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Marvin Gaye
Live in
Belgium
1981
Hip-O/Motown/Universal)
by A. Scott Galloway
Overall, this is a fairly standard concert for Marvin - making ends meet with an American rhythm section fleshed out with local horn players and singers while he was in exile in
Ostende
,
Belgium
. He emphasizes `70s hits here from "Got to Give it Up," "I Want You" and "Let's Get it On" to the searing "Inner City Blues." However, this DVD is worth QUADRUPlE its retail price for one all-too-brief oasis smack in the middle. Marvin slows things down to sing a medley of songs dedicated to the memory of his most fabled singing partner Tammi Terrell who died in 1970 after collapsing in his arms on stage and falling into a coma. Unlike other shows where he brought a background singer up to sing Tammi's parts, this time Marvin sings them alone. This moment is simultaneously breathtaking and heartbreaking as Marvin - with exceeding tenderness in his pure tenor and falsetto - softly serenades Tammi somewhere above with the first 2/3 of the medley: "If This World Were Mine" and "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing." The camera work brilliantly reveals how much Marvin still loved and missed his irreplaceable friend in every gesture and facial expression he makes while plumbing new depths of adoration from the two soul/love gems. When the band kicks into "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," it's a forced, anti-climactic upbeat coda that rudely jolts you out of a misty watercolor dream. Still, the previous two songs are so doggone heavenly you will want to revel in them over and over again. They are quintessential Marvin and, taken alone, the most galvanizing video representation of his genius (aside from his revelatory performance of "What's Going On" during the Motown 25 TV special) - a masterpiece |
