The Very Best of Marvin Gaye
The Very Best of Marvin Gaye is the title of two compilations (American and European) by Motown artist Marvin Gaye.
UK edition
The Very Best of Marvin Gaye | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | 1994 | |||
Recorded | 1962–82 | |||
Genre | R&B, soul, funk | |||
Label | Motown | |||
Producer | Marvin Gaye, Norman Whitfield, Ashford & Simpson, William "Mickey" Stevenson, Hal Davis | |||
Marvin Gaye chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Very Best of Marvin Gaye | ||||
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Released in 1994, The Very Best is the best-selling (and highest charting) Marvin Gaye album in the UK – selling over 250,000 copies, peaking at #3 in the UK charts, and receiving a million-plus sales certificate in 2001. The album featured an unreleased track ("Lucky, Lucky Me") that would also be released as a single.
Track listing
- "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
- "What's Going On"
- "Sexual Healing"
- "You Are Everything" (with Diana Ross)
- "It Takes Two" (with Kim Weston)
- "Let's Get It On"
- "Abraham, Martin & John"
- "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby"
- "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"
- "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"
- "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" (w/Diana Ross)
- "You're All I Need to Get By" (w/Tammi Terrell)
- "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (w/Tammi Terrell)
- "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)"
- "The Onion Song" (w/Tammi Terrell)
- "You Ain't Livin' Till You're Lovin'" (w/Tammi Terrell)
- "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By (w/Tammi Terrell)
- "That's the Way Love Is"
- "Got to Give It Up, Pt. I"
- "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You"
- "Can I Get a Witness"
- "Lucky, Lucky Me"
US edition
The Very Best of Marvin Gaye | |
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Greatest hits album by | |
Released | July 17, 2001 |
Recorded | 1962-82 |
Genre | R&B, pop, soul, psychedelic soul, funk |
Length | 127:00 |
Label | Motown, Universal Music |
Producer | Marvin Gaye, Berry Gordy, Larkin Arnold, Jeff Moskow, Harry Weinger, Fonce Mizell, Freddie Perren, Smokey Robinson, Valerie Simpson, William "Mickey" Stevenson, Art Stewart, Ed Townsend, Norman Whitfield, Leon Ware, Nickolas Ashford, Johnny Bristol, Henry Cosby, Lamont Dozier, Harvey Fuqua, Brian Holland |
Released in the US in 2001, the two disc edition is a chronological look back at American R&B/soul singer Marvin Gaye's three decade-plus music career throughout his tenure in Motown Records in the 1960s and 1970s concluding with his final big hit, 1982's "Sexual Healing" from his brief tenure with Columbia Records before the singer's death in 1984. Re-released later in 2005 under Universal Records' Gold series, it has since been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Artist Direct | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Robert Christgau | (A) |
Tom Hull | A[1] |
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Origin | Length |
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1. | "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" | Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson, George Gordy | That Stubborn Kinda Fellow, 1962 | 2:45 |
2. | "Hitch Hike" | Gaye, Stevenson, Clarence Paul | That Stubborn Kinda Fellow | 2:33 |
3. | "Pride and Joy" | Gaye, Stevenson, Norman Whitfield | That Stubborn Kinda Fellow | 2:08 |
4. | "Can I Get a Witness" | Holland–Dozier–Holland | Greatest Hits, 1964 | 2:50 |
5. | "You're a Wonderful One" | Holland–Dozier–Holland | How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You, 1965; released as a single the previous year | 2:43 |
6. | "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" | Holland–Dozier–Holland | How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You | 2:58 |
7. | "I'll Be Doggone" | Warren Moore, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Tarplin | Moods of Marvin Gaye, 1966 | 2:48 |
8. | "Ain't That Peculiar" | Moore, Robinson, Bobby Rogers, Tarplin | Moods of Marvin Gaye | 3:00 |
