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(VINYL REISSUE). Review: Marvin Gaye's Gift To the World. - There's nothing else like it. Marvin Gaye's sublime and transcendent album, What's Going On, had a musical style and depth of feeling that lifted it up into the highest level of pop and soul releases and made it uncopyable even by Gaye himself, who was smart enough not to try. It seems to float, practically luminous in a sea of congas and percussion, talking and strings, saxophone and multi-tracked Gaye and background singers in a constantly changing mix that bursts with energy like life itself. It passes through many moods: hope, anger, desperation, depression, joy and prayer. It offers no glib slogans, no easy answers and mostly calls for a more spiritual existence that might lead mankind to a better place. It's as relevant today as it ever was though sad to say, I believe times are even worse now than they were when the album was made. The big surprise was that it was Marvin Gaye who made it. Gaye was Motown's superstar solo act who had had a hit filled career since Stubborn Kind of Fella in 1962. His image was that of a suave, smooth, happy-go-lucky guy, always well dressed and somewhat of a ladies man, an image reinforced by his many duets with Mary Welles, Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell. But that was a record label image. The real Marvin Gaye was aware of the time in which he lived, a time that had left the sunny early 60's behind and which had become turbulent and torn by a multitude of problems: the Vietnam War and its protests, the counterculture, life in the ghetto, drugs and the only recent realization that the natural environment was being destroyed in a way no one had suspected. Then came a personal crisis of the worst kind, the death of his singing partner and friend Tammi Terrell from a brain tumor. We all go along in life thinking there's some kind of sense and justice to it all, then something really horrible happens to someone really good and undeserving of such a fate and that shakes you to your foundations. I think that her death, on top of everything else really shook Marvin Gaye and made him realize he couldn't put out another happy, bouncy Motown album as he always had. The song came from Obie Benson the deep voice of the Four Tops who co-wrote it with Motown house songwriter Al Cleveland. But the other Four Tops didn't want to do what they saw as a protest song and passed on it. But Gaye was interested and cut the single in the Summer of 1970. Then came the resistance to it in the form of Berry Gordy Jr. who called it "The worst thing I have ever heard" and vetoed its release. But Berry Gordy Jr. was very old school. His dream had been to make popular music for the mainstream and get black performers out of the isolation of the R&B charts and onto the pop charts. He succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. But beyond that he only wanted to get his acts into fancy clubs like the Copa and on network TV. He didn't seem to have much of a social consciousness and if he did, it didn't matter because he saw anything controversial as something that could ruin Motown. Norman Whitfield had been able to update the Temptations into edgier songs but nothing as all-encompassing as this. But Marvin Gaye was fired up by this song, truly inspired. He went on strike, swearing not to record anything until the song was released. Motown was forced to release a Super Hits album instead of a new one and some weak singles that didn't chart very high. In the end Gordy gave in and the single, What's Going On was released in January of 1971. Opening uniquely with a party in full swing then the clarion call of a beautiful alto sax, it commanded the immediate attention of everyone by its sheer originality. It soon was #2 in the country and stayed on the charts for months. Gordy had to give the green light for the album, which was recorded over just ten remarkable days in March. Gaye often called it "God's album" not only because he sought a spiritual answer to mankind's problems but because he, the musicians (Motown's Funk Brothers house band), the producer (David Van De Pitte) and his co-writers all felt a rush of inspiration like they had never felt before. The result was unique among Motown albums. Songs flowed into each other without breaks. Instead of the usual punchy beat this album seemed to float effortlessly, buoyed by multiple rhythms and jazz sax that continued throughout most of the tracks. Only Right On leaves this sound world and inhabits an earthier kind of jazz that almost