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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.

Contents:

REMEMBERG MARV GAYE'S INIC 'WHAT'S GOG ON'

Disver What's Gog On by Marv Gaye released 1971. Fd album reviews, track lists, creds, awards and more at AllMic. * marvin gaye what's going on album *

What's Gog On is not only Marv Gaye's masterpiece, 's the most important and passnate rerd to e out of soul mic, livered by one of s ft voic, a man fally ee to speak his md and so move om R&B sex symbol to te rerdg artist.

Bis cementg Marv Gaye as one of the most important artists pop mic, What's Gog On was far and away the bt full-length to issue om the sgl-domated Motown factory, and arguably the bt soul album of all time. Conceived as a statement om the viewpot of a Vietnam veteran (Gaye's brother Frankie had returned om a three-year hch 1967), What's Gog On isn't jt the qutn of a baffled soldier returng home to a strange place, but a promise that listeners would be rmed by what they heard (that missg qutn mark the tle certaly wasn't a typo). Instead of releasg listeners om their troubl, as so many of his sgl had the past, Gaye ed the album to reflect on the climate of the early '70s, rife wh civil unrt, dg abe, abandoned children, and the spectre of rts the near past.

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

Marv Gaye released his landmark album What's Gog On 50 years ago today. We hear om artists and activists who were eply spired by the album's mic and s msag. * marvin gaye what's going on album *

Alternately prsed and hopeful, angry and jubilant, Gaye saved the most sublime, eply spired performanc of his reer for "Mercy Mercy Me (The Elogy), " "Inner Cy Blu (Make Me Wanna Holler), " and "Save the Children. " The songs and performanc, however, furnished only half of a revolutn; ltle uld've been acplished wh the Motown sound of prev Marv Gaye hs like "Stubborn Kd of Fellow" and "Hch Hike" or even "I Heard It Through the Grapeve. Gay, Sr., Anna Ruby, Gordy Gaye, Marv Pentz Gaye III, Mike Cooper, Frankie Gay, Pl and Gerald Comedy, Zeola “Sweetsie” Gay, Mable Jean Gay, Clarence Pl, Aunt Zeola, Parisee Monyel, Harvey Fuqua and Gee Maxilian.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH")MARVIN GAYE: (Sgg) Listen, baby, a't no mounta high, a't no valley low, a't no river wi enough, TERRELL: (Sgg) If you need me ll me, no matter where you are, no matter how (Sgg) Don't worry, Tammi Terrell's ath 1970 vastated Marv Gaye. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MERCY MERCY ME")GAYE: (Sgg) Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas, fish full of That one really h me bee I was an environmental science scholar studyg the world's oceans, lerally, and studyg the creatur the oceans and startg to learn that same bad news all over aga. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MERCY MERCY ME")GAYE: (Sgg) Oh, mercy, mercy In the late 2000s, I found myself dog outreach tn wh high schoolers and teachg this environmental science g standardized textbooks and realizg that I wasn't really engagg the stunts - right?

‘WHAT’S GOG ON’: WHEN MARV GAYE UNVEILED A MASTERPIECE

Listen to What's Gog On by Marv Gaye on Apple Mic. Stream songs cludg “What's Gog On”, “What's Happeng Brother” and more. * marvin gaye what's going on album *

(SOUNDBITE OF MARVIN GAYE SONG, "MERCY MERCY ME")JEFFERSON PATERSON: The other song that actually guts me is the song - and I feel like I'm gog to choke up now talkg about , but 's the song "Inner Cy Blu. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "INNER CITY BLUES")GAYE: (Volizg) That was Eva Jefferson Paterson, a civil rights lawyer who -found the Equal Jtice Society and also sgs a Motown ver band Oakland, Calif. Although both albums suffer om this over-exposure of lyric stiffns, Gaye’s work is much more supple and nversatnal ultimately smoothg self out on what is a very fe rerd while Wonr’s is too self-nsc and edg to pretentns (“Suffote the new high Ri the thorny mule that cri ‘Dig your grave and step right '”) the recently-veloped Curtis Mayfield Syndrome beg nearly prehensible when sung.

