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Classic Soul Album Spotlight: Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On?

One word describes Marvin Gaye’s classic album What’s Going On? :  Genius.

Smokey Robinson hailed What’s Going On? as the greatest soul album of all time. Indeed, Gaye poured his whole soul into the making of this album. It is perhaps the most important album in soul music history.

“What’s Going On? was the quiet moment in the raging storm that swept through so much of Marvin’s life,” wrote David Ritz, author of the Marvin Gaye biography Divided Soul. Prior to the recording of the album, Gaye was in seclusion and despair. His brother, Frankie Gaye, was in the Vietnam War, the death of his duet partner Tammi Terrell affected him tremendously, and the state of the world at the time and his own personal demons from his past and present were weighing heavily on Gaye’s mind. What Gaye did was put all of his despair, emotions and confusion into his art, which resulted in What’s Going On?.

Recorded in only ten days in early 1971, Gaye collaborated with several co-writers–The Funk Brothers, who were the musicians responsible for the majority of most of Motown’s early hits, and one of the best musical arrangers of the time David Van De Pitte. In fact, Gaye’s album was the first time that the Funk Brothers and any musicians for that matter received credit on a Motown album, due to Gaye’s insistence.

Gaye told writer David Ritz: “I wanted to treat the album as an album, not as a string of small songs. So I found a theme and I tried to explore it from different angles. At first I was afraid, because I didn’t know whether this had ever been done before. But when I got started I actually found that the process came naturally; I was traveling down a path of the heart.”

The album begins with the title track, which was composed by Gaye, Al Cleveland, and Four Tops member Renaldo “Obie” Benson. The track begins with the sounds of a party atmosphere with people greeting one another  (the dialogue was supplied by several of Marvin’s friends and members of the Detroit Tigers football team). The song segues into Gaye crying out to his mother, his brother (referring to his brother and the other men in Vietnam, acknowledging that there were “far too many of you dying”) and father, with whom he had very little communication (“father, father, there’s no need to escalate.”). Gaye cried out for the need of love among the human race and that “war is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate.” It remains a relevant song 41 years later.
The album continues with “What’s Happening Brother,” which speaks to the returning Vietnam veterans who were wondering what was going on in the U.S. since they had been away fighting in the war, and the sad plight that many of them could not find work.

The next track was the haunting “Flyin’ High in the Friendly Skies,” which was Gaye’s commentary on his own drug use. This segued into the very touching and poignant “Save the Children,” which speaks to the plight of the children of the world, capped by the question “Who really cares?”  This segued into “God Is Love,” which takes a look inside Gaye’s spirituality and adherence to God. A slower version of this song was recorded as the B-side to the “What’s Going On” single.

“Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” was Gaye’s commentary on the dangers threatening planet earth, such as the oil spills in the oceans and radiation in the sky. In “Right On,” a title taken from a popular urban catchphrase of the time, Gaye sings about the enjoyment of his fame, a fame which he sings led him into “drowning in the sea of happiness.” The last track on the album was the dark, chilling “Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler)” which takes a look at the harsh conditions of those living in the ghetto. This segues into a brief slower reprise of the title track, given a jazzy feel by its piano background. The album ends reminding the listener with the question “What’s Going On?”

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Due to Motown’s policy of releasing pop friendly sounding R&B, the label refused to release Gaye’s album with its dark, socially conscious songs. In an interview with David Ritz, Gaye said, “They (Motown) didn’t like it, didn’t understand it and didn’t trust it. Management said the songs were too long, too formless and would get lost on a public looking for easy three-minute stories. For months they wouldn’t release it. My attitude had to be firm. Basically I said, ‘Put it out or I’ll never record for you again.’” Against Motown’s wishes, the album was released, but in time the label would be glad it released the album after all.
The album was a commercial and critical success. Time magazine stated, “The LP laments war, pollution, heroin and the miseries of ghetto life. Musically it is a far cry from the gospel or blues a black singer-composer might normally apply to such subjects.” Indeed, the album is a combination of soul, blues, jazz and gospel and this mixing of musical genres forged a masterpiece.

The album, released May 21, 1971, reached number six on the pop charts and number one on the soul charts, where it stayed nine weeks at the top position. It was also the recipient of an NAACP Image Award and yielded three hit singles: the title track, reaching number two for three weeks on the pop charts and number two for five weeks on the Soul charts; “Mercy Mercy Me,” reaching number four on the pop charts and number one on the Soul charts for two weeks (its B-side contained a slow, jazzy reworking of “God Is Love” with a new title, “Sad Tomorrows”); and “Inner City Blues,” reaching number nine on the pop charts and number one on the Soul charts for three weeks.
One month after Gaye’s tragic death in April 1984, a reissue of What’s Going On? re-entered the charts, reaching number 49.

The album cover even showed a different side of Gaye. Whereas in the sixties Gaye was clean-shaven, for this album and for the rest of his career and life Gaye sported a beard. The album’s close up photo shows Gaye looking serious with light rain falling on him and its back cover shows a full body shot of Gaye standing in the rain in a long black coat with a serious expression on his face. The front and back cover of the album mirrors the dark and serious mood and tone of the music contained within the album.

Oddly enough, such a fine production received no Grammy Awards. But nevertheless, the album’s reward was its lasting appeal as a piece of musical artistry. Whereas some albums are only hits for the moment or for that time, Gaye’s What’s Going On? is a hit for all time. Every track on the album is relevant today as it was forty-one years ago, which makes it an important piece of not just music but art as a whole. Gaye was well ahead of his time when he created this work of genius. “What’s Going On” is a timeless masterpiece that will last for many years to come.

–Stephen McMillian