Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye

by Michael Eric Dyson

Twenty years after his murder at the hands of his own father, Marvin Gaye continues to define the hopes and shattered dreams of the Motown generation. A performer whose career spanned the history of rhythm and blues, from doo-wop to the sultriest of soul music, Gaye's artistry magnified the contradictions that defined America's coming of age in the tumultuous 1970s. In his most searching and ambitious work to date, acclaimed critic Michael Eric Dyson illuminates both Marvin Gaye's stellar achievements and stunning personal decline--and offers an unparalleled assessment of the cultural and political legacy of R&B on American culture.Through interviews with those close to Gaye--from his musical beginnings in a black church in Washington, D.C., to his days as a "ladies' man" in Motown's stable of young singers, from the artistic heights of the landmark album What's Going On? to his struggles with addiction and domestic violence--Dyson draws an indelible portrait of the tensio

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Music Biography, Biography Memoir, Cultural

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Michael Eric Dyson is an American academic, author, and radio host. He is a professor of sociology at Georgetown University.

Reviews

[NON · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mercy, Mercy Me is not a biography of the singer, Marvin Gaye. It is instead a work of biocriticism; an analysis of Gaye's art, loves, and demons that turns to elements of his life to illustrates his genius and to detail his struggles and failures. I'm a sucker for psychological examination and Mr. Dyson nailed his analysis, and brought forth the "inner" Marvin, divulged sides of him that I never knew of and I'm sure weren't discussed before.

Overall, this is a superb critical analysis of Marvin Gaye; intellectual and grasp the reader's attention from the first page all the way til the last page. A wonderful read for those who wants to know about the soul behind the music and the black community.
Although if you are not familiar with the life and career of Marvin Gaye, this is book is not where you should start your journey in studying his life, however, the author made many reference to other definitive biographies on him (Trouble Man: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye, Divided Soul: The Life Of Marvin Gaye, among others) that will make it easier for beginners.

[Constance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marvin Gaye was a genius. Michael Eric Dyson is not. I was so excited to get this book and so disappointed when I tried to finish it. I've read David Ritz' book and will believe that to be true.
I still listen to "I Want You." It was my anthem the first time I heard it. It is the best album ever written. And that is a huge statement since I'm a die hard Lennon & McCartney fan.
What puzzles me about this book is why the Mr Dyson has to "go off" on corporal punishment, Afroedipal, which is word he made up, and R. Kelly. I bought this book to read about my musical hero. It is ruined with the last 20+ pages of dribble about R Kelly who is NOT Marvin Gaye. I've never not finished a book, but this one I could not stomach as I skimmed the last pages. I think this book was more about Mr Dyson's ego than about the genius of Marvin Gaye.....PEACE

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very intellectual book about Marvin Gaye. I read a little bit from the beginning, but mostly I was interested in the end of his life, so I really only read the last chapter.

I always knew that Marvin was killed by his father, but until recently I didn't know anything about the circumstances. Last month I got into a discussion with a guy at a bar who knew quite a bit about it, and he told me the story. I thought it was the most moving thing I'd ever heard. So then I decided to try this book. I guess maybe I hoped that I would sort of be able to relive the pleasantly sad, boozy experience of hearing the story from the guy. It didn't work. The book made me feel very, very sober.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Mercy, Mercy Me grabs the reader's attention despite the fact that Elmore gives his audience no surprises. He reveals much of the ending at the beginning, but he does a good job of giving a psychosocial and spiritual basis for what motivates the characters. Mercy, Mercy Me has no one-dimensional, good or evil portrayals. Elmore also avoids the typical presto-spiritual resolutions that tend to plague much of today's Christian fiction. He does not attempt to solve every character's problem. And, excellent therapist that he is, Elmore the new novelist also includes a number of helpful relationship pointers as he plots."

Marvin Gaye - the most incredible talent! One of my favorites so I knew I would like this book no matter what -- but it really was interesting!

[Sheeru Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe that there was too much emphasis on his musical creations rather than his personal life. Indeed, Micheale Eric Dyson does describe each song, album and live performance of Marvin's in detail. He tried to get deep within the troubled singer's mind by dissecting his music. His intellectual theories of why Marvin was the way he was, is definitely interesting. Read this book if you are a fan of Marvin Gaye's music and if you are interested to know the conflict the musician had with sprituality and sexuality.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

i chose to read this book for my love of marvin and curiosity as to what he was really all about. i wouldn't recommend this book since it really gives you little new information and assumes you already know everything about marvin gaye's life. also, it reads quite a lot like a college paper on the subject of marvin gaye biographies. after reading this, i still have to go back and read a full bio to find out anything substantial...

