''Trouble Man'' is the first

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

released by American

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer

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 ...

, on December 8, 1972, on Motown-subsidiary label

Tamla Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''motor'' ...

. As the soundtrack to the 1972

blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...

film of the same name, the ''Trouble Man'' soundtrack was a more contemporary move for Gaye, following his politically charged album '' What's Going On''. This was the first album to be written and produced solely by Gaye. The only other album recorded under his full creative control was '' In Our Lifetime'', released in 1981.

Recording

Following the success of '' What's Going On'', Marvin Gaye had not only won creative control, but a renewed $1 million contract with

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

subsidiary Tamla had made the musician the most profitable R&B artist of all time. Signing the contract in early 1972, Gaye sought to take advantage of his opportunities. Bolstered by the successes of film soundtracks such as '' Shaft'' and '' Superfly'', Motown offered the musician a chance to compose his own film soundtrack after winning rights to produce the crime thriller, '' Trouble Man''. Unlike

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...

and

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...

, who mixed social commentary with sexual songs in their respective soundtracks, Gaye chose to focus primarily on the film's character, "Mister T", producing and composing the film's score while entirely producing the film's soundtrack, which was recorded at Motown Studios (or "Hitsville West") in Hollywood. Following the closing of Detroit's

Hitsville USA "Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house (formerly a photographers' studio) is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit near the New Center area of the city. Motown founder B ...

studios in 1972, Motown had primarily moved its location to Los Angeles, where Gaye also relocated while he recorded the ''Trouble Man'' album. Gaye invited several musicians, including some from the

Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

and musicians from

Hamilton Bohannon Hamilton Frederick Bohannon (March 7, 1942 – April 24, 2020), often credited and known professionally simply as Bohannon, was an American drummer, percussionist, band leader, songwriter, arrangement, arranger, and record producer, who was one ...

's band. Gaye would compose five different versions of the title track, including an alternate vocal version, which was used primarily for the film's intro. The alternate version featured Gaye double-tracking two lead vocal parts into one, overlaying his

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

vocals with his lower register. The single version, which was also featured on the soundtrack, would feature a single lead vocal take. The other three versions were put on the album as

instrumentals An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to ...

with Gaye providing

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

keyboards while

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

solos (and occasionally guitar) accompany him. The only other songs in which Gaye vocalized harmonies or performed lead vocals included "Poor Abbey Walsh", "Cleo's Apartment", "Life is a Gamble", "Don't Mess with Mister T" and "There Goes Mister T".

Critical reception

Bolstered by the hit success of the title track, which returned Gaye to a

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

format reaching number 4 on the Soul Chart and number 7 on the Pop Charts, respectively, the album followed in December where it reached the top 20 of the ''Billboard'' 200, peaking at number 12. On Cashbox and Record World Magazines Charts the album even reached the Top 5, peaking almost as high as its monumental predecessor ''What‘s Going On'', eighteen months earlier, eventually being rewarded with a gold disc at Motown Records. It would become Gaye's only soundtrack and film score. Critics gave the album favorable reviews while sometimes comparing Gaye's soundtrack efforts to that of Hayes' and Mayfield's. Following this, other R&B musicians would produce soundtracks of their own, including

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

Barry White Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and ...

and fellow Motown acts,

Willie Hutch William McKinley Hutchison (December 6, 1944 – September 19, 2005), better known as Willie Hutch, was an American singer, songwriter as well as a record producer and recording artist for the Motown record label during the 1970s and 1980s. Biog ...

and

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the num ...

In popular culture

The title track plays in the 1995 film '' Se7en'' while

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

's character, Detective Somerset, is having dinner with

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...

's character, Detective Mills, and his wife Tracy Mills, played by

Gwyneth Paltrow Gwyneth Kate Paltrow ( ; born September 27, 1972) is an American actress and businesswoman. The daughter of filmmaker Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner, she established herself as a leading lady appearing in mainly mid-budget and perio ...

. The title track features during the opening credits and final scene of the 2005 film '' Four Brothers''. In the 2014 film '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', Sam Wilson recommends the album as essential listening to Steve Rogers, who had until recently been frozen in ice since the Second World War: Wilson says it's "everything you missed jammed into one album". Towards the end of the film the titular track is playing on an iPhone. In the episode " Power Broker" of the 2021

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

series ''

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier ''The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' is an American television miniseries created by Malcolm Spellman for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Sam Wilson / Falcon and Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier. ...

