Just to Keep You Satisfied
Encyclopedia
"Just to Keep You Satisfied" is a song by soul
singer Marvin Gaye
. The song was the b-side to Marvin's modest 1974 hit, "You Sure Love to Ball
" and was the eighth and final song issued on the singer's 1973 album, Let's Get It On
.
and the Monitors. The latter group recorded an early version of the song, which was originally a love ballad
and featured future Temptations
member Richard Street
performing the lead vocals. The following year, Gaye used the original music for the Monitors version for his religious composition, "God is Love
".
In 1970, Marvin re-recorded the song with a different musical background and different lyrics for the Originals, who were having hits with Gaye's compositions, "Baby I'm for Real
" and "The Bells
", with Henry Dixon taking most of the leads. Gaye can be obviously heard in this version first singing "oh I love you girl/oh I love my woman" and also accompanied them in the background with the refrain, "I'll keep you satisfied, satisfied" while the other Originals improvised vocals while their original background vocals of "ooh baby" were repeated. This song was produced in a proto-quiet storm
format and included a false fade.
Both versions by the Monitors and the Originals weren't released as singles. In 1973, while working on his album, Let's Get It On
, Gaye was going through a public separation with his wife, Anna
, who was the co-writer of the original "Satisfied". Marvin had based most of the songs on Let's Get It On, on sexual and romantic relationships. For "Satisfied", he decided to re-write "Satisfied" to contrast most of the songs' subject matter in response to his collapse in his relationship with Anna. He edited out the percussion from the Originals recording and also kept just their background vocals from the 1970 version, and overdubbed mixes with his own vocals.
In an alternate version, the Originals vocals are edited completely out of the song and replaced with background vocals by Gaye. The song was featured at the end of Let's Get It On and concluded with Gaye's spoken vocals in which he says in a soft tone, "oh well, all we can do is we can both try to be happy." Like most of Gaye's ballads during this period, the song reflected the singer's doo-wop
roots.
The song was covered by Kenny Lattimore
on the Gaye tribute album, Marvin Is 60, and was also covered by the likes of Randy Crawford
, Nancy Wilson (jazz singer) and longtime Marvin Gaye fan Lisa Stansfield
. The original version was played during the movie Baby Boy
and was sampled on Mary J. Blige
's single "When We", from her Love & Life
album.
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
. The song was the b-side to Marvin's modest 1974 hit, "You Sure Love to Ball
You Sure Love to Ball
"You Sure Love to Ball" is a song by Marvin Gaye, released in 1974. While it was initially a modest pop success peaking at #50, it rode to #13 on the R&B chart. The song was one of Gaye's most sexually overt and controversial singles....
" and was the eighth and final song issued on the singer's 1973 album, Let's Get It On
Let's Get It On
Let's Get It On is the twelfth studio album by American soul musician Marvin Gaye, released August 28, 1973, on Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during June 1970 to July 1973 at Hitsville U.S.A. and Golden World Studio in Detroit, and at Hitsville West in Los Angeles...
.
Background
The song's progress started in 1969 when Marvin began writing his own songs and was testing the songs out on other artists, most notably second-tier acts signed to Motown including the OriginalsThe Originals
The Originals were a successful Motown R&B and soul group during the late 1960s and the 1970s, most notable for the hits "Baby I'm For Real", "The Bells" and the disco classic, "Down to Love Town"...
and the Monitors. The latter group recorded an early version of the song, which was originally a love ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
and featured future Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
member Richard Street
Richard Street
Richard Allen Street is an American soul and R&B singer, most notable as a member of The Temptations from 1971 to 1993...
performing the lead vocals. The following year, Gaye used the original music for the Monitors version for his religious composition, "God is Love
God Is Love (song)
"God is Love" is a 1970 song written by Marvin Gaye, Anna Gordy Gaye, James Nyx and Elgie Stover and recorded by Marvin for his What's Going On album. The song was a return of sorts to Gaye's religious background dedicating this song to God and his father, Marvin Pentz Gay, Sr. The song was...
".
In 1970, Marvin re-recorded the song with a different musical background and different lyrics for the Originals, who were having hits with Gaye's compositions, "Baby I'm for Real
Baby I'm For Real
"Baby, I'm for Real" is a soul ballad written by Marvin Gaye and Anna Gordy Gaye, produced by Marvin and recorded and released by American Motown vocal group The Originals for the Soul label issued in 1969.-The Originals version:...
" and "The Bells
The Bells
"The Bells" is a heavily onomatopoeic poem by Edgar Allan Poe which was not published until after his death in 1849. It is perhaps best known for the diacopic repetition of the word "bells." The poem has four parts to it; each part becomes darker and darker as the poem progresses from "the jingling...
