When Motown released Here, My Dear, Marvin Gaye was not one of the most commercially successful soul performers anymore. Actually, he was not strictly SOUL at all, anymore. With What’s Going On, Marvin Gaye had created himself a new slot in pop music, just as Stevie Wonder had done for himself with Music Of My Mind (all the way up to Songs In The Key Of Life). Marvin Gaye would record only one more album for Motown after Here, My Dear; In Our Lifetime, despite its great moments, suffers from having been released by Motown without Marvin’s authorization (it was unfinished). Here, My Dear, however, was recorded and finished under his supervision. Most of the instruments you hear were played by Marvin himself. It is the testimony of an artist at his artistic peak, of his separation from his former wife, Anna Gordy, member of the Motown clan. Since the frankness in which Marvin sang about his marriage and divorce, collided with the fact that Motown was indeed the label to release the album, and also partly due to the fact that a double album with no obvious single was not exactly helpful in the year 1978 for big sales, Here, My Dear was a commercial flop.
Now, 25 years later, a listener who is interested in good music doesn’t care about such things. All that counts is the quality of the music. Unfortunately, until today, this album has been Marvin Gaye’s most unjustly underrated record. Okay, there aren’t any hit singles, but Here, My Dear is an exceptionally good album. There is not one filler song on this two record set. Instead, one is enchanted (and disturbed) by the straightforwardness of how Marvin Gaye relates the experience of divorce. Musically, it’s one of the most sensual albums ever recorded. Marvin sings like there’s no tomorrow. He supports himself vocally via playback recording. The tight playing and the almost chamber-music atmosphere create a density and harmony which cause addiction – you want to play the record again and again. The no-kitsch approach to the production has helped the album age with grace. Here, My Dear is one of the great masterpieces of the 70’s. —Yofriend