WHAT'S GOG ON

* marvin gaye what's going on album *

Where Stevié was ntent to liver his msag — however blurred — three or four songs, Gaye has signed his album as one many-faceted statement on ndns the world today, ma nearly seamls by reful transns between the cuts.

The style is set the first cut, “What’s Gog On, ” wh s sweet horn openg le; Gaye’s soft, simmerg voice reflectg on self betifully om two or three tracks; the ntrast of ngas and strgs; the breaks an excg jumble of street-rner jive and sttg. As Sly & The Fay Stone channelled their anger to to bter funk (1971’s There’s a Rt Go’ On), Gaye sublimated his lh strg sectns and Lat percsn—signals not jt of mil gentlens, but cultural sophistitn.

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

On May 21, 1971, one of the most signifint album releas of all time was unveiled the shape of Marv Gaye's 'What's Gog On.' * marvin gaye what's going on album *

The revelatn is that polil mic don’t have to be nontatnal— n be mellow and vg too, the provce not jt of radils, but the same mixed, middle-class dienc that had been buyg Gaye’s albums all along.

Motown/UMe has marked the 50th anniversary of Marv Gaye’s sgle release for “What’s Gog On” — the tle track om Rollg Stone’s Greatt Album of All Time — wh an all-enpassg digal reissue of the 1971 LP out now on streamg servic.

To honor the sgle’s 50th birthday, Motown/UMe grouped together all that bon mic for the digal release dubbed What’s Gog On: Deluxe Edn/50th Anniversary, which ntas the origal album pl 12 bon tracks cludg sgle versns, mos and more, the “Detro Mix” of the album and the llectn of “Funky Natn” stmentals om Gaye’s post-What’s Gog On rerdg ssns. To unrstand the seismic shift the reer of Marv Gaye that was brought about by his bold new artistic directn on What’s Gog On, ’s worth steppg back to the Motown mastay’s prev LP release.

HOW MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ CHANGED THE SOUND OF R&B FOREVER

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 what's going on album *

“Motown was not a pany that was built on any kd of personal statements, ” says Nelson Gee, a mic journalist, thor and cultural cric who terviewed Gaye durg the sger-songwrer’s the 1970s, Motown Rerds was known for s “superb productn le, ” which clud the stud band, The Funk Brothers, Gee says. ”“That kd of polil, social, personal work was not a signature of the pany, ” Gee a tour stop Berkeley, California, Renaldo “Obie” Benson of Motown giant the Four Tops was spired to wre “What’s Gog On” after wnsg a scuffle between police and monstrators at an anti-Vietnam War Benson brought the song to him, Gaye was reluctant to rerd . One of the most notable chang Gaye ma was the fal versn of the song, there was no qutn mark the song illtrat the challeng society durg the 1960s — “spirualy, brotherhood, the onens of man” — and speaks to what Gaye thks are solutns, Gee explas.

”Gaye Captured A ‘Sense Of Confn And Sadns’The send song on the album, “What's Happeng Brother” was wrten for Gaye's brother, Frankie, who had jt returned om a tour Vietnam and was stgglg to fd a 1971, the Amerin people were learng through the Pentagon Papers how the U.

50 YEARS AFTER MARV GAYE ASKED, ‘WHAT’S GOG ON?’ AMERI STILL SEARCHG FOR AN ANSWER

Listen ee to Marv Gaye – What's Gog On (What's Gog On, What's Happeng Brother and more). 9 tracks (). The first Marv Gaye album creded as produced solely by the artist himself, "What's Gog On" is a unified ncept album nsistg of ne songs, most of which lead to the next. It has also been tegorized as a song cycle; the album ends on a reprise of the album's openg theme. The album is told om the pot of view of a Vietnam War veteran returng to the untry he had been fightg for, and seeg nothg but jtice, sufferg and hatred. "What's Gog On" was the first album on which Motown Rerds' ma stud band, the group of ssn micians known as the Funk Brothers, received an official cred.… Disver more mic, ncerts, vios, and pictur wh the largt talogue onle at * marvin gaye what's going on album *

4 on the Billboard pop sgl chart and even had a rare appearance for Gaye on the adult ntemporary sound of that song has an “herent spirual dimensn” that embrac many tradns om European and Black church, Gee says. ”Gaye’s artistic velopment and his transformatn om a sger of love songs to one of the most important artists to brg polilly nsc lyrics to soul mic was closely bound up wh the ndns of social and polil turmoil the US and ternatnally durg this perd. Marv also faced dg addictn, and his llaborator Tammi Terrell began to experience the health problems that would lead to her tragic ath at 24 om a bra tumor March was this climate that Gaye began to feel that Motown’s popular mic formulas were fallg out of touch wh changg moods and his own strong views.

