In 1972, in the wake of his immensely successful album, What’s Going On, and its accompanying singles, Marvin Gaye released the topical 45, “You’re the Man,” which failed to crack the Top 40 of Billboard’s Pop chart. A disappointed Gaye retreated, electing to focus on projects unrelated to creating a follow-up LP. These endeavors included scoring the film Trouble Man and taping an album of duets with Diana Ross, though his inner artistry pushed him to keep creating and recording solo works. Two of the tracks Marvin came up with were Christmas songs that were slated for a holiday 45 in late ‘72, and while both tunes are really interesting in their own unique ways, the 7-inch never saw the light of day.
Marvin co-wrote and produced the two Christmas numbers, and he also played the Moog synthesizer, an instrument that had recently been gifted to him by Stevie Wonder. Marvin’s Moog takes the lead on “Christmas in the City,” a jazzy instrumental that conjures up images of city streets on Christmas Eve. It’s a very cool track.
“Christmas in the City” was slated to be the B-side of the scrapped single. The planned A-side, “I Want to Come Home for Christmas,” at first sounds like a traditional Christmas tune, in which the singer laments that he’ll be away from home on the holiday, before the song takes a surprisingly dark turn and it’s revealed the protagonist is a soldier—a prisoner of war (Vietnam was on Marvin’s mind). The logic behind the single’s cancellation is unknown, publicly, but one can imagine what Motown’s reasoning might have been. The songs would sit in the vault until the ‘90s, when they were finally released on separate compilations.
Both tracks have been included on You’re the Man, an album consisting of all of Marvin Gaye’s solo and non-soundtrack recordings from 1972, a representation of what a ’72 successor to What’s Going On might have resembled. Released earlier this year, the seventeen-track set includes a previously unreleased mix of “Christmas in the City,” and the long version of “I Want to Come Home for Christmas.”
Other standout cuts on You’re the Man include “The World is Rated X,” which covered similar lyrical ground as “What’s Going On”; “Piece of Clay,” a gospel-soul song with some searing lead guitar; and the closing funk jam, “Checking Out (Double Clutch),” which finds Marvin talking to the listener through the track.
You’re the Man is available in digital, CD, and vinyl formats. The two-LP gatefold edition features new liner notes by Marvin Gaye biographer David Ritz. Though the songs on You’re the Man have come out on various releases in years past, some of the mixes make their debut here, and nearly all of the tracks have never been pressed on vinyl before.
Get Marvin Gaye’s You’re the Man here.
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Marvin Gaye’s triumphant return to the concert stage after a four-year layoff, 1972