[.ca] Whats Going On

Amazon.com essential recording:
Sly & The Family Stone might have psychedelicized soul music, but Marvin Gaye personalized it. Although the powers-that-were Motown didn't even want to release the record, the unexpected success of What's Going On, issued in 1971, inspired Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, and just about every other black artist on the planet to take greater responsibility for their music and its meaning. Gaye co-wrote the songs and produced the album, flavoring it with layer upon layer of his own multi-tracked vocals, oceans of hand percussion, strings, flutes, and jazzy horn solos. Spacey and loose as a spliff-fueled Sunday afternoon jam in the park, the nine songs all played like a hit single. The title track--inspired by his brother's return from the Vietnam War--and the obvious social commentary of "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" and "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" actually were hit singles. Two other tracks ("Wholly Holy" and "Save the Children") would inspire hit covers by Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross, respectively. Nevertheless, What's Going On sounds as fresh today as it did the week that it came out. Recommended reading: Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye by David Ritz (McGraw-Hill, 1985). --Don Waller

From Amazon.co.uk:
Sly & The Family Stone might have psychedelicised soul music, but Marvin Gaye personalised it. Although the powers-that-were Motown didn't even want to release the record, the unexpected success of What's Going On, issued in 1971, inspired Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, and just about every other black artist on the planet to take greater responsibility for their music and its meaning. Gaye co-wrote the songs and produced the album, flavouring it with layer upon layer of his own multi-tracked vocals, oceans of hand percussion, strings, flutes and jazzy horn solos. Spacy and loose as a spliff-fuelled Sunday afternoon jam in the park, the nine songs all played like hit singles. The title track-- inspired by his brother's return from the Vietnam War--and the obvious social commentary of "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" and "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" actually were hit singles. Two other tracks ("Wholly Holy" and "Save the Children") would inspire hit covers by Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross, respectively. Nevertheless, What's Going On sounds as fresh today as it did the week that it came out. --Don Waller

Un Essentiel amazon.fr:
L'un des plus beaux disques, toutes catégories confondues, de l'histoire de la musique chantée, et l'avènement d'un artiste hors du commun. Après des débuts plutôt orientés rhythm'n'blues, l'auteur, compositeur et interprète Marvin Gaye entame la décennie libertaire avec un concept-album spirituel, pacifiste et écolo dans lequel la musique atteint un degré de sophistication confondant. 1971, entre Amérique de Nixon et guerre du Vietnam qui n'en finit plus, s'élève la voix troublante d'une colombe de la paix réincarnée en chanteur de soul. Epaulé par des collaborateurs émérites et des musiciens de première classe (dont un orchestre), celui qui était surtout connu pour son tube sixties ''I Heard It Through The Grapevine'' s'installe définitivement dans l'Olympe des mélomanes avec ces neuf diamants éblouissants de pureté et de savoir-faire. Chaque note enregistrée ici est d'essence divine et les interrogations existentielles de Marvin sont malheureusement toujours d'actualité. Sauf pour lui, évidemment. A moins que son esprit ne continue tout là-haut à se préoccuper de "Ce Qui Se Passe" ici-bas. --José Guerreiro

simply one the BEST musical compositions of all time:
This is simply put the greatest body of work ever written for the public to enjoy, and yet to learn from too. He was not just writing for one person, he wrote this for all of us. It stands alone in the music world, in high demand still, even after its 1971 release. Motown did not want this album, it was too volitile to release in 1969, so it sat for a year and a half. Yet it revoloutionized music, it was an album, a concept album when America was into singles still. I am so glad they realized someone had to say what was said on this disc. To me this is a work of musical, and spirtual art. He is speaking of himself and of society, all in one beautiful musical journey.If you have never heard this work, listen to this disc, and listen with an open mind. It is simply one the BEST musical compositions of all time. Timeless and powerful, a piece of love from a man who was so troubled in his own life. He gave us a message from God, a gift he could not ultimately find himself, peace and love.

What's Going On - Something really sweet & great!:
How does one write words about this wonderful album that can speak to our heart and our soul? Love one's fellow man and remember to express your love to God too. Wow. Mr. Gaye was writing at a time of very great social unrest in the USA. MLK & RFK were dead and people were very, very distressed about the Vietnam war. He spoke of basic love. Now we listen to him as if he is the Walt Whitman of R & B music. And he is. Beautiful sound. Inspiring lyrics. Makes you want to hug your mom, dad, your children and....see your neighbor as your equal and your responsibility to care for. It doesn't get any better than that.

