Jazz, soul & blues
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye (1939-1984), a legend of American soul and a major Motown figure, came to Montreux only once: on 7 July 1980, at the Montreux Jazz Festival, for a concert that became famous and was later released on DVD. There he rolled out his classics, from “What’s Going On” to “Let’s Get It On” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”.
Marvin Gaye in Montreux: the 1980 concert
7 July 1980: soul in Montreux
Spotted and signed by Berry Gordy at Motown in 1961, Marvin Gaye racked up thirty-nine US Top 40 hits there, from “Ain’t That Peculiar” to “Inner City Blues”, “What’s Going On” or “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”. On 7 July 1980, at the height of his art, he took the stage of the Casino de Montreux for his only appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
The concert, around a hundred minutes long, combined a scintillating stage performance with his greatest songs; it would later be released on DVD, “Live at Montreux 1980”. Four years later, in 1984, Marvin Gaye died, shot by his father during an argument; he would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
