Trouble Man Expanded Edition

[carole cucumber]

According to MusicTap:
Hip-O Select will release the Expanded Edition of Trouble Man, the perfect 1972 soundtrack to the film as done up by the master, Marvin Gaye. It is on the calendar for November 13. I am so there!

[soulster]

Is there a track list? This will be a no-brainer buy, but i'd love to see what they added.

[lefty]

The track list in a nutshell:

1. Complete original LP
2. Several outtakes [[expanded versions, extra vocals, alternate takes)
3. Complete *actual* film soundtrack

AF

[R. Mark Desjardins]

This Marvin Gaye release is a dream come true. I watched the film and there are several musical sequences I didn't recognize from the vinyl record release. Marvin's jazz masterpiece about to be unveiled in all its glory!

[Bokiluis]

Fantastic! This will complete the Expanded Editions of all of Marvin's studio releases from "What's Going On" to "Let's Get it On" to "I Want You" to Hear, My Dear" to "In Our Lifetime" to the "Midnight Love: Sessions". I never got a chance to see "Trouble Man", the movie. In fact, I cannot even recall it opening in San Francisco, because even though I was not a fan of blaxipoiltation movies, I would have supported it because of Marvin's involvement.

[jtf1972]

Yes, yes, yes!

[Kamasu_Jr]

I swear I've seen a version of Trouble Man where Most of Marvin's music had been removed and replaced by music from another composer. The main theme was still there. Has anyone else seen this version on cable?

[jtf1972]

I swear I've seen a version of Trouble Man where Most of Marvin's music had been removed and replaced by music from another composer. The main theme was still there. Has anyone else seen this version on cable?

The music was not "removed"

As I understand the story, Marvin gave them a score, but wasn't completely happy with the result. He felt he could do better. He went back into the studio & recommitted himself to the project. The only cut that survived in recognizable form is the theme, but notice that doesn't have the falsetto lead vocal. When Marvin went back to them & gave them the finished soundtrack he was essentially told "Thanks, but we already have the film finished and aren't going to spend the money to redo the music in the film."

The music that is in the film is Marvin Gaye.

[R. Mark Desjardins]

Anyway you look at it, all the disparate parts of Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" soundtrack, when finally placed together and released, will make for a riveting listening experience. I tracked down the DVD of the film, and while it is neither a classic of its genre, or even held it's own during the time it was released , Marvin's musical contribution is what most people remember about this project.

Marvin was also involved in a 1971 film project, "Chrome and Hot Leather," where he plays the part of a Green Beret who helps to avenge the death of his sergeant's girlfriend at the hands of a motorcycle gang called "The Devils." No Marvin soundtrack contributions were made to this project, which could have used some musical assistance for sure! Obviously not all of Berry Gordy's "Hollywood Dreams" came to a profitable conclusion.

[Kamasu_Jr]

The music was not "removed"

As I understand the story, Marvin gave them a score, but wasn't completely happy with the result. He felt he could do better. He went back into the studio & recommitted himself to the project. The only cut that survived in recognizable form is the theme, but notice that doesn't have the falsetto lead vocal. When Marvin went back to them & gave them the finished soundtrack he was essentially told "Thanks, but we already have the film finished and aren't going to spend the money to redo the music in the film."

The music that is in the film is Marvin Gaye.

I know I'd seen the film and noticed that the score was different from the soundtrack album and written by someone else. I didn't recognize any of the music in the film as Marvin Gaye's. There were no songs like Don't Mess With Mr. T in the film. But the title theme was Marvin's. I didn't know if the score had been removed or not as I did not see the film when it first opened. But now I know what happened. I do know it's not uncommon for some artists not to license rights to a score or song they've written for a film once it reaches cable or DVD distribution.

[hwume]

All will be revealed shortly.

After nearly 10 years of work - off and on - we're almost there.

[soulster]

10 years! Wow! I must buy this! It will be my Christmas present to myself.

[jtf1972]

All will be revealed shortly.

After nearly 10 years of work - off and on - we're almost there.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Etc...

[midnightman]

It's interesting to know how hard at work he was with the soundtrack. The soundtrack we hear now was recut at the last minute but Motown loved the score it originally had [[that Marvin produced and composed too)... how about that?

[R. Mark Desjardins]

Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man expanded edition is now listed on Amazon for pre-order!

[jtf1972]

And my order is in.

[jaybs]

It seems a little expensive? Amazon UK are asking for £34.82, no way would I pay that!

[calvin]

It seems a little expensive? Amazon UK are asking for £34.82, no way would I pay that!

In the past, these pre-orders have started with very high prices which then fall to a good price just before being released on Amazon UK [[and you get the lowest price with the pre-order). But with the latest ones, David Ruffin and Supremes IHAS, somehow the release date came but Amazon UK didn't get any stock [[at least not yet).

[hwume]

This release has moved to December 4...

[Kamasu_Jr]

This release has moved to December 4...

Thank God and UMe. My music budget was blown this month. I can breath a little easier and wait a little bit.

[jtf1972]

This release has moved to December 4...

I figured it would get pushed back a bit. The original was released in December, so it's historically accurate!

Any word on when details will be released?

[jtf1972]

I guess I should stop checking daily for an update...

[grapevine]

Marvin Gaye was already a hit artist for a decade when in 1971 he reached new heights with his landmark album What's Going On. His next move? A mostly instrumental, orchestral jazz-soul soundtrack, for the forgotten 1972 film Trouble Man. The album, though a surprise to followers, was a hit, producing a top 10 pop title track and legions of new fans, including musicians who started the acid-jazz movement from its bones.

For Trouble Man's 40th anniversary, Hip-oSelect.com/Motown releases an extraordinary exploration of Marvin's creative leap: a 2-CD Expanded Edition that features not only the original soundtrack album remastered but 29 unreleased performances including alternate takes, rare vocals and for the first time ever the full score for the film. Until the hardly-seen film was repeated on television and issued on DVD in the last decade, many fans were unaware that Gaye's film score and soundtrack album contained different music. They are now together, giving fans double the musical experience.

Trouble Man: 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition follows the tradition of previous Marvin Gaye reissues, by adding a beautiful digi-pak package that includes a 28-page booklet with photo outtakes, dozens of rare picture sleeves from around the world, and richly detailed text and track-by-track annotations. The set's main essay by musicologist Dr. Andrew Flory tells the long-overlooked story behind the album, while various sidebar and additional essays include commentary from film directors Cameron Crowe and George Tillman, Jr., and artists Lenny Kravitz, Joni Mitchell and Christian McBride.

Disc 1, tracks 1-13: Original LP
Disc 1, tracks 14-22: Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks
Disc 2, tracks 1-19: Previously Unreleased Original Film Score
Disc 2, track 20: Previously Unreleased Film Band Bonus Track

[R. Mark Desjardins]

Wow! I truly did hear this "from the grapevine!" It's been frustrating finding any info on this upcoming release. Thanks for sharing this.

[marv2]

I have the original album. It was always a favorite, so I look forward to having it on CD.

[jtf1972]

Thanks Grapevine!

"Previously Unreleased Film Band Bonus Track"

Hmmmmm... What could be a "Film Band Bonus Track?"

Now I can't wait for a tracklist...

I wonder if something I have long wondered will be cleared up... If this is indeed an outtake from these sessions.

[midnightman]

Looks like they're releasing it on the same month [[December) it was released 40 years ago.

[grapevine]

...it’s now up on Hip-O Select

http://tinyurl.com/9j5oqx2

...with the following tracks

Disc One
1. Main Theme From Trouble Man [[2)
2. “T” Plays It Cool
3. Poor Abbey Walsh
4. The Break In [[Police Shoot Big)
5. Cleo’s Apartment
6. Trouble Man
7. Theme From Trouble Man
8. “T” Stands For Trouble
9. Main Theme From Trouble Man
10. Life Is A Gamble
11. Deep-In-It
12. Don’t Mess With Mr. T
13. There Goes Mr. T
14. Main Theme From Trouble Man [[2) [alternate take with strings]
15. “T” Plays it Cool [unedited version]
16. Poor Abbey Walsh, Part 2 Take 1
17. Poor Abbey Walsh, Part 2 Take 2
18. Trouble Man [extended version]
19. Theme From Trouble Man [vocal version]
20. “T” Stands for Trouble [unedited vocal version]
21. “T” Stands for Trouble [alternate version]
22. Main Theme from Trouble Man [vocal version]

Disc Two
1. Trouble Man
2. Pool Hall
3. “T” Plays It Cool
4. Cadillac Interlude/Cleo's Apartment
5. Man Tied Up/Jimmy’s West/Conversation with Cleo
6. Crap Game [[a.k.a. The Break In)/Getting Rid Of Body/Talking To Angel
7. Outside Police Station
8. Bowling Alley Parking Lot
9. Stick Up
10. Cleaners/Cleo
11. Closing Jimmy’s
12. Police Break In
13. “T” Cleans Up/Police Station
14. Packing Up/Jimmy Gets Worked/Saying Goodbye/”T” Breaks In/MovieTheater
15. Car Ride/Looking for Pete
16. Parking Garage/Elevator
17. Penthouse
18. Getting Pete
19. My Name Is “T”/End Credits
20. “T” At The Cross

....can’t wait for this one...!!!