brings the album down a bit too much until it ascends again with Wholly Holy. Each song is its own vignette from the puzzlement of the returning soldier of What's Happening Brother who comes home to a decade's worth of change in just a few years (which is how fast things were changing in the 60's) to the addict of Flyin' High (In the Friendly Skies (the United Airlines slogan) who knows he's hooked. Mercy Mercy Me is still practically the only ecology song that isn't cloying and it has one of the eeriest endings ever in a pop song. and direct pleas like Save the Children and God Is Love are sincere pleas for some kind of sanity in this world. It all ends with the album's final hit single, Inner City Blues which ends us where it all began with the beginning of What's Going On. Universal owns the Motown master tapes and this CD sounds fantastic, with every note clear and full. Many good things have been said of this album. Many claims of greatness have been made. They're all true. Review: Marvin, Marvin, Marvin - Brilliance many times comes out of pain and a tortured soul, never more has this statement been true than when describing this artist and this wonderfully historic album. WHAT'S GOING ON is the album Marvin had wanted to make for a very long time but was held back from making due the strictness of Motown's founder and president, Berry Gordy. Marvin, who went through many trauma's as a child and young adult with an alcoholic & abusive father as well as a marriage that was beginning to fall apart, had a lot of emotions bottled up inside. He truly needed an outlet and wasn't being given the freedom to do so musically which is one of the reasons I believe he turned so heavily to drugs early on. It was through a series of letters he received from his brother who was serving in Vietnam that this incredible album and it's overall message would come into being. His brother was informing him about the war and what that all entailed and Marvin begin to tie that in with life here in the U.S. and what it was going to be like for his brother, or anyone in his situation, to return home. And from that, WHAT'S GOING ON was conceived and born. It truly is a tortured soul, begging, no, SCREAMING for all to come together and put aside petty bigotry, hate and war. But it's also, in many ways, a confessional for Marvin as, if you pay close attention, he is revealing many of the thoughts and struggles he's personally dealing with at the time. It's Marvin's life struggles, the "microcosm" relaying the overall issues and struggles facing the nation and world as a whole, the "macrocosm." It's an album that really and truly needs to be listened to all at once as it truly was meant to be a continuous message and not a series of "singles." We've heard of "concept" albums before but this was the truest since of that term as each song is a part of an overall story that Mr. Gaye takes us on. With each note he sings, you can hear the plea in the man's voice calling out for both outward togetherness and inner peace. He was actually contemplating leaving music behind altogether prior to the creation of this album. However, his brothers stories plus his own personal demons, compelled him both to write & record this album as well as fight Gordy and the powers that be at Motown for it's promotion and release. It's amazing to listen to Gordy now as he reflects back on what he told Marvin about the album then versus the conversations they had in the years after it's release and historical success. I may never have been as moved as when I first heard this album for the first time, the tears flowed, I danced, shouted, cried out and expressed just about every kind of emotion humanly possible. I truly love this album and pray that this brilliant, loving, tortured soul has finally come to know the peace he agonized over and sang about to us on this record so long ago. This is a quintessential album and EVERY music lover no matter what genre you may prefer should give it a listen. I promise you will not be disappointed. There was never an album recorded like this one up to that point, it truly was/is one of a kind as was/is it's creator. Marvin Gaye was a true musical giant and deeply profound man, his work is being reassessed more and more as it should be as some of the very best ever recorded. While my personal favorite album of his is HERE MY DEAR due to it's extremely personal nature, this is, without question, his most influential and historic album worthy of any and all conversations about the greatest recordings of all time.
J**F
Marvin Gaye's Gift To the World.
There's nothing else like it. Marvin Gaye's sublime and transcendent album, What's Going On, had a musical style and depth of feeling that lifted it up into the highest level of pop and soul releases and made it uncopyable even by Gaye himself, who was smart enough not to try. It seems to float, practically luminous in a sea of congas and percussion, talking and strings, saxophone and multi-tracked Gaye and background singers in a constantly changing mix that bursts with energy like life itself. It passes through many moods: hope, anger, desperation, depression, joy and prayer. It offers no glib slogans, no easy answers and mostly calls for a more spiritual existence that might lead mankind to a better place. It's as relevant today as it ever was though sad to say, I believe times are even worse now than they were when the album was made. The big surprise was that it was Marvin Gaye who made it. Gaye was Motown's superstar solo act who had had a hit filled career since Stubborn Kind of Fella in 1962. His image was that of a suave, smooth, happy-go-lucky guy, always well dressed and somewhat of a ladies man, an image reinforced by his many duets with Mary Welles, Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell. But that was a record label image. The real Marvin Gaye was aware of the time in which he lived, a time that had left the sunny early 60's behind and which had become turbulent and torn by a multitude of problems: the Vietnam War and its protests, the counterculture, life in the ghetto, drugs and the only recent realization that the natural environment was being destroyed in a way no one had suspected. Then came a personal crisis of the worst kind, the death of his singing partner and friend Tammi Terrell from a brain tumor. We all go along in life thinking there's some kind of sense and justice to it all, then something really horrible happens to someone really good and undeserving of such a fate and that shakes you to your foundations. I think that her death, on top of everything else really shook Marvin Gaye and made him realize he couldn't put out another happy, bouncy Motown album as he always had. The song came from Obie Benson the deep voice of the Four Tops who co-wrote it with Motown house songwriter Al Cleveland. But the other Four Tops didn't want to do what they saw as a protest song and passed on it. But Gaye was interested and cut the single in the Summer of 1970. Then came the resistance to it in the form of Berry Gordy Jr. who called it "The worst thing I have ever heard" and vetoed its release. But Berry Gordy Jr. was very old school. His dream had been to make popular music for the mainstream and get black performers out of the isolation of the R&B charts and onto the pop charts. He succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. But beyond that he only wanted to get his acts into fancy clubs like the Copa and on network TV. He didn't seem to have much of a social consciousness and if he did, it didn't matter because he saw anything controversial as something that could ruin Motown. Norman Whitfield had been able to update the Temptations into edgier songs but nothing as all-encompassing as this. But Marvin Gaye was fired up by this song, truly inspired. He went on strike, swearing not to record anything until the song was released. Motown was forced to release a Super Hits album instead of a new one and some weak singles that didn't chart very high. In the end Gordy gave in and the single, What's Going On was released in January of 1971. Opening uniquely with a party in full swing then the clarion call of a beautiful alto sax, it commanded the immediate attention of everyone by its sheer originality. It soon was #2 in the country and stayed on the charts for months. Gordy had to give the green light for the album, which was recorded over just ten remarkable days in March. Gaye often called it "God's album" not only because he sought a spiritual answer to mankind's problems but because he, the musicians (Motown's Funk Brothers house band), the producer (David Van De Pitte) and his co-writers all felt a rush of inspiration like they had never felt before. The result was unique among Motown albums. Songs flowed into each other without breaks. Instead of the usual punchy beat this album seemed to float effortlessly, buoyed by multiple rhythms and jazz sax that continued throughout most of the tracks. Only Right On leaves this sound world and inhabits an earthier kind of jazz that almost brings the album down a bit too much until it ascends again with Wholly Holy. Each song is its own vignette from the puzzlement of the returning soldier of What's Happening Brother who comes home to a decade's worth of change in just a few years (which is how fast things were changing in the 60's) to the addict of Flyin' High (In the Friendly Skies (the United Airlines slogan) who knows he's hooked. Mercy Mercy Me is still practically the only ecology song that isn't cloying and it has one of the eeriest endings ever in a pop song. and direct pleas like Save the Children and God Is Love are sincere pleas for some kind of sanity in this world. It all ends with the album's final hit single, Inner City Blues which ends us where it all began with the beginning of What's Going On. Universal owns the Motown master tapes and this CD sounds fantastic, with every note clear and full. Many good things have been said of this album. Many claims of greatness have been made. They're all true.
