Marvin Gaye’s pinnacle album What’s Going On was a turning point for the artist and for the Motown machine. At the beginning of his musical career, Marvin Gaye began as a session drummer and then was converted to lead vocalist. His early works were standard gospel based R & B tracks that Motown was know for churning out, with subject matter focusing on love. However, after Renaldo Benson had revealed his song “What’s Going on” to Marvin, a spark was lit in him to create something that was a far cry from the status quo.
Marvin Gaye was a strong willed man who, beneath his crooning voice, had many rebellious inclinations that had been brought on by the war and amplified with a string of cultural tragedies in America. His brother, Frankie, had been in Vietnam and had told him of the horrors that he had seen from the gore, to images of children eating out of their garbage cans. At home he would watch from his television the Detroit race riots of ’67, people protesting the Vietnam War, and many other racial and cultural tragedies that seemed all too common. These influences propelled Gaye to overcome the obstacles that were in his way to get What’s Going On released.
The biggest obstacle to overcome in getting the album What’s Going On released was Marvin Gaye’s brother-in-law Berry Gordy Jr. He would not let the album pass through Quality Control stating that it was too political and did not fit into the “Motown Sound”[1]. Even after arguments from Anna, Berry Gordy’s sister, and Harry Balk, a veteran that would oversee Motown’s creative department while Gordy was away, Mr. Gordy stayed true to his decision not to release the album. Fortunately for us, Marvin Gaye was a very stubborn man as well. He refused to work until the album was released. Finally, in January of 1971 the album was released and went on to sell 100,000 copies in the first day[2].The album was a certainly not the typical “Motown Sound” that Detroit had been consistently pumping out. Instead of songs about love, this album discussed issues like war, racism, and a sense of awe about what was going on in the world. There were also many sonic characteristics in the album, which were new for Motown. One of which was having two different versions of Marvin’s vocals playing at the same time on the mix. This happy accident eventually became a staple of Marvin Gaye’s sound. Another unique sonic attribute to this album was the fact that Mr. Gaye used an entire chorus to supplement his vocals rather than the typical 3 backup singers.
When listening to What’s Going On I really appreciate the content of the album. The lyrics are deep, and rather than being a protest album, it seems to be more of an observation and reaction to the situation. Sonically the album is also very well crafted. From the very beginning with the saxophone introduction to “What’s Going On”, the album just seems to invite you in and experience the story.
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