Marv Gaye's classic faced the forc shapg Amerin culture at the begng of the '70s.
Contents:
- MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ GETS 50TH ANNIVERSARY DIGAL REISSUE
- 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, 19711 VIEWER587.8K 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
- 50 YEARS AFTER MARV GAYE ASKED, ‘WHAT’S GOG ON?’ AMERI STILL SEARCHG FOR AN ANSWER
- 50 THGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MARV GAYE'S WHAT'S GOG ON
- REMEMBERG MARV GAYE'S INIC 'WHAT'S GOG ON'
- WHAT’S GOG ON AT 50: MARV GAYE’S MASTERPIECE IS STILL SO TE TO LIFE
- MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ IS AS RELEVANT TODAY AS IT WAS 1971
- ‘MORE LIKE A STORY THAN A SONG’: HOW MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ REMAS RELEVANT 50 YEARS LATER
- 50 YEARS LATER, WHY MARV GAYE'S SEMAL ALBUM 'WHAT'S GOG ON' ENDUR
- HOW MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ CHANGED THE SOUND OF R&B FOREVER
- THE STORY OF MARV GAYE'S 'WHAT'S GOG ON'
MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ GETS 50TH ANNIVERSARY DIGAL REISSUE
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. * marvin gaye going on *
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. “The Detro Mix” of What’s Gog On, Gaye’s origal versn of the album before ncelg and reworkg Los Angel, prevly featured on the 30th anniversary reissue of the album 2001.
“Through the regnn of What’s Gog On Day, we hope to brg awarens to Marv Gaye’s profound words as his timels mic remas our hearts and mds and ntu spirg generatns to e. 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.
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. 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.
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, 19711 VIEWER587.8K 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
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 going on *
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. Unlike most producers, Gaye sat down the Snakep wh the micians, leadg the rhythm sectn and playg piano stead of producg om behd the glass the Snakep, where What's Gog On was rerd.
The end of 'The Sound of Young Ameri'Both the ont and rear ver shots for the album were taken the backyard of the hoe where Gaye and his wife were livg wh their son, Marv III. 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.
Ward was gettg a one-dience-member Marv Gaye ncert but says that she was so by gettg the lyrics down rrectly that she didn't have time to enjoy Gaye sgg jt for her. 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.
50 YEARS AFTER MARV GAYE ASKED, ‘WHAT’S GOG ON?’ AMERI STILL SEARCHG FOR AN ANSWER
On May 21, Marv Gaye's 1971 album hs the half-century mark — and 's as timely as 's ever been. * marvin gaye going on *
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. Those vol loops were a happy accintAnother signature sound on the album was the layerg of Gaye's vols, his abily to back his own voice and harmonize wh himself over and over.
The three had bee close iends, and 1970 Farr and Barney both helped nvce Gaye that "What's Gog On" was the perfect song for him to sg, bolsterg the early argument om Benson. '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.
'The Curse Out Man'The songs "Fly' High ( the Friendly Sky)" and "God is Love" were wrten by Gaye, his wife, Anna, and his nfidante Elgie Stover, who was nicknamed "the curse out man" at Motown. On the album's next track, "Save the Children, " Gaye shows his two other distct voic: his macho-man style of sgg, ed on his early R&B hs, and Gaye the preacher, his reasoned, level-head spoken-word ratnal voice (which is the ma voice you hear on the track).
50 THGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MARV GAYE'S WHAT'S GOG ON
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 going on *
" Motown legend tells that was performed by sax player Thomas "Beans" Bowl, who was lled to the stud by Gaye a scramble the middle of the night to perform — but the tth is very flute on the song was played by a teenage girl named Dayna Hartwick. Most of the Motown producers found his "growlg" sax style out of date, but a late-night ssn Gaye paid Wild Bill $500 out of his own pocket to play his tenor sax across the whole album. In 2001, to celebrate s 30th anniversary, was released as a double CD legacy edn, which clud the origal LP, Gaye's rejected "Detro Mix" of the album, the mono mix of the sgl and Gaye's first and only plete performance of the album, live at the Kennedy Center his native Washgton, D.
