Post by timmy84 on Jul 15, 2007 14:45:11 GMT -5
I finally got the Marvin Gaye concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland from 1980 and let me tell you, if Marvin didn't convince me before that he was a great (and underrated) live performer, this concert showcased his best.
I was surprised at his versatility at times though I knew he was a multi-talented SOB but to see it live on my television made me a bigger fan of the man (if I wasn't already). Everything about the concert was so marvelous (pardon the pun).
I often refer back to what Bobby Taylor said about Marvin's performances that while he was great in the studio that he was just ok performance wise "because he danced like a white boy", well maybe that was true in the SIXTIES but in the seventies and eighties Marvin was a great live performer regardless of his stage fright.
He had this camaraderie and as for "he can't dance", well he might not have been a great dancer a'la James Brown or Michael Jackson, he was a good dancer IMO. He turned the groove in "Got to Give It Up" and kept it up with "A Funky Space Reincarnation".
He was able to convince a crowd of Swiss audience members to get lost in his groove, and remember this was a hall for jazz performers only. Marvin's performance was one of many by the many R&B artists that came after him (like James for instance) broke that mold. I love the fact he did full performances of his sixties classics, his "What's Going On" joints and turned up the charm during "After the Dance" and had two lovely ladies dancing with him, lol.
Like I said in a review of his "London Palladium" concert, he might have had stage fright but he still turned up the charm when he sung. But what impressed me is that he went out his way to play keyboards (really well) and drums (impressive) during the show and he got the crowd into it during "How Sweet It Is".
They were enjoying him so much by the end of it the crowd was clapping in unison for him to come back out.
So uh, Bobby, Marvin wasn't a great artist on stage? I beg to differ.
Here's the track listing:
1.) Time to Get It Together (intro)
2.) Got to Give It Up
3.) A Funky Space Reincarnation
4.) Come Get to This
5.) Let's Get It On
6.) After the Dance
7.) If This World Were Mine
8.) Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
9.) Ain't No Mountain High Enough
10.) How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
11.) Ain't That Peculiar
12.) I'll Be Doggone
13.) I Heard It Through the Grapevine (love his performance of this song here!)
14.) Trouble Man
15.) Distant Lover
16.) Inner City Blues
17.) Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
18.) What's Going On
The date was July 7, 1980.
I was surprised at his versatility at times though I knew he was a multi-talented SOB but to see it live on my television made me a bigger fan of the man (if I wasn't already). Everything about the concert was so marvelous (pardon the pun).
I often refer back to what Bobby Taylor said about Marvin's performances that while he was great in the studio that he was just ok performance wise "because he danced like a white boy", well maybe that was true in the SIXTIES but in the seventies and eighties Marvin was a great live performer regardless of his stage fright.
He had this camaraderie and as for "he can't dance", well he might not have been a great dancer a'la James Brown or Michael Jackson, he was a good dancer IMO. He turned the groove in "Got to Give It Up" and kept it up with "A Funky Space Reincarnation".
He was able to convince a crowd of Swiss audience members to get lost in his groove, and remember this was a hall for jazz performers only. Marvin's performance was one of many by the many R&B artists that came after him (like James for instance) broke that mold. I love the fact he did full performances of his sixties classics, his "What's Going On" joints and turned up the charm during "After the Dance" and had two lovely ladies dancing with him, lol.
Like I said in a review of his "London Palladium" concert, he might have had stage fright but he still turned up the charm when he sung. But what impressed me is that he went out his way to play keyboards (really well) and drums (impressive) during the show and he got the crowd into it during "How Sweet It Is".
They were enjoying him so much by the end of it the crowd was clapping in unison for him to come back out.
So uh, Bobby, Marvin wasn't a great artist on stage? I beg to differ.
Here's the track listing:
1.) Time to Get It Together (intro)
2.) Got to Give It Up
3.) A Funky Space Reincarnation
4.) Come Get to This
5.) Let's Get It On
6.) After the Dance
7.) If This World Were Mine
8.) Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
9.) Ain't No Mountain High Enough
10.) How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
11.) Ain't That Peculiar
12.) I'll Be Doggone
13.) I Heard It Through the Grapevine (love his performance of this song here!)
14.) Trouble Man
15.) Distant Lover
16.) Inner City Blues
17.) Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
18.) What's Going On
The date was July 7, 1980.
...Marv was a lil stiff in the 60's but he tried lol... what I do love though, is that in the 70's there was no need for him to throw down like James etc because by then he had the sensual moves to go along with his songs 
