerous Acquaintances" – released October 1981 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9648 (same details for the US issue)
Track 13 is from a 1983 US-Only Promo-Only 12" Single for "The Blue Millionaire" on Island Records DMD 627; Track 13 is Previously Unreleased on CD
Tracks 14 to 15 are from the album "A Childs Adventure" – released February 1983 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9734 and as "A Child's Adventure" in the USA on Island Records 7 90066-1

CD2 (77:48 minutes):
1. Ballad Of The Soldier's Wife
2. Trouble In Mind (The Return)
3. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
4. Yesterdays
5. Strange Weather
6. Gloomy Sunday
7. Hello Stranger
8. As Tears Go By
9. A Perfect Stranger
10. Conversation On A Barstool
11. A Waste Of Time
12. Isolation
13. Blazing Away
14. When I Find My Life (Live)
15. Times Square (Live)
16. Ghost Dance
17. Sleep
18. Love In The Afternoon
19. Bored By Dreams
20. She
NOTES on CD2: 
Track 1 is from the Various Artists compilation LP "Lost In The Stars; The Music Of Kurt Weill" released 1985 on A&M Records AMA 5104 in the UK and A&M Records SP 9-5104 in the USA
Track 2 is from the Mark Isham and Marianne Faithfull Original Motion Picture Soundtrack LP to "Trouble In Mind" released 1986 in the EU-UK on Island Records 208 056 and in the USA on Island Records 7 90501-1-E
Tracks 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 are from the July 1987 UK LP "Strange Weather" on Island Records ILPS 9874 (Track 6 is an Outtake from these sessions)
Tracks 6, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are Previously Unreleased Studio Recordings – Recorded February 1988 in New York
Tracks 13, 14 and 15 are from the April 1990 UK CD album "Blazing Away" on Island CID 9957 – a live album recorded at St. Ann's Church in Brooklyn, NYC. Note: the title song "Blazing Away" is a Studio Recording done February 1988 in New York – the only studio recording on the album
Track 16 is an Exclusive 1994 Recording from the August 1994 CD Compilation Album "Faithfull: A Collection Of Her Best Recordings" on Island CIDX 8023
Tracks 17 to 20 are from the April 1995 CD Album "A Secret Life" on Island CID 8038

Compiled by BILL LEVENSON and JERRY RAPPAPORT and featuring a new essay by ANN POWERS – the 24-page booklet fills out all the Biographical and Discography details from 1979 to 1995 and a few places before. Album artwork and period photos are peppered throughout the text while Powers fills out the song histories – Billie Holiday doing "Yesterdays" – the live performance of "Times Square" in from of an adoring American audience getting a rare chance to see their hero up close and personal. The track-by-track musician and album credits take up the rest of it. But for me the real meat and potatoes comes with the gorgeous, muscular and not overly trembled KEVIN REEVES Remasters. To the music…

It will come as no surprise to any Faithfull fan that a whopping six of the eight tracks of her huge comeback album "Broken English" from October 1979 are represented on CD1. Armed with a stellar crew of musicians – Barry Reynolds of Blodwyn Pig and Pacific Drift on Guitar, Darryl Way on Violin, Frank Collins and Diane Birch of Kokomo on Vocals with Terry Stannard (also of Kokomo) on Drums, Steve York of Manfred Mann, Graham Bond and Vinegar Joe on Bass, Steve Winwood of Traffic and Blind Faith on Keyboards and Vocals with Joe Cuomo of The Global Village Trucking Co. on Saxophone – the album was packed with Grace Jones-type excellence. Expertly Produced by Mark Miller-Mundy - not only are the grooves of cleverly chosen covers like John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" and Shel Silverstein's "The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan" wickedly good – the emotional gut-punch of her own lyrics in Barry Reynold's "Guilt" and the extraordinary viciousness of "Why D'ya Do It" will shock even in 2024. 

There is a fearlessness in these craftily comforting rhythms – subversive like barbed wire or cut glass. To then have those six complimented by a stunning B-side – her non-LP cover of "Sister Morphine" from The Stones' 1971 "Sticky Fingers" album which she co-wrote with Jagger and Richards as far back as 1969 – only makes CD1 tingle even more. Her equally hurting remake of "Sister Morphine" turned up on the flipside of a 1982 12" Single for the Full-Length Version of the LP title track "Broken English" (Island 12MF 100) and it is surely a prize for collectors and Stones fans.

Her second album for Island "Dangerous Acquaintances" turned up September 1981 and I for one was a bit disappointed. CD1 offers up five of its nine cuts – unsurprising to see the better tracks like Steve Winwood's what-are-you-taking "For Beauty's Sake" and the seven-minute-plus mourning of her lost youth in "Truth Bitter Truth" – a fantastic journey song. By now Guitarist Barry Reynolds was provided a lot of the co-writes with Marianne Faithfull and that hugely produced Grace Jones "Warm Launderette" Compass Point Studios sound was on every track. "Sweetheart" and "Intrigue" go for a sort of Reggae Synth Pop feel – bopping to lyrics about sacrificing too much for a relationship. Softer in "Intrigue" - looking for harmony – looking for hope past the fatigue and the big Herb Alpert-type brass breaks. I have grown to appreciate these grooves more as the years have passed – go back to revisit them more. 

The sound is stupendous and clear on CD1. Never is this more evident that the utterly infectious 8:23 minute 'Long Version' of "The Blue Millionaire" exclusive to the A-side of a US Island Records 12" Promotional Single (Island DMD 627) – I know DJs (when I worked at Reckless Records in the West End of London) who scoured racks for this slightly-forgotten almost secret groove that devastated Electronica and Synth Pop dancefloors everywhere when played. But you would also have to say that even with super-slick production values and now great audio remasters – the other two songs from February 1983's "A Child's Adventure" feel somehow lacking compared to the freshness of the "Broken English" release from four years earlier. Keyboardist Wally Badarou had a co-write hand in "Running For Our Lives" and "The Blue Millionaire". 

What was sent from Oslo or the wealth of Amsterdam to the "Soldier's Wife" – all stomping piano and vaudeville sounds - Faithfull starts CD2 by channeling her inner Tom Waits circa "Swordfishtrombones" or "Frank's Wild Years". "Soldier's Wife" is a contribution to the 1985 compilation "Lost In The Stars: The Music Of Kurt Weill". Far better is a genius complete reinterpretation of a song most closely associated with 50ts Big Joe Turner Rhythm 'n' Blues on Atlantic Records – "Trouble In Mind". An inclusion in a soundtrack called "Trouble In Mind" - our Marianne strips it down to a droning keyboard note while Trumpeter Mark Isham adds pathos jabs to the Paris at Night vibe. The cover version is very Barb Jung - flipping the dynamic - gorgeous audio too. The la-da-da-da mellow continues with five tracks from the "Strange Weather" album of 1987 – the downbeat "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" and just plain sad "Yesterdays". Title track "Strange Weather" is a Tom Waits/Kathleen Brennan song aided successfully by undercurrents from guests - Bill Frisell on Guitars with Accordion by Garth Hudson of The Band.

Track 6 "Gloomy Sunday" begins a flurry of five Previously Unreleased cuts on CD2 (the other four are Tracks 9, 10, 11 and 12). Dr. John provides piano while Avant Garde artist Michael Gibbs arranged the strings for "Gloomy Sunday" – the first of two outtakes from the "Stormy Weather" album (the other is a remake of her 60ts Rolling Stones-associated hit "As Tears Go By"). But you can understand the "Gloomy Sunday" exclusion – well meaning, but essentially too downbeat and a forced vocal. The acoustic-strings remake of "As Tears Go By" however is a lovely find and a genuine bonus for CD2. 

This compilation takes its name from "A Perfect Stranger" – a beautifully recorded ballad that is shockingly one of the unreleased – someone who knows when to leave and when to stay – and isn't it sad that we never had it that way. Another unreleased and another decent-tune shocker - Singer Bono of U2 contributing "Conversations On A Barstool". A sorrow and sympathy tale of a lonely American Bar lady who does not want to dance for senators anymore – Bill Frisell once again adding understated echoed guitar on this $45 ache. A cover of the John Lennon moody "Isolation" is good but not great despite the efforts of Barry Reynolds on Guitar. With one eye on insanity and the other on the wheel (one turning, one burning) – Marianne is "Blazing Away" – the title song from the 1990 CD album. "Blazing Away" is a weird one – an entirely live album – the title song was however the only studio song on it. The other two representatives here are live versions of "When I Find My Life" and "Times Square" – her very appreciative and quiet audience treated to a band featuring Dr. John Piano on TS and Garth Hudson of The Band with his Accordion on WIFML. And on it goes to a slew of Keyboardist Angelo Badalamenti songs on the 1997 album "A Secret Album" – sweet and mournful. 

I appreciate that not everything here will be for everyone – Marianne Faithfull's strained voice alone is enough to divide listeners. But I have always thought this English singer-songwriter brilliant – a more contemplative Grace Jones. 

Forgotten now in the dying embers of 2024 - this wickedly good sounding 2CD set "A Perfect Stranger" only hammers home a level of greatness worth rediscovering...

"Songs In The Key Of Life" by STEVIE WONDER – September 1976 USA 2LP Studio Set with 'A Something's Extra Bonus' 4-Track EP on Tamla (October 1976 UK on Tamla Motown) - Featuring Ronnie Foster, Dean Parks, Herbie Hancock, Mike Sembello, Greg Phillinganes, Nathan Watts, Shirley Brewer, Minnie Riperton, Denise Williams and Syreeta Wright (January 2009 JAPAN-Only Reissue in the Motown 50: Stevie Wonder Paper Sleeve Collection – Features US Mini LP Gatefold Sleeve Artwork, UK-Language Booklet and Japanese-Language Booklet, 2 x SHM-CDs, SHM-Info Insert, Obi and Protective Sealable Plastic – Uses Kevin Reeves Remasters from 2000) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"… Love's In Need Of Love Today…"

 

The tired eyes of over-stimulated music lovers: but will we ever rub moody on this urge to splurge double-album crescendo bombshell from 1976 on the mighty Motown Records – I seriously doubt it.

 

Presently resplendent in my 65-year-old body-buggered belly-flop dotage – I am one of those nerdy Rock boys who saw, bought and raved unto the joy fantastic for the 2LP set "Songs In The Key Of Life" - and has drooled at the mere sight of it ever since. I can still feel the awe I felt when I first saw copies of this Soul beast in an Irish Record shop in Dublin’s Grafton Street – it was a chunky bugger and expensive. But I knew in my Shamrock-Shaped Y-Fronts – it had to be mine. Let’s update the story...

 

After a few 80s clunky fat-jewel case reissues - 8 May 2000 finally saw the Kevin Reeves Remaster of this double-album and its 4-Track Something Extra EP make it onto a slim-line UK 2CD set. And here in September 2023 - Motown 157 3572-2 (Barcode 6012215735727) from May 2000 has remained the go-to purchase point for most – eight quid or less depending on where you buy. But this is one of my top fave raves so I wanted something approximating better.

 

Up step the Japanese who know how to tease my long-suffering bank account and using the 2000 remasters – they put out the Motown 50: Stevie Wonder Paper Sleeve Collection – SHM-CD reissues in Mini LP Repro Artwork with Booklets etc. Here are the Ordinary Pains...

 

JAPAN-only released 28 January 2009 - "Songs In The Key Of Life" by STEVIE WONDER on Tamla UICY-93936/7 (Barcode 4988005546265) sports the American 2LP artwork from 1976, the full booklet and is on the Super-High-Materials Format.

 

Disc 1 (42:47 minutes):

1. Love's In Need Of Love Today [Side 1]

2. Have A Talk With God

3. Village Ghetto Land

4. Contusion

5. Sir Duke

6. I Wish [Side 2]

7. Knocks Me Off My Feet

8. Pastime Paradise

9. Summer Soft

10. Ordinary Pain

Tracks 1 to 10 are Sides 1 and 2 of the double-album "Songs In The Key Of Life" - released 28 September 1976 in the USA on Tamla T13-340C2 and October 1976 in the UK on Tamla Motown TMSP 6002. It had a 24-page booklet with complete musician credits, lyrics, artist influences and "A Something's Extra" 4-track EP (played at LP-speed) that has been tagged onto the end of Disc 2 here.