The talented players provi vibrant and h sounds that be elements of jazz, blu, Lat percsn, gospel and even operatic mil to the album, Gaye began regularly attendg performanc of the Detro Symphony Orchtra as a source of mil spiratn for the album. ”Gaye is referrg to the speratn faced by those g back om the war, havg difficulty fdg employment and fdg their place society, spe what the newspapers and rporate news media were album also spoke of ndns the ci, addn to voicg opposn to the war.

Gaye’s song “Inner Cy Blu (Make Me Wanna Holler)” speaks about the harsh reali for the workg class the ner-cy ghettos:“Hang ups, let downs Bad breaks, setbacksNatural fact is I n’t pay my taxOh, make me wanna holler and throw up both my handsYeah, mak me wanna holler and throw up both my handsCrime is creasg Trigger happy policgPanic is spreadg God knows where we’re headg. For stance, large portns of the album served as the soundtrack for Spike Lee’s recent Vietnam War film Da 5 the album’s release, Gaye was himself bet by dg addictn and mental illns and fell to a ep prsn for several years. While Gaye’s songs no doubt pture the experience of Ain Amerins the early 1970s, the them, mily and prott of the album were of a much more universal character than the sentiments of today’s inty-obssed upper-middle-class mentators.

50 THGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MARV GAYE'S WHAT'S GOG ON

Marv Gaye's classic "What's Gog On," released 50 years ago today, changed the sound of R&B forever. Here's why. * marvin gaye what's going on album *

The album was unlike anythg prevly released by a Black superstar: Wrten and produced by Gaye (a first for any Motown artist not named Smokey Robson) and clockg at jt over 35 mut, secured his spot as one of mic’s leadg Black trs of the .

He wasn’t the first Black artist to produce challengg mic after assumg plete creative ntrol — Jam Brown had done and so had former Imprsns lear Curtis Mayfield — but Gaye, who butted heads hard wh Motown orr to pursue a new artistic directn (he was signed to the Motown imprt Tamla), was the first to do wh such a thematilly and milly hive statement. If he had wanted to, Gaye probably uld have spent years astg on the 1968 succs of “I Heard It Through the Grapeve, ” a chart-toppg smash that, at one pot, was Motown’s bt-sellg sgle of all time. But stead of vg to creative expectatns, Gaye cid to challenge himself and his dience by embarkg on a stunng mic reventn that rivaled what The Beatl had done a half- earlier wh “Rubber Soul.

