In the winter of 1976, the late multi-Grammy Award winning artist Marvin Gaye, recorded a hip funky, musical groove that, some 35 years later, has become one of the world’s most easily recognizable dance songs. Upon its release in 1977, “Got To Give It Up, Part 1″ topped the R&B and Dance Single Charts, selling over two million albums worldwide.
But today, not many people know that Marvin’s friend, the late Don Cornelius, producer and host of Soul Train, also played a part in the song’s success.
“To keep the excitement or the feeling of dancing and the keeping of the party mood, we used the party type sounds “, explains Producer and Recording Engineer, Art Stewart. Art was at the helm of Marvin Gaye’s studio recording of “Got To Give It Up, Part 1″ and engineered many other hit songs for Marvin, including “Let’s Get It On”, which later became Motown Record’s best selling single.
{ Click here to view: Art Stewarts Interview on A Star For Marvin Gaye }
“We actually had folks inside the studio and inside the control room where Marvin and I recorded. His sister was there, Frankie was there..” Art was very excited about talking about his friend of many years. Recording “Got To Give It Up, Part 1″ was a unique experience for him, as it was for Marvin.
“So I started the record machine and recorded this groove that Marvin and Bugsy (Bugsy Wilcox-drummer) was working on. Marvin asked, ‘what did I think about it.’ I told him I thought it was a great groove”.
These type of studio recordings were called ‘jam sessions’. It was an opportunity for musicians to get together to perform with little or no rehearsal at all. It was also a relaxed way to write new music with artists who were talented enough to record at a moments notice.
{ Click here to view: Classic Soul Music Hits! A Star For Marvin Gaye }
Art reflects on the conversation he had with Marvin after the session ended.
“He (Marvin) asked me if they did it again, would I be so kind as to record it.
My remark to him was that I already recorded it, and he said ‘great’. And thats how ‘Got To Give It Up’ was born”.
Art says that, to pause for retakes or short conversation during the jam session recordings, could easily have stifled the momentum of the groove. And what was captured later in the recording, glorify’s Marvin’s warm and outgoing spirit as a friend and musician.
“As a matter of fact, an interesting tidbit, Don Cornelius walked through the control room as we doing this, and if you listen closely to “Got To Give It Up” you’ll hear Marvin Gaye say..’Hey Don, Hey Don, I didn’t know you were here ‘homes’!”
Marvin affectionately called his buddy Don Cornelius ‘homes’, which was short for ‘homeboy’, a vernacular that was popular with Afros, bell bottoms and hot pants.
It was cool in the ’70′s. And as friends, Art says Marvin and Don were the coolest. “He was speaking to Don Cornelius who happened to walk inside as we were recording, and we left it on”, Art describes in a joyful laugh. “It became part of the record”.
Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up, Part 1″, quickly became a signature song for Don Cornelius’ infamous ‘Soul Train line’. And although Don never published any of his own songs, Marvin’s greeting to Don, recorded in that studio session, left an indelible impression of friendship that lasted a lifetime.
Click here to see an excerpt of Art Stewart in the Emmy Nominated, Classic Soul Music Hits! A Star For Marvin Gaye. The 30 minute music special was produced by DVIDEO 79 Productions and Eyes Open Entertainment and premiered in Los Angeles, 1995 and Chicago, 1996.
Written by Don Howze. Continue reading on Examiner.com Don Cornelius on Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up, Part 1″ recording – Riverside Photography | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/photography-in-riverside/don-cornelius-on-marvin-gaye-s-got-to-give-it-up-part-1-recording-2#ixzz1ovg8RTB
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