[Trevor Seigler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvin Gaye may have the most tragic arc in all of American pop-culture history; a gifted, one-of-a-kind talent brought to ruin by his addictions and murdered by his own father in a violent altercation that merely capped off the lifetime of discord between them. He made some of the best music of the twentieth century, most of it with Motown (where he was Berry Gordy's brother-in-law). He experienced epic highs and lows, and cruelly had been on his way back to the top only a year before his death (in the intervening months, his paranoia, fueled by cocaine and insecurity, got the better of him and caused him to move in with his parents, into a dysfunctional situation that resulted in the worst April Fool's Day in modern times).

Michael Eric Dyson's magisterial book "Mercy, Mercy Me" puts Gaye's work as an artist in the context of his tortured life, with a celebration of all that he accomplished both on his own and in collaboration with various female duet partners (especially Tammi Terrell). Dyson goes through Gaye's early development in Motown, where he fought to distinguish himself as a solo artist after a time spent in groups, his idols being Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. But the standards-singer-to-be found his voice with duets with female partners through the mid-to-late Sixties, when he became the prince of Motown. In the wake of the tumult of the late Sixties and early Seventies, Gaye turned his focus to the social/political with his landmark album "What's Going On" and to the bedroom with "Let's Get It On." His success came at a price: his addictions to drugs and sex grew only more potent, and the discord between himself and his father (who more or less sponged off his famous, wealthy son) only got worse. A bitter divorce from Anna Gordy gave the world the album "Here, My Dear," and Gaye had one final success with the single "Sexual Healing," before his life fell apart and he found himself on the wrong end of a gun pointed by his own father a day before his birthday in 1984.

Dyson, a fantastic writer, captures those peaks and valleys, as well as putting Gaye and his music into the deeper context of the Civil Rights movement, the automation of Detroit (both in terms of automobiles and Motown's recording practices), the awakening sexual revolution of the late Sixties, and so on. The final section, concluding as it does with an extended conversation with R Kelly, might strike readers today, cognizant of the myriad allegations against Kelly in 2020, as a bit uncomfortable (and to be fair, Kelly was facing trial in 2004 for some of those allegations, so Dyson doesn't skirt over those facts at all. It's just awkward to read Kelly's words and know the full story, which was only hinted at at the time Dyson interviewed him). But the book as a whole is a powerful, sobering look at an artistic genius whose life was as painful as his art was profound.

[Katy Koivastik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an in-depth treatise on Marvin Gaye's perfectionism both as a singer and as a recording engineer. Author Michael Eric Dyson interviewed the people who knew Marvin best: sound engineers, ex wife Janis Hunter and other family members. The book is just as advertised. We learn much about Marvin's inner demons and his addictions.

Michael Eric Dyson is an erudite writer and thinker. He tells us about Marvin the man in the context of his time and in Black culture as a whole.

I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Marvin, but miss him even more.

[Mary Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting- good and interesting in parts- informative too. I especially liked reading about how/why he recorded What’s Going On. The part about his album and his early years was also good. However I was not interested in R Kelly- no comparison there. And I was not interested in the views of music geeks. That’s why this is a 3 rating.

[Carlos Burnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Thank you, Mr. Dyson for this story and the depiction of Marvin from your point of view. I remember my Mother came home crying the day he died. He was an awesome artist tormented by some terrible demons.

[Larry Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

He had a really rough life.

[Rafael Suleiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great examination of the life of Marvin Gaye.

[Zakeyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and informative deep dive on Marvin Gaye and 60s-early 80s soul music culture as well; well written.

