I Heard It Through the Grapevine: Marvin Gaye : The Biography

When Marvin Gaye was shot dead in 1984 by his own father, the world lost one of its great singers. Born into a poor Washington ghetto and the son of a Pentecostal minister, Marvin Gaye rose to become one of the most original musical talents of his time. This biography charts his often turbulent career, focusing on his stormy relationship with his recording company Tamla Motown and its mercurial head Berry Gordy, whose sister he married. Starting off as a session drummer for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin struggles for artistic independence. This book details the story of his single successes, such as "Can I get a Witness" and "I Heard it through the Grapevine" through to the album, "What's Going On", "Sexual Healing", and beyond. Marvin Gaye emerges as a deeply complex and troubled figure, a man of strong religious conviction and yet a confirmed sensualist, a man who craved attention but who was deeply private, a man who lived his life for his music and who constantly strived to give expression to his talent.