 

Disc 2 (62:15 minutes):

1. Isn't She Lovely [Side 3]

2. Joy Inside My Tears

3. Black Man

4. Ngiculela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing [Side 4]

5. If It's Magic

6. As

7. Another Star

 

A Something's Extra Bonus:

8. Saturn

9. Ebony Eyes

10. All Day Sucker

11. Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)

Tracks 1 to 7 are Sides 3 and 4 of the double-album "Songs In The Key Of Life" - Tracks 8 to 11 are the 4-track EP that came with original copies of the vinyl 2LP set

 

I love the KEVIN REEVES remasters (done in 2000 at Universal using original tapes) - warm and full of presence - bringing songs like "Isn't She Lovely" and the astonishing vocal bitterness and synth-funk in "Ordinary Pain" to life. There have been other reissues in Japan – namely the 18 December 2013 Platinum SHM-CD Version (Motown UICY-40044/5 – Barcode 4988005798435) that apparently uses a new 2011 DSD Flat Remaster. But despite genuinely beautiful packaging and presentation in a Gold and White Mini Box Set - they are deleted, ludicrously expensive (fifty-quid plus) and I bought one for the Rolling Stones "Sticky Fingers" and hated its dead sound so I have left any of them alone.

 

What can you say about "Songs In The Key Of Life" - it feels like "Blonde On Blonde", "The Beatles", "Exile On Main St." and "Physical Graffiti" - a double album you'll never dip into for years to come and still seemingly find something new. It opens with the truly gorgeous "Love's In Need Of Love Today" and the brilliance (and social conscience) rarely lets up. I love the instrumental "Contusion" and Minnie Riperton and Denise Williams in the Backing Vocals of the acidic "Ordinary Pain' - with Shirley Brewer singing the angry 'response' lyrics with such conviction as to be positively unnerving. Album nuggets include the gorgeous slow drawl of "Joy Inside My Tears", social injustice in "Pastime Paradise" and his soaring vocals in "Ngiculela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing" brings tears to my eyes.

 

Stevie Wonder would annoy everyone with the indulgent 1979 2LP extravaganza "Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants" and then regain his crown with the slimmer "Hotter Than July" in 1980. But this Seventies marvel (along with "Talking Book", "Innervisions" and "Fulfillingness First Finale") are the bedrock of his reputation - and rightly so.

 

You could of course buy the UK/Euro 2CD Remaster from 2000 for cheapish amounts of dosh – but I like that extra oomph this SHM-CD format offers. "Songs In The Key Of Life" is the kind of album I covet and I have to have it in the best way poss...

"Let's Get It On" by MARVIN GAYE – August 1973 US LP on Tamla Records (September 1973 UK on Tamla Motown) – Featured Guests Include The Originals, The Monitors, Joe Sample and Wilton Felder of The Crusaders, Ray Parker, Jr., Willie Hutch, Dean Parks, David T. Walker, Leroy Emmanuel, Bobby Keys, Michael Henderson and many more (September 2001 US Universal/Motown Deluxe Edition 2CD Expanded Edition Reissue and Remaster with 27 Unreleased) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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US AND THEM - 1973

 

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"...You'll Like It!"

 

At the risk of limb-loss and threats of being forced into a Sweeny Todd type barbers at midnight on the day of judgement - I'm going to put out an unpopular opinion, nay sacrilegious and possibly even scurrilous assessment.

 

While "What's Going on" puts Marvin (hot like an uv-in) Gaye firmly on the shoulders of Gods, I always thought 1973's lovers album "Let's Get It On" was good rather than great and not quite the masterpiece of lurve-sexy bedroom delight everyone claims it is.

