Marvin Gaye‘s lost follow-up LP to 1971’s ‘What’s Going On’ has an official release date and you can now listen to one of the album’s tracks.
‘You’re The Man’ consists of Gaye’s solo and non-soundtrack recordings from 1972. While the title track to the record was originally released, Gaye eventually scrapped the rest of the project, citing that his political views ran in direct opposition to that of then-Motown CEO Berry Gordy.
Motown will now be releasing the full LP on March 29 – four days before what would have been Gaye’s 80th birthday. In celebration of the release date, they’ve shared album track ‘My Last Chance’ which you can listen to below.
While ‘My Last Chance’ was later released by The Miracles on their 1973 album, ‘Renaissance’ under the title ‘I Love You Secretly’, this version is the original 1972 recording by Gaye.
The song also appeared as a ’90s remix for Motown and eventually surfaced on a best-of compilation for Gaye circa 2001 but this is the first time it’ll be released on vinyl.
Gaye’s biographer David Ritz wrote liner notes for the physical issue, which will be available as a double-vinyl release. “Gaye’s deeply personal internal conflict as a source of creative vigor and emotional burden as he experienced What’s Going On‘s massive success and all that came with it,” Ritz writes.
Fans who pre-order ‘You’re the Man’ can read Ritz’s linear notes in full.