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Divided Soul

The Life of Marvin Gaye

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Divided Soul

By: David Ritz
Narrated by: Dion Graham
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In this intimate biography of the Prince of Soul, David Ritz provides a candid look at a star and a friend. Ritz had been collaborating with Marvin Gaye on his story for several years before the singer's tragic death and had conducted a series of extraordinary interviews in which Gaye discussed his deepest secrets. What emerges is a full-scale portrait of a charming but tortured artist, a brilliant singer with a divided soul.

Here is Marvin's story, from his early years in the slums of Washington, D.C. to his rise to the top of the Motown industry, his fall from grace, his comeback, and finally his sudden, shocking end at the hands of his own father. It is also the story of his glorious music and the music of Black America over the past 50 years, an epic tale whose cast of characters includes Diana Ross, Berry Gordie, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder.

©1991 David Ritz (P)1995 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Cultural & Regional Entertainment & Celebrities Music Sociology Celebrity Biography
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Critic Reviews

"[David Ritz] tells Marvin Gaye's sorrowful story with remarkable insight and sensitivity....Divided Soul is often startlingly candid, but it manages to avoid lurid sensationalism, no mean feat given the particulars of the story: sex, drugs, child abuse, show business scandal." ( The Nation)
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I never knew Marvin was so messed up and had such a drug addiction. Such an amazing life but such tragedy in his life, his father was an awful man to him and his Mother. Then that terrible end, shot by your own Father.
He was one of the greatest soul singers of his generation. What's Going On one of the greatest albums of all time. I play his music all the time, a legend of Motown and Soul. Gone too soon.

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