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| Romantically Yours | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1985 | |||
| Genre | R&B, soul, vocal jazz | |||
| Length | 33:22 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Marvin Gaye, Harvey Fuqua | |||
| Marvin Gaye chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Romantically Yours | ||||
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Romantically Yours is the second posthumous release by American recording artist Marvin Gaye, released by Columbia Records in 1985.
When Marvin Gaye was killed in April 1984, he still had two albums left to complete on his contract with Columbia Records. In May 1985, Columbia issued the album, Dream of a Lifetime , which performed modestly on the chart. A little over six months later, Columbia assembled tracks from Gaye's Motown period, mostly of traditional pop and vocal jazz tunes that Gaye had recorded in the 1960s and 1970s and named it "Romantically Yours".
Starting in 1968, Gaye had begun working on a pop vocal album with producer and arranger Bobby Scott. Among the songs they recorded were "Why Did I Choose You", "More", "Maria", "Fly Me To The Moon" and "I Won't Cry Anymore". Midway through recording, Gaye, depressed over personal issues and upset over his career, stopped recording sessions with Scott and wouldn't revisit the work with Scott for over a decade.
During the 1970s, Gaye revisited the studio and composed songs over a jazz setting, including "Just Like", "Walkin' in the Rain" and "Stranger in My Life". The song "I Live For You" was originally recorded during sessions for Let's Get It On . Having revisited his Scott productions in the late 1970s, Gaye recorded several different versions of the song "The Shadow of Your Smile". In the version featured on Romantically Yours, Gaye sings in both tenor and falsetto. In addition to these songs, a song composed in the early 1960s by Eddie Holland and Norman Whitfield, "Happy Go Lucky", was also included.
Most of the songs were reworked by Harvey Fuqua, who took credit for producing the album. The album was released in November 1985, intended for Gaye's fans, rather than for commercial assumption, which was the case of In Our Lifetime. With the release of Romantically Yours, Columbia completed Gaye's contract. In 1997, several of the songs featured in a different sound culled from the 1979 sessions of an album titled The Ballads, were included in the Motown compilation, Vulnerable .
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | C+ [2] |
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a single in September 1967. It went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and shortly became the biggest selling Motown single up to that time.
Norman Jesse Whitfield was an American songwriter and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. He has been credited as one of the creators of the Motown Sound and of the late-1960s subgenre of psychedelic soul.
Barrett Strong Jr. was an American singer and songwriter known for his recording of "Money ", which was the first hit single for the Motown record label. He is also known for his songwriting work in association with producer Norman Whitfield; together, they penned such songs as "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "War", "Just My Imagination ", and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone".
"Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" is a Motown song written by Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, and Janie Bradford. The song was first recorded by The Temptations as a track on their 1966 album Gettin' Ready. Eddie Kendricks sings lead on the recording, which was produced by Whitfield. Jimmy Ruffin also recorded a version with The Temptations providing background vocals in 1966. It remained unreleased until 1997.
In Our Lifetime? is the sixteenth studio album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released January 15, 1981, on Motown label Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at Marvin's Room in Los Angeles, California, Seawest Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii, and at Odyssey Studios in London, England, throughout 1979 and 1980. The album cover was designed by Neil Breeden. Gaye's final album for Motown before leaving for Columbia Records, the album was the follow-up to the commercial failure of Here, My Dear, a double album which chronicled the singer's divorce from Anna Gordy. Entirely written, produced, arranged, and mixed by Gaye, In Our Lifetime? was a departure for Gaye from the disco stylings of his previous two studio efforts and was seen as one of the best albums of the singer's late-Motown period.
"Smiling Faces Sometimes" is a soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label. It was originally recorded by the Temptations in 1971. Producer Norman Whitfield had the song re-recorded by the Undisputed Truth the same year, resulting in a number-three Billboard Hot 100 position for the group. "Smiling Faces" was the only Top 40 single released by the Undisputed Truth, and was included on their debut album The Undisputed Truth.
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Diana & Marvin is a duets album by American soul musicians Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, released October 26, 1973 on Motown. Recording sessions for the album took place between 1971 and 1973 at Motown Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. Gaye and Ross were widely recognized at the time as two of the top pop music performers.
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Vulnerable is the third posthumous album by Marvin Gaye. Recorded in sessions throughout 1977, the album was a decade in the making, first being worked on in 1968 during sessions in New York with Bobby Scott. Reworked by Gaye a decade later, the album was originally going to be released in 1979 under the title, The Ballads, but was shelved. Two decades later, Motown released it under the title Vulnerable, including seven songs from the sessions and three alternate cuts.
Dancing in the Street: The Songs of Motown II is the sixth studio album by Australian pop vocal group Human Nature and second Motown covers release. It was released on 14 October 2006.
"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.
Gordon Banks, a.k.a. Gordon 'Guitar' Banks, is an American guitarist, producer, writer and musical director. He was voted one of the top 100 guitarists in America by Rolling Stone magazine in 1985.
"Gonna Give Her All the Love I've Got" is a 1967 Soul song, originally recorded and made a hit by Jimmy Ruffin on Motown's Soul Label imprint. Ruffin's 1967 original version, from his album Jimmy Ruffin Sings Top Ten, reached the Pop Top 30, peaking at #29, and was a Top 20 R&B Hit as well, peaking at #14. It was also a hit in Britain, reaching #26 on the UK Singles Chart. The song has a social context: it depicts a man anticipating his release from prison on the morrow, when he'll return home on a train to "the girl that I left behind," promising himself that he will reward her steadfast love for him by "giv[ing] her all the love [he's] got." The song was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and produced by Whitfield.
"How Can I Forget" was originally recorded as a love ballad by Motown group The Temptations in 1968 and was re-recorded in a psychedelic soul/funk styling by fellow Motown artist, Marvin Gaye in 1969. His version, released on Motown's first subsidiary, Tamla, became a modest hit that almost reached the Top 40 of the pop charts while peaking at number-eighteen on the Hot Selling Soul Singles chart in 1970. Marvin's recording was featured on his That's the Way Love Is album. The song is also notable for being one of the shortest recordings for both The Tempts and for Gaye; recorded when most songs are over three minutes, its length is just under two.
"Just Like" is a song recorded by Marvin Gaye in 1978 but not released until after the release of Gaye's posthumous 1985 album Romantically Yours.
"The World Is Rated X" is a socially conscious song recorded by Marvin Gaye culled from sessions of the shelved You're the Man project from 1972, later issued on the Motown compilation album, Motown Remembers Marvin Gaye: Never Before Released Masters and released as a promotional single in 1986.
