Immediately after Berry Gordy founded Motown in 1959, he began loading up the label's roster with staggering talent. When Marvin Gaye joined Motown in 1960, he viewed himself as a mainstream pop singer along the lines of Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. [Photo above of Marvin Gaye]
Unfortunately for Gaye, his voice was a little too high, and his ambitions soon hit a ceiling. Meanwhile, the Marvelettes, Mary Wells, Smokey Robinson and other Motown pop-soul recording artists began having major hits. Marvin shifted his approach.
Yesterday I found this fascinating PBS documentary on Gaye—one of Motown's most versatile and influential singer-songwriters. Here's Marvin Gaye: What's Going On...