S**R
Marvin, Marvin, Marvin
Brilliance many times comes out of pain and a tortured soul, never more has this statement been true than when describing this artist and this wonderfully historic album. WHAT'S GOING ON is the album Marvin had wanted to make for a very long time but was held back from making due the strictness of Motown's founder and president, Berry Gordy. Marvin, who went through many trauma's as a child and young adult with an alcoholic & abusive father as well as a marriage that was beginning to fall apart, had a lot of emotions bottled up inside. He truly needed an outlet and wasn't being given the freedom to do so musically which is one of the reasons I believe he turned so heavily to drugs early on. It was through a series of letters he received from his brother who was serving in Vietnam that this incredible album and it's overall message would come into being. His brother was informing him about the war and what that all entailed and Marvin begin to tie that in with life here in the U.S. and what it was going to be like for his brother, or anyone in his situation, to return home. And from that, WHAT'S GOING ON was conceived and born. It truly is a tortured soul, begging, no, SCREAMING for all to come together and put aside petty bigotry, hate and war. But it's also, in many ways, a confessional for Marvin as, if you pay close attention, he is revealing many of the thoughts and struggles he's personally dealing with at the time. It's Marvin's life struggles, the "microcosm" relaying the overall issues and struggles facing the nation and world as a whole, the "macrocosm." It's an album that really and truly needs to be listened to all at once as it truly was meant to be a continuous message and not a series of "singles." We've heard of "concept" albums before but this was the truest since of that term as each song is a part of an overall story that Mr. Gaye takes us on. With each note he sings, you can hear the plea in the man's voice calling out for both outward togetherness and inner peace. He was actually contemplating leaving music behind altogether prior to the creation of this album. However, his brothers stories plus his own personal demons, compelled him both to write & record this album as well as fight Gordy and the powers that be at Motown for it's promotion and release. It's amazing to listen to Gordy now as he reflects back on what he told Marvin about the album then versus the conversations they had in the years after it's release and historical success. I may never have been as moved as when I first heard this album for the first time, the tears flowed, I danced, shouted, cried out and expressed just about every kind of emotion humanly possible. I truly love this album and pray that this brilliant, loving, tortured soul has finally come to know the peace he agonized over and sang about to us on this record so long ago. This is a quintessential album and EVERY music lover no matter what genre you may prefer should give it a listen. I promise you will not be disappointed. There was never an album recorded like this one up to that point, it truly was/is one of a kind as was/is it's creator. Marvin Gaye was a true musical giant and deeply profound man, his work is being reassessed more and more as it should be as some of the very best ever recorded. While my personal favorite album of his is HERE MY DEAR due to it's extremely personal nature, this is, without question, his most influential and historic album worthy of any and all conversations about the greatest recordings of all time.
C**T
A UNIQUE LEGACY OF INVENTIVE MUSICAL GENIUS!
ANYTHING THAT REFLECTS THE INVENTIVE AND CREATIVE WORK OF THE GENIUS THAT WAS MARVIN PENTZ GAYE GIVES ME GREAT PLEASURE AND ENJOYMENT - THIS PARTICULAR ALBUM SITS AT THE VERY PINNACLE OF HIS LIFE'S WORK. EACH AND EVERY TRACK DEALS WITH THE WORLD'S RECURRING PROBLEMS THAT KEEP ON REPEATING THEMSELVES - WAR, HATE, GREED, INEQUALITY, POVERTY, VIOLENCE, RACISM ETC. WHEN THIS MASTERPIECE WAS CREATED IN DETROIT'S GOLDEN WORLD STUDIOS IN SPRING 1971, THE WORLD AT THAT TIME WAS FULL OF THE AFOREMENTIONED LISTING, YET TODAY, WE STILL WITNESS THE SAME ISSUES POISONING OUR LIVES. THE WORLD'S POLITICIANS NEED TO SIT AROUND A TABLE, BE QUIET, AND LISTEN TO THE MESSAGES IN THIS REVOLUTIONARY MUSICAL MASTERPIECE THAT WAS WAY AHEAD OF IT'S TIME, YET IS AS RELEVANT TODAY AS IT WAS NEARLY 50 YEARS AGO WHEN IT WAS MADE AVAILABLE TO THE WORLD'S EARS. I FEAR THAT THEY WON'T LISTEN AND TAKE HEED, IF ANYTHING THE ISSUES ONLY GET WORSE AND, AS MARVIN SAID, "ESCALATE". THE GREEN VINYL SERVES AS A REMINDER TO ME OF THE TOPICAL ECOLOGICAL ISSUES THAT DOMINATE OUR WORLD IN 2019, AND OF COURSE "MERCY, MERCY ME", THANK YOU FOR THIS LIMITED EDITION, IT WILL SIT ALONGSIDE ALL THE OTHER VARIATIONS I HAVE OF THIS GREAT ALBUM AND THIS UNIQUE MAN'S WORK. THANK YOU MARVIN FOR THIS PRECIOUS LEGACY YOU LEFT FOR US ALL TO LISTEN TO, ACT UPON, LIVE BY, AND NEVER CEASE TO MARVEL AT. CHRIS MARRIOTT, U.K. NOVEMBER 2019
T**H
An Amazing Masterpiece!
