Happy Birthday to the album WHAT'S GOING ON
Marvin Gaye's landmark sonic testimonial, released today in 1971
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Marvin Gaye’s 1971 concept album, WHAT’S GOING ON, his landmark testimonial on addiction, the environment, poverty, racism, war, and man’s estrangement from God. He also raised the bar for mingling electronica and jazz orchestration with gospel, pop, and Motown’s brand of soul music. Initially Motown’s president, Berry Gordy, balked at releasing this album, but Marvin made a wager with Gordy, and to Gordy’s amazement, it went one to become one of Motown’s classic LPs and one of the most celebrated albums in music history.
Key tracks on the album include “God is Love,” “Mercy Mercy Me,” and “Inner City Blues” (featuring James Jamerson’s amazing bass work, which greatly influenced my own bass playing).
The album is a “song cycle” in a narrative told from the perspective of a Vietnam veteran returning to his home country to behold hatred, suffering, and injustice. The evergreen title song has roots in the San Francisco Bay Area. The lyrics, co-written by Obie Benson of the Four Tops, were conceived after he and the group's tour bus arrived in Berkeley on May 15, 1969. While there, Benson witnessed police brutality and violence in People’s Park during an anti-war protest. It was later hailed as “Bloody Thursday.” Upset by the situation, Benson asked people, "'What is happening here? One question led to another. Why are they sending kids so far away from their families overseas? Why are they attacking their own children in the streets?" After collaborating with Al Cleveland and Marvin Gaye, the song became the masthead for free speech, civil rights, and God’s love over man’s strife
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Here's an acoustic (unedited board tape) "coffee house version" I did of "What's Going On." Meanwhile, thank you Marvin for making a record that stands the test of time and still speaks to us!
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