Here, My Dear is the fourteenth studio album by the American soul singer and songwriter Marvin Gaye, released as a double album on December 15, 1978, on Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place between 1977 and 1978 at Gaye's personal studios, Marvin Gaye Studios, in Los Angeles, California. It is a concept album, notable for its subject matter focusing largely on Gaye's acrimonious divorce from his first wife, Anna Gordy Gaye.
A commercial and critical failure upon its release, it was later hailed by music critics in the years following Gaye's death as one of his best albums, and was placed at number 493 on Rolling Stones "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list in 2020.
Background
Marvin Gaye was going through a personal crisis in the summer of 1976. In November 1975, Gaye's estranged first wife, Anna Gordy Gaye, sued Gaye for divorce, claiming irreconcilable differences, and sought child support for their adopted son, Marvin Gaye III. Gaye later argued his spending habits were causing him to fall behind on payments. In September 1976, a warrant was issued for Gaye's arrest after he failed to pay alimony; this made him feel vulnerable during the recording sessions, causing the singer to hide from the public for several days.
Several weeks later, Gaye accepted an offer to do a tour of Europe. Between October and December 1976, Gaye performed in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Germany. Following his return, he recorded "Got to Give It Up" and released it on his album, Live at the London Palladium. The song became an international hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
After months of delays, in March 1977, the singer's attorney, Curtis Shaw, wanted to end divorce proceedings and convinced Gaye to give up half of the percentage of album royalties he would earn from his next Motown album to Anna. The Gayes' divorce was finalized later that month.
Recording
When Gaye was set to start production on the record, he said he figured he would just do a "quickie record - nothing heavy, nothing even good", stating, "Why should I break my neck when Anna was going to wind up with the money anyway?" But as Gaye lived with the notion of doing an album for his soon-to-be ex-wife, the more it fascinated him, stating he felt he "owed the public my best effort." Gaye stated he did the record "out of deep passion", noting he "sang and sang until I drained myself of everything I'd lived through."
| rev2 = Chicago Tribune
| rev2Score =
| rev3 = The Guardian
| rev3Score =
| rev4 = Mojo
| rev4Score =
| rev6 = PopMatters
| rev6Score = 9/10
| rev7 = Q
| rev7Score =
| rev9 = Uncut
| rev9Score =
| rev10 = The Village Voice
| rev10Score = B+
When Here, My Dear was released in the end of 1978, it received mostly positive reviews and modest sales, with critics calling the album "bizarre" and "un-commercial." The album's lack of success angered Gaye to the point that he refused to promote it any further. Motown stopped promoting Here, My Dear in early 1979, by which point Gaye had gone into self-imposed exile. Around the same time, Gaye's relationship with his second wife, Janis, had also fallen apart and the couple separated sometime in 1979. Upon hearing the album, a visibly upset Anna Gordy considered suing Gaye for invasion of privacy but, according to People, later reconsidered that decision. The album peaked at number four R&B and number 26 pop, becoming Gaye's lowest-charting studio album of the 1970s. Initial response to the album was mixed, as most critics described it as weird. However, Gaye's lyrical honesty over the laid back disco grooves of Here, My Dear was praised by many. Robert Christgau, of The Village Voice, wrote of the album: