Love Songs: Greatest Duets

Performer: Marvin Gaye
Artist: Diana Ross; Betty Wright; Mary Wells; Kim Weston; Tammi Terrell
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel includes: Marvin Gaye (vocals); Betty Wright, Tammi Terrell, Mary Wells, Oma Page, Kim Weston, Diana Ross (vocals). Producers include: Harvey Fuqua, Johnny Bristol, Nikolas Ashford, Johnny Bristol, Smokey Robinson. Compilation producer: Harry Weinger. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Audio Mixers: Suha Gur; Ellen Fitton. Arrangers: Angelo Morris; Betty Wright. Marvin Gaye's Love Songs: Greatest Duets gathers most of his best-known duets, organizing them by singing partner. After getting off to a poor, but well-meaning start with a 1994 version of "Distant Lover" that pairs Gaye's original vocals with re-recorded vocals by Betty Wright and tinny-sounding production, the album does a 180 by offering up some of the best work Gaye did with his ultimate duet partner, Tammi Terrell. Along with definitive songs like "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "You're All I Need to Get By," the collection also includes lesser-known gems such as the lovely "If This World Were Mine." Gaye's duet with Kim Weston, "It Takes Two," is another of the album's essential tracks, while most of the rest of Love Songs consists of pleasant but relatively obscure duets such as "Once Upon a Time" and "What's the Matter With You Baby" with Mary Wells and "So Good to Be Loved by You" with Oma Page. "Pledging My Love," Gaye's duet with Diana Ross, rounds out this enjoyable collection. While this album doesn't have quite the impact of the Love Songs collection of his solo work or Love Songs: Bedroom Ballads, it's still effortlessly soulful and romantic. ~ Heather Phares

Marvin Gaye began his career in the late 1950s, singing with various R&B vocal groups. Soon he moved on to work as a session drummer and vocalist at Motown. Gaye's own '60s albums are marked by propulsive, high-energy R&B, and duets with Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell. In the '70s, he crafted a unique, highly personal vision of R&B, incorporating socio-political issues, atmospheric arrangements, and unified album themes. His early, violent death robbed the world of a true genius.

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