[jtf1972]

Looks like Trouble is a brewing...

[grapevine]

...just came across this

Marvin Gaye, easily one of the world's great R&B singers, provided us with a string of successful and essential albums that include the ground-breaking What's Going On, an album that opened the door for social consciousness in R&B. Of course, Gaye enjoyed an impressively rich career prior to What's Going On with a string of albums that also included a stint with Tammi Terrell.

After What's Going On, Marvin Gaye released Let's Get It On, returning to more conventional, less heavy concepts such as sex, the dominant theme running through Let's Get It On.

But between the magnificent What's Going On and the sizzle of Let's Get It On, Gaye released a stunning soundtrack to the film Trouble Man. From the opening intrigue of the instrumental beginning, "Main Theme From Trouble Man," to the album's hit single, "Trouble Man," and the other well-produced instrumentals and vocal tracks, Marvin Gaye's contribution to the world of film put him in an exclusive class with Isaac Hayes [[Shaft), and Curtis Mayfield [[Superfly).

The music of Trouble Man is funky, always lively, and thoroughly engaging, just as the Shaft and Superfly soundtracks are. The drum-heavy ""T" Plays It Cool" and the mournful sax and piano and orchestral fills that complete "Poor Abbey Walsh," along with the funk of "T Stands For Trouble" that hints lightly of Mayfield's "Freddie's Dead," the album is one to be remembered. More importantly, it is a strong and compelling middle ground between the previously mentioned What's Going On and Let's Get It On.

Marvin Gaye went on to record several more albums before his tragic death in 1984, including the highly successful Midnight Love [[1982), which delivered "Sexual Healing." But Trouble Man would be his only foray into soundtrack music.

On November 13, Hip-O Records will release an expanded edition of Gaye's 'more than a soundtrack' Trouble Man. This is particularly good news for fans not only of the film but also of Marvin Gaye.

http://tinyurl.com/d64vjdv

[midnightman]

Great info and other stuff.

[carole cucumber]

http://theseconddisc.com/2012/10/29/...cd/#more-17712

[dvdmike]

Where was the album recorded?

[jtf1972]

Amazon has track previews up.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o01_s01_i00

[booty]

The price has dropped from over £34.00 to £19.73 on Amazon.co.uk and should go even lower before release.

[hwume]

NPR's Show "Tell Me More" is doing a feature on the album featuring interviews with saxman Trevor Lawrence and director Cameron Crowe. Will likely air Monday in the U.S., with links to follow.

And if anyone had been able to figure out Twitter, you can also follow me @harryweinger

[jtf1972]

Thanks Harry,

I'm not familiar with the show... yet.

I found this link to the show: http://www.npr.org/programs/tell-me-more/

Mine shipped today.

Thank you.

[daddyacey]

Where was the album recorded?

I would suspect in Cali , since it was after WGO which was re-mixed there and it was when Marvin had spent some time there during that period. At least the strings etc and some of the basic tracks.

[hwume]

Andy Flory's notes and research lay out the importance of this album and how it reflects Motown's - and Marvin's - move to Los Angeles; its recording and production in L.A. and Hollywood mirror the release of Lady Sings The Blues, another vehicle for a Motown star.

The exact studio or studios where the T-Man recordings were made is/are not clear, since the tape reels are not marked with this information.

The studio info was the least of it; this project really did take years and years to unravel. I don't know how Marvin Gaye and engineer Art Stewart didn't go a little crazy putting together the score and album.

[hwume]

We're on! I am happy the show gave the album close to 20 minutes:

http://www.npr.org/2012/11/19/165482...gotten-classic

BTW looks like the film score, or at least some of it, was recorded at Enterprise Studios in Los Angeles.

[Kamasu_Jr]

Brilliant. I listened to it this morning.

[grapevine]

...Marvin Gaye:

"...the "Trouble Man" film score was one of my loveliest projects and one of the great sleepers of all our time. I'll probably be dead and gone before I get the probable acclaim from the "Trouble Man" album, musical track, that I feel I should get..."

[R. Mark Desjardins]

How right Marvin was concerning to his comment about him being dead before his Trouble Man project being fully appreciated. Some of the best works of art and literature were not fully acclaimed till many years after the passing of their makers. Marvin is in good company in this regard. Now that all the parts of his masterpiece have been brought together, future generations will be able to be in awe of the musical legacy he left behind.

