Marvin Gaye, My Brother

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.
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