Let's Get It On is the twelfth studio album by the American soul singer and songwriter Marvin Gaye. It was released on August 28, 1973, by the Motown subsidiary label Tamla Records on LP.
Recording sessions for the album took place during June 1970 to July 1973 at Hitsville U.S.A. and Golden World Studio in Detroit, and at Hitsville West in Los Angeles. Serving as Gaye's first venture into the funk genre, Let's Get It On also incorporates smooth soul and doo-wop styles alongside sexually suggestive lyrics, leading to one writer's description of it as "one of the most sexually charged albums ever recorded". Gaye infused ideas of spiritual healing in songs about sex and romance, in part as a way of coping with childhood abuses from his father Marvin Gay Sr., which had stunted his sexuality.
Following the breakthrough success of his socially conscious album What's Going On (1971), Let's Get It On helped establish Gaye as a sex icon and broadened his mainstream appeal. It produced three singles—the title track, "Come Get to This", and "You Sure Love to Ball"—that achieved Billboard chart success. Let's Get It On became the most commercially successful album of Gaye's career at Motown, resulting in more creative control being given to him by the label. Its erotic balladry, multi-tracking of Gaye's vocals, and seductive funk sound also influenced later R&B recording artists and producers, with the title track specifically helping pioneer the slow jam and quiet storm formats.
In retrospect, Let's Get It On has been regarded by writers and music critics as a landmark recording in soul. It increased the popularity of funk during the 1970s, while Gaye's smooth-soul sound marked a change from his record label's previous success with the "Motown Sound" formula. Among the most acclaimed LPs in history, it frequently appears on professional rankings of the greatest albums and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a historically important recording. In 2001, it was reissued by Motown as a two-CD deluxe edition release. In 2023, the album was reissued with added material for its 50th anniversary.
Background In the spring of 1972, Marvin Gaye was suffering from writer's block.Edmonds (2001), pp. 7–8. Following the release of his most commercially successful album up to that point, What's Going On (1971), and the soundtrack album to the blaxploitation film Trouble Man (1972), Gaye had struggled to come up with new material after Motown Records had renegotiated a new contract with him. The contract provided him with more creative control over his recordings. The deal was worth $1 million, making him the highest-earning soul artist, as well as the highest-earning black artist, at the time.Marvin Gaye - Singer/Songwriter. BBC - h2g2. Retrieved on 2008-08-24. He was also struggling with deciding whether or not to relocate to Los Angeles, following Motown-CEO Berry Gordy's move of the record label and replacement of the Detroit-based Hitsville U.S.A. (Motown Studio A) recording studio with the Hitsville West studio in Los Angeles. Amid relocation and his lack of material, Gaye was struggling with his conscience, as well as dealing with expectations from his wife, Gordy's sister Anna. Gaye's separation from Gordy pressured him emotionally. During this time, he had also been attempting to cope with past issues that had stemmed from his childhood.
During his childhood, Gaye had been physically abused by his preacher father Marvin Gay Sr., who disciplined his son under extremely moralistic and fundamentalist Christian teachings. As a result, the meaning and practice of sex had later become a disturbing question for Gaye. As an adult, he suffered from impotence and became plagued by sadomasochistic fantasies, which haunted him in his dreams and provoked intense feelings of guilt. Gaye learned to cope with his personal issues with a newly found spirituality. He began incorporating his new outlook into his music, as initially expressed through the socially conscious album What's Going On, along with promotional photos of him wearing a kufi in honor of African traditional religions and his faith.