WHAT’S GOG ONMARV GAYETRACK 1 ON WHAT’S GOG ON PRODUCED BYMARV GAYEWHAT’S GOG ON IS AN EXQUISE PLEA FOR PEACE ON EARTH, SUNG BY A MAN AT THE HEIGHT OF CRISIS. IN 1970, MARV GAYE WAS MOTOWN’S TOP MALE VOL STAR, YET HE WAS TRATED… READ MORE JAN. 17, 19716 VIEWERS591.3K VIEWS85 CONTRIBUTORSWHAT’S GOG ON LYRICS[INTRO]HEY, HEY-HEYHEY, WHAT'S HAPPEN'?HEY, BROTHER, WHAT'S HAPPEN'?BOY, THIS IS A GROOVY PARTY (HEY, HOW YOU DO'?)MAN, I N DIG YEAH, BROTHER, SOLID, RIGHT ONWHAT'S HAPPEN'?HEY, MAN, WHAT'S HAPPENG?WOOEVERYTHG IS EVERYTHGWE'RE GONNA DO A GET DOWN TODAY, BOY, I'LL TELL YA[VERSE 1]MOTHER, MOTHERTHERE'S TOO MANY OF YOU CRYGBROTHER, BROTHER, BROTHERTHERE'S FAR TOO MANY OF YOU DYGYOU KNOW WE'VE GOT TO FD A WAYTO BRG SOME LOVG HERE TODAY, YEAH[VERSE 2]FATHER, FATHERWE DON'T NEED TO LATEYOU SEE, WAR IS NOT THE ANSWERFOR ONLY LOVE N NQUER HATEYOU KNOW WE'VE GOT TO FD A WAYTO BRG SOME LOVG HERE TODAY, OH (OH)YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE[CHOS]PICKET L (SISTER) AND PICKET SIGNS (SISTER)DON'T PUNISH ME (SISTER) WH BTALY (SISTER)TALK TO ME (SISTER), SO YOU N SEE (SISTER)OH, WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)YEAH, WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)OH, WHAT'S GOG ON[POST-CHOS]AH-AH-AH-AH (IN THE MEANTIME, RIGHT ON, BABY)WOO (RIGHT ON, BABY), WOOAH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA, YA-YA-YA-YA-YAWOO (RIGHT ON, BABY, RIGHT ON), WOOAH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YABA-DA-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOOBA-DA-BOO-BOO-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO-BA-BA-DO[VERSE 3]MOTHER, MOTHEREVERYBODY THKS WE'RE WRONGOH, BUT WHO ARE THEY TO JUDGE SIMPLY 'E OUR HAIR IS LONG?OH, YOU KNOW WE'VE GOT TO FD A WAYTO BRG SOME UNRSTANDG HERE TODAY, OH-OH[CHOS]PICKET L (BROTHER) AND PICKET SIGNS (BROTHER)DON'T PUNISH ME (BROTHER) WH BTALY (BROTHER)COME ON, TALK TO ME (BROTHER), SO YOU N SEE (BROTHER)OH, WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)YEAH, WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)TELL ME WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)[POST-CHOS]WOO-OOH-OOH-OOH (RIGHT ON, BABY, RIGHT ON)AH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA, YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YAWOO, WOO (RIGHT ON)AH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YABA-DA-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO-DOOBA-DA-BOO-BOO-BOO-DOO, BA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA[OUTRO]WOO (RIGHT ON, BABY, E ON, RIGHT ON)AH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YAWOO (RIGHT ON)LISTEN, AH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YADA-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO-DOODA-BOO-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO49EMBEDCANCELHOW TO FORMAT LYRICS:TYPE OUT ALL LYRICS, EVEN REPEATG SONG PARTS LIKE THE CHOSLYRICS SHOULD BE BROKEN DOWN TO DIVIDUAL LUSE SECTN HEARS ABOVE DIFFERENT SONG PARTS LIKE [VERSE], [CHOS], ETC.USE ALICS (<I>LYRIC</I>) AND BOLD (<B>LYRIC</B>) TO DISTGUISH BETWEEN DIFFERENT VOLISTS THE SAME SONG PARTIF YOU DON’T UNRSTAND A LYRIC, E [?]TO LEARN MORE, CHECK OUT OUR TRANSCRIPTN GUI OR VIS OUR TRANSCRIBERS FOMABOUT

Listen to What's Gog On by Marv Gaye on Apple Mic. Stream songs cludg "What's Gog On", "What's Happeng Brother" and more. * marvin gaye what's going on album *

” Gaye, who had once harbored aspiratns to be the Black Frank Satra, thoroughly transformed his sound and image, creatg a new chameleonic mil persona that would rry him through the ‘70s. In addn to reposng and rebrandg Gaye s before “rebrandg” beme a thg, “What’s Gog On” blend the polil and the relig a way no sger had managed to do sce Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” seven years earlier. ” John Lennon rerd “Image” about a week after the release of “What’s Gog On, ” and although the former Beatle had already been tacklg polil them his solo work, ’s easy to image him beg fluenced and spired by Gaye’s foray to social nscns.

The followg year, Gaye’s Motown labelmate Stevie Wonr would, like Gaye, assume creative ntrol of his reer and release “Talkg Book, ” which end a ne-year Top 10 dry spell on the album chart and began his n of ‘70s classics. Cyndi Lper, Robert Palmer, and Angela Wbh all enjoyed chart hs wh remak of “What’s Gog On” tracks; the Strok vered “Mercy Mercy Me” as a B-si; and when D’Angelo burst onto the R&B scene 1995 wh his “Brown Sugar” album, he sound like the rernatn of Gaye, who was killed by his father 1984, on the day before his 45th birthday. Although he rerd a thematilly siar album, “You’re the Man, ” as a follow-up, that project was shelved and went unreleased until 2019, and Gaye would never aga make such an overtly album-length polil statement.

Listen to What's Gog On (Deluxe Edn 50th Anniversary) by Marv Gaye on Apple Mic. Stream songs cludg "What's Gog On", "What's Happeng Brother" and more. * marvin gaye what's going on album *

Curtis Mayfield veered to social nscns nearly one year before Gaye did wh his 1970 but solo album “Curtis, ” but like Jam Brown’s proclamatns of Black pri om the same era, sounds thoroughly of s time.

Gaye uld release today, and s melodi wouldn’t be out of place, and lyrics like “Crime is creasg/ Trigger-happy policg/ Panic is spreadg/ God knows where we’re headg” (om “Inner Cy Blu”) would stg as acutely now as they did then. Reviews were somewhat mixed upon s release (like several other ‘70s Gaye albums, cludg “Let’s Get It On” and “Here, My Dear, ” s cril reputatn would grow over time), and spe lnchg three Top 10 sgl, the album wasn’t a naway chart h.

It only reached number six on the Top 200 album chart, and sred jt one Grammy nomatn, bt R&B vol performance, male, for “Inner Cy Blu (Make You Wanna Holler), ” which Gaye lost to Lou Rawls’ “A Natural Man. As Sly & The Fay Stone channeled their anger to to bter funk (1971’s There’s a Rt Go’ On), Gaye sublimated his lh strg sectns and Lat percsn—signals not jt of mil gentlens, but cultural sophistitn. In a recent terview for a new CNN documentary about Gaye’s work, tled “What’s Gog On: Marv Gaye’s Anthem for the Ag, ” the Grammy-nomated artist and activist relled redisverg the album jt before headg to a prott Nashville last summer.

As a child, mician Devon Gilfillian remembers his father, a profsnal weddg sger, harmonizg wh Marv Gaye’s inic “What’s Gog On” album their livg room. While the groove of the mic was palpable, the lyrics were lost on a young Gilfillian. * marvin gaye what's going on album *

Wh progrs, 100 years we'll look back on the rerd as an album that broke down barriers and beme the blueprt on how to live harmonly wh each other and our, though, let's take a closer look at the makg of Gaye's masterpiece as the album reach s mid-life surround by a world still crisis.

On May 21, Marv Gaye's 1971 album hs the half-century mark — and 's as timely as 's ever been. * marvin gaye what's going on album *

The boss at Motown thought Gaye was jeopardizg his reer wh this albumIn the fall of 1970, Gaye was so exced about the prott album he had md — and the song "What's Gog On" that he'd jt fished — that he tracked down the head of Motown Rerds, Berry Gordy, who was on vatn the Bahamas, to tell him the ia. 'What's Gog On' almost beme a song for vol group the OrigalsIn mid-1970, after workg on the song wh lyricist Al Cleveland, Benson fally had a chance to play for Gaye after trackg him down on a golf urse.

Listen to unlimed streamg or download What's Gog On by Marv Gaye Hi-R qualy on Qobuz. Subscriptns om $10.83/month. * marvin gaye what's going on album *

Many of his fans pied his fashn sense, but Gaye later admted to bgrapher David Rz that he wore them to ver up a growg bald spot on the top of his head, and was tickled to see people wear them to look Gaye, wearg his signature toque. Jam Jamerson rerd his bass l while layg flat on his backThe story go that Gaye knew he wanted Motown ssn man and key Funk Brother Jam Jamerson to play bass on the rhythm tracks, so he followed Jamerson down to a lol Detro blu club where the bassist was playg the band. Gaye axed him offstage and back to the stud, but Jamerson was so toxited he kept fallg off his stool durg the rerdg, so he lay flat on his back to lay down the bass riffs that were wrten out for him by arranger David Van DePte.

