On the heels of his erotic masterwork, I Want You, Marvin Gaye took the stage at the Edenhalle Concert Hall in Amsterdam for a concert featuring classics from his career to date. Marvin Gaye – Greatest Hits Live In ’76 captures the hour-long event in its entirety.
While not known as a prolific (or even the most eager) concert performer, Gaye certainly had the goods – the songs, the talent, the charisma – to put on an impressive show when the opportunity arose. A meticulous vocalist in the studio as well as on the stage, he understood the precise distance to hold a microphone away from his mouth to produce a desired tone or volume. Such expertise is evident in this performance.
Starting off with “All The Way Round” and “Since I Had You,” both from I Want You, Gaye exudes a sexual magnetism that would only grow more assured with each passing song. As satisfying as these songs sound, though, they underscore the exclusion of far superior songs from the same album, most notably the title track and the sweltering groove of “After The Dance”.
Saturated in soul, a simmering rendition of “Come Get To This” plunges into “Let’s Get It On,” an unadulterated throwdown with Gaye reaching his arms above his head, moaning in ravenous desire.
A medley of sixties hits highlights how much Marvin Gaye genuinely appreciated his audience. By this point in his career, he’d already broken from the Motown mold in which songs were virtually interchangeable among the record label’s roster. He simply didn’t need to perform many of these songs anymore, yet he understood the public’s wish to hear them. Highlights of this portion include “You’re A Wonderful One,” “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” and “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You),” which serves as Gaye’s gesture of thankfulness to his fans.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
It was a great performance I agree Donald, but I thought the sound was pretty muddy throughout and could have benefitted from the 5.1 treatment. Great review though.
-Glen
2 - Donald Gibson
I have a couple Marvin Gaye live albums (on CD) and most of them sound fairly poor (as far as sound quality). I've never been able to figure out if the reasons stemmed from poor recordings or bad remastering.
Could a 5.1 treatment have actually improved this particular DVD if it was initially recorded with sub-par equipment?
Thanks for the comment and the compliment,
-Donald