Let's Get It On

Ed Townsend, newly out of a rehab facility for alcoholism, first conceived the song with a religious theme. Kenneth Stover, a Motown singer-songwriter, rewrote the words as a political song. Townsend objected that it should be about love and sex, and the two rewrote the lyric over the original backing track. The lyrics were inspired by Janis Hunter, whom Gaye had met through Townsend. It was released on Tamla on 15 June 1973 and recorded at Hitsville West in Los Angeles.

Jon Landau of Rolling Stone called it a classic Motown single, endlessly repeatable, that begins with three wah-wah notes and ends in a long, moody fade-out. It reached number one on the Hot 100 on 8 September 1973 and stayed there two weeks, held the top of the Soul Singles chart for six, and was ranked fourth among the year's songs by Billboard. It sold over four million copies in 1973 and 1974, the most of any Motown recording at that point. Gaye reprised it on the album as Keep Gettin' It On.

In 2016 Townsend's family sued Ed Sheeran, saying his Thinking Out Loud copied it. In May 2023 a jury in New York ruled that Sheeran was not liable.