''Here, My Dear'' is the fifteenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

music artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

, released as a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

on December 15, 1978, on Motown-subsidiary label

Tamla Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

allmusic - Here, My Dear overview AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

/ref> Recording sessions for the album took place between 1977 and 1978 at Gaye's personal studios, Marvin Gaye Studios, in

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. The album was notable for its subject matter focusing largely on Gaye's acrimonious divorce from his first wife,

Anna Gordy Gaye Anna Ruby Gaye (née Gordy; January 28, 1922 – January 31, 2014) was an American businesswoman, composer and songwriter. An elder sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy, she became a record executive in the mid-to-late 1950s distributing records ...

. A commercial and critical failure upon its release, it was later hailed by music critics, in the years following Gaye's

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

, as one of Gaye's best albums. "It's taken me a while," Anna admitted in later years, "but I've come to appreciate every form of Marvin's music."

Background

Marvin Gaye was going through a personal crisis in the summer of 1976. In November 1975, Gaye's estranged first wife,

, sued Gaye for divorce, claiming irreconcilable differences, and sought

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...

for their adopted son, Marvin Gaye III. Gaye later argued his spending habits were causing him to fall behind on payments. In September 1976, a warrant was issued for Gaye's arrest after he failed to pay

alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial suppo ...

; this made him feel vulnerable during the recording sessions, causing the singer to hide from the public for several days. Several weeks later, Gaye accepted an offer to do a tour of Europe. Between October and December 1976, Gaye performed in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Germany. Following his return, he recorded "Got to Give It Up" and released it on his album, ''

Live at the London Palladium ''Live at the London Palladium'' is a live double album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released March 15, 1977, on Tamla Records. Recording sessions took place live at several concerts at the London Palladium in London, England, in October 1976, ...

''. The song became an international hit, reaching number one on the ''

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. After months of delays, in March 1977, the singer's attorney, Curtis Shaw, wanted to end divorce proceedings and convinced Gaye to give up half of the percentage of album royalties he would earn from his next Motown album to Anna. The Gayes' divorce was finalized in June.

Recording

When Gaye was set to start production on the record, he said he figured he would just do a "quickie record - nothing heavy, nothing even good", stating, "Why should I break my neck when Anna was going to wind up with the money anyway?" But as Gaye lived with the notion of doing an album for his soon-to-be ex-wife, the more it fascinated him, stating he felt he "owed the public my best effort."''Here My Dear'' liner notes (1994) Gaye stated he did the record "out of deep passion", noting he "sang and sang until I drained myself of everything I'd lived through." Shortly after the deal was made, Gaye entered his recording studio on March 24, 1977, to record the album with only engineer

Art Stewart Arthur Stewart (February 6, 1927 – November 11, 2021) was an American baseball front-office executive and scout. He began his Major League Baseball (MLB) scouting career with the New York Yankees in 1953. He later joined the Kansas City Roya ...

by his side. Gaye, who usually did not write his lyrics, composed on the spot, mumbling over prerecorded tracks or to his own accompaniment. The mumblings were "embryonic melodies", which eventually evolved into lyrics after three or four takes. Gaye ended up playing all the keyboard parts of the album, saying later, "I didn't plan it that way. It just turned out to be a hands-on project."

Music

According to ''

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'' journalist Mike Joseph, ''Here, My Dear''s music was "largely midtempo funk, with elements of traditional soul, gospel, and doo-wop mixed together with a slight hint of disco". The title track opens the album, and in the album's liner notes David Ritz describes Gaye's tone in the song as "self-serving, self-justifying ndself-pitying". "I Met a Little Girl" includes

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

drenched harmonies with its lyrics and music producing a "thick mixture" of sincerity and sarcasm. Considered the central melodic motif of the album, "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You" abandoned traditional song structure with a discursive mode, without a chorus, with its lyrics expressing "different feelings - tenderness, fear, anger, regret". Described as "straight ahead and beguiling" compared to all the other songs on the album, "Anger" is considered as "part sermon and part self-retribution", describing his movement from catharsis to escape. "Is That Enough?" was recorded shortly after Gaye returned from a day in divorce court, humming the song's melody and some lyrics. Much like some other songs, it's told in a storyteller's point of view. "Everybody Needs Love" is described as an "attempt to empathy". "Time to Get It Together" includes a confessional that was influenced by Stevie Wonder's song, "As". "Anna's Song" is described as "the very heart" of the album. "A Funky Space Reincarnation" alluded to ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' as well as the music of George Clinton's

Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive fu ...

. "You Can Leave, But It's Going to Cost You" is produced under an assertive tone describing an argument between Marvin and his wife over his girlfriend, Janis. The final track, "Falling in Love Again", is dedicated to Janis, in which Gaye concluded on a "regenerative note". An

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

reviewer later wrote of the music:

Artwork

The front cover featured a painting of Gaye dressed in a toga in a neo-Roman setting, created by artist Michael Bryan, who stated Gaye described how he wanted to be depicted on the cover. The back cover features a temple with the word "matrimony" collapsing around a mock-Rodin sculpture of a romantic couple. The fold-out illustration inside the original double album shows a man's hand reaching across to the hand of a woman's, about to give her a record. The hands are extended on a Monopoly board—with the legend JUDGMENT written on it. On the man's side are tape recorders and a grand piano; on the woman's are a house, car and ring. The scales of justice sit above the game while, from arched windows, curious observers watch. David Ritz described the juxtaposition of images reflected Gaye's turbulent state of mind at the time. Design and Art Direction by Kosh and illustration by Mike Bryan.

Release and reception

When ''Here, My Dear'' was released in the end of 1978, it was panned by consumers and critics alike, who called the album "bizarre" and "un-commercial". The album's lack of success angered Gaye to the point that he refused to promote it any further. Motown stopped promoting ''Here, My Dear'' in early 1979, by which point Gaye had gone into self-imposed exile. Around the same time, Gaye's relationship with his second wife, Janis, had also fallen apart and the couple separated sometime in 1979. Upon hearing the album, a visibly upset Anna Gordy considered suing Gaye for invasion of privacy but, according to ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' magazine, later reconsidered that decision. The album peaked at number four R&B and number 26 pop, becoming Gaye's lowest-charting studio album of the 1970s. Initial response to the album was mixed, as most critics described it as weird. However, Gaye's lyrical honesty over the laid back disco grooves of ''Here, My Dear'' was praised by many.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

, of ''

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'', wrote of the album:

Retrospect

The album was re-evaluated in the years following its original release, and is today seen as a landmark in Gaye's career. In 1994, the album was re-released due to increased attention on Gaye's life to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the singer's untimely death, and reached number-one on ''Billboards R&B catalog chart. ''Here, My Dear'' was voted one of the greatest albums in music history by ''

Mojo Magazine ''Mojo'' is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom, initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer. Following the success of the magazine '' Q'', publishers Emap were looking for a title that would cater for the bur ...

'' (1995). The album has appeared on all three editions of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indust ...

list, at #462 in 2003, #456 in 2012, and #493 in 2020. On February 15, 2008,

Hip-O Select Hip-O Records is a record label that specializes in reissues and compilations. It is part of Universal Music Group. Established in 1996, the label has distributed releases from 'out of style' genres such as disco and early hip-hop music as wel ...

reissued ''Here, My Dear'' as a two-disc ''Expanded Edition'' including a song cut from the original album, "Ain't It Funny How Things Turn Around", which was remixed by

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

legend

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

. Disc two featured remastered and alternate versions of the songs from the album remixed by contemporary

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producers such as

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Questlove Ahmir Khalib Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ), is an American musician, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thou ...

, Prince Paul,

DJ Smash Andrey Leonidovich Shirman (russian: Андрей Леонидович Ширман, link=no; born 23 May 1982), better known by his stage name DJ Smash, is a Russian DJ in house music and electronic music, and also a music producer. As of 2022, ...

Mocean Worker Mocean Worker (pronounced "motion worker") is the recording alias of jazz musician and producer Adam Dorn. Biography Philadelphia native Adam Dorn is the son of renowned jazz and R'n'B producer Joel Dorn. He grew up around the jazz and R&B disc ...

, and others. "It doesn't quite get you the first time,"

Jay Kay Jay Kay (born Jason Luís Cheetham; 30 December 1969) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of the acid jazz and funk band Jamiroquai, which was formed in 1992. Early life Jay Kay was bo ...

told '' Q''. "And a lot of the songs are quite similarly paced. It's almost like the same song being subtly changed ten different ways. A lot of it, lyrically, is about the break-up of his relationship. There's a track called 'Anger', which is lyrically really brilliant; and there's a track called 'Time To Get It Together' using, I think, a

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

, and it's just dreamy and lovely. He was a deep man at the time, but I think the

charlie Charlie may refer to: Characters * "Charlie," the head of the Townsend Agency', from the ''Charlie's Angels'' franchise * Charlie, a character on signs for the CharlieCard, a smart card issued by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority * ...

was eating him up. It's all about struggling and fighting, and you can feel it."'' Q'', December 1999

Track listing

All songs written by Marvin Gaye, except where noted. ;Side one #"

Here, My Dear ''Here, My Dear'' is the fifteenth studio album by music artist Marvin Gaye, released as a double album on December 15, 1978, on Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. allmusic - Here, My Dear overview/ref> Recording sessions for the album took ...

" – 2:48 #" I Met a Little Girl" – 4:58 #"

When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You" is a 1978 song recorded by singer Marvin Gaye. Taken from his ''Here, My Dear'' album, it was written following his 1976 divorce when he was ordered to give half the takings of his next alb ...

" – 6:11 #"Anger" (Delta Ashby, Gaye,

Ed Townsend Edward Benjamin 'Ed' Townsend (April 16, 1929 – August 13, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, producer and attorney. He performed and composed "For Your Love", a rhythm and blues doo wop classic, and co-wrote "Let's Get It On" with Marvi ...

) – 3:58 ;Side two #

"Is That Enough" – 7:42 #" Everybody Needs Love" (Ed Townsend, Gaye) – 5:41 #" Time to Get It Together" – 3:51 ;Side three #

" Sparrow" (Ed Townsend, Gaye) – 6:06 #" Anna's Song" – 5:49 #"When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You" (

Instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

) – 5:59 ;Side four #

" A Funky Space Reincarnation" – 8:12 #"You Can Leave, But It's Going to Cost You" – 5:27 #" Falling in Love Again" – 4:36 #"When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You (

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repea ...

)" – 0:40

2007 expanded edition

Bonus material for the 2007 Hip-O Select Expanded Edition, with first disc of the original album with bonus tracks and second disc of recordings from the sessions for ''Here, My Dear''. ;Disc one (bonus track) #

"Ain't It Funny (How Things Turn Around)" ''alternate

mix Mix, mixes or mixing may refer to: Persons & places * Mix (surname) ** Tom Mix (1880-1940), American film star * nickname of Mix Diskerud (born Mikkel, 1990), Norwegian-American soccer player * Mix camp, an informal settlement in Namibia * Mix ...

'' – 4:04 #*Mix produced by

;Disc two (''Hear, My Dear'' Sessions 1976–78) #"Here, My Dear" ''alternate mix'' – 2:50 #*Mix produced and engineered by Mocean Walker #"I Met a Little Girl" ''alternate version'' – 5:04 #*Mix produced by Easy Mo Bee #"When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You" ''alternate version'' – 6:57 #*Mix produced by Leon Ware and Gerry "The Gov" Brown #"Anger" ''alternate extended mix'' – 5:53 #*Mix produced by Marcus Miller #"Is That Enough?" (Instrumental) ''alternate version'' – 4:06 #*Mix produced by Montez Payton #"Everybody Needs Love" ''alternate version'' – 6:09 #*Mix produced and engineered by Prince Paul #

