Let's Get It On

Let's Get It On arrived on Tamla on August 28, 1973, as Marvin Gaye's follow-up to the socially minded What's Going On.^[1] Its sessions stretched across several years and between Detroit and Los Angeles, and the record marked his first sustained move into funk, blended with smooth soul and doo-wop influences.^[3]

The title track was cut in March 1973 at Hitsville West in Los Angeles, with Motown session players including Funk Brothers veterans and members of the Crusaders in the room.^[1][4] Gaye co-produced the album with Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the title song.

Where its predecessor looked outward at war, poverty and the environment, this album turned toward desire, tenderness and the body. In his sleeve notes Gaye defended sex between consenting adults without apology.^[4] The album reached number two on the chart, and the title single became Motown's biggest seller to that point.^[1][4] Retrospectives often read it as a statement of sexual liberation inside soul music.^[5]