 

So why five stars for a record I think is only deserving of four? I'm reviewing the 'Deluxe Edition' 2CD Reissue of "Let's Get It On" and on top of the newly remastered eight album tracks, you get a whopping 29 extras – 27 of which are Previously Unreleased (the other two are period tie-ins issued in the 90s). And in the main, they are truly stunning - pushing this 2-Disc 2001 Expanded Edition splurge into the stratosphere.

 

Like most music fans, if I've a fave album and Universal or Sony has done a 2CD Deluxe Edition of them, I'm going to own it. But we have found that time and time again, the unreleased stuff (or rarities as they like to call it) was unissued for a reason. But here, the sheer wallop of all that extra brilliance is screaming at you - almost too much in that it sometimes drowns out the core eight we're supposed to be celebrating. 

 

In fact, when you're listening to the truly fantastic grooves being achieved in instrumentals like say "Song No. 3" or "Cakes" - it's like listening to an entirely different Marvin (hell some of "Cakes" even has a Northern Soul shuffle to it).

 

Soul fans will salivate too at those session-men names (some superstars in their own right) - Herbie Hancock on Keyboards, Wilton Felder and Joe Sample of The Crusaders on Bass and Keys, James Jamerson also on Bass, Ernie Watts on Sax, Uriel Jones on Drums with Ray Parker, Jr., Melvin 'Wah Wah' Ragin, Leroy Emmanuel, Dean Parks, David T. Walker and Willie Hutch on Guitars along with many others.

 

Over on CD2 in the 'Working The Groove' clutch of tunes section we even have Fonce and Larry Mizell of Blue Note/Donald Byrd "Spaces And Places" fame providing funky backing vocals on the gorgeous "Where Are We Going?" – Track 11. With stuff like "The World Is Rated X", you get to hear a 1975/1976 Funk-Sexy-Soul Music sound, three years before it became commonplace. In short, there is a whole lot on offer here - a slew of creativity that's thrilling to eavesdrop on, and all of it sounding super-duper spiffing your honor. Forgive me people, but let's get it on and on...

 

US released 18 September 2001 - "Let's Get It On: Deluxe Edition" by MARVIN GAYE on Universal/Motown 440 014 757-2 (Barcode 044001475726) is a 37-Track 2CD Reissue and Remaster with 27 of its 29 Bonus Tracks being Previously Unreleased (Tracks 14 on CD1 and 20 on CD2 were issued before). It's part of Universal's DELUXE EDITION Series and plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (70:29 minutes):

ORIGINAL ALBUM

1. Let's Get It On [Side 1]

2. Please Stay (Once You Go Away)

3. If I Should Die Tonight

4. Keep Gettin' It On

5. Come Get To This [Side 2]

6. Distant Lover

7. You Sure Love To Ball

8. Just To Keep You Satisfied

Tracks 1 to 8 are his thirteenth studio album "Let's Get It On" - released August 1973 in the USA on Tamla Records T 329V1 and November 1973 in the UK on Tamla Motown Records STMA 8013. Produced by MARVIN GAYE, ED TOWNSEND - it peaked at No. 1 on the US R&B LP charts and No. 39 on the UK Rock LP charts.

 

SESSIONS (All Tracks Previously Unreleased Except 14)

9. Song No. 3 (Instrumental, 5:30 minutes)

10. My Love Is Growing (Working Titled 'Super Polished', 4:20 minutes)

11. Cakes (Instrumental, 3:15 minutes)

12. Symphony (Undubbed Version, 2:50 minutes)

13. I'd Give My Life For You (Demo, 3:33 minutes)

14. I Love You Secretly by THE MIRACLES (Marvin Gaye co-written song, officially issued on The Miracles US LP "Renaissance" in April 1973 on Tamla T325L)

15. You're The Man (Alternate Version 1, 7:25 minutes)

16. You're The Man (Version 2, 4:45 minutes)

17. Symphony (Demo, 2:50 minutes) 

 

CD2 (77:01 minutes):

DEMOS, ALTERNATIVES MIXES & MORE

(All Tracks Previously Unreleased Except 20)