In 2016, a special 45th anniversary vyl four-rerd set was released, expandg the Kennedy Center ncert, along wh a rerd store day 10" EP featurg the album's tle track reimaged as a duet wh Gaye and ntemporary Motown artist B.
REMEMBERG MARV GAYE'S INIC 'WHAT'S GOG ON'
The tensn and loss that drove Marv Gaye wasn't lost on his peers: In the same year as What's Gog On, a wave of Black artists released explosive new work that put s polics ont and center. * marvin gaye going on *
20, 2021, "What's Gog On" Day wh this statement: "Through the regnn of 'What's Gog On' Day, we hope to brg awarens to Marv Gaye's profound words as his timels mic remas our hearts and mds and ntu spirg generatns to e. Wonr racked up 15 awards jt the between Talkg Book and Gaye's was dly env of Wonr, tellg bgrapher David Rz, "Now every time I hear him, between my twg of jealoy, I thank God for Stevie's gift. Wonr even appeared a recent CNN documentary, What's Gog On: Marv Gaye's Anthem for the Ag, to honour his what would have been Gaye's birthday 2021, Wonr shared an open letter wh the Motown Mm to honour his iend:50.
(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 MARVIN GAYE SONG, "MERCY MERCY ME")CERMAK: The song "Mercy Mercy Me" sort of stood out to me - oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas, fish full of mercury. (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.
WHAT’S GOG ON AT 50: MARV GAYE’S MASTERPIECE IS STILL SO TE TO LIFE
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 going on *
(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? (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.
“He uld have wrten What’s Gog On yterday, ” poet Nikki Gvanni noted an terview last tumn, explag that the ver portra of her 2020 llectn, Make Me Ra, pays homage to Gaye’s album ver, picturg Gvanni a raat, her llar upturned. The rerd’s endurance – most movgly displayed by Nelson Manla, who, shortly after his release om prison 1990, reced l om the album at Tiger Stadium Detro – has practilly bee a one is wrong, of urse, to say that Gaye’s album cuts as eply today as did 1971. A dively spired work driven by social rage – one that braid doo-wop harmoni, jazz and the hymns Gaye had loved as a child – What’s Gog On was also Gaye’s claratn of creative pennce om Berry Gordy’s Motown mache.
MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ IS AS RELEVANT TODAY AS IT WAS 1971
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 going on *
”What’s Gog On remas val, above all, for how turns away om that “Ameri” and stead addrs the tle qutn to a closer-kn group – those people gathered at the hoe party Gaye stag the album’s openg moments; the “mother, mother” and “father father” he lls out to (and that the party settg might emboln him to ndidly addrs). ” the speaker asks What’s Happeng Brother?, checkg the claims of those power agast the thory of everyday Black is one thg to celebrate Gaye’s endurg and prcient mo of creatn; another to appld the ntued ronance of his album’s ncerns.
‘MORE LIKE A STORY THAN A SONG’: HOW MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ REMAS RELEVANT 50 YEARS LATER
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 going on *
We should not be sangue, for stance, that Gaye’s unrstated blu crique of “trigger-happy policg” has stayed so relevant; or that anti-Black vlence has so persisted over the last 50 years that remas necsary for Black artists and everyday people to approach the task of survivg and thrivg Ameri wh the energy, elegance and grace that Gaye molled this landmark work. Maybe he was tired – was the last song of a long set – but the 40-year-old Gaye, his illed whe shirt and sequned red su jacket, appears to not jt work the crowd but panr to wh some ntempt: “This was our very first No 1 rerd ever the world, ladi and gentlemen. Photograph: US Army/Getty ImagThis is precisely the kd of galvanisg work that Gaye was dog wh What’s Gog On, for his own people his own time – a historil pot that is often obscured when we fixate on the rerd’s timelsns.
”Vcent se Gaye’s actns as “the drivg force” behd Stevie Wonr’s polil turn at Motown, as well as the rigoro funk of Sly and the Fay Stone and the righteo soul of Aretha Frankl’s 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black. The stars, along wh untls ssn micians, were “dog their bt work ever at this ccial moment time” – settg the standard, the se of Gaye and his llaborator David Van De Pte’s meticulo strg, nga, bass and vol arrangements – for what Vcent lls “soul mic as high art” be sure, What’s Gog On is an impecbly posed sue. Listen to how Gaye cranks the volume back up jt as the tle track starts to fa out – a sign of rilience as well as a petty refal to let a track that Gordy hated end whout a fight.
