Genre: soul
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title: Diana & Marvin
Company: Motown
Catalog: M6-803 S1
Year: 1973
Country/State: Washington, D.C.
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: original gatefold sleeve
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5411
Price: $15.00
In the wake of Tammi Terrell's death, Marvin Gaye swore he would not undertake further duets. That pledge came to an end in 1971 when Berry Gordy Jr. convinced a reluctant Gaye to undertake a collaboration with Diana Ross.
As you might expect from a pair of rather self engaged superstars, the recording sessions for "Diana & Marvin" were apparently rather problematic. Original plans called for the pair to work with Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. The recording sessions were reportedly completed, but only one of the resulting tracks made the final release - 'Just Say, Just Say'. Like many Motown artists, Gaye viewed Gordy's relationship with Ross with some disdain; feeling his career had been slighted by Gordy's efforts to turn Ross into a superstar. Something as simple as artist billing order required hours of negotiation with Gordy reported promising Gaye he'd get first billing - you can see the end result. Already heavily into drugs, Gaye showed up stoned and insisted on smoking dope throughout the recording sessions. Pregnant with her second child, Diana Ross wasn't too thrilled with the behavior and asked Gordy to intervene. Gordy's mediation efforts weren't all that successful and in the end relations between the two artists quickly turned so bad that most of the tracks were recorded separately and then pasted together by the producers. The process slowed down the recording process so that sessions weren't completed until late 1972. Musically a couple of things seemed to combine to reduce the album's impact. Whatever magical chemistry hoped for was largely absent between the two stars. Compare something like 'Love Twins' to Gaye's work with Terrell. There's a world of difference in the performances. Sure there were a couple of exceptions. 'My Mistake (Was To Love You)' and 'You Are Everything' were both Motown classics; the former was easily the album's stand out track, while the latter actually saw a little bit of heat between the two stars. Even though he was stoned throughout the sessions, on tracks like 'Don't Knock My Love', 'I'm Falling In Love with You' and 'Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)' Gaye came off as the stronger performer - though in her defense Ross may have been more concerned about health issues. The other surprise was how mediocre much of the material was. While not a prolific writer, the album lacked a single Gaye original and about half of the tracks were covers including several pieces that seemed more suited to Ross' MOR stylings ('Pledging My Love'). Largely slammed by critics when released, in spite of all the baggage the album was actually pretty good. While the pairing lacked the magic of Gaye's earlier work with Kim Weston, or Tammi Terrell, their voices actually blended together surprisingly well ('Just Say, Just Say') and they were professional enough to turn in a set that was fun to hear. Imagine what they could have done had they liked one another , or had the original Ashford and Simpson sessions been completed ! Commercially the album did alright, peaking at # 26. Motown tapped the album for a series of three singles:
- 1972's 'My Mistake (Was to Love You), b/w 'Include Me In Your Life' (Motown catalog number M 1269F)
- 1973's 'You're a Special Part of Me' b/w 'I'm Falling In Love with You' (Motown catalog number M 1280F)
- 1973's 'Don't Knock My Love b/w 'Just Say, Just Say' (Motown catalog number M 1296F)
"Diana
& Marvin" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) You Are Everything (Thom Bell - Linda Creed) - 3:10
2.) Love Twins (Marilyn McLeod - Mel Bolton) - 3:28
3.) Don't Knock My Love (Wilson Picket - Brad Shaprio) - 2:20
4.) You're a Special Part of Me (Gregory Wright - Harold Johnson - Andrew Porter) - 3:35
5.) Pledging My Love (Don D. Robey - Fats Washington) - 3:34
(side
2)
1.) Just Say, Just Say (Nicholas Ashford - Valerie Simpson)
- 4:10
2.) Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart) (Thom Bell - Linda Creed) - 2:53
3.) I'm Falling In Love with You (Margaret Gordy) - 2:42
4.) My Mistake (Was To Love You) (Pam Sawyer - Gloria Jones) - 2:53
5.) Include Me In Your Life (Marilyn McLeod - Mel Bolton) - 3:04
Motown reissued the album in 2001. Remastered, the album included three previously unreleased songs, a track from a tribute LP 'I'll Keep My Light In My Window', and a track from a quickly forgotten move "Lost Horizons":
- Alone
- The Things I Will Not Miss
- Lost Horizons
- I've Come To Love You So Much
- I'll Keep My Light In My Window