''When I'm Alone I Cry'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

, released in 1964. It was one of several attempts by the singer and his record company,

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

, to make his name as a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

vocalist.

Recording

The album includes ten pop and jazz

standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...

; at Gaye's request, two of the songs were taken from

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

's album '' Lady in Satin''. The

backing track A backing track is an audio recording on audiotape, CD or a digital recording medium or a MIDI recording of synthesized instruments, sometimes of purely rhythmic accompaniment, often of a rhythm section or other accompaniment parts that live m ...

s were recorded by producer Clarence Paul in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, using arrangers

Jerome Richardson Jerome Richardson (December 25, 1920 – June 23, 2000) was an American jazz musician and woodwind player. He is cited as playing one of the earliest jazz flute recordings with his work on the 1949 Quincy Jones arranged song "Kingfish". Caree ...

Melba Liston Melba Doretta Liston (January 13, 1926 – April 23, 1999) was an American jazz trombonist, arranger, and composer. Other than those playing in all-female bands, she was the first woman trombonist to play in big bands during the 1940s and 1960s, ...

, and Ernie Wilkins. Gaye

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...

bed the vocal tracks after returning to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

from touring.

Critical reception

Critic

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...

describes the album as "competently done, but... supper-club fare, in which Gaye comes off as a sub-

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

rather than his own man." Gaye's biographer David Ritz says: "His ballad style remained self-conscious and restrained... The results were flat, though on the up-tempo numbers he swung effortlessly, demonstrating his natural feel for jazz." After ''When I'm Alone I Cry'' was unsuccessful upon its release, Gaye finally gave way to pressure to record more R&B and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

material. By the end of the decade, he had become one of the best-selling and most revered soul artists of his generation.

Track listing

Side one

# " You've Changed" ( Bill Carey, Carl Fischer) – 3:33 # "I Was Telling Her About You" ( Morris Charlap,

Don George Don R. George (August 27, 1909 – 1987) was an American lyricist of popular music. His songs include " The Yellow Rose of Texas" " I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues" (1937), " I'm Beginning to See the Light" (1944) and " Everything but You" (194 ...

) – 4:48 # " I Wonder" ( Cecil Gant, Raymond Leaven) – 3:46 # " I'll Be Around" ( Alec Wilder, William Engvick) – 4:09 # " Because of You" ( Arthur Hammerstein, Dudley Wilkinson) – 3:34

Side two

# " I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)" ( Fred E. Ahlert,

Roy Turk Roy Kenneth Turk (September 20, 1892 – November 30, 1934) was an American songwriter and lyricist, who frequently collaborated with composer Fred E. Ahlert, with whom he wrote their popular 1929 song "Mean to Me (1929 song), Mean to Me", w ...

) – 2:46 # "

I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" is a song from the 1956 in music, 1956 musical theatre, musical ''My Fair Lady'', with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. It was originally performed by Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Hig ...

" ( Alan Jay Lerner,

Frederick Loewe Frederick Loewe ( ; born Friedrich "Fritz" Löwe, ; June 10, 1901 – February 14, 1988

) – 3:32 # "

When Your Lover Has Gone "When Your Lover Has Gone" is a 1931 composition by Einar Aaron Swan which, after being featured in the James Cagney film '' Blonde Crazy'' that same year, has become a jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an importa ...

" (

Einar Aaron Swan Einar Aaron Swan (born Einar (Eino) William Swan; March 20, 1903 – August 8, 1940) was an American musician, arranger and composer. He is known for writing songs including " When Your Lover Has Gone" and " In the Middle of a Dream". Early life S ...

) – 4:40 # "When I'm Alone I Cry" ( Avery Vandenberg, Morris Broadnax, Fredericka Foreman) – 2:47 # "If My Heart Could Sing" (Avery Vandenberg, Morris Broadnax) – 3:20

References

{{Authority control 1964 albums Marvin Gaye albums Albums produced by Clarence Paul Albums produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson Tamla Records albums Vocal jazz albums Jazz albums by American artists Albums arranged by Ernie Wilkins Albums conducted by Ernie Wilkins Albums arranged by Melba Liston