''Romantically Yours'' is the second posthumous release by American recording artist

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

, released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

in 1985.

Background

When Marvin Gaye was killed in April 1984, he still had two albums left to complete on his contract with Columbia Records. In May 1985, Columbia issued the album, '' Dream of a Lifetime'', which performed modestly on the chart. A little over six months later, Columbia assembled tracks from Gaye's Motown period, mostly of

traditional pop Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western culture, Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known ...

and

vocal jazz Vocal jazz or jazz singing is a genre within jazz music where the voice is used as an instrument. Vocal jazz began in the early twentieth century. Jazz music has its roots in blues and ragtime and can also traced back to the Dixieland jazz, New Or ...

tunes that Gaye had recorded in the 1960s and 1970s and named it "Romantically Yours".

Recording

Starting in 1968, Gaye had begun working on a pop vocal album with producer and arranger Bobby Scott. Among the songs they recorded were "Why Did I Choose You", "More", " Maria", "

Fly Me To The Moon "Fly Me to the Moon", originally titled "In Other Words", is a song written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard. Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's 1964 version was closely associated with the Apo ...

" and "I Won't Cry Anymore". Midway through recording, Gaye, depressed over personal issues and upset over his career, stopped recording sessions with Scott and wouldn't revisit the work with Scott for over a decade. During the 1970s, Gaye revisited the studio and composed songs over a jazz setting, including "Just Like", "Walkin' in the Rain" and "Stranger in My Life". The song "I Live For You" was originally recorded during sessions for '' Let's Get It On''. Having revisited his Scott productions in the late 1970s, Gaye recorded several different versions of the song "The Shadow of Your Smile". In the version featured on ''Romantically Yours'', Gaye sings in both tenor and falsetto. In addition to these songs, a song composed in the early 1960s by Eddie Holland and

Norman Whitfield Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter, composer, and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators ...

, "Happy Go Lucky", was also included. Most of the songs were reworked by Harvey Fuqua, who took credit for producing the album. The album was released in November 1985, intended for Gaye's fans, rather than for commercial assumption, which was the case of ''In Our Lifetime''. With the release of ''Romantically Yours'', Columbia completed Gaye's contract. In 1997, several of the songs featured in a different sound culled from the 1979 sessions of an album titled ''The Ballads'', were included in the Motown compilation, '' Vulnerable''.

Track listing

#" More" ( Norman Newell, Nino Oliviero, Riz Ortolani) – 2:40 #"Why Did I Choose You" (Michael Leonard, Herbert Martin) – 2:36 #" Maria" (

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

) – 3:06 #" The Shadow of Your Smile" (

Johnny Mandel John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...

Paul Francis Webster Paul Francis Webster (December 20, 1907 – March 18, 1984) was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Original Song, and was nominated sixteen times for the award. Life and career Webster was born in New York City, United S ...

) – 3:03 #"

Fly Me to the Moon "Fly Me to the Moon", originally titled "In Other Words", is a song written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard. Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's 1964 version was closely associated with the Apo ...

" (

Bart Howard Bart Howard (born Howard Joseph Gustafson, June 1, 1915 – February 21, 2004) was an American composer and songwriter, most notably of the jazz standard "Fly Me to the Moon", which has been performed by Kaye Ballard, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, ...

) – 3:19 #"I Won't Cry Anymore" (Al Frisch, Fred Wise) – 2:40 #" Just Like" (Gaye) – 4:08 #"Walkin' in the Rain" (Gaye) – 2:54 #"I Live for You" (Gaye) – 2:40 #"Stranger in My Life" (Gaye) – 3:41 #"Happy Go Lucky" ( Eddie Holland,

) – 2:35

References

{{Authority control 1985 albums Marvin Gaye albums Albums published posthumously Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Harvey Fuqua Marvin Gaye compilation albums Compilation albums published posthumously Columbia Records compilation albums Albums produced by Marvin Gaye Vocal jazz albums 1980s covers albums Jazz albums by American artists