[Scottnshana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I vividly remember the first time I heard “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” in a tent in the middle of a 2002 summer night at Bagram Airbase. I actually stopped what I was doing and asked what the track was because it was so deep, philosophical, and just plain good. Up until that moment, to me Marvin Gaye was “Grapevine” and “Aint No Mountain” and coke/sex addiction. I had no idea there was more to him and his work. When I heard that Michael Eric Dyson had written a book about him (at about the same time I was coping with dust, mines, and angry folk in Afghanistan), I bought it online just about immediately. I consider Dyson worthy of the title “American Public Intellectual”, and really took a lot of perspective from his MLK biography, so purchasing “Mercy, Mercy Me” was a no-brainer and I devoured this book over a 2-day business trip in Stuttgart. I like the way Dyson brings in anthropological terms like “the deification of accident” to describe the coincidence and “different social and creative circumstances” that produced the classic “What’s Going On” album. I really dug his exploration of what happened between “What’s Going On”—a masterwork of political consciousness—and the honest and raunchy exploration of Gaye’s sexual identity in the equally masterful “Let’s Get It On”. If someone had said there were politics in disco music, I would normally burst out laughing. Dyson, however, argues that Disco empowered liberated women and homosexual culture in the mid-70s (2 concepts that Gaye allegedly hated) and that “Got to Give It Up” was Marvin Gaye’s concession to it. He also argues that the artist’s best work was usually produced in partnerships (Tammi Terrell being the most obvious exemplar), and introduces the reader to Leon Ware, who wrote most of the songs on “I Want You,” another acknowledged classic album. “Marvin transformed them through his erotic alchemy, [and] he and Ware produced a work of lasting beauty.” All the people interviewed for the book—like Ware—are interesting and candid about Marvin Gaye and his history, and as a writer and historian I appreciated the way Dyson wove their words into the narrative. The book, however, possesses what Pee Wee Herman called “a big BUT”; Dyson has put together a seven-course meal of superlative components, then wheeled out a dessert tray with a tureen of puke on it. Everyone has his own perspective on R. Kelly, but sitting through about 20 pages of Kelly comparing himself to firemen rushing into the twin towers at 9/11, MLK, and Malcolm X was a bit like being told to come over here and get a good strong whiff of ugly. I have a lot of respect for Dr. Dyson, and I think he’s got a much better concluding chapter in him. He has instead recorded for posterity a man who reputedly filmed himself peeing on a teenage girl expressing his own belief that his aspirations to be more like Jesus Christ absolve him of judgment. I love the Gospel and especially the Sermon on the Mount, but giving this sociopath a podium compelled me to write “asshole” in the margin on p. 245. I recommend this book, but I also recommend stopping cold before this unnecessary and puzzling Afterword chapter.

[Erin Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvin Gaye is one of the most beautiful and tortured souls in music history I believe, so I really, really enjoy reading books about his life and him. I was born years after Marvin Gaye died, however from reading books like David Ritz' "Divided Soul" and this book by Michael Eric Dyson, I feel like I was around in those times if it makes any sense. I believe that reading the back story of his life and the creation process and etc, it really makes me more able to understand his music and life and etc. I thought David Ritz' book was great, however, I also believe this is a great book. I like how Michael Eric Dyson isn't just giving a back story of Marvin Gaye, but he is also giving people a look at times from his perspective too like how he felt during the time of the Watts riots and heard "What's Going On" as that was happening, and even the first time he was exposed to Marvin Gaye and his music. I also like how he got quotes from people who know Gaye as well as those who have studied Gaye. I really believe that his complex relationship towards sex and spirituality is a very interesting and compelling part of Gaye and the icon that we see. Great book, really helps to make listeners/readers understand a lot of his songs looking at this book as guidance.

[Mr. John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was looking for something that would not only give me a biography of Marvin Gaye, but also get "under the skin" of the legend- this book did just that. I thought this book did an excellent job of not only recounting his life, but also exploring his music and life under a microscope through several different lenses. It spoke about what influenced his music, what effects his music had on society and on his own life, what effects his music had on music as we know it today, and the price that all of this cost him (his marriages, his sobriety, his life). I'll be honest: if you pick up this book without an initial interest in getting behind the music of Marvin Gaye and wanting to know the many intricacies of his life, then you may only be impressed by the expertise with which Michael Eric Dyson was able to do this. Even casual fans of Marvin Gaye can appreciate how Dyson was able to dissect the man and his music, and may find themselves driven to listen to Marvin's music with the newfound insight that this book grants (prime example: "Soon I'll Be Loving You Again"). A must-read for any true Marvin Gaye fan.

[Chris White · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to read this book because my friend recommended it to me, and I've heard the man's music and wanted to learn more. The book is about Marvin Gaye, a singer and actor from the 1960s/70s. The book takes a person through the life of Marvin Gaye, from his life as a pastors son in Washington D.C., to his rise to fame. It also talks about the extravagant ways he led his life, and the things that influenced his sex related music. But the whole time he struggled to maintain his relationship with God.The book even takes you through the events leading up to his death (caused by his father). My favorite quote from the book was probably "Its not what we have that defines us, its what we do with it." I like this quote because it tells us that we can have everything, but if we don't help anyone but our selves with it, then were just as bad as the rest of humanity. I thought that Michael Eric Dyson's autobiographical writing style was not hat great. He didn't dive into Gayes's life as much as he should have and instead mostly gave commentary on his life's accomplishments. Because of this, i would not recommend this book to people, unless they are ready for unnecessary commentary.

[Curtis Anthony Bozif · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this much as I thought I would. I'm reading it as part of my research for an art project I'm currently constructing (I was told by someone that in order to used Marvin Gaye in my work I need to "own him," what ever that means. Actually I only really found the last two chapters interesting. In those chapters Marvin's relationship with his father is inscribed by Michael Eric Dyson as an example of "Afroedipalism." A cultural phenomenon wherein black family dynamics "often rewrites the narrative of familial sexual competition by ritualizing the violent assault on black sons (and daughters) as the rite of passage to adulthood." A kind of, or an atempt at, mastery of the trauma of slavery (what Dyson mentions only once as "post-traumatic slavery syndrome" through repitition of the act, like Freud's famous "fort/da" game. Over all this was a nice read but lacked (for the most part) the kind of close analytical reading that I was looking for.

C.

[Shedrick Pittman-Hassett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book expecting a biography. While there are plenty of biographical elements to it, it is primarily a scholarly work. It presents a very detailed analysis to the sociological and psychological aspects of Gaye's life, their influence on his music, and the influence of his music on the sociology and psychology of his times. Dyson presents some very interesting arguments; the chapters about Gaye's struggle to reconcile his spirituality and his sexuality, as well as the discussion of the relationship that his father had with him and the rest of the family are particularly interesting. The author spends a lot of time discussing other people's arguments and makes some suppositions that I'm not sure I can rally behind. However, this is a well-researched and well-written exploration of an often misunderstood man and the times in which he lived.

[Brandon Archer · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fan of Marvin Gaye' music, this book was pretty decent. There were some parts of the book that were a bit boring to me but overall this book gave a great overview of a talented and legendary yet deeply troubled musician. It explains about Marvin's strict religious upbringing at the hands of his father growing up in Washington D.C. and how it mentally affected him as he become a star of secular music. The book does great justice to the timeline of Marvin being a smooth new edition with Motown in the 1960s (e.g. his paring with Tammi Terrell) to his socially conscious Whats Going On album to romantic classics such as Lets Get It On/Sexual Healing to his final big performace (1983 NBA All Star game where he sang the National Anthem) to being killed by his father in 1984 after suffering from years of drug abuse and emotional instability.

[Sheldon Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about the artist Marvin Gaye. I was always a fan of his music, but after ready EMD I feel like I knew what went behind the music.

If one could imagine driving a car on a jagged road filled with potholes, yet feeling as though they are floating, you’ve captured the contrast in the rough subject matter of the lyrics and the soulfully smooth voice with which Marvin delivered them.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a good chronicle of Marvin Gaye's music career...it didn't get into his life before music as much as I would have liked and it didn't really go deep into his personal relationships like I would have liked. However, it did give a bit more insight into his life and trials. I have more respect for his music than I did before although I was already a fan.

[Calvin]

I love Marvin Gaye, I do not love efforts to psychoanalyze an artists work some 20 years after their death. His shooting death by his father was a suicidal act? And his "Proof" that him and Tammi Terell has a secret relationship is ludicrous.

Marvin, and myself as a reader, deserved significantly better than this.

[Jeremy Winter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up toward the end of the summer, had to put it down when the school year started, then finished it over the holiday break.

Since I am a music nerd I loved the detailed info about the recording sessions, etc.

[Ryan Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look into the life of Marvin Gaye and an in-depth analysis of his music. While Dyson meandered at times (finishing the book with a chapter on R. Kelly?), he does a good job of teasing out the personal meanings of Gaye's songs with regard to his challenging life.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mercy, Mercy Me is a dry book. It is good information, but presented in a droll way. I didn't care at all for the final chapter featuring R. Kelly. If you are a Marvin Gaye super fan you may want to read this, casual readers, you would be better served reading another Marvin Gaye biography.

[Lori White · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING

[Diana Mafikovi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to know more about the troubled life of this trouble man. Unfortunately, this was one of the most boring biographies I have read. Disappointing.