Distant Lover

"Distant Lover"
Song by Marvin Gaye from the album Let's Get It On
Released	1973
Recorded	November 3, 1970 Hitsville U.S.A. (Detroit, Michigan) 1973 (over-dubbing) Hitsville West (Los Angeles, California)
Genre	Soul, quiet storm
Length	5:15
Label	Tamla
Writer	Marvin Gaye, Gwen Gordy Fuqua, Sandra Greene
Producer	Marvin Gaye
Let's Get It On track listing "Come Get to This" (5) "Distant Lover" (6) "You Sure Love to Ball" (7) Audio sample file info · help

"Distant Lover (live)"
Single by Marvin Gaye
from the album Marvin Gaye Live!
Released	June 28, 1974
Recorded	January 4, 1974 Oakland Coliseum (Oakland, California)
Genre	Soul
Length	6:20 (album version) 4:30 (single version)
Label	Tamla
Writer(s)	Marvin Gaye, Gwen Gordy Fuqua, Sandra Greene
Producer	Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye singles chronology
"Don't Knock My Love" (w/Diana Ross) (1974) "Distant Lover (live)" (1974) "I Want You" (1976)

"Distant Lover" is the sixth song issued on singer Marvin Gaye's 1973 album, Let's Get It On and was later issued as a live recording in 1974. The live version of the song was Gaye's most successful single during the three-year gap between Let's Get It On and his following 1976 album, I Want You.^[1]

History

Studio version

The song had been a work-in-progress for three years. Gaye originally wrote the song while recording for the What's Going On album. The song, titled originally under "Head Title", featured Sandra Greene as a co-writer. The song was left on the shelves following the release of What's Going On. The recording was a demo of Marvin improvising lyrics claiming he was singing "off the top of my head". The singer then recites in a gospel-inspired tone while Elgie Stover, a longtime Gaye collaborator, shouts in anguish over Marvin's words. At the end of the song, Denise Gordy is heard in the background talking to Marvin. Marvin's tenor and Elgie's screams carry the tone of the original track^[1] The original version showcased Gaye in more of a self-conscious state of mind.

Marvin revived the song in a more polished setting upon recording the Let's Get It On album, co-writing new lyrics with his friend Harvey Fuqua's wife and his sister-in-law Gwen Fuqua while keeping Greene's name as a co-writer. This time instead of shouting as he had in the original track, Marvin moaned over a sensible tenor and falsetto before finally ending the song in a growl as he begged and pleaded for his lover to "come back home".^[1] According to the liner notes of the Deluxe reissue of Let's Get It On, it took twenty separate recording sessions before Marvin was satisfied with the song-more dates than it took to record the entire What's Going On album. Of the studio version, an Allmusic reviewer wrote:

Marvin Gaye's studio recording enhances the dreamy style of the song with stately horn and strings, tumbling drum fills that gently nudge the song along, and mellow, doo wop-styled background vocals that echo "love her, you love her" under his romantic pleas. Gaye fulfills the song's promise with a rich vocal that builds from a heartbroken croon to an impassioned wail. It worked both as romantic mood piece and a showcase for Gaye's considerable vocal skills.^[1]

—Allmusic

The original 1973 recording was later sampled by Kanye West on his College Dropout album in 2004 on the song "Spaceship".

Live version

When Let's Get It On was issued, the song was released as the b-side to Marvin's hit, "Come Get to This". The song was later immortalized in a live version issued on his Marvin Gaye Live! album from 1974 in which Marvin builds up the song from a slowed-up version of his Trouble Man instrumental, "Theme from Trouble Man". After a small introduction, Marvin begins to sing the song, leading female audience members who attended his live show at the Oakland Coliseum to scream in delight.^[1] The song would become a show-stopper in later concerts from then on until Marvin's final concert tour in 1983. Allmusic called it a "steamy version... complete with wailing female fans."^[1] The live version of the song was so popular Motown issued that version as a single that June where it peaked at #28 on the pop singles chart #12 on the R&B singles chart that September.^[1]

Legacy, covers and samples

"Distant Lover" in its live version has been regarded as one of the greatest live performances of all time.^[2] Its studio version has been covered by the likes of artists such as Betty Wright, who recorded it as a posthumous duet with Gaye on her 1989 album, 4u2njoy; Michael McDonald, Brian McKnight, El DeBarge and Thelma Houston among other artists. Kanye West sampled the song on his 2004 album track, "Spaceship" off his acclaimed debut, The College Dropout.

Personnel

1970 version (Head Title)

• Lead and background vocals by Marvin Gaye
• Additional (spoken) vocals by Elgie Stover
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
• Produced by Marvin Gaye

1973 version

• All vocals by Marvin Gaye
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
• Arranged by Gene Page
• Produced by Marvin Gaye

1974 version

• Lead vocals by Marvin Gaye
• Background vocals by Eric Dolen, Charles Burns, Dwight Owens, Michael Torrance & Wally Cox
• Instrumentation:
  • Ed Green: drums
  • James Jamerson: bass
  • David T. Walker: guitar
  • Ray Parker: guitar
  • Joe Sample: keyboard
  • John Arnold: percussion
  • Joe Clayton: congas
  • Paul Hubinon: trumpet
  • George Bonhanon: trombone
  • Ernie Watts: sax
  • William Green: sax
  • James Getzoff: violin
  • Jack Shulman: violin
• Arranged by Gene Page
• Produced by Marvin Gaye

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} allmusic {{{ Distant Lover > Song Review }}}. All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
2. ^ "Spiritual Sex and Marvin Gaye". http://www.thenewblackmagazine.com/view.aspx?index=850.