20 Years Ago, Marv Gaye Took 'Natnal Anthem' To New Heights : NPR

marvin gaye reaction

Motown/UMe marks the 50th anniversary of Marv Gaye’s "What’s Gog On" sgle wh an all-enpassg digal reissue of the 1971 LP.

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20 YEARS AGO, MARV GAYE TOOK 'NATNAL ANTHEM' TO NEW HEIGHTS

It was 20 years ago, at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game, that Marv Gaye stole the show wh his sgular rendn of the Natnal Anthem, set to a sultry rhythym-and-blu beat. * marvin gaye reaction *

It was 20 years ago, at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game, that Marv Gaye stole the show wh his sgular rendn of "The Star-Spangled Banner.

MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ IS AS RELEVANT TODAY AS IT WAS 1971

The heirs of Ed Townsend, who -wrote “Let’s Get It On” wh Marv Gaye, had acced the pop star of pyg “Thkg Out Loud.” * marvin gaye reaction *

Released on May 21, 1971, at the height of the Vietnam War, Marv Gaye’s album beme a monster, spawng three h sgl on s way to beg Motown’s bt-sellg album to date.

The album also marked a turng pot for Motown and for Marv Gaye as an artist. And the host of the weekly rad show “Soul Stori, ” I am stck by how many of the them Gaye explor rema as relevant today as they were when he first wrote about them 50 years ago. But the song provis an sight to the evolutn of Gaye’s mic to enpass overtly polil them.

PLEASE TELL ME “WHAT’S GOG ON”?: THE NTEMPORARY RONANCE OF MARV GAYE

Marv Gaye, Amerin soul sger-songwrer-producer who, to a large extent, hered the era of artist-ntrolled popular mic of the 1970s. Among his h songs were ‘I Heard It Through the Grapeve,’ ‘A’t Nothg Like the Real Thg,’ ‘What’s Gog On,’ ‘Let’s Get It On,’ and ‘Sexual Healg.’ * marvin gaye reaction *

For example, “Soldier’s Plea, ” the first sgle om Gaye’s send album, “That Stubborn Kda Fellow” 1962, offers a cidly romantic view of war:. “Can’t fd no work, n’t fd no job, my iend, ” Gaye laments on “What’s Happeng Brother. Gaye repeats the affirmatn “right on” – a phrase distctly ground black urban vernacular – throughout the album and on a song bearg that name.

MARV GAYE

Five s later, we're still to "What's Gog On." That's bee them om Gaye's album reflect some of the most signifint challeng and divisns we face as a society today. * marvin gaye reaction *

” Gaye affirms “Right on, brother” to men who rpond kd at different pots the song. The ll and rponse munit a sense of shared ncern, shared stggle, and shared remptn – an ethos Gaye took om the gospel tradn that rms his mily.

This ll and rponse is repeated “Wholy Holy, ” wh Gaye utilizg a multrackg technique to layer two versns of his own vols:.

50 YEARS LATER, WHY MARV GAYE'S SEMAL ALBUM 'WHAT'S GOG ON' ENDUR

In a send legal victory for Ed Sheeran this month, a feral district judge dismissed another lawsu that claimed Sheeran’s h “Thkg Out Loud” pied the 1973 Marv Gaye h “Let’s Get It On.” * marvin gaye reaction *

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe heirs of Ed Townsend, who -wrote “Let’s Get It On” wh Marv Gaye, had acced the pop star of pyg “Thkg Out Loud. “Y, Amy Wadge and I wrote the song ‘Thkg Out Loud, ’” he Newman/Associated PrsIn a closely watched mic pyright trial, jurors ultimately sid wh Ed Sheeran, who had been acced of pyg his Grammy-wng ballad “Thkg Out Loud” om Marv Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On.

“Thkg Out Loud”Ed Sheeran“Let’s Get It On”Marv GayeWhat were the trial’s highlights? ”ImageEd Townsend was a songwrer and producer who llaborated wh Gaye on the “Let’s Get It On” Ochs Archiv/Getty ImagWhat parts of the songs are dispute? The trial was watched closely mic and legal circl as the latt example a seri of s that have alt wh whether monplace bs of harmony or melody n be owned by any poser or are part of the public trend began 2015 when a jury found that Rob Thicke and Pharrell Williams, their h “Blurred L, ” had ged on the pyright of another Gaye tune, “Got to Give It Up, ” and they were orred to pay more than $5 ln damag.

