I Want You is the thirteenth studio album by the American soul singer and songwriter Marvin Gaye. It was released on March 16, 1976, by the Motown Records subsidiary label Tamla.
Gaye recorded the album during 1975 and 1976 at his studio Marvin's Room in Los Angeles and at Motown's Los Angeles–based Hitsville West studio. The album has often been noted by critics for producer Leon Ware's cinematic, downtempo sound, the erotic themes in his and Gaye's songwriting, and the singer's prominent use of the synthesizer. The album's cover artwork adapts neo-mannerist artist Ernie Barnes's famous painting The Sugar Shack (1971).
I Want You consisted of Gaye's first recorded studio material since his highly successful and well-received album Let's Get It On (1973). It continued a change in musical direction for Gaye, as he had departed from the trademark Motown-influenced sound towards a funky, light-disco soul, and the album maintained and expanded on his prior album's sexual themes. Following a mixed response from critics at the time of its release, I Want You has earned retrospective recognition from writers and music critics as one of Gaye's most controversial works and influential to such musical styles as disco, quiet storm, R&B, and neo soul.
Background
By 1975, Marvin Gaye had come off of the commercial and critical success of his landmark studio album Let's Get It On (1973), its successful supporting tour following the album's release, and Diana & Marvin (1973), a duet project with Diana Ross. However, similar to the conception and recording of Let's Get It On, Gaye had struggled to come up with an album as an appropriate follow-up. And much like Let's Get It On Gaye reached for outside help, this time seeking the assistance of Leon Ware, a singer and songwriter who had found previous success writing hits for fellow Motown alum, including pop singer Michael Jackson and the rhythm and blues group The Miracles. Ware had been working on songs for his own album which he would later issue under the title Musical Massage, a collection of erotic singles Ware had composed with a variety of writers, including Jacqueline Hilliard and Arthur "T-Boy" Ross, brother of Diana Ross.
Though it was often hinted that Let's Get It On was the album Gaye had dedicated to her, Marvin has stated that this album was dedicated to Hunter, who is believed to have been in the studio when he recorded it. According to music critics, her presence may have increased the emotion in Ware's and Gaye's conception of I Want You.
Recording and production
left|thumb|upright|An [[ARP Odyssey, used by Gaye for the recording Much like Gaye's previous studio effort Let's Get It On, I Want You featured Gaye's contribution of background vocals and heavy multi-tracking. Gaye's vocalizing style was in classic doo-wop tradition accompanied by the low tempo of string arrangements and other instrumentation was provided by the Funk Brothers.
Gaye's albums, and especially I Want You, have been influential on modern soul music and contemporary R&B. EMI Artists and Repertoire executive Gary Harris, who later assisted neo soul singer D'Angelo in recording his debut album Brown Sugar (1995), later commented on Gaye's significant artistry on I Want You and its opening title track. In 1976, Barnes redesigned the painting for use by television producer Norman Lear for the opening credits of Good Times, his hit CBS sitcom that ran from 1974 to 1979. The Sugar Shack portrays a cultural image of a shack full of black people dancing. The Sugar Shack was painted by Barnes in his signature post-mannerist style, using serpentine lines, elongation of the human figure, clarity of line, unusual spatial relationships, painted frames, and distinctive color palettes. This style of technique and composition is similar to the mannerist style of 16th-century artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael, which has led Barnes to be credited as the founder of the Neo-Mannerism movement. Art critic Frank Getlein later called The Sugar Shack a "stunning demonstration of the fusion of Neo-Mannerism and Genre painting that Barnes alone has perfected and practices", and went on to say: