My Favorite Albums: Marvin Gaye's I Want You

Soul Prince
Apr 1, 2017
2 min read

Imagine being Marvin Gaye in 1975. Four years after releasing the critically acclaimed masterpiece, What’s Going On and two years after his most popular piece, Let’s Get It On. How was Motown’s most popular artist (besides Stevie Wonder) supposed to follow that up? It was certainly going to be harder than a decade ago. In the 60s there was a formula in place for all Motown artists to follow. But with the unprecedented success of Gaye’s aforementioned albums – along with Stevie Wonder’s succession of classic albums – there was no set formula anymore. That’s the prize to pay for being a trendsetter – everybody expects you to do it again.

That’s just what Marvin Gaye did with 1976’s I Want You. On the surface it seemed to have more than a passing semblance with Let’s Get It On. But with the help of Leon Ware, Gaye not only constructed another classic, but made a template for generations of artists to follow. Along with Ware’s “Musical Massage”, this album helped usher in neo-soul and quiet storm. Artists like Sade, D’Angelo, Jill Scott and Maxwell have all borrowed elements from this album. Whether it’s Ware’s warm, sensual production or Gaye’s use of voice layering, this album deserves its place in the pantheon of influential R&B albums.

Clocking at just over 38 minutes, this album is about as seamless as any in soul and R&B. The tracks blend into each other musically and thematically. Believed to be inspired by his second wife, Janis, “I Want You” deals with the intoxicating high of new love. New love can inspire a man to be at his most vulnerable (as is the case with the title track). It can make him commit to exclusivity (Come Live with Me) and it can even make him commit to new levels of sensual expression (Soon I’ll Be Loving You Again). That isn’t to say new love is without its blemishes. As songs like “All the Way Around” and “Since I Had You” show, new love can be scary and confusing. But if the love is real, then maybe the couple can stop the fussing and start the loving. And isn’t that what Marvin would want?

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