1. Let's Get It On (Demo, 5:14 minutes)

2. Let's Get It On (Part II) aka Keep Gettin' It On (Complete, 3:15 minutes)

3. Please Stay (Once You Go Away) (Alternate Mix with Horns, 3:50 minutes)

4. If I Should Die Tonight (Demo, 4:15 minutes)

5. Come Get To This (Alternate Mix, 2:48 minutes)

6. Distant Lover (Alternative Mix, 4:20 minutes)

7. You Sure Love To Ball (Alternate Mix with Alternate Vocals, 4:40 minutes)

8. Just To Keep You Satisfied (A Capella with Alternative Vocal, 4:40 minutes)

9. Just To Keep You Satisfied by THE ORIGINALS (1970, Original Single Mix Scheduled for Soul 35079, B-side of "God Bless Whoever Sent You" but Cancelled, 4:00 minutes)

10. Just To Keep You Satisfied by THE MONITORS (1968 recording, Richard Street Lead Vocals, 2:36 minutes)

 

WORKING THE GROOVE

11. Where Are We Going? (Alternate Mix, Produced by and Featuring Freddie Perrin and Fonce Mizell, 4:00 minutes)

12. The World Is Rated X (Alternate Mix, From Version That Appeared on the 1995 2CD "Anthology" compilation, 3:50 minutes)

13. I'm Gonna Give You Respect (2:55 minutes)

14. Try It, You'll Like It (3:55 minutes)

15. You Are That Special One (3:35 minutes)

16. We Can Make It Baby (3:20 minutes)

(Tracks 13 to 16 Produced by and Featuring songs from Willie Hutch recorded throughout 1972)

17. Running From Love (Instrumental, Version 1, 3:45 minutes)

18. Mandota (Instrumental, 3:00 minutes)

19. Running From Love (Instrumental, Version 2, 3:45 minutes)

20. Come Get To This (Live From Oakland, 2:57 minutes, First Issued in 1990)

 

The 28-page booklet inside the foldout card digipak (and outer plastic printed slipcase) is a tastefully laid-out piece of work. Someone did some serious work on this because it is crammed with Discography Details from the Motown Archive and Biographer DAVID RITZ and Music Author BEN EDMONDS pour of the Biographical stuff that puts it all into context (the groove and grind always aligned with conflict and contradictions). HARRY WEINGER also gives us insights in paragraphs he entitles "Finding The Groove – Adventures In The Vault" – Tape Preparation and Location. Impressive stuff.

 

The array of cool woollen beany hats Gaye wore at the time make for the most beautiful photos, but all of that is as nothing when you start to wade through the dirge of music (on top of the album) you are given. KEVIN REEVES has done literally hundreds of CD Reissues for Universal and his is a name I would actively seek out. Well his magic touch is very much in evidence here – all of it feeling muscular and sensual in a way that was lacking before. Not even the Demos or Alternates feel clunky – in fact – some are better recorded than some actual released material.

 

The album produced three 45s with wildly varying chart success. The title track previewed the LP by two months when "Let's Get It On" hit the shops in June 1973, but it was a smash and promptly topped both the R&B and Pop charts in the USA. That was followed by "Come Get To This" in October 1973 (No. 3 R&B and No. 21 Pop) - whilst the final overtly hip-swaying 45 tapered out even more - "You Sure Love To Ball" in early January 1974 managing only No. 13 R&B and No. 50 Pop. Sounding like a manifesto for the bedroom, I can only imagine how many homes had this on the turntable in 1973 and now count grandchildren all owed the Oven Man. But there is even better in the Bonus material...

 

Universal put out an Original Mix of "Where Are We Going?" on their 'Very Best Of' Marvin Gaye set in July 2001 – what we get here is an Alternate Mix that emphasizes the sexy piano and wah-wah guitar backbeat – a gem. That's followed by what has to be one of the best Marvin Funk discoveries of all - "The World Is Rated X" – laid down in 1972 with Marvin even putting in Saxophone. His vocal on this is passion personified – every line sung with a genuine conviction - that socially aware inner radar on his on fire. That is then whomped by the lovely Willie Hutch session of four songs – the nugget being the brass-bopper "I'm Going Give You Respect" – the kind of winner that makes you want to lay talcum powder on the kitchen lino and just sway and shuffle with your Northern Soul crew. Regardless of what else is on CD2 – if I only programmed Tracks 11, 12 and 13 together – I’d be in Marvin Nirvana. But then you are hit with three more...

