Marvin Gaye on vinyl

This week we are looking at a small group of records in my collection

Motown's anthology series started in 1974, compiling singles and key album tracks usually in stereo and Marvin Gaye's was a prominent one taking in his early 60's recordings both solo and his duets with Mary Wells, Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell and tracks from his 1970's groundbreaking albums such as What's Going On, Let's Get It On and the soundtrack to Troubled Man.

While in the United States these were triple albums, in the UK they were reconfigured as doubles.

This is probably the best way to hear his 60's output .

What's Going On remains a fantastic album looking at the human condition and the state of society in the backdrop of the Vietnam War and was reissued in April of this year in a version that has the original mono singles versions cut by Kevin Grey.

It sounds fantastic.

Marvin went on after the Trouble Man soundtrack to explore romantic love and sexuality with his Let's Get It On album tackling straight on America's puritanical attitude to sex with tender romantic songs that celebrate the joy of sexual relationships.

This copy issued in 2008 by Mobile Fidelity and cut by Shawn R Britton is the finest sounding edition on vinyl.