9. | "It Takes Two" (with Kim Weston) | Sylvia Moy, Stevenson | Take Two, 1966 | 2:59 |
10. | "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (with Tammi Terrell) | Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson | United, 1967 | 2:28 |
11. | "Your Precious Love" (with Tammi Terrell) | Ashford, Simpson | United | 3:05 |
12. | "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" (with Tammi Terrell) | Harvey Fuqua, Johnny Bristol, Vernon Bullock | United | 2:21 |
13. | "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (with Tammi Terrell) | Ashford, Simpson | You're All I Need, 1968 | 2:15 |
14. | "You're All I Need to Get By" (with Tammi Terrell) | Ashford, Simpson | You're All I Need | 2:51 |
15. | "You" | Jeffrey Bowen, Jack Coga, Ivy Jo Hunter | I Heard It Through the Grapevine, 1968 | 2:27 |
16. | "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" | Barrett Strong, Whitfield | I Heard It Through the Grapevine | 3:15 |
17. | "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" | Janie Bradford, Whitfield, Strong | M.P.G., 1969 | 2:57 |
18. | "That's the Way Love Is" | Strong, Whitfield | M.P.G.; also released on the following year's album of the same name | 3:44 |
19. | "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" | Civilla D. Martin, Charles H. Gabriel | In Loving Memory, 1968 | 3:48 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Origin | Length |
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1. | "What's Going On" | Al Cleveland, Gaye, Renaldo "Odie" Benson | What's Going On, 1971 | 3:52 |
2. | "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" | Gaye | What's Going On | 3:13 |
3. | "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" | Gaye, James Nyx Jr. | What's Going On | 5:28 |
4. | "You're the Man, Pts. I & II" | Gaye, Kenneth Stover | Non-album single, 1972 | 5:48 |
5. | "Where Are We Going?" | Gaye, Larry Mizell | Previously unreleased, 1994; originally recorded for Let's Get It On, 1973 | 3:57 |
6. | "Trouble Man" | Gaye | Trouble Man soundtrack, 1972 | 3:51 |
7. | "Let's Get It On" | Gaye, Ed Townsend | Let's Get It On | 4:53 |
8. | "Come Get to This" | Gaye | Let's Get It On | 2:42 |
9. | "Distant Lover" (Live at the Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California, January 4, 1974) | Gaye, Gwen Gordy, Sandra Greene | Marvin Gaye Live!, 1974; originally from Let's Get It On | 6:19 |
10. | "I Want You" (Edited version) | Leon Ware, Arthur "T-Boy" Ross | I Want You, 1976 | 3:57 |
11. | "Got to Give It Up" | Gaye | Live at the London Palladium, 1977 | 11:53 |
12. | "Anger" | Delta Ashley, Gaye, Townsend | Here, My Dear, 1978 | 4:03 |
13. | "Ego Tripping Out" | Gaye | 1994 re-release of In Our Lifetime (originally released in 1981) | 7:14 |
14. | "Praise" | Gaye | In Our Lifetime | 4:53 |
15. | "Sexual Healing" (Single version) | Odell Brown, Gaye, David Ritz | Midnight Love, 1982 | 3:59 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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France (SNEP)[2] | Gold | 100,000* |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[3] | Gold | 7,500^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[4] | 2× Platinum | 600,000![]() |
United States (RIAA)[5] | Gold | 500,000^ |
*sales figures based on certification alone |
References
- Hull, Tom (November 2013). "Recycled Goods (#114)". A Consumer Guide to the Trailing Edge. Tom Hull. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
- "French album certifications – Marvin Gaye – The Very Best of" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- "New Zealand album certifications – Marvin Gaye – The Very Best of". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- "British album certifications – Marvin Gaye – The Very Best of Marvin Gaye". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 2, 2020. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type The Very Best of Marvin Gaye in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
- "American album certifications – Marvin Gaye – The Very Best of Marvin Gaye". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved March 3, 2020. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.
- The Very Best of Marvin Gaye at AllMusic. Retrieved 21:04, 19 August 2017 (UTC).