Marvin Gaye, My Brother

April 1, 2003
This posthumous memoir (Frankie Gaye died of a heart attack in 2001), reconstructed from a year of interviews with collaborator Basten, presents the tragic, tumultuous career of Motown singer Marvin Gaye from his younger brother's perspective. Bookended by the sorrowful scene of Marvin's violent death, the story moves from the brothers' tough childhood, dominated by a stern, God-fearing father, through Marvin's rise to fame and into his paranoid, drug-fueled dissolution. Through it all, brother Frankie watches from the wings, offering support and solace, and joining in the party when the times are good. Due to their close physical resemblance, Frankie appears with Marvin onstage at times to confuse the crowd. Perhaps most importantly, both for Frankie and Marvin, Frankie's experience in Vietnam colors Marvin's increasingly politicized art in the 60s. "I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Marvin, my brother, the star, was so inspired by me that he had written a song about me--for me--a song about the frustrations of a returning Vietnam vet, a song that was so personal and heartfelt I started to cry," Frankie says. The song was "What's Happening, Brother," on the landmark What's Goin' On. With great affection for his deeply flawed family--his father's religious zealotry, his brother's rebellious self-destruction--Frankie himself emerges as a sensitive, cautious peacekeeper and witness, a paradigmatic younger brother to one of music's great voices. 30 b&w photos.

June 15, 2003
Frankie Gaye was conspicuously quiet after his brother, Marvin, one of Motown's greatest stars, was shot to death by their father in 1984. Though the brothers were close (it was, after all, Frankie who cradled the dying Marvin in his arms), Frankie respectfully waited to tell the story of his brother's life and tragic death until after Marvin Sr. died in 1998. Only glimpses of Frankie's insights have appeared in previous books, so his full story helps to flesh out details about Marvin's artistry and often tortured life. For instance, Marvin's obsession with hearing about Frankie's experiences in Vietnam were the partial inspiration for the landmark What's Going On album. However, the book's most stunning revelation, Marvin's near-death confession to Frankie that he intentionally provoked their father to shoot him as a form of suicide, merely confirms what was already reported in Steve Turner's Trouble Man. Sadly, Frankie did not live to see this book published. He died of a heart attack in 2001, leaving entertainment writer Basten to wade through the hours of taped conversations he had with Frankie to assemble the final product. Marring the project are numerous reconstructed conversations, some attempting to replicate things said more than 40 years ago. Frankie also sidesteps Marvin's struggle to reconcile his deeply held Christian beliefs with his sexual indulgences. Still, this moving memoir complements and adds depth to Turner's work, as well as to David Ritz's Divided Soul. Recommended.-Lloyd Jansen, Stockton-San Joaquin Cty. P.L., CA

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