Artist:Marvin Gaye
Song:I Want to Come Home for Christmas
AlbumYou're the Man
I always like to feature Christmas songs at this time of year. And I also like to feature lost songs or as I call them, discography orphans. I Want to Come Home for Christmas covers both things. You're the Man was supposed to be Gaye's 1972 follow up album to What's Going On. And he was also planning to record a Christmas album. You're the Man was released as a single in 1972. Gaye was inspired by the 1972 presidential election. At the time, Gaye was in trouble for failure to pay back taxes. So You're the Man was a callout especially to George McGovern about righting all the wrongs of the previous administration. Gaye wrote the song with Kenneth Stover who worked with him on What's Going On. Members of Hamilton Bohannon's band played on the record. The idea was to build an album around You're the Man similar to What's Going On. You're the Man was released as a single and when it flopped, Gaye decided to scrap the album. Meanwhile, Gaye was thinking about recording a Christmas album. I Want to Go Home for Christmas came about when Gaye was visiting his friend Forest Hairston. Hairston had written songs with Smokey Robinson. Hairston was writing a song about Vietnam War veterans wanting to come home for Christmas. Gaye helped him finish the song and record it at Motown's Los Angeles studio. Though Gaye's Christmas album was never released, I Want to Go Home for Christmas was released as a single because the song is about Vietnam War veterans. Motown didn't want to release it. The song has turned up on comps over the years and many R&B radio stations play it during the Christmas season. This album You're the Man was promoted as a lost album when it was released in 2019. Fifteen of the songs have been released on compilations over the years. Now you can get them on one CD along with some additional songs. I think Marvin Gaye fans should check it out. Here's the video for I Want to Go Home for Christmas by Marvin Gaye.
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