Dream of a Lifetime
Encyclopedia
Dream of a Lifetime was the first posthumously released compilation of music by American
soul
singer Marvin Gaye
. It spawned the #2 R&B hit, "Sanctified Lady
".
when a final argument with his father Marvin Gay, Sr., ended with Gaye being shot to death on April 1, 1984. Prior to his death, Gaye was working on an album full of collaborations with the likes of Stevie Wonder
, Barry White
and Jermaine Jackson
. However, none of the songs were recorded as Gaye rarely left his home in the months leading to his death. Afterwards, Gaye's label Columbia
struggled to finish the contractual obligations as Gaye had agreed to do three albums with the label. This was the first of two projects Columbia - and Gaye's former label Motown
- would work on to complete the contract and to help secure money earnings for Gaye's estate. Gaye, who was in debt at the time of his death, left no will. After this album's release, Columbia fulfilled the contract with the release of a covers album, Romantically Yours
, culled from sessions Gaye had with Bobby Short from 1967 through 1978.
Gordon Banks
and longtime mentor Harvey Fuqua
, assembled a collection of unreleased and unfinished songs Gaye left behind after his death. Gaye had recorded several songs for the Midnight Love
album but Gaye left the songs from the final track listing as he had yet to finish them. Among the songs left off were "Sanctified Lady" (which was modified from Gaye's original title, "Sanctified Pussy
") and the S&M ode, "Masochistic Beauty". Both songs were co-written by Gaye and Banks. In the former song, Gaye tells listeners he wanted a "sanctified woman" he can love for life rather than just have her for sexual favors, which was a contrast with the latter song, as Gaye, speaking in a mock-British
tone, plays a dominatrix
. The other songs were culled from leftover Motown sessions including the self-parodying "Savage in the Sack" (which included the vamp lyric, "them niggers"). Gaye told David Ritz that he had no intention to seriously release the record, as he was high when he wrote it and recorded portions of the song. Inexplicably Harvey Fuqua helped to "finish" the recording. "Savage in the Sack" was recorded in a late 1978 recording session. The mellow track, "Ain't It Funny How Things Turn Around", was recorded in 1977 for the Here, My Dear
album, but was left off its release. After it was issued on this album, Bootsy Collins
would produce a remix of the track, featured on a deluxe edition issue of Here, My Dear, with extra verses from Gaye. Other songs went back as far as 1972 including "Dream of a Lifetime" and "Life's Opera", though the latter was written in 1972, it wouldn't be recorded by Marvin until 1976 though it remained unreleased. Finally, Fuqua gave the song a new production and had it issued on the album. "Dream of a Lifetime", according to Gaye, was inspired by hearing that Sammy Davis Jr. had signed with Motown, however, Davis never got to record the song. "It's Madness" and the Gaye/Smokey Robinson composition, "Symphony", were recorded during the Let's Get It On
sessions in 1973. The original version of "Symphony" was included in the deluxe edition issue of Let's Get It On whereas the 1985 version included hip-hop-emulated sounds.
chart, while "It's Madness" peaked at #55 on that chart. The album itself peaked at #8 on the R&B chart and #41 on the Billboard 200
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soul
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....
. It spawned the #2 R&B hit, "Sanctified Lady
Sanctified Lady
"Sanctified Lady" is a song by American soul singer Marvin Gaye, released posthumously in 1985 by Columbia Records.The title of the track was originally "Sanctified Pussy", a phrase which Gaye can be heard mumbling during certain parts while the chorus chants "sanctified lady"...
".
Background
Marvin Gaye had been planning to finally end his seclusion at his home in CrenshawCrenshaw
-People:*Ander Crenshaw , American politician*Ben Crenshaw , American professional golfer*John Crenshaw , American landowner and slave trader*Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw , law professor...
when a final argument with his father Marvin Gay, Sr., ended with Gaye being shot to death on April 1, 1984. Prior to his death, Gaye was working on an album full of collaborations with the likes of Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Barry White
Barry White
Barry White, born Barry Eugene Carter , was an American composer and singer-songwriter.A five-time Grammy Award-winner known for his distinctive bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring...
and Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine La Jaune Jackson is an American singer, bassist, composer, a member of The Jackson 5, older brother of American pop stars Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson and occasional film director...
. However, none of the songs were recorded as Gaye rarely left his home in the months leading to his death. Afterwards, Gaye's label Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
struggled to finish the contractual obligations as Gaye had agreed to do three albums with the label. This was the first of two projects Columbia - and Gaye's former label Motown
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
- would work on to complete the contract and to help secure money earnings for Gaye's estate. Gaye, who was in debt at the time of his death, left no will. After this album's release, Columbia fulfilled the contract with the release of a covers album, Romantically Yours
Romantically Yours
Romantically Yours was the second posthumous release for American soul music legend Marvin Gaye, also released by Columbia Records in 1985....
, culled from sessions Gaye had with Bobby Short from 1967 through 1978.
Recording
Gaye's confidant in his later years, collaborator and brother-in-lawBrother-in-law
A brother-in-law is the brother of one's spouse, the husband of one's sibling, or the husband of one's spouse's sibling.-See also:*Affinity *Sister-in-law*Brothers in Law , a 1955 British comedy novel...
Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks, OBE is a retired English football goalkeeper. The IFFHS named Banks the second best goalkeeper of the 20th century – after Lev Yashin and ahead of Dino Zoff ....
and longtime mentor Harvey Fuqua
Harvey Fuqua
Harvey Fuqua, was an African-American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, record producer, and record label executive.Fuqua founded the seminal R&B/doo-wop group the Moonglows in the 1950s...
, assembled a collection of unreleased and unfinished songs Gaye left behind after his death. Gaye had recorded several songs for the Midnight Love
Midnight Love
Midnight Love is the final studio album recorded and issued by American soul singer Marvin Gaye and was the singer's first release from Columbia months after leaving his longtime label, Motown. It claimed the number one slot on NME Album of the Year....
album but Gaye left the songs from the final track listing as he had yet to finish them. Among the songs left off were "Sanctified Lady" (which was modified from Gaye's original title, "Sanctified Pussy
Pussy
Pussy is an English word meaning:* Cat* The human female genitalia, for the slang term related to genital anatomy.* Pejoratively, cowardice or weakness as an insult in general- Etymology :The origins of the word are unknown...
") and the S&M ode, "Masochistic Beauty". Both songs were co-written by Gaye and Banks. In the former song, Gaye tells listeners he wanted a "sanctified woman" he can love for life rather than just have her for sexual favors, which was a contrast with the latter song, as Gaye, speaking in a mock-British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
tone, plays a dominatrix
Dominatrix
Dominatrix or mistress is a woman or women who takes the dominant role in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism, or BDSM. A common form of address for a submissive to a dominatrix is "mistress", "ma'am", "domina" or "maîtresse"...
. The other songs were culled from leftover Motown sessions including the self-parodying "Savage in the Sack" (which included the vamp lyric, "them niggers"). Gaye told David Ritz that he had no intention to seriously release the record, as he was high when he wrote it and recorded portions of the song. Inexplicably Harvey Fuqua helped to "finish" the recording. "Savage in the Sack" was recorded in a late 1978 recording session. The mellow track, "Ain't It Funny How Things Turn Around", was recorded in 1977 for the Here, My Dear
Here, My Dear
Here, My Dear is a studio double album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released December 15, 1978 on Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at Marvin's Room in Hollywood, California from 1976 to 1977. A deeply personal and controversial album, Here, My Dear is notable for...
album, but was left off its release. After it was issued on this album, Bootsy Collins
Bootsy Collins
William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American funk bassist, singer, and songwriter.Rising to prominence with James Brown in the late 1960s, and with Parliament-Funkadelic in the '70s, Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk...
would produce a remix of the track, featured on a deluxe edition issue of Here, My Dear, with extra verses from Gaye. Other songs went back as far as 1972 including "Dream of a Lifetime" and "Life's Opera", though the latter was written in 1972, it wouldn't be recorded by Marvin until 1976 though it remained unreleased. Finally, Fuqua gave the song a new production and had it issued on the album. "Dream of a Lifetime", according to Gaye, was inspired by hearing that Sammy Davis Jr. had signed with Motown, however, Davis never got to record the song. "It's Madness" and the Gaye/Smokey Robinson composition, "Symphony", were recorded during the 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...
sessions in 1973. The original version of "Symphony" was included in the deluxe edition issue of Let's Get It On whereas the 1985 version included hip-hop-emulated sounds.
Charts
Dream of a Lifetime found modest success after its release in May 1985. The leading single, "Sanctified Lady", reached #2 on the Hot R&B SinglesHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart, while "It's Madness" peaked at #55 on that chart. The album itself peaked at #8 on the R&B chart and #41 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
.
Track listing
- "Sanctified LadySanctified Lady"Sanctified Lady" is a song by American soul singer Marvin Gaye, released posthumously in 1985 by Columbia Records.The title of the track was originally "Sanctified Pussy", a phrase which Gaye can be heard mumbling during certain parts while the chorus chants "sanctified lady"...
" (Gordon Banks, Gaye) – 5:25 - "Savage in the Sack" (Gaye) – 3:20
- "Masochistic Beauty" (Banks, Gaye) – 4:39
- "It's MadnessIt's Madness"It's Madness" was the second posthumous record released by American soul singer Marvin Gaye, released off his Dream Of A Lifetime album, in 1985....
" (Gaye) – 3:21 - "Ain't It Funny (How Things Turn Around)" (Gaye) – 4:54
- "Symphony" (Gaye, Smokey RobinsonSmokey RobinsonWilliam "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
) – 2:50 - "Life's Opera" (Gaye, Ivy Hunter) – 7:42
- "Dream of a Lifetime" (Gaye) – 3:49
Personnel
- Larkin Arnold – liner notes
- Gordon Banks – synthesizer, bass, percussion, drums, background vocals, producer, engineer
- William Bryant – percussion
- Harvey Fuqua – synthesizer, bass, percussion, drums, background vocals, producer
- Marvin Gaye – synthesizer, drums, keyboards, vocals, background vocals, producer
- Connie Howard & The Waters – background vocals
- John Kovarek – engineer
- Barney Perkins – engineer
- Preston Wilcox – drums