Gaye was a nervo performer at the bt of tim, but on his namake day, four years sce his last performance, sred, stoned and wh a hired band of unr-rehearsed micians, Gaye panicked and accintally started wh "Right On, " the album's first song on the send si, playg the album back to ont. SmokeThis album was the product of many wrers, among them Anna Gordy, Obie Benson, Al Cleveland, Elgie Stover, Jam Nyx and Earl Derouen, but Gaye always claimed there was one wrer on the album who didn't receive an album cred: Smokey Robson. 'What's Happeng Brother'The song "What's Happeng Brother" me directly out of a nversatn between Gaye and his younger brother, Frankie, who had been to Vietnam and pleted a three-year tour of duty.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* MARVIN GAYE WHAT'S GOING ON ALBUM

50 Years Later, Why Marv Gaye's Semal Album 'What's Gog On' Endur | Here & Now</tle><lk rel="nonil" href="><lk rel="alternate" type="applitn/rss+xml" tle="RSS" href="/wbur/rss"/><meta name="scriptn" ntent="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."/><meta property="og:type" ntent="webse"/><meta property="og:tle" ntent="50 Years Later, Why Marv Gaye's Semal Album 'What's Gog On' Endur"/><meta property="og:scriptn" ntent="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."/><meta property="og:url" ntent="><meta property="og:image" ntent="><meta property="og:image:alt" ntent="Marv Gaye performs on stage at De Doelen, Rotterdam, Netherlands, July of 1980. 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(Rob Verhorst/Redferns)" style="object-posn:50% 50%"/></picture><figptn class="article-fig-ptn">Marv Gaye performs on stage at De Doelen, Rotterdam, Netherlands, July of 1980. (Rob Verhorst/Redferns)</figptn></figure></sectn><div class="article-sectns"><sectn class="article-sectn--ntent hang-punctuatn article-sectn--first article-sectn--centered"><p class=""><em>Edor's note: This story was rebroadst on May 31, 2021. Fd that d <a href=">here</a>.</em></p><p class="">When Marv Gaye's rerd "What's Gog On" me out 1971, unemployment was at a high of 6%, people were prottg police btaly, and Amerins were angry over the Vietnam War.</p><p class="nt-medium">"What's Gog On" reflected those tim wh laser-sharp precisn, and 's gone on to bee Motown's biggt mercial succs. And 50 years later, the them of the album still reflect some of the most signifint challeng and divisns we face as a society.</p><p class="">But many people may be surprised to learn that this pivotal album almost never existed. Motown founr Berry Gordy was aaid would Gaye’s reer.</p><p class="nt-medium">“Motown was not a pany that was built on any kd of personal statements,” says Nelson Gee, a mic journalist, thor and cultural cric who terviewed Gaye durg the sger-songwrer’s lifetime.</p><p class="">By the 1970s, Motown Rerds was known for s “superb productn le,” which clud the stud band, The Funk Brothers, Gee says. The rerd pany aimed to make pop mic that ptured “the sound of young Ameri.”</p><p class="nt-medium">“That kd of polil, social, personal work was not a signature of the pany,” Gee says.</p><p class="">Durg a tour stop Berkeley, California, Renaldo “Obie” Benson of Motown giant the Four Tops was spired to wre “What’s Gog On” after wnsg a scuffle between police and monstrators at an anti-Vietnam War prott.</p><p class="">When Benson brought the song to him, Gaye was reluctant to rerd . At this pot his reer, Gaye was famo for his pop duets and love ballads, such as “A't No Mounta High Enough” wh Tammi Terrell and “I Heard It Through the Grapeve.”</p><div class="article-sectn--youtube article-sectn--embed wiscreen"><div class="youtube" id="yt-embed-1"><picture><img src="></picture><div class="play-button"></div></div></div><p class="">Gaye thought the song was better sued for a band lled The Origals, but he agreed to rerd himself after Benson allowed him to rewre some parts of . One of the most notable chang Gaye ma was the fal versn of the song, there was no qutn mark the tle.</p><p class="">The song illtrat the challeng society durg the 1960s — “spirualy, brotherhood, the onens of man” — and speaks to what Gaye thks are solutns, Gee explas.