Black History Month Music: Marvin Gaye

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Howdy! While the temperatures are yo-yoing a little, at least the sn*w is melted! The parking lot piles and places in perpetual shade are about all that’s left. Makes me wanna sing! And here’s someone you don’t sing along with, because you just wanna hear his beautiful voice! Marvin Gaye My late, lamented comedian friend Tim Wilson put it perfectly in describing WHY Marvin Gaye was the greatest soul singer in history: “He’s singing a song about fish with mercury in their system [“Mercy Mercy Me”] and women are taking their clothes off as fast as they can to the song!” He was right: that was one sweeeeeeet voice. Whether he was lamenting the problems of society (“What’s Goin’ On”) or celebrating the joys of love (“You’re a Wonderful One”) or sex (“Let’s Get It On”), that voice was pure butter. Singing high (“Got to Give It Up”) or low or anywhere in between, Marvin Gaye was what every soul singer wanted to be. When the Rob Reiner news broke in late 2025 the first thing I thought of was Marvin Gaye. Most of you know that Gaye was shot to death by his father the day before Marvin’s 45th birthday. Much later, Gaye’s sister and son both stated that Marvin asked his father to shoot him, and that Marvin had jumped from a moving car in a suicide attempt four days before his death. Gaye had an unpleasant childhood, where his father reportedly took almost sadistic pleasure in beating Marvin with a belt for the stupidest infraction. It was also reported that father and son had a very nasty, violent relationship where disagreements would escalate into physical altercations. Whatever the case, the fact remains that we lost a great legend much too soon. Marvin Gaye Born Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr., April 2, 1939, Washington, DC Died April 1, 1984, Los Angeles, California (shot) (age 44) HALS OF FAME: Rock and Roll, 1987; Songwriters, 2016; National Rhythm & Blues, 2014; NAACP, 1988 One of my favorite Marvin Gaye songs, “Stubborn Kind of Fellow”: