"Just to Keep You Satisfied" is a song by

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer

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 ...

. The song was the

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to Marvin's modest 1974 hit, "

You Sure Love to Ball "You Sure Love to Ball" is a song released by American recording artist Marvin Gaye. Released on January 2, 1974, it was the third and final single to be released from Gaye's album, ''Let's Get It On''. Song overview Unlike most of the material o ...

" and was the eighth and final song issued on the singer's 1973 album, ''

Let's Get It On ''Let's Get It On'' is the thirteenth studio album by American soul singer, songwriter, and producer Marvin Gaye. It was released on August 28, 1973, by the Motown subsidiary label Tamla Records on LP. Recording sessions for the album took pla ...

''.

Background

The song's progress started in 1969 when Marvin began writing his own songs and was testing the songs out on other artists, most notably second-tier acts signed to Motown including the Originals and the Monitors. The latter group recorded an early version of the song, which was originally a love

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

and featured future

Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top 1 ...

member

Richard Street Richard Allen Street (October 5, 1942 – February 27, 2013) was an American soul and R&B singer, most notable as a member of Motown vocal group The Temptations from 1971 to 1993. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Street was the first memb ...

performing the lead vocals. The following year, Gaye used the original music for the Monitors version for his religious composition, " God is Love". In 1970, Marvin re-recorded the song with a different musical background and different lyrics for the Originals, who were having hits with Gaye's compositions, "

Baby I'm for Real "Baby, I'm for Real" is a soul ballad written by Marvin Gaye and Anna Gordy Gaye, produced by Marvin and recorded and released by American Motown vocal group The Originals for the Soul label issued in 1969. History The Originals version By t ...

" and " The Bells", with Hank Dixon taking most of the leads. Gaye can be obviously heard in this version first singing "oh I love you girl/oh I love my woman" and also accompanied them in the background with the refrain, "I'll keep you satisfied, satisfied" while the other Originals improvised vocals while their original background vocals of "ooh baby" were repeated. This song was produced in a proto-

quiet storm Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album ''A Quiet Storm''. The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Lin ...

format and included a false fade. Both versions by the Monitors and the Originals weren't released as singles. In 1973, while working on his album, ''

'', Gaye was going through a public separation with his wife,

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

, who was the co-writer of the original "Satisfied". Marvin had based most of the songs on ''Let's Get It On'', on sexual and romantic relationships. For "Satisfied", he decided to re-write "Satisfied" to contrast most of the songs' subject matter in response to his collapse in his relationship with Anna. He edited out the percussion from the Originals recording and also kept just their background vocals from the 1970 version, and overdubbed mixes with his own vocals. In an alternate version, the Originals vocals are edited completely out of the song and replaced with background vocals by Gaye. The song was featured at the end of ''Let's Get It On'' and concluded with Gaye's spoken vocals in which he says in a soft tone, "oh well, all we can do is we can both try to be happy." Like most of Gaye's ballads during this period, the song reflected the singer's

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 ...

roots. The song was covered by

Kenny Lattimore Kenny Lattimore (born April 10, 1970) is an American R&B singer. Early life Lattimore first developed his interest for music in the high school band program at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland. He often acknowledges Dr ...

on the Gaye tribute album, ''Marvin Is 60'', and was also covered by the likes of

Randy Crawford Veronica "Randy" Crawford (born February 18, 1952) is an American jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as a solo artist. However, she has ap ...

Howard Hewett Howard Hewett Jr. (born October 1, 1955) is an American singer–songwriter. Hewett rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the group Shalamar. In 1985, he left the group to pursue his solo career, but he later returned to the group in 2001. He sig ...

, Nancy Wilson, and longtime Marvin Gaye fan

Lisa Stansfield Lisa Jane Stansfield (born 11 April 1966) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition ''Search for a Star''. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first ...

. The original version was played during the movie '' Baby Boy'' and was sampled on

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

's single "When We", from her '' Love & Life'' album.

Personnel

Monitors version

*Lead vocals by

*Background vocals by Sandra Fagin, John "Maurice" Fagin and Warren Harris *Instrumentation by

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

and the

Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music d ...

Originals version

*Lead vocals by Hank Dixon,

Freddie Gorman Freddie Gorman (born Frederick Cortez Gorman, April 11, 1939 – June 13, 2006) was an American musician and record producer, most famous as a singer, songwriter for the Motown label in the late 1960s and mid 1970s. He was a native of Detroit ...

, Walter Gaines *Background vocals by Freddie Gorman, Walter Gaines, Hank Dixon,

C.P. Spencer C. P. Spencer (born Crathman Plato Spencer, January 13, 1938 – October 20, 2004) was an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a native of Detroit, Michigan. Best ...

and Marvin Gaye *Instrumentation by the Funk Brothers and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Marvin Gaye version one

* Lead vocals by Marvin Gaye * Background vocals by Marvin Gaye and The Originals (Freddie Gorman, Walter Gaines, Hank Dixon, C.P. Spencer) * Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Marvin Gaye alternate version

*Lead and background vocals by Marvin Gaye *Instrumentation by the Funk Brothers and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra {{DEFAULTSORT:Just To Keep You Satisfied 1969 songs 1970 songs 1973 songs Nancy Wilson (jazz singer) songs Marvin Gaye songs Songs written by Marvin Gaye Songs written by Elgie Stover Songs written by Anna Gordy Gaye Song recordings produced by Marvin Gaye