[Kamasu_Jr]

There seems to be some text missing in the booklet. I was reading the main essay and it trailed off...and didn't continue. "Less than a year after its release, Trouble...."

[jtf1972]

Harry & the gang really outdid themselves here. Bravo, fellas!

The liner notes mention the score is actually recreated from the original master session. Wow... I'd have been happy if the mono tape from Motown had been simply transfered, but the sound is phenomenal!

Speaking of the score... I am wondering if track 1 [[the theme) is sourced from the mono. I have only listened in the car so far, but noticed the quality seemed to greatly improve as of track 2. I can only assume that since the rest of the disc is instrumental and the theme is a vocal, that the masters for Marvin's vocals do not exist. [[I was happy with track 1, then my jaw nearly hit the ground at track 2!)

The only thing I would have done differently is in the packaging. I was hoping to have the gatefold form the original LP recreated!

Oh, and is there anywhere that Andrew Flory's essay is reprinted in full? There seems to be a part missing when you turn to the last page of it, as it reads:

"Less than a year after its release, Trouble

--------------

In the context of what was quickly becoming an outdated genre, it is important to remember Gaye's achievements as a blaxploitation composer..."

[hwume]

Two things:

The booklet - four words are missing, dammit: "... Man was largely forgotten." [I am looking into a physical fix.]

The comment above, "Speaking of the score... I am wondering if track 1 [[the theme) is sourced from the mono.": Yes, the original theme that opens the film and Disc 2 exists only on the actual four-track mono film reel; Marvin changed the vocals on the recording session reel and therefore what he did expressly for the film opening is gone. Everything else except the original LP master was newly mixed for this project. I neglected to add a disclaimer re track 1 in the booklet.

By the way, if we had used the entire score from the mono reel, you would have heard more lousy fidelity, level dips for dialogue [[but no dialogue) and all kinds of other issues. BIG kudos to Andy Flory and John Morales for putting the puzzle pieces together there.

[jtf1972]

Thanks for the four missing words Harry! [[Were you already aware of this?)

Andy & John did a phenomenal job. It sounds cleaner than most recent recordings. The notes on how the original, released soundtrack was assembled from edits of the score & overdubbed shows what a truly outstanding piece of work this is. T Plays It Cool alone can be seen as ahead of its time by several years, as Marvin essentially sampled his own work and made a straight up all-time JAM. The re-finished puzzle is indeed a fascinating work.

I don't know if you recall this Harry, but a decade ago on the old board I asked what may be the possibility of an expanded edition of this soundtrack, with the score in the film being different. You mentioned that it was apparently lost. I don't know if that was what seemed to be at the time or if it was a way of keeping a future project under wraps, but a decade of hope has been met and exceeded. A huge "thank you" to you and your team. If I'm ever at an event where I am in your company, I owe you a drink and a toast for all the work you do.

John

PS. I am now curious as to what extras Andy & John may have found in those tapes that weren't correct for this project. If I know anything about John he would have had a little fun with some extended mixes... LOL

[hwume]

Before I get "unplugged" for the holiday, let me say thanks everyone for their feedback.

Interesting that 10 years ago I said it was all "lost." That was all we knew at the time. I couldn't have known the dozen or so lightly annotated multi-track reels would eventually make sense. That it was possible to deconstruct and reconstruct the score. Or that the film would ever be issued on DVD, providing a template to Disc 2. That the extraordinarily helpful music department at 20th Century Studios would find a reference mix. That I would connect with key contributors Trevor Lawrence and Dale Oehler. That I would work with Chris Tomson, Andy Flory and John Morales, particularly Flory, who sat with the music for months - in his spare time! - to actively get us to the finish line.

On the booklet: the end-of-page cut-off was noticed too late. After 10 years of off-and-on toil, I HATE there's this mistake.

P.S. Any extras, if you can call them that, are just variations on the themes that are already on this edition.

[jtf1972]

... Any extras, if you can call them that, are just variations on the themes that are already on this edition.

Variations on themes can be a good thing, when the theme is enjoyable!

[midnightman]

...Marvin Gaye:

"...the "Trouble Man" film score was one of my loveliest projects and one of the great sleepers of all our time. I'll probably be dead and gone before I get the probable acclaim from the "Trouble Man" album, musical track, that I feel I should get..."

When he was alive, people would've thought he was "ego tripping out". But his word is bond. It's indeed a classic.