Photograph: Jim Brt/Getty ImagWhat I listen for now are moments like the, which, spe repeated plays, ver versns and sampl of Gaye’s songs, still sound disrdant and unrolved. If at first Gaye seems ncerned wh parsg good om bad actors, “those of who simply like to socialise” v “those of who tend the sick and heed the people’s cri, ” he also gathers them all to an affirmative, right-on roll ll that mellows out to an oblique paean to sex: “And my darlg, one more thg / If you let me, I will take you to live where love is kg.
50 YEARS LATER, WHY MARV GAYE'S SEMAL ALBUM 'WHAT'S GOG ON' ENDUR
The squawkg tenor saxophone solo wh which Wild Bill Moore tears through Mercy Mercy Me might be the most dramatic performance of the “holler” Gaye sgs about Inner Cy Blu – but which Gaye himself livers, at the end of that song, as a stylised cry: “Owwww! What Gaye performs stead is the virtuosic, ant ntrol required, the midst of panic, of Black people Ameri, no ls than that other war elements are not easily absorbed or nscripted to narrativ about Gaye’s moment or our own; precisely bee they are the rerd’s jagged edg, they keep reachg out to grab listeners through time. 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.
Racial tensns, police ntroversy, environmental anxieti, a globe on edge — they were the topics on the ont burner when Gaye rebooted his mil reer and took ntrol of his creative visn si Motown. Shaken by the ath of sgg partner Tammi Terrell, hnted by the Vietnam War stori of his younger Army vet brother, Gaye was an emotnal lightng rod wag to be zapped wh creative energy when Motown’s Obie Benson and Al Cleveland brought him their new posn about troubl across the land. Feelg through the posn the livg room of the latter’s northwt Detro hoe — Benson on guar, Gaye on piano — Gaye was moved, but was eager to prent to the Origals, a Motown group he was now producg.
HOW MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ CHANGED THE SOUND OF R&B FOREVER
If Gaye was snng the ont pag of the Detro Free Prs landg on his doorstep July 1970, he saw plenty of headl settg the mood he would take to the vol booth — a daily dmbeat of stori about protters clashg wh police, Detro air pollutn, ngrsnal battl over the Vietnam draft. Though Motown had recently h big wh a pair of polilly tged Norman Whfield productns — the Temptatns’ “Ball of Confn” and Edw Starr’s “War” — Gaye’s leap ma the label chief nervo. In his 1994 memoir — where he owned up to his shortsightedns — Gordy reunted their ntent first phone ll about "What's Gog On, ” as Gaye clared his wish to “awaken the mds of mankd.
Marv Gaye, clutchg one of three Image Awards received at the NAACP's 5th Annual Image Awards Show Hollywood, sgs "Lift Every Voice and Sg" wh awards chairman Maggie Hathaway and the Rev.
THE STORY OF MARV GAYE'S 'WHAT'S GOG ON'
Gaye's album, released jt two days after Fillmore on May 21, 1971, generated three sgl: the trospective tle track, wh s famo wartime ndolence, "Mother, mother, there's too many of you cryg"; "Mercy Mercy Me (The Elogy), " an early anthem of environmental jtice; and "Inner Cy Blu (Make Me Wanna Holler), " a stark existential portra of Black life. All three charted the Top 10, and the tle track sold over 2 ln pi — a round rebuttal to Gaye's label head and brother--law Berry Gordy, who had lamented what a prott song might do to Motown's bottom le and the reer of one of s most bankable stars.
Gaye's le, "We n rock the world's foundatn, " at once acknowledg the power of Black mic as a polil force and anticipat that power risg to meet even greater challeng. Fifty years after s release, What's Gog On remas the most elegant rponse to this tumultuo era, but at least a few of Gaye's peers were rpondg wh equal gravas, while addg a level of raw emotn that was never gog to be sanctned at Motown.
Fd that d 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. “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 .