Marvin Gaye Collection Box Set vs. The Master Box Set

[nomis]

yesterday I went to my local 2nd hand record/cd shop [[the only one left in the City)..I was there to buy Stevie Wonder and decided to look at the sale soul/rnb cd collection and there was 3 volumes on cd from Marvin's 1990 collection box set - cd 1 [[top 20 hits) was missing but after checking on wiki I found out I had all the tracks - I would have liked the box set booklet - but beggars cant be choosers !..the funny thing is it was only a couple of days ago i put this box set on my "want" list on Amazon along with "The Master" box set..which do you consider the best of the two ? ive only seen "The Collection" once in a record shop in 1990 and never again so that added to my surprise at the find yesterday..would love to hear of any stand out tracks anyone thinks on these box sets...cheers.....

[bradburger]

nomis,

The Master set is the one to get if you want the complete Marvin - well, as complete as a 4 cd set can be - but it has all the A-sides, A few B [[IIRC) and some L.P tracks, plus some unissued [[at the time) tracks as well.

Nice booklet too, with recording details for each track.

I can't comment too much on the 1990 box set, but from what I recall, it had some unissued material, plus the usual tracks and some unissued too.

Cheers

Paul

[woodward]

The 1990 box set, Volume 1, DUETS, has four duets with Oma Page:

So Good To Be Loved By You
Rilleh
Was It a Dream
Steadies

In addition to other duets with Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell, and Diana Ross the last song on the collection is Pops, We Love You featuring Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder.

The booklet included states that the four Oma Page songs are * previously un-released.

[sansradio]

Also, the majority of the Ross duets on the 1990 set are alternate takes/vocals/mixes, if that's a selling point for you.

[Motown Eddie]

I picked up both of the Marvin Gaye box sets when they came out in the 1990's and I think The Master is the better of the two. However The Marvin Gaye Collection has it's moments such as a good previously unreleased alternate take of "Pride And Joy", the previously unreleased duets with Oma Page, and the first appearance of the songs that Marvin recorded for Vulnerable [[with alternate vocal takes to the ones used when Vulnerable was released on CD).

[Jaap]

The Master Box set is definitely a better overview of Marvin’s music than the earlier Marvin Gaye Collection, released when Motown was taken over by PolyGram [[and later when PolyGram was taken over by Seagram—and eventually by Universal, the collection was pulled). But as said before, the Motown Collection has a few hidden gems that for a long time [[and in some cases still up today) cannot be find anywhere else. I particularly like the Duets CD with the Oma Page duets and the alternate Diana & Marvin Duets [[including Diana saying “Take it to the top Marv” at the beginning of “Don’t Knock My Love” and a 1-minute longer version of “You’re A Special Part of Me"). Also the third disc, “Rare, Live, and Unreleased” has some special moments, like Marvin’s renditions of “My Girl,” “Sunny,” and “It’s Not Unusual,” as some originals like “5, 10. 15, 20 Years Of Love,” of which many are now also available on other collections. Although The Master Box set overall is better quality, I treasure “The Collection.”

[phil]

Good points everybody, personnally I prefer The Collection, The booklet is sumptuous and I really appreciated the unreleased material [[34 songs).

And there's one my favorite Marvin song "I Want To Come Home For Christmas"

[RanRan79]

Good points everybody, personnally I prefer The Collection, The booklet is sumptuous and I really appreciated the unreleased material [[34 songs).

And there's one my favorite Marvin song "I Want To Come Home For Christmas"

This is an annual favorite of my Christmas mixes every year.

[nomis]

thanks guys that was very helpful info... cant wait to order "The Master" box set..

Cheers
Nomis

[phil]

Nomis, here's the track-listing of "The Collection" : https://www.discogs.com/Marvin-Gaye-.../master/187058

and "The Master" : https://www.discogs.com/Marvin-Gaye-.../master/480000

For me "The Collection" is much more attractive. So the best thing that you can do is order both !

[honest man]

Yes you need the both of these sets,especially The Collection as it includes Marvin's version of Sweet Thing including Lynda Lawrence and Sherrie Payne on backgrounds excellent,cheers.

[nomis]

Ive been listening to Marvins post - Motown/CBS work...I love "Happy Go Lucky"..and his vocal riff on "Rockin After Midnight"..also i like "Sanctified Lady" & "Third World Go" which are very of-their -time musically from that early 80s period