"Since I Had You" is a

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 ...

-styled soul song recorded by 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 ...

for the '' I Want You'' album. The song was co-written by Gaye and the album's producer,

Leon Ware Leon Ware (February 16, 1940 – February 23, 2017) was an American songwriter, producer, composer, and singer. Besides a solo career as a performer, Ware was best known for producing hits for other artists including Michael Jackson, Quincy ...

Background

The song was initially conceived by Ware and lyricist

Pam Sawyer Pamela Joan Sawyer (born 1938) is a British songwriter/lyricist, who started writing songs in the mid-1960s and whose credits as a co-writer at Motown included " Love Child", " If I Were Your Woman", "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left ...

with the title, "Long Time No See". One day, outside Marvin's Room, Gaye told Ware that he liked the melody, but he wanted to rewrite the lyrics. Ware approved Gaye's suggestion and they immediately went back in the studio. Sawyer arrived when Gaye was halfway through the song and she was not happy with the new lyrics. Sawyer then pulled Ware to the side of the studio and they started to argue about the lyric change. Ware pointed out that it would be hard to convince Gaye to sing the original lyrics because according to Ware, Gaye had a known reputation of leaving the studio if anyone criticized him in the process of recording. Ware then told her, “You’ll have to tell Marvin yourself.” Sawyer left afterward. As time goes by, Ware and Sawyer reconciled and they came to an understanding.

Overview

Similarly to the song " All the Way Round", "Since I Had You" tells the story of a reunion between the singer and a reputed lover, this time at a dance floor and convincing the woman despite the fact their relationship has cooled into a friendship to make love again. Like Come Live with Me Angel" and " Feel All My Love Inside" before, the song includes sexual moans. "Since I Had You" is one of the few songs from the ''I Want You'' album that Gaye had performed live. Others include, the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may al ...

, " After the Dance", and "All The Way Around".

Personnel

*All vocals and keyboards by Marvin Gaye *All other instrumentation by assorted musicians *Produced and written by Leon Ware and Marvin Gaye

References

{{Reflist 1976 songs Marvin Gaye songs Songs written by Marvin Gaye Songs written by Leon Ware Song recordings produced by Marvin Gaye Soul ballads 1970s ballads