I Want to Come Home for Christmas
"I Want to Come Home for Christmas" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Marvin Gaye | ||||
from the album The Marvin Gaye Collection | ||||
Released | 1972 | |||
Recorded | 1972, Hitsville West, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | Soul, R&B, doo-wop | |||
Length | 3:31 (single version) 4:44 (full version) | |||
Label | Tamla | |||
Songwriter(s) | Marvin Gaye Forest Hairston | |||
Producer(s) | Marvin Gaye | |||
Marvin Gaye singles chronology | ||||
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"I Want to Come Home for Christmas" is a holiday song recorded by Marvin Gaye in 1972. The song was co-written by Gaye and Forest Hairston and was released on a posthumous Marvin compilation titled, The Marvin Gaye Collection 18 years later.[1]
Overview
Recording
The idea of the song came to Forest Hairston after seeing pictures of people tying yellow ribbons around trees for Vietnam War troops who were POWs. The song was unfinished when Hairston's friend Marvin Gaye made an unexpected visit to Hairston's apartment, when "messing with a song" in tribute to the Vietnam troops. Gaye was interested in a holiday song of his own had Hairston play it. Gaye stopped him mid-track and began to collaborate, adding in melody and harmony parts.
Later, Gaye would continue working on it at the Motown Recording Studios' Hitsville West in Los Angeles. Gaye would produce the track solo and record it in one take. Gaye returned to Hairston's apartment for him to take a listen. Hairston heard it, immediately hugged Gaye complimenting him on his talents, then Gaye laughed.
Issues with Motown and later releases
The song was to be part of a Christmas-themed album by Gaye, was issued the Tamla number T-323L and scheduled for release in late 1972. But the album was never released.[2] Gaye struggled with Motown for the song to be released as a single in tribute of Vietnam troops. Eighteen years after its recording and six years after Gaye's untimely death, the song was reissued on The Marvin Gaye Collection. It has appeared as a bonus track on the later reissue of the compilation A Motown Christmas. Hairston would recall he received a royalty check from the song a few years later after the album's release. Critics would later label it as a "masterpiece". Ever since 1990, especially during the Iraq War, Gaye's song has become a staple on play lists for R&B radio stations during the Christmas season. The song was featured on the 2019 release of the posthumous Gaye album You’re The Man.
Credits
- All vocals by Marvin Gaye
- Instruments by The Funk Brothers and Marvin Gaye
- Written by Forest Hairston and Marvin Gaye
- Produced and arranged by Marvin Gaye
Charts
Chart (1972–2017) | Peak position |
---|---|
Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[3] | 18 |
References
- ^ "The Marvin Gaye Collection". Discogs.com. September 1990. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
previously unreleased
- ^ "Tamla Album Discography (1961-1981)".
- ^ "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 52, 2017". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
- v
- t
- e
- 1962
- "Sandman"
- "Soldier's Plea"
- "Stubborn Kind of Fellow"
- "Hitch Hike"
- 1963
- "Pride and Joy"
- "Can I Get a Witness"
- 1964
- "You're a Wonderful One"
- "Once Upon a Time"
- "What's the Matter with You Baby"
- "Try It Baby"
- "Baby Don't You Do It"
- "What Good Am I Without You"
- "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"
- 1965
- "I'll Be Doggone"
- "Pretty Little Baby"
- "Ain't That Peculiar"
- 1966
- "One More Heartache"
- "Take This Heart of Mine"
- "Little Darling (I Need You)"
- "It Takes Two"
- 1967
- "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
- "Your Unchanging Love"
- "Your Precious Love"
- "You"
- "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You"/"If This World Were Mine"
- 1968
- "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
- "You're All I Need to Get By"
- "Chained"
- "Keep On Lovin' Me Honey"
- "You Ain't Livin' till You're Lovin'"
- "His Eye Is on the Sparrow"
- "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
- 1969
- "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By"
- "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby"
- "That's the Way Love Is"
- "Abraham, Martin and John"
- "What You Gave Me"
- "How Can I Forget"
- 1970
- "Gonna Give Her All the Love I've Got"
- "The Onion Song"
- "California Soul"
- "The End of Our Road"
- 1971
- "What's Going On"
- "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"
- "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)"
- "Save the Children"
- 1972
- "You're the Man"
- "Trouble Man"
- "I Want to Come Home for Christmas"
- 1973
- "Let's Get It On"
- "You're a Special Part of Me"
- "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)"
- "Come Get to This"
- 1974
- "You Sure Love to Ball"
- "My Mistake (Was to Love You)"
- "Don't Knock My Love"
- "You Are Everything"
- "Distant Lover"
- 1976
- "I Want You"
- "After the Dance"
- "Since I Had You"
- 1977
- "Got to Give It Up"
- 1978
- "Pops, We Love You (A Tribute to Father)"
- 1979
- "A Funky Space Reincarnation"
- "Anger"
- "Ego Tripping Out"
Columbia)
- 1981
- "Praise"
- "Heavy Love Affair"
- 1982
- "Sexual Healing"
- 1983
- "My Love Is Waiting"
- "'Til Tomorrow"
- "Joy"
- 1985
- "Sanctified Lady"
- "It's Madness"
- "Just Like"
- 1986
- "The World Is Rated X"
- 1991
- "My Last Chance"
- 1994
- "Lucky, Lucky Me"
- 1995
- "This Love Starved Heart Of Mine(It's Killing Me)"
- 2001
- "Music"
- 2005
- "Let's Get It On (The M.P.G. Groove Remix)"
- 2015
- "Where Are We Going"
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