Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep with the record.

— Paul, Vinyl Curator

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye Live!

1974 · Tamla T6-333S1 · Stereo · US · LP, gatefold · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Tamla
Catalogue number	T6-333S1
Year	1974
Mono / Stereo	Stereo
Country	US
Format	LP, gatefold
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Soul/Funk - Live Soul
Producer	Marvin Gaye (producer), Ewart "E.G." Abner (executive producer)
Conductor	Gene Page (orchestra); Lesley Drayton ("Fossil Medley")
Performer / Orchestra	40-piece touring orchestra arranged and conducted by Gene Page
Musicians	Marvin Gaye (vocals), James Jamerson (bass), Ed Greene (drums), David T. Walker (guitar), Ray Parker Jr. (guitar), Joe Sample (keyboards), Ernie Watts (saxophone), William Green (saxophone/horns), plus 40-piece orchestra arranged/conducted by Gene Page; Lesley Drayton conducted the "Fossil Medley". Individual player credits are not printed on the jacket/labels.

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  T6-3335.1-D5RS--7651-1 03B
Side B:  T6-3335.1-D5RS--7652-2 03B

Condition

Cover: VG
Vinyl: EX

Variant chronology

1974 - US original, cream/maroon Tamla globe label, die-cut gatefold, Hollywood-cut O3B/O1A etched runouts (no plant letter)
1974 - US original, RCA Indianapolis plant variant, "I" stamp in runouts (e.g. O1A I A1)  <- this copy
1974 - UK Tamla Motown STML 11253 and Japan Tamla VIP-6050 export/market editions
1980s - US Motown reissue, later Motown-logo labels, lighter vinyl
2016-2024 - US/EU Motown/UMe vinyl reissues, 180g, replicated artwork

This Pressing

1974 US original stereo gatefold - Tamla cream/maroon globe label, T6-333S1; etched runouts T6-333S1-D5RS-7651-1 O3B / T6-333S1-D5RS-7652-2 O3B; the pressing plant (Hollywood vs. RCA Indianapolis) is not identified in the runout.

The Album

Marvin Gaye Live! documents Gaye's return to the stage after years of self-imposed exile triggered by Tammi Terrell's 1967 onstage collapse and her subsequent death, an ordeal that left him gripped by stage fright and reluctant to tour. By the time of this concert he had reinvented himself as a studio auteur with What's Going On, Trouble Man and Let's Get It On, the latter becoming his biggest-selling album and making him Motown's top-selling artist during his lifetime, success that helped push him back onto a stage. He performed before more than 14,000 fans at the Oakland Coliseum Arena on January 4, 1974, reportedly sending his brother out first to gauge the crowd's reception. The set leaned into his 1970s persona with Trouble Man, Inner City Blues, Distant Lover, Let's Get It On and What's Going On, while his 1960s Motown hits were compressed into a self-deprecatingly titled, up-tempo "Fossil Medley", and he premiered the new song "Jan", written for his girlfriend Janis Hunter. The slowed, smoldering rendition of "Distant Lover" became the night's breakout moment and a hit single, remaining his onstage signature for years afterward. Backed by a 40-piece orchestra of Los Angeles studio musicians under arranger/conductor Gene Page, the performance translated his intimate, studio-crafted 1970s sound into a large-scale arena seduction, and the resulting album stands as a defining artifact of 1970s live soul and a beloved chapter in Gaye's career.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Introduction :34
2. Overture 2:24
3. Trouble Man 6:33
4. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) 3:23
5. Distant Lover 6:20
6. Jan 3:14

Side 2

1. Fossil Medley 11:31 - I'll Be Doggone / Try It Baby / Can I Get A Witness / You're A Wonderful One / Stubborn Kind Of Fellow / How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
2. Let's Get It On 4:49
3. What's Going On 4:53

The Label

This copy carries the mid-1970s Tamla design: cream/tan field, maroon upper band, boxed Motown globe logo over the TAMLA wordmark, "© 1974 MOTOWN RECORD CORPORATION / TRADEMARK MOTOWN RECORD CORPORATION" printed above the title, and "A PRODUCT OF MOTOWN RECORD CORP." on the bottom rim - the standard Tamla design used from the early 1970s through mid-decade, matching the June 1974 first issue. The runouts (T6-333S1-D5RS-7651-1 O3B / -7652-2 O3B) correspond to a US original stamper configuration; a separate pressing of this same release was run at the RCA Indianapolis plant and carries an explicit "I" stamp. The exact plant for this copy (Hollywood-area vs. RCA Indianapolis) is not identified from the runout etching alone. Either way, the die-cut inner gatefold and 1974 Motown copyright text on the jacket firmly place this copy within the original first-issue print run rather than any later Motown reissue.

Fidelity

This is a Motown in-house cut of a Wally Heider live remote recording, mixed at Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studios and lacquer-cut at RCA Studios Hollywood; the sound is typical mid-70s Motown - warm and midrange-forward, with horns and strings somewhat congested and arena ambience compressed, so the ceiling is set by the tape and mix rather than by any particular stamper. The O3B stampers on this copy are mid-run rather than the very first lacquers, but original 1974 US Tamla pressings are generally quiet and well-manufactured, and collectors on the forums favor these originals over the thinner 1980s Motown represses. There is no dedicated audiophile reissue program (Analogue Productions, Mobile Fidelity, etc.) for this title comparable to treatments given What's Going On or Let's Get It On, so a clean original US Tamla pressing like this one sits at or near the top of the album's realistic fidelity hierarchy.

Notes

1974 Tamla T6-333S1, US stereo original pressing of Marvin Gaye Live!, released June 19, 1974. The cream/maroon Tamla globe label with the 1974 Motown Record Corporation copyright text and the first-issue die-cut gatefold place this copy firmly in the original run. The etched runouts (T6-333S1-D5RS-7651-1 O3B / -7652-2 O3B) correspond to a US original stamper variant, though the absence of a plant stamp means the exact pressing plant (Hollywood-area vs. RCA Indianapolis) is not identified from the runout.

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