 

Things get Fuzz-Guitar Funky with two Versions of "Running From Love" laid down in September 1971. The first sounds like a backdrop to The Temptations or even The Undisputed Truth before they go off to that war over there. Both are instrumentals co-written with Hamilton Bohannon and Michael Henderson – fantastic echoed guitar licks from Melvin "Wah Wah" Ragin, Ray Parker, Jr. and Leroy Emmanuel, while Marvin provided Keyboards, Bongos and Percussion. A couple of months later (December 1971), Marvin and Hamilton Bohannon put down the seriously Funky Guitar and Keyboards instrumental "Mandota" – all Blaxsploitation atmospherics that feels like a precursor to the "Trouble Man" soundtrack in 1973. The Second Version (Take 6) of "Running From Love" slows everything down to a sexy groove that again wouldn’t have gone amiss on Shaft or Trouble Man – all strings and grinding groovy Funk. It ends with a sensual audience-clapping Live Version of "Come Get To This" recorded 1974 and first issued on the 1990 Box Set "The Marvin Gaye Collection" – tasty and still Marvin cool.

 

Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" is one of those 2CD Deluxe Editions that provides a genuine embarrassment of riches - a real upgrade on what went before (Bob Marley's "Legend", Marvin Gaye's own "Trouble Man" Soundtrack 2CD Deluxe Edition, Whiskeytown's "Strangers Almanac" with Ryan Adams and The Who's "Who's Next" are among many others that warrant a DE merit badge too).

 

In the end, I'm probably like every other fan, I only have to hear his voice soar and parry with the melodies and I'm a goner. And that always makes me wish he wasn't.  

Come Get To This indeed because I guarantee, if you have any affection for the 1973 original, then this brilliant 2001 upgrade is a big You'll Like It!...

"What's Going On" by MARVIN GAYE – May 1971 US LP on Tamla - October 1971 UK on Tamla Motown featuring Ed Townsend (March 2001 and January 2011 UK Universal/Motown 2CD Deluxe Edition Reissue and Remaster – Kevin Reeves and Suha Gur Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…A Place Where Love Is King…"

Infused with a legend that only grows deeper as the decades pass - Marvin Gaye's 1971 album "What's Going On" is surely the cornerstone of every Soul lover's collection - a vinyl LP so engrained in our hearts that its probably impossible to review it with any real distance. 

And why the Hell would you want to. Some things are just beautiful - plain and simple. And this fabulous 2CD Deluxe Edition celebration of that Tamla Motown crown jewel only hammers its legend home with presentational and sonic knobs on. What an album and what an artist. Here's What's Happening Brother...

The 2CD set "What's Going On: Deluxe Edition" by MARVIN GAYE was originally UK released March 2001 (February 2001 in the USA) on Motown 013 404-2 (Barcode 044001340420). 

It's been subsequently reissued January 2011 on Universal/Motown 0600753279557 (Barcode 600753279557) and both DE versions break down as follows:

Disc 1 (75:37 minutes):

ORIGINAL LP RELEASE (21 May 1971)

1. What's Going On

2. What's Happening Brother

3. Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky)

4. Save The Children

5. God Is Love

6. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)

7. Right On [Side 2]

8. Wholy Holy

9. Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler)

Tracks 1 to 9 is the original album "What's Going On" - released May 1971 in the USA on Tamla TS 301 and October 1971 in the UK on Tamla Motown STML 11190

ALTERNATE DETROIT MIX (5 April 1971) - Previously Unreleased

10. What's Going On

11. What's Happening Brother

12. Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky)

13. Save The Children

14. God Is Love

15. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)

16. Right On

17. Wholy Holy

18. Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler)

THE FOUNDATION - Previously Unreleased

19. What's Going On (Rhythm & Strings Mix)

Disc 2 (77:28 minutes):