'', Wilson notices that

Bucky Barnes James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally introduced as a sidekick to Captain America, the character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and first appeared in '' ...

has the same pocket notebook and mentions that he had recommended the album to Rogers. When Barnes does not seem to share the same level of enthusiasm for the album, Baron

Helmut Zemo Helmut Zemo is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Roy Thomas, Tony Isabella and Sal Buscema, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Captain America (comic book), Captain America'' #16 ...

enthuses flamboyantly about the album, telling Barnes that it is "...a masterpiece. Complete. Comprehensive. It captures the African-American experience", much to Wilson's amazement. The episode aired on Marvin Gaye's birthday.

Track listing

All songs written by

Original LP

Side One #"Main Theme from ''Trouble Man'' (2)" – 2:30 #"'T' Plays It Cool" – 4:27 #"Poor Abbey Walsh" – 4:13 #"The Break In (Police Shoot Big)" – 1:57 #"Cleo's Apartment" – 2:10 #" Trouble Man" – 3:49 #"Theme from ''Trouble Man''" – 2:01 Side Two #"'T' Stands for Trouble" – 4:48 #"Main Theme from ''Trouble Man'' (1)" – 3:52 #"Life Is a Gamble" – 2:32 #"Deep-in-It" – 1:25 #"Don't Mess with Mister 'T'" – 3:04 #"There Goes Mister 'T'" – 1:37

2012 Reissue

Disc one (bonus tracks) #Main Theme From Trouble Man (2) (Alternate Take With Strings) #"T" Plays It Cool (Unedited) #Poor Abbey Walsh, Part 2 (Take 1) #Poor Abbey Walsh, Part 2 (Take 2) #Trouble Man (Extended Version) #Theme From Trouble Man (Vocal Version) #"T" Stands For Trouble (Unedited Vocal Version) #"T" Stands For Trouble (Alternate Version) #Main Theme From Trouble Man (Vocal Version) Disc two (Original Film Score) #Trouble Man #Poor Hall #"T" Plays It Cool #Cadillac Interlude / Cleo's Apartment #Man Tied Up / Jimmy's West / Conversation With Cleo #Crap Game (A.K.A. The Break In) / Getting Rid Of Body / Talking To Angel #Outside Police Station #Bowling Alley / Parking Lot #Stick Up #Cleaners / Cleo #Closing Jimmy's #Police Break In #"T" Cleans Up / Police Station #Packing Up / Jimmy Gets Worked / Saying Goodbye / "T" Breaks In / Movie Theater #Car Ride / Looking For Pete #Parking Garage / Elevator #Penthouse #Getting Pete #My Name Is "T" / End Credits #"T" At The Cross (film band bonus)

Personnel

Musicians

*Marvin Gaye – vocals, drums, keyboards, piano, synthesizers, producer, arranger (9) *Trevor Lawrence – alto, tenor and baritone saxophones * Dale Oehler – horn & rhythm arrangements (track 9) *Eli Fountain – alto saxophone *Marty Montgomery – soprano saxophone *

Gene Page Eugene Edgar Page Jr. (September 13, 1939 – August 24, 1998) was an American conductor, composer, arranger and record producer, most active from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s. His sound can be heard in the arrangements he did for Jeffer ...

– strings (track 9) * Robert O. Ragland – piano, string arrangements (track 7) * James Anthony Carmichael – horn arrangements (track 7) *Nesbert Stix Hooper – drums *Leon Ndugu Chancler – drums *Ray Parker Jr – guitar *David T.Walker – guitar

Production

* Dale Oehler – arranger (tracks 1, 6) *

– arranger (9) * Jack Hayes – arranger (3, 10–13) * J.J. Johnson – arranger (8) * Robert O. Ragland – arranger (4–5) *

Leo Shuken Leo Shuken (born December 8, 1906, Los Angeles, California – d. July 24, 1976, Santa Monica, California) was an American film music composer, arranger, and musical director, who specialized in epic or Western film genres, including " The Magnifi ...

– arranger (3, 10–13) *Jerry Long – arranger (2)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Albums produced by Marvin Gaye Albums arranged by Gene Page 1972 soundtrack albums Jazz-funk albums Marvin Gaye soundtracks Tamla Records soundtracks Albums recorded at Hitsville U.S.A. Thriller film soundtracks