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
Greatest hits album by Marvin Gaye
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
The Norman Whitfield Sessions (1994) The Very Best of Marvin Gaye (1994) The Master (1961–1984) (1995)
Singles from The Very Best of Marvin Gaye
"Lucky, Lucky Me" Released: 1994

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

1. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
2. "What's Going On"
3. "Sexual Healing"
4. "You Are Everything" (with Diana Ross)
5. "It Takes Two" (with Kim Weston)
6. "Let's Get It On"
7. "Abraham, Martin & John"
8. "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby"
9. "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"
10. "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"
11. "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" (w/Diana Ross)
12. "You're All I Need to Get By" (w/Tammi Terrell)
13. "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (w/Tammi Terrell)
14. "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)"
15. "The Onion Song" (w/Tammi Terrell)
16. "You Ain't Livin' Till You're Lovin'" (w/Tammi Terrell)
17. "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By (w/Tammi Terrell)
18. "That's the Way Love Is"
19. "Got to Give It Up, Pt. I"
20. "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You"
21. "Can I Get a Witness"
22. "Lucky, Lucky Me"

US edition

The Very Best of Marvin Gaye
Greatest hits album by Marvin Gaye
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.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Artist Direct	link
Robert Christgau	(A)
Tom Hull	A [2]
Music Week	[3]

Track listing

Disc One

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Origin	Length
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

Disc Two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Origin	Length
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
Brazil	—	21,000 [4]
France (SNEP) [5]	Gold	100,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ) [6]	Gold	7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI) [7]	2× Platinum	600,000‡
United States (RIAA) [8]	Gold	500,000^
Summaries
Worldwide	—	5,000,000 [4]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. The Very Best of Marvin Gaye at AllMusic. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
2. Hull, Tom (November 2013). "Recycled Goods (#114)". A Consumer Guide to the Trailing Edge. Tom Hull. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
3. Jones, Alan (March 26, 1994). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Albums" (PDF). Music Week . p. 15. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
4. Maia, Mônica (December 25, 1995). "Músicos mortos são campeões de vendagem". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). UOL HOST . Retrieved January 4, 2023. A coletânea "The Very Best of Marvin Gaye" vendeu cinco milhões de discos no mundo, 21 mil deles, no Brasil. Translation: The compilation "The Very Best of Marvin Gaye" sold five million records worldwide, 21,000 of it in Brazil.
5. "French album certifications – Marvin Gaye – The Very Best of" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique . Retrieved March 3, 2020.
6. "New Zealand album certifications – Marvin Gaye – The Very Best of". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved November 20, 2024.
7. "British album certifications – Marvin Gaye – The Very Best Of". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved May 2, 2020.
8. "American album certifications – Marvin Gaye – The Very Best of Marvin Gaye". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved March 3, 2020.

• The Very Best of Marvin Gaye at AllMusic . Retrieved 21:04, 19 August 2017 (UTC).