One of the greatest ever:
Marvin had broke out of Motowns formulaic hit making machine with this 1970 album and set out to record the kind of music he wanted to make. The result was 'Whats Going On', possibly the greatest R & B album ever. That title track is just eternal.... What a groove! The whole atmosphere Marvelous Marvin creates here is just incredible! Moody and dramatic numbers about the world, people of today, social ills... The songs are carefully crafted and flow into each other one by one, culminating in the all time classic high of 'Inner City Blues'. 'Mercy, Mercy Me' is also present, and the rest of the material is equally inspired and pleasurable on the ear. Marvin was in the zone with this one, just as important & relevant today as it was back then, essential.

Legend:
There are NO type of words to describe HOW beautiful this album is! I mean, people had been saying that for a while before I finally copped it around 2000 but when I finally heard the album with nine tracks in all its glory, I was floored! I mean, this is what a TRUE artist IS! Marvin Gaye is more than just a musical legend, he is a legend for the entire world. Each song he had done, he always knew how to invoke so much emotion, so much pain, so much hardship and still come out with a piece of beauty. Save Sam Cooke and Al Green, no other artist turned R & B upside down and made it personal better than the man hailed from the Chocolate City. With his 1971 album, "What's Going On", Brother Marv went from singing about NEEDING love all the time to singing about WANTING love not only for himself but also for the entire world from ghetto to ghetto, backyard to yard, country to country. Forget Elvis, Marvin was truly a rock & roll innovator. He proved Black artists can sing a full album full of personal anguish and make it touch you deep inside your heart. No track is a filler and it's not so much the music but the message behind it that hits home. Telling a story of the singer's brother returning from Vietnam and asking that important question ("What's Going On"), his Rip-Van-Winkle sense of things-gone-by ("What's Happening, Brotha?"), his descend to drug abuse ("Flying High In The Friendly Sky"), and Marvin's own messages of trying to understand his place ("Right On"), trying to understand why the world is in such a disarray ("Mercy Mercy Me"), tormented because the children of the world are already going through terrible times while living in the ghetto ("Save the Children") to accepting Jesus into his life and also asking those not to question His majesty ("God Is Love") to embarking on a mission to conquer all hate ("Wholy Holy") and finally exposing the truth of his surroundings as poetically as he could in the streets ("Inner City Blues"--which is his landmark single IMO, but it's hard to choose THE landmark since Dude has had so many "landmarks"). This album told a STORY. It wasn't all out there like the work from the Beatles and the Beach Boys, less raucous than music from the Rolling Stones and the Temptations (who was going through a "psychedelic-soul" phase) and was just as serene as the music that would be released soon afterwards from these acts: Issac "Black Moses" Hayes Curtis Mayfield His fellow Motown brotha, the Wonderful Stevie Leon Ware (who would also produce a classic album along with Marv five years afterward) And much, much more. It also paved the way for Black acts to personally write about their own troubles like a book and not so much about pleasing youngsters but pleasing the soul within us. After Sly Stone, Marvin Gaye helped bridged the gap in Black music. This album remains his ultimate landmark but he was just getting started. This will be his decade to shine. You know the only bad thing about it is that the man who inspired a lot of R & B, rock, pop, hip-hop and soul singers today is no longer with us to experience and tell us more stories about ourselves that before, we didn't have an idea or clue about, also his music is so timeless because the stuff that had happened when he recorded this in the late-'60s and early-'70s (Vietnam, civil rights movement, Black Panthers, etc), is still going on today in 2004 (Iraq, civil rights lawsuits, injustice among celebrities, the FCC, etc). Long live Marvin P. Gaye, Jr. forever and ever! My overall rating of this classic: 10+ As I said in the title, LEGEND is all that needed to be said! We love you and miss you, Marvin.

Essential:
Marvin Gaye's 1971 classic "What's Going On" is a tremendous R & B album that every self-respecting fan of the genre should have. What makes this album so great is its uncompromising history: Berry Gordy wanted more up-beat songs from Marvin, and received the title track, which lamented the wasteful war in Vietnam. Gordy was horrified and almost refused to release it. Of course, the song became a huge hit in the US thanks to increasing awareness about societal problems, and now Marvin had to record an entire album to supplement the single. The entire album took an intense 10 days to record, but you could never tell by the languid flow it possesses. This album is dense with rhythm and melody, and flows together like a single song suite, making it a must-listen all the way through in one sitting. What's also great about the album is that its messages still hold true today. We still face problems that Marvin saw the US face 30 years ago: a needless war, problems with the environment, and social problems across inner cities in the US. Marvelous music, uplifting message, this is truly a classic album.

• What's Going On
• What's Happening Brother
• Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky)
• Save the Children
• God Is Love
• Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
• Right On
• Wholy Holy
• Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
• God Is Love (Bonus Track)
• Sad Tomorrows a/k/a "Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky)" (Bonus Track)