I Want You

About I Want You

I Want You is the fourteenth studio album by 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 Detroit-based Hitsville West studio. The album has often been noted by critics for producer Leon Ware's exotic, low-key production and the erotic, sexual themes in his and Gaye's songwriting. 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). While it marked a change in musical direction for Gaye, departing from his trademark Motown and doo-wop-influenced sound for funky, light-disco soul, the album maintained and expanded on his previous work'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. more »