</p><p class="nt-medium">“It wasn't a qutn. It was a statement a sense, and the rerd self tri to actually provi answers,” he says. “So I don't thk you need a qutn mark for that. It was a statement — what's gog on — and here are some of the answers.”</p><p class="">When “What’s Gog On” me out January of 1971, was an stant h, and Gordy sisted Gaye rerd an entire album to back up the sgle. In the five s sce the song was released, “What’s Gog On” has been ed throughout the world monstratns agast totalarian regim, as a ll for peace the Middle East and durg recent Black Liv Matter protts.</p><p class="nt-medium">“Ultimately, the world me back to this album, and I thk that's one of the thgs that happened the last few years wh all the turmoil over race relatns, the entire chaos and the agmentatn,” Gee says. “The are all ias and nversatns we're havg right now 2021 that Marv was havg, and so the them of the album have proved to be endurg.”</p><span><h3><b>Gaye Captured A ‘Sense Of Confn And Sadns’</b></h3></span><p class="">The send song on the album, “What's Happeng Brother” was wrten for Gaye's brother, Frankie, who had jt returned om a tour Vietnam and was stgglg to fd a job.</p><p class="">In 1971, the Amerin people were learng through the Pentagon Papers how the U.S. ernment had basilly lied to them about the Vietnam War. This song spoke exactly to the sentiment of hundreds of thoands of Amerins impacted by loved on servg the war.</p><p class="">Gee says when he listens to this song particular, he don’t jt hear , he se . As a child growg up New York Cy, Gee remembers all of the men returng om the war who would wear Army jackets. He says “What’s Happeng Brother” reflects the “sense of nfn and sadns” that many Vietnam veterans felt when they returned home.</p><p class="nt-medium">“You had this return of all the brothers who had been the war, and they weren't celebrated,” Gee says. “There was a lot of prott about the war, so wasn't like the World War II people where everyone was pattg them on the back. So [there was] that sense of displacement, disillnment, the feelg of beg ed by the ernment as nnon fodr.”</p><p class="nt-medium">“Mercy Mercy Me (The Elogy),” another popular song om the album, is a direct tth-tellg about how we impact our environment. The song rose to No. 4 on the Billboard pop sgl chart and even had a rare appearance for Gaye on the adult ntemporary charts.</p><p class="">The sound of that song has an “herent spirual dimensn” that embrac many tradns om European and Black church, Gee says. The percsn on this song — and the album as a whole — also plays a huge role how the rerd flows.</p><p class="nt-medium">“So by layerg anilly so many different kds of mic, you create an environment that is very distctive,” he says. “This album really changed Marv's reer.”</p><figure class="article-fig size-large"><a href="><picture><img class="size-large article-image" src=" alt="Marv Gaye's rerd &quot;What's Gog On&quot; me out around this time 50 years ago. (Gems/Redferns)" loadg="lazy"/></picture></a><figptn class="article-fig-ptn">Marv Gaye's rerd "What's Gog On" me out around this time 50 years ago. (Gems/Redferns)</figptn></figure><span><h3><b>‘A Betiful Piece Of Art’</b></h3></span><p class="">In the followg years after the album was released, Gaye stggled wh prsn and dg abe, survivg a suici attempt 1979. When Gee <a href=">terviewed him</a> March of 1983, Gaye was a visibly broken man.</p><p class="">He was g back to the U.S. om his self-imposed exile Europe, and he was on a eback wh his song, “Sexual Healg.” But Gaye was also “nontg his old mons” and “ght fay relatns,” Gee says. There was a sense of melancholy that permeated throughout that entire terview.</p><p class="nt-medium">“When I sat wh him, I asked him about 'What's Gog On' and whether or not the time lled for another album like that, and he was very reluctant to sort of embrace that ia,” he says. “He said took a lot of soul searchg, a lot of medatn ... whatever space that had created 'What's Gog On' had passed for him. He had moved away om the social mentary that 'What's Gog On' reprented. And I thk 's bee he spirually didn't feel nnected both to the U.S. the same way and even to some parts of his own me.”</p><p class="">A year after that terview, Gaye was shot and killed by his father. He was 44 years old.</p><p class="">Reflectg back on Gaye’s semal work 50 years later, Gee says “What’s Gog On” is a “betiful piece of art.” The fal song on the album, “Inner Cy Blu (Make Me Wanna Holler),” still hnts him to this day.</p><p class="nt-medium">“You uld put that mic over any cy scene any urban center the last 50 years and that mic would work,” he says. “The scriptns , the atmosphere of the rerd, his vol stylgs, would still feel like he's scribg right now.”</p><hr/><p class=""><em><a href=">Samantha Raphelson</a> produced and eded this terview for broadst wh <a href=">Todd Mundt</a>. Raphelson also adapted for the web. </em></p></sectn></div><sectn class="article-sectn--story-group article-sectn--centered"><p class=""><em>This segment aired on March 1, 2021.</em></p></sectn></article><sectn class="article-sectn--story-group article-sectn--centered"><hear class="zone"><div class="zone-ner"><h2 class="zone-hdr">Related:</h2></div></hear><ul class="article-story-group"><li class="story-group-em"><a data-ec="Article Related Lks" data-el="'A Study Of Eight' Shows Influence Black Fashn Makers Had On History, Culture" data-ea="Click" class="story-group-lk" href=">'A Study Of Eight' Shows Influence Black Fashn Makers Had On History, Culture</a></li><li class="story-group-em"><a data-ec="Article Related Lks" data-el="In 'Four Hundred Souls,' 90 Wrers Tell Their Stori Of 4 Centuri Of Ain Ameri" data-ea="Click" class="story-group-lk" href=">In 'Four Hundred Souls,' 90 Wrers Tell Their Stori Of 4 Centuri Of Ain Ameri</a></li><li class="story-group-em"><a data-ec="Article Related Lks" data-el="Rememberg Rupert Neve, The Legendary Aud Equipment Inventor Who Shaped Rock 'N' Roll's Sound" data-ea="Click" class="story-group-lk" href=">Rememberg Rupert Neve, The Legendary Aud Equipment Inventor Who Shaped Rock 'N' Roll's Sound</a></li></ul></sectn><sectn class="article-sectn--story-group article-sectn--centered"><div class="ntributor has-photo"><div class="ntributor-profile"><figure class="ntributor-profile-em ntributor-photo"><a href="/si/staff/tonya-mosley"><picture><img src=" class="lazy rd-image" alt=""/></picture></a></figure><p class="ntributor-profile-em ntributor-b"><a class="ntributor-name" href="/si/staff/tonya-mosley">Tonya Mosley</a> <span class="ntributor-tle">Corrponnt, Here & Now</span><br/>Tonya Mosley was the LA-based -host of Here & Now. </p><p class="ntributor-more"><a class="ntributor-lk ntributor-b-lk" href="/si/staff/tonya-mosley">More…</a></p></div></div><div class="ntributor has-photo"><div class="ntributor-profile"><figure class="ntributor-profile-em ntributor-photo"><a href="/si/staff/samantha-raphelson"><picture><img src=" class="lazy rd-image" alt=""/></picture></a></figure><p class="ntributor-profile-em ntributor-b"><a class="ntributor-name" href="/si/staff/samantha-raphelson">Samantha Raphelson</a> <span class="ntributor-tle">Associate Producer, Here & Now</span><br/>Samantha Raphelson is an associate producer for Here & Now, based at NPR Washgton, D.C.</p><p class="ntributor-more"><a class="ntributor-lk ntributor-b-lk" href="/si/staff/samantha-raphelson">More…</a></p></div></div></sectn><sectn class="sectn--bo sectn--bp"><div class="uw bp--rponsive"><div class="bp-ner"><p class="bp-label">Advertisement</p><div class="bp-ntent bp-ntent--centered"><div style="width:300px;height:50px"></div></div></div></div></sectn><div></div><div class="global-d-ponents onmand--is-playg"><div class="global-player"><d preload="to"></d><div class="global-player-bar"><div class="global-player-bar-left"><button class="global-player-bar-ntrol"><i class="in-play in-play--global-player-bar in-play--psed"><span class="in-play-shape"><span class="in-label" data-note="for-screen-rears">Rume</span></span></i></button><div class="global-player-label global-player-label--live"><div class="global-player-channel"><span>Listen Live</span></div><div class="global-player-tle"><a class="global-player-label-lk" href="/">Loadg...</a></div></div></div><div class="global-player-bar-right"><div class="global-player-x"><svg class="in in-close" viewBox="0 0 24 24" aria-labelledby="tle"><tle id="tle">Close .

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