I got this album super quick on standard shipping from GoHastings. Thanks man! Ordered it on Tuesday, got it today (Thursday). Now for the record. Marvin Gaye was a genius at composing music! The Funk Brothers, a group of jazz musicians who did all the recordings for the Detroit era of Motown (1959-1972), were even bigger geniuses!! This is one of those classic albums that everyone should have in their music collection! Every single song has a sick groove and a flow that can't be matched. From "What's Going On" to "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" on side A to "Right On" to "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" on side B, the whole album is phenomenal and runs smoothly from one song until the next. This album is for Marvin Gaye what "Abbey Road" was for The Beatles. Just one flawless masterpiece! There is a funny story to the music. If you've seen the documentary; "Standing In The Shadows Of Motown", you'll know this about the album's recording sessions. If you haven't, find it on Amazon and buy it. It's a great little documentary. Anyway, Funk Brother bassist, James Jamerson, originally didn't want to do the recording but did so out of respect for Marvin Gaye. Marvin found James at a club James was playing at. James was pretty drunk when Marvin found him. James was so drunk that he couldn't even sit down let alone stand up. So they gave James his bass and he lied down on the floor and played the opening track for "What's Going On". Most people can't play the bass line for the song and James Jamerson did it lying down on the floor, stroking the strings only with his right index finger! If that doesn't make you want this record for the awesomeness that was James Jamerson, I don't know what will! Trust me, you want this record in your collection! Future generations need to listen to the classics of artists like Marvin Gaye, real music is a dying art it seems today.
D**N
Simply beautiful
Beautiful memories top quality sound 5 stars I highly recommend this seller. Great collection piece
T**H
Legendary Masterpiece
A gift for my vinyl loving daughter. One of the greatest albums ever made. Most likely , everyone everywhere should have a copy on hand. A true masterpiece
R**E
'33' minutes of the greatest music of all time
I had to give this 4 stars because I REALLY want someone to give this the remastering it deserves. I know that Marvin got push-back from the Motown execs about the politicization of his music, and then when it charted like crazy they wanted more... I guess record execs are all the same regardless of race, color, or creed. It has everything: Theme, instrumentation, lyrics and remains relevant even OUT of its historical context. For me, it is reminiscent of my high school years in an inner-city high school and remained with me throughout the 70s. I always associated it with rolling on the Cross Bronx Xpwy with my brother behind the wheel of my dad's 71 Riviera. I wish someone would do this work justice with a proper remaster by someone who knows what they're doing!!!! There's a DEEP Christian message there too, and I know you can guess why the album was "33" minutes long ( Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" ran the same 33 ).
M**N
A Question, STILL ...Unanswered.
Oh--- MY! You ask, "Did I like it... or did it meet my standards?" Well, if all you were concerned about was the shipping & handling, then YOU'RE someone that needs to purchase this classic piece of musical recordings yourself (in ANY form or style). MOST EVERYONE in the United States KNOWS and have heard the songs of Marvin Gaye (*especially, the song on this 1971 album release: "What's Going On.") Each time I hear songs from this album it makes my flesh crawl ...and I even become drawn into "A VERY INTENSE FEELING OF SPIRITUALITY" because many of us, (as youth & young adults back then,) didn't realize how POWERFUL and even "prophetic" the words of his songs were THEN ...but would continue to REPEAT itself nothing but "The Voice of The Next Generation." --Because, when you even listen to just the very first song, (which the album is titled by,) "What's Going On" lays out very serious domestic, political, sociological --and maybe even spiritual issues or situations ...then, creatively and softly leaves everyone listening to judge THEMSELVES by asking "What's Goin' On?" This is an album that gives a warm, bliss feeling of R&B Soul, Jazz, with a kinda "soft taste" of Blues. You'll cherish it! This album is, indeed, "A Classic!"
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