Divided Soul: The Life Of Marvin Gaye (Da Capo Paperback)

Named the #1 Rock Biography of All Time in The New Book of Rock Lists: "You won't find a more fascinating rock bio."--Village Voice.;1. In the beginning -- 2. Original sin -- 3. Sexual confusion -- 4. Stimulation -- 5. Coming of age -- 6. Breakout -- 7. Motown -- 8. Sounds coming 'round -- 9. Scoring -- 10. Gain and strain -- 11. Supreme wealth -- 12. Pain in paradise -- 13. An end to innocence -- 14. Games -- 15. Sermon from the studio --16. The lure of adoration -- 17. Hollywood hustles -- 18. Getting it on -- 19. The house in heaven -- 20. Out there -- 21. Suffering in style -- 22. Wanting -- 23. Giving it up -- 24. Inspired divorce -- 25. Disheartened vows. "A biography as dramatic as any to come out of the pop field . . . told with sympathy and unflinching candor."— San Francisco Chronicle In this intimate biography of the Prince of Soul, David Ritz provides a candid look at a star and a friend. Ritz had been collaborating with Gaye on his story for several years before the singer's tragic death, and had conducted a series of extraordinary interviews in which Gaye discussed his deepest secrets. Drawing from these interviews, Gaye's life is recounted in his own words and the words of those who knew him best: his family, friends, and colleagues. What emerges is a full-scale portrait of a charming but tortured artist, a brilliant singer with a divided soul. Here is Marvin's story from his early years in the slums of Washington, D.C., to is rise to the top of the Motown industry, his fall from grace, his comeback, and finally his sudden, shocking end at the hands of his own father. But it is also the story of his glorious music, and the music of black America over the past fifty years, from gospel to doo-wop to soul to funk. The result is an epic tale whose cast of characters includes Diana Ross, Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder, among others. The definitive biography of an enormously gifted and sensitive man, Divided Soul takes us deep into the life and music of one of America's most passionate—and most troubled—composers and singers.

Named the #1 Rock Biography of All Time in The New Book of Rock Lists: You won't find a more fascinating rock bio.-Village Voice

Publishers Weekly

Based largely on interviews for a projected ``autobiography'' that was cancelled after Gaye's death in 1984 at the hands of his father, this book is neither especially well-written nor perceptive. PW recommended that the Motown singer's fans ``skip the book and listen to his records instead.'' (May)

Drawing from interviews conducted before Marvin Gaye's death, acclaimed music writer David Ritz has created a full-scale portrait of the brilliant but tormented artist. With a cast of characters that includes Diana Ross, Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder, this intimate biography is a definitive and enduring look at the man who embodied the very essence of the word soul. A biography of the "Prince of Soul" whose life is told largely in his own words and by those who knew him best - family, friends and colleagues. Born in the black slums of Washington, he rose to the top of the Motown industry, fell from grace, came back, and died at the hands of his own father. Extensive interviews with the late singer, conducted during the years before his death, fill out an account of Gaye's childhood, his years as a top recording artist, and his triumphant comeback in 1983. Marvin's father-Marvin Pentz Gay, Sr., the third of thirteenth children-was born on a farm along Catnip Hill Pike in Jessamine Country, Kentucky, on October 1, 1914.