", with Henry Dixon taking most of the leads. Gaye can be obviously heard in this version first singing "oh I love you girl/oh I love my woman" and also accompanied them in the background with the refrain, "I'll keep you satisfied, satisfied" while the other Originals improvised vocals while their original background vocals of "ooh baby" were repeated. This song was produced in a proto-quiet storm
Quiet storm
Quiet storm is a late-night radio format, featuring soulful slow jams, pioneered in the mid-1970s by then-station-intern Melvin Lindsey at WHUR-FM, in Washington, D.C. Smokey Robinson's like-titled hit single, released in 1975 as the title track to his third solo album, lent its name to the format...
format and included a false fade.
Both versions by the Monitors and the Originals weren't released as singles. In 1973, while working on his album, Let's Get It On
Let's Get It On
Let's Get It On is the twelfth studio album by American soul musician Marvin Gaye, released August 28, 1973, on Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during June 1970 to July 1973 at Hitsville U.S.A. and Golden World Studio in Detroit, and at Hitsville West in Los Angeles...
, Gaye was going through a public separation with his wife, Anna
Anna Gordy Gaye
Anna Gordy Gaye is an American songwriter and composer, known as the elder sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy and the first wife of soul legend Marvin Gaye, who used their troubled marriage as the focal point of his critically acclaimed 1978 effort, Here, My Dear, an album from which Gordy...
, who was the co-writer of the original "Satisfied". Marvin had based most of the songs on Let's Get It On, on sexual and romantic relationships. For "Satisfied", he decided to re-write "Satisfied" to contrast most of the songs' subject matter in response to his collapse in his relationship with Anna. He edited out the percussion from the Originals recording and also kept just their background vocals from the 1970 version, and overdubbed mixes with his own vocals.
In an alternate version, the Originals vocals are edited completely out of the song and replaced with background vocals by Gaye. The song was featured at the end of Let's Get It On and concluded with Gaye's spoken vocals in which he says in a soft tone, "oh well, all we can do is we can both try to be happy." Like most of Gaye's ballads during this period, the song reflected the singer's doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
roots.
The song was covered by Kenny Lattimore
Kenny Lattimore
Kenny Lattimore is an American R&B singer. Among his most popular hits were "Never Too Busy" and "For You".- Early career :...
on the Gaye tribute album, Marvin Is 60, and was also covered by the likes of Randy Crawford
Randy Crawford
Randy Crawford is an American jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist...
, Nancy Wilson (jazz singer) and longtime Marvin Gaye fan Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield is an English singer and songwriter.-Early years:Stansfield was born to Marion and Keith Stansfield in Heywood, Lancashire, in England, where she attended Redbrook School, Rochdale. Her first television appearance was on a talent programme in the Granada TV area in 1982...
. The original version was played during the movie Baby Boy
Baby Boy (film)
Baby Boy is a 2001 American urban drama film written, produced, and directed by John Singleton. It has been considered a sequel of sorts to Singleton's earlier, more famous work Boyz n the Hood released ten years earlier...
and was sampled on Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
's single "When We", from her Love & Life
Love & Life (Mary J. Blige album)
Love & Life is the sixth studio album by American singer Mary J. Blige, released in the United States on August 26, 2003 on Geffen Records. The album was primarily produced by Sean "Diddy" Combs, who executive produced her first two albums. Additional production came from Dr...
album.
Monitors version
- Lead vocals by Richard StreetRichard StreetRichard Allen Street is an American soul and R&B singer, most notable as a member of The Temptations from 1971 to 1993...
- Background vocals by the Monitors: Sandra Fagin, John "Maurice" Fagin and Warren Harris
- Instrumentation by The Funk BrothersThe Funk BrothersThe Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
and the Detroit Symphony OrchestraDetroit Symphony OrchestraThe Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...
Originals version
- Lead vocals by Henry Dixon, C.P. Spencer and Marvin Gaye (bridge)
- Background vocals by the Originals (Dixon, Spencer, Freddie Gorman and Walter Gaines) and Marvin Gaye
- Instrumentation by the Funk Brothers and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Marvin Gaye version one
- Lead vocals by Marvin GayeMarvin GayeMarvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
- Background vocals by Marvin Gaye & The OriginalsThe OriginalsThe Originals were a successful Motown R&B and soul group during the late 1960s and the 1970s, most notable for the hits "Baby I'm For Real", "The Bells" and the disco classic, "Down to Love Town"...
- Instrumentation by the Funk Brothers and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Marvin Gaye alternate version
- Lead and background vocals by Marvin Gaye
- Instrumentation by the Funk Brothers and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra