Diana & Marvin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Diana & Marvin | ||
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| LP by Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye | ||
| Released | October 26, 1973 | |
| Recorded | 1972-1973 | |
| Genre | Soul | |
| Label | Motown M803V1 |
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| Producer | Hal Davis | |
| Professional reviews | ||
| Diana Ross chronology | ||
| Touch Me in the Morning (1973) |
Diana & Marvin (1973) |
Last Time I Saw Him (1974) |
| Marvin Gaye chronology | ||
| Let's Get It On (1973) |
Diana & Marvin (1973) |
Marvin Gaye Live! (1974) |
Diana & Marvin was a successful duets project by legendary soul singers Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, released in 1973 by Motown.
At this point, both Ross and Gaye were in different areas in their careers. Ross had become the biggest female pop star outside of Cher and Barbra Streisand, after a string of hit singles, hit albums, and critical acclaim from her hit film Lady Sings the Blues. Gaye, on the other hand, had become a musical visionary releasing the classic records What's Going On, Let's Get It On, and Trouble Man.
Actually the project had been planned as early as the fall of 1971 shortly after Gaye had released the What's Going On album. During the first recording sessions, a pregnant Ross complained to Motown chief Berry Gordy that Gaye wouldn't stop smoking marijuana in the studio. Even after Gordy tried to appeal to Gaye, Gaye stood his ground and refused to stop smoking for Ross. As a result, most of the album was recorded in separate studios in 1972.
When it was released, Diana & Marvin became an international smash yielding different singles in both the US ("You're a Special Part of Me", "Don't Knock My Love", "My Mistake") and the UK ("Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)", "You Are Everything").
Several of the album's songs, including "Stop, Look, Listen" and "You Are Everything" were cover versions of Stylistics songs. The Ross/Gaye version of "Stop, Look, Listen" would later be sampled in 2002 for both Ja Rule and Ashanti's hit "Mesmerize" and Smilez and Southstar's hit "Tell Me", creating controversy when both songs entered the market at the same time. A year later, singers Michael McDonald and Toni Braxton redid the Ross/Gaye version of "Stop, Look, Listen" for McDonald's second album of Motown covers titled "Motown II" in 2004.
[edit] Track listing
- "You Are Everything" (Bell/Creed) (3:10)
- "Love Twins" (Bolton/McLeod) (3:28)
- "Don't Knock My Love" (Pickett/Shapiro) (2:20)
- "You're a Special Part of Me" (Johnson/Porter/Wright) (3:35)
- "Pledging My Love" (Robey/Washington) (3:34)
- "Just Say, Just Say" (Ashford/Simpson) (4:10)
- "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" (Bell/Creed) (2:53)
- "I'm Falling in Love With You" (Gordy) (2:42)
- "My Mistake (Was to Love You)" (Jones/Sawyer) (2:55)
- "Include Me In Your Life" (Bolton/McLeod) (3:04)