LIVE AT THE KENNEDY CENTER, WASHINGTON DC (Recorded 1 May 1972):

1. Sixties Medley: That's The Way Love is/You/I Heard It Through The Grapevine/Little darling (I Need You)/You're All I Need To Get By/Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing/Your Precious Love/Pride And Joy/Stubborn Kind Of Love

2. Right On

3. Wholy Holy

4. Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler)

5. What's Going On

6. What's Happening Brother

7. Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky)

8. Save The Children

9. God Is Love

10. Stage Dialogue

Reprise:

11. Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler)

12. What's Going On

Tracks 1 to 12 are Previously Unreleased Live Versions

ORIGINAL SINGLE VERSIONS:

13. What's Going On

14. God Is Love

15. Sad Tomorrows

IN THE MEANTIME...

16. "Head Title" (aka Distant Lover) - Previously Unreleased

The 2011 reissue comes in a 2CD jewel case when the original 2001 issue was one of those chunky Deluxe Edition Card Digipaks in a plastic titled outer slipcase. The 32-page booklet reproduces the 'Family Photo Album' insert that came with original copies of the LP, there an intro from Smokey Robinson, an essay on the album called "A Revolution In Sound & Spirit: The Making Of What's Going On" by BEN EDMONDS of the Mojo Magazine, lyrics, notes on the Detroit Mix, Single Versions and after by HARRY WEINGER and comprehensive reissue credits. In between the text are outtake photos of Marvin playing football and training in the snow, taking a phone call and even getting a haircut (it's comprehensive!).

KEVIN REEVES (Disc 1) and SUHA GUR (Disc 2) - both long-time Universal Engineers - carried out the 24-bit remasters from originals tapes - and the sound is gorgeous - as warm and as lovely as you would have hoped for. The album broke the production line process at Motown and is heavily layered, deeply religious and spiritual in its feel and message - that all surfaces as the instruments, strings and voices surface in your speakers. The live set is not a great recording by any means but it is full of atmosphere and Marvin's band digging the new material. It feels like you're eavesdropping on musical history...

Chills race up my arms every time I hear the song "What's Going On" - possibly the most sublime opening tune on any album anywhere. It morphs into the double-whammy of "What's Happening Brother" and "Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky)" - linked by rhythm and social messages. Marvin goes into full on preacher mode with "Save The Children" and ends Side 1 with another own-two sucker punch - the beautifully uplifting "God Is Love" and "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (those strings and that sax solo). But the best is yet to come - Side 2. Marvin's worries for America and the World and his positive solutions for the same are name-checked in the sublime groove of "Right On" - a seven and half minute slice of magic that never fails to move me - forty-three years after the event.

The extras are a mixed bag as always. The liner notes explain that some oxidization on the tapes have produced drop outs and heavy amounts of hiss on the "Detroit Mix" of the album and indeed it's particularly evident on Side 2 - "Right On", "Wholy Holy" and "Inner City Blues..." But if I'm honest I can see why Marvin discarded this mix - there's just something missing. It could be that I'm so used to hearing the original that it makes an alternate hard to swallow. There's interesting vocal passages in "Inner City Blues" and a more prevalent rhythm section - but again it feels about as subtle as mallet.

Far more exciting is the live set. Recorded a year after the album's release - even his opening 13-minute "Sixties Medley" is done in a languid "What's Going On" groove - slow and mournful - with the band playing a blinder while he gets seriously Soulful on the piano (impressive playing). There then follows the whole of Side 2 - that finally sees the gig lift off into Donny Hathaway territory - the vibe and the crowd behind him and the funky groove. He even starts "Inner City Blues..." over again much to the crowd's clapping delight. Disc 2 ends with four winners - three single mixes and a Demo taste of the future. The B-side "Sad Tomorrows" is a version of "Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky)" while I've always loved the Single Mix of "God Is Love".

So there you have it - a masterpiece given a worthy reissue. Even the front cover photo gives me the wobblies - what an album.

"...Some of us feel the icy wind of poverty blowing in the air...heed the people's cries..." - Marvin sang on "Right On". Our Soul Hero may be gone but the truth soldiers on...