"Time to Get It Together" ''alternate extended mix'' – 6:20 #*Remix by Wayne "DJ Smash" Hunter #"Sparrow" ''alternate version'' – 6:08 #*Mixed and engineered by the Randy Watson Experience #"Anna's Song" (Instrumental) ''alternate version'' – 6:08 #*Mix produced and engineered by John Rhone from The Whole 9 #"A Funky Space Reincarnation" ''alternate extended mix'' – 9:10 #*Mix produced by John Morales and Paul Simpson #"You Can Leave, But It's Going to Cost You" ''alternate extended mix'' – 6:43 #*Mix produced and engineered by John Rhone from The Whole 9 #"Falling in Love Again" ''alternate version'' – 6:26 #*ReMix produced by SALAAMREMI.COM #"A Funky Space Reincarnation" (Instrumental) (Original 12-Inch) – 8:19

Chart history

Album

Singles

Personnel

*Marvin Gaye – vocals, piano,

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Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

bass, synth and horns; tape box percussion, drums Additional musicians *Charles Owens – tenor saxophone *Wali Ali – guitar *

Gordon Banks Gordon Banks (30 December 1937 – 12 February 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he made 679 appearances during a 20-year professional caree ...

– guitar *Spencer Bean – guitar ("Time to Get It Together") *Cal Green – guitar ("Sparrow") *Frank Blair – bass *Eric Ward – bass ("Sparrow") *Elmira Collins – percussion *

Ernie Fields, Jr. Ernie Fields Jr. is a baritone saxophonist and session musician. Son of notable musician Ernie Fields, he has worked with blues, soul and funk artists including B. B. King, Bobby Bland, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Rick James, and Marvin G ...

– alto saxophone *Fernando Harkless – tenor saxophone ("When Did You Stop Loving Me...", "Time to Get It Together") *Gary Jones – congas *

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– trumpet *Bugsy Wilcox – drums *Melvin Webb – drums, congas, cowbell ("When Did You Stop Loving Me...", "Time to Get It Together") *

Eddie "Bongo" Brown Eddie "Bongo" Brown (September 13, 1932 – December 28, 1984) was an American musician born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. Brown played congas, Bongo drum, bongos, the gourd and claves for Motown Records' in-house ...

– congas, bongos ("A Funky Space") *

Jack Ashford Jack Ashford (born May 18, 1934), known to his friends as Jashford, is an American musician widely known as the percussionist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the 1960s and early 1970s. Ashford is most famous for playing the ...

– percussion ("Ain't It Funny") *

Odell Brown Odell Elliott Brown Jr. (February 2, 1940 – May 3, 2011) was an American jazz organist. He was active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, playing soul jazz and jazz funk with his backing band as Odell Brown & the Organ-Izers. Biography Brown was ...

– RMI *Daniel LeMelle – saxophone ("A Funky Space" 12 inch instrumental overdubs) *Mike McGloiry – guitar ("A Funky Space" 12 inch instrumental overdubs) *David Stewart – handclaps (on "A Funky Space") *Richard "Do Dirty" Bethune – handclaps (on "A Funky Space") *Art Stewart – handclaps (on "A Funky Space") Technical *Marvin Gaye – producer, arranger *Art Stewart – engineer, mixing *Fred Ross – engineer *Tony Houston – engineer *Bill Ravencraft – engineer *Jack Andrews – mastering *Curtis M. Shaw – liner notes *

David Ritz David Ritz (born December 2, 1943 in New York City) is an American author. He has written novels, biographies, magazine articles, and over a hundred liner notes for artists such as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Nat King Cole. He has coauthor ...

– liner notes (reissue) *Michael Bryant – cover illustrations * Kosh – design, art direction "Special thanks to all the musicians who are too numerous to mention but who are all superstars!"

Notes

References

External links

*
Anger
' via

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{{Authority control 1978 albums Marvin Gaye albums Albums produced by Marvin Gaye Concept albums Works about divorce Tamla Records albums