By winning over record executives with the success of What's Going On, Gaye attained more creative control, which he would use, following his brief separation from wife Anna Gordy, to record an album that was meant to explore themes beyond sex. As with What's Going On, Gaye wanted to have a deeper meaning than the general theme that was used to portray it; in the case of the former album, politics, and with its follow-up effort, love and romance, which would be used by Gaye as a metaphor for God's love. In his book Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye, Gaye biographer David Ritz wrote of the singer's inspiration behind Let's Get It On:
In the album's liner notes, Gaye explained his views on the themes of sex and love, stating "I can't see anything wrong with sex between consenting anybodies. I think we make far too much of it. After all, one's genitals are just one important part of the magnificent human body ... I contend that SEX IS SEX and LOVE IS LOVE. When combined, they work well together, if two people are of about the same mind. But they are really two discrete needs and should be treated as such. Time and space will not permit me to expound further, especially in the area of the psyche. I don't believe in overly moralistic philosophies. Have your sex, it can be exciting, if you're lucky. I hope the music that I present here makes you lucky."Gaye (2001), liner excerpt
Recording
Gaye proceeded to record some more politically conscious material at the Golden World Records studio, known as Motown's Studio B, as well as the preliminary vocals and instrumentation for some of the material to be featured on Let's Get It On. Following the earlier sessions in Detroit at Golden World, Gaye recorded at Hitsville West in Los Angeles from February to July 1973. Accompanied by an experienced group of session musicians called The Funk Brothers, who had contributed to Gaye's What's Going On, and received their first official credit, Gaye recorded the unreleased songs "The World is Rated X" and "Where Are We Going?" and the single "You're the Man" (1972) at Golden World. "Where Are We Going?" was later covered by trumpeter Donald Byrd. Gaye had planned the release of an album titled You're the Man, but it was later shelved for unknown reasons. The songs that were to be included on it, along with other unreleased recordings from Hitsville West and Golden World, were later featured on the 2001 re-release of Let's Get It On.[ allmusic Let's Get It On (Deluxe Edition) - Overview ]. All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
The album's first recording, "Let's Get It On", was composed by Gaye with friend and former Motown label mate Ed Townsend. It was originally written by Gaye as a religious ode to life, but Motown singer-songwriter Kenneth Stover re-wrote it as a more political first draft. Upon hearing Gaye's preliminary mix of Stover's draft, Townsend protested and claimed that the song would be better suited with sexual and romantic overtones, particularly "about making sweet love."Townsend (2001), p. 4. Gaye and Townsend rewrote the song's lyrics together with the original arrangements and musical accompaniment of the demo intact. The lyrics were inspired by Janis Hunter, whom Gaye had become infatuated with after meeting each other through Ed Townsend during the initial sessions. Townsend has cited Hunter's presence during the album's recording as an inspiration for Gaye.Edmonds (2001), pp. 15–18. Gaye's intimate relationship with Hunter subsequently became the basis for his 1976 album I Want You.Dyson (2005), p. 164. While recording the title track, he was inspired to revive unfinished recordings from his 1970 sessions at the Hitsville U.S.A. Studio.
Townsend assisted Gaye with producing the rest of the album, whose recording took place at several sessions throughout 1970 to 1973.Deluxe edition liner notes (2001), pp. 19–20. They worked on four songs together, including the ballad "If I Should Die Tonight", while Gaye composed most of the other songs, including those from past sessions. "Just to Keep You Satisfied" was originally recorded by several Motown groups, including The Originals and The Monitors, as a song dedicated to long-standing love. With re-recording the song, he had re-written the arrangement and lyrics to address the demise of his volatile marriage to Anna Gordy Gaye, who happened to be the original song's co-writer. The background vocals for the album were sung by Gaye, with the exception of "Just to Keep You Satisfied", which were done by The Originals. Most of the instrumentation for the album was done by members of The Funk Brothers, including bassist James Jamerson, guitarists Robert White and Eddie Willis, and percussionist Eddie "Bongo" Brown. Gaye also contributed on piano during the sessions.
Music and lyrics
"Let's Get It On" features soulful, passionate lead vocals and multi-tracked background singing, both by Gaye. It has a 1950s-styled melody and begins with three wah-wah guitar notes and centers on simple chord changes, while its arrangements are centered on an eccentric rhythm pattern. Its signature guitar line is played by session musician Don Peake. Music journalist Jon Landau dubs the song "a classic Motown single, endlessly repeatable and always enjoyable". The song is reprised on the fourth track, "Keep Gettin' It On". It expands on the title track's sensual theme with political overtones: "won't you rather make love, children / as opposed to war, like you know you should."Landau, Jon (December 6, 1973). Review: Let's Get It On. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2011-01-28.
The third track, the ballad "If I Should Die Tonight" originally appeared on the vinyl LP in a shortened version lasting only 3:03. For the 1986 'twofer' (with "What's Going On") CD reissue of the album, Motown recording engineers for the first time restored the missing verse which had been omitted from the LP. The full length track, which has been used for all subsequent releases, runs to 4 full minutes.
"Distant Lover" has Gaye crooning over serene instrumentation, leading to soulful screams near the end; from a heartbroken croon to an impassioned wail.[ allmusic Distant Lover - Song Review ]. All Media Guide. Retrieved on 2008-08-17. The song's lyrics chronicled the yearning its narrator feels for a lover who is "so many miles away", as he pleads for her return and laments the emptiness he feels without her. Music writer Donarld A. Guarisco later wrote of the song's sound, in that "Marvin Gaye's studio recording enhances the dreamy style of the song with stately horn and strings, tumbling drum fills that gently nudge the song along, and mellow, doo wop-styled background vocals that echo "love her, you love her" under his romantic pleas. The song later became a concert favorite for Gaye and a live concert version, featuring female fans screaming in the background, was released as a single from his Marvin Gaye Live! album in 1974.
"You Sure Love to Ball" is one of Gaye's most sexually overt and controversial singles, with its intro and outro featuring moaning sounds made by a man and woman engaged in sex. The sexually-explicit and risqué nature of the album's content were, at the time, controversial, and the recording of such an album was deemed as a commercial risk by Motown A&R's (Artists and Repertoire) and label executives.Edmonds (2001), pp. 8–9.
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