THE PLAYERS’ ANTHEM: WHEN MARV GAYE SANG ‘THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER’ AT THE 1983 ALL-STAR GAME

Marv Gaye was the middle of a pretty remarkable eback when the NBA tapped him to perform the Natnal Anthem at the 1983 All-Star Game. After * marvin gaye reaction *

We wanted to provi a direct opportuny to hear Marv Gaye’s semal album while parg to morn mic om Kendrick Lamar and Janelle Monáe. One n also fd the cril role of the Natnal Rerdg Board, appoted by the Library of Congrs, which add Marv Gaye’s hallmark album What’s Gog On (1971) to s Natnal Rerdg Registry 2003.

Albums like Marv Gaye’s What’s Gog On igne our personal and cultural memori and fuel our hop for the future. As a young child growg up the South the 1970s, my mother troduced me to Marv Gaye and the rt of the “Motown Sound.

” I beme enamored by Gaye’s quiet and nfint persona, his ol, and his soulfulns, all of which radiated Black pri. As stunts, we wore pi of his signature knted hat that we dubbed our “Marv Gaye ps.

THE REAL MEANG BEHD MARV GAYE'S 'WHAT'S GOG ON'

Ed Sheeran’s trial for pyright gement of Marv Gaye and Ed Townsend’s “Let’s Get It On” highlights how hard is to draw the property l of pop, John Seabrook wr. * marvin gaye reaction *

To aspirg youths, Gaye and the rt of the Motown fay served as stimuli, and we, turn, challenged lims placed on due to race, socenomic stat, genr, and geography. Today, Gaye’s prophetic lyrics echo anew as current generatns tie new experienc to them and hear them relatn to ntemporary soc-polil problems. Marv Gaye’s album What’s Gog On addrsed social ills that clud the Vietnam War and police btaly (“What’s Gog On”); environmental jtice (“Mercy, Mercy, Me” or “The Elogy Song”); and enomic dispari and systemic racism (“Make Me Wanna Holler” or “Inner Cy Blu”), all of which reverberate today.

FLASHBACK: MARV GAYE REIMAG ‘THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER’ 1983

They thk Pharrell's 'Happy' sounds like Gaye's 'A't That Peculiar' * marvin gaye reaction *

In the May 20, 2011, BBC documentary What’s Gog On—Mic That Defed a De, Smokey Robson, Motown legend and Gaye’s iend, asserts that What’s Gog On, “refed soul mic as an agent for social change. Today, Gaye’s anthem “What’s Gog On” prs both public historians and micians to actively engage socially and polilly and to reflect on mic as an art form has rried the impet for change the past and the prent. Gaye’s songs are historil documents that public historians n e to engage dienc about social jtic, while also monstratg how they will ntue if we do not move to actn.

The song ronat tergeneratnally, revealg the turbulence of society today jt as did Gaye’s time.

Jt as Marv Gaye’s mic and style spired activism the 1970s, his work serv as a prototype for today’s artists who e their platforms to make effective social and polil statements. Young mil artists today are ntug the ll for social reform enunciated by Marv Gaye. ” Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics—those “Alright” and many others—suggt that he is one of those wearg the mantle of Marv Gaye.

MARV GAYE'S FAY CONSIRG 'HAPPY' AFTER 'BLURRED L' W

They also prove that the issu addrsed by Gaye the early 70s are still wh , as is the need for rilience.

MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ GETS 50TH ANNIVERSARY DIGAL REISSUE

” Jt as Marv Gaye ed his microphone to mand social jtice the 1970s, the artists e their podium to expla the ntemporary urgency of some of the same soc-polil and cultural issu, such as the need to end police btaly and systemic racism that are the root of the current Black Liv Matter Movement. Marv Gaye turned his mic to a ll for the posive change that n be wrought by love, and “What’s Gog On” implor to realize his aspiratn for uny: “Let’s get some unrstandg here today.

” As an advote for social and environmental jtice, Gaye created mic that would reta s relevance and urgency for generatns to e. Gaye’s “What’s Gog On” vok personal and historil memori and ntu to ronate and stir emotns.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* MARVIN GAYE REACTION

The Real Meang Behd Marv Gaye's 'What's Gog On' .

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