Marvin Gaye’s- “What’s Going On”

The birthplace of Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. was in the capitol city of Washington D.C. Before Gay was singing Soul, Funk, Disco and R&B he started in his fathers church at a young age singing, drumming and playing the piano. This is where music first touches Gay’s life. While Marvin was in high school he got his first taste of secular music singing in rhythm and blues and doo-wop groups. In 1960 Gaye signed with Motown and soon after that he became a session drummer for the Miracles, the Marvelettes, the Supremes, and little Stevie Wonder.

His first debut album The Soulful Moods Of Marvin Gaye gave him the chance to incorporate his inspired interest of jazz with Motown’s own desire of R&B music. This lead to Gaye’s first released single “Let You Conscience Be Your Guide.” Both album and single wasn’t commercially successful until 1962 “Stubborn Kind Of Fellow,” leading to Gaye’s first minor hit single. “Hitch Hike,” “Pride And Joy,” “Baby Don’t You Do It” and “How Sweet It Is (To be loved by You)” are songs of Gaye’s successful music abilities.

His duet later with Tammi Terrell also brought huge hits such as “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing and “You’re All I Need to Get By.” This duet soon ended in 1970 when Tammi Terrell succumbed a brain tumor leading Marvin Gaye into a period of depression. After the returning of his depression this lead Gaye to create an album that he had never done before incorporating jazz and funk, while talking about the world’s social and political issues in just saying three words: What’s Going On.

During the time of “What’s Going On” on a worldwide view point the Vietnam War was up and away. Marvin Gaye’s brother, Frankie Gaye had survived three-years of serving his country in Vietnam. After hearing the stories of his younger brother’s experience in the war Marvin had some idea of the lyrical content of the song “What’s Going On” but not all until he experience his own war that was happening within his friendly neighborhood of the United States of America.

During the late 60s through the early 70s it was a tidal wave of chaos happening within the different states. The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and (Bobby) Robert Kennedy shook Marvin to the core. Violence in the streets of Detroit of the 1967 race riot, Chicago during the Democratic National Convention of `68, and the Kent State University in 1970 was all palling up as insanity in Marvin’s and everyone else’s lives. Things wasn’t getting better with the moon landing but just making Gaye more depressing. Even with all of the chaos going on Gaye started to write lyrics that reach the souls of the people across the glob.

Renaldo “Obie” Benson a member from the Four Tops came up with the song idea of “What’s Going On” from a tour stop in San Francisco. With the image of him seeing all the kids with long hair being beaten by the cops while they weren’t bothering anybody was a horrifying view that lead Benson to wonder what the “fuck” was going on. The help of lyricist Al Cleveland Benson started creating a song that addressed the issues that was seen on that indescribable day. With the thought of it being a protest song Benson struggled to find an artist that would want to sing his song that he thought was a song about love and understanding. He just wanted to know what was going on.

With Marvin Gaye in fates mind Benson know that he was a perfect candidate for his protest/love song because Benson knew that Gaye already felt that he was a rebel and a spiritual person. With the help of Benson wife, Gaye accepted Bensons’ deal of letting him have a percentage to the song “What’s Going On” if Gaye would sing it. For Renaldo giving Gaye this song it would change black music, as they knew it.

When Berry Gordy first heard that the songs on the album were protest songs Gordy thought it would mess up Gaye’s career because he was the hottest artist out singing great love songs and was a big sex symbol of the `60s and `70s. Berry Gordy refused to release the album and called it “the worst album ever heard in my life.” So Marvin told Gordy until you come to your senses and release What’s Going On, he would sing nothing more for the company. When released in January 1971 it rapidly hit number-one on the R&B charts and stayed there for five weeks. With the song success Gordy gave Gaye the ultimatum of completing the album by the end of March so Marvin spent ten days recording the album What’s Going On. The album then came out in May after Gaye remixed the album in Hollywood.

One of Gaye’s visions for the album What’s Going On was making sure people never heard an album like this one before, so he stayed away from the standard Motown beat. To make this song different Gaye brought in the best such as veteran big band drummer Chest Forest, Percussionist Jack Ashford on tambourine, Eddie Brown on bongos and congas, Earl Derouen on congas and Jack Brokensha on vibes and assorted percussive toys. This was Marvin’s first self-produced single, which had two accident recordings, therefore making the album famous for at that time. During the opener of the song the alto sax was played by Eli Fontaine. This was unique because Fontaine was just warming up and then he signaled for a take but Gaye told him to go home due to that they already had what they needed. By Fontaine being confused he told Gay that he was goofing around but Marvin replied,

“You goof exquisitely. Thank you.”

Marvin’s multi-layered lead vocal was also a mistake by the engineer Ken Sands. After hearing it back in mono Sands liked how it sound and kept it the way that it was in later becoming Marvin Gaye’s hallmark of his vocal style. The song had a relaxed groove; a recognizable sax intro, a hook that never repeats and a saxophone that does not reappear made this song different during its time.

The lyrics of the song prompts hurt and anger, but you can never tell because of the chanting party chatter along with percussive instruments in the background. “What’s Going On” was a song that no other producer had ever done or tried during in the mid `60s and `70s.

As a young child growing up listening to Marvin Gaye his smooth voice and the songs he created intrigued me. When I heard the song  “What’s Going On” I could imagine the scene that Marvin was describing in his song thinking about how things were back in the `60s and `70s. I thought of this song to be a song of the future because I knew that it was only the beginning of what Marvin Gaye was preaching to the world about. When the planes hit the Twin Towers I started to think about this song in reference to the political endeavors of the United States going to war and seeing the reactions of people faces during this tragedy. Just a few years ago with the incident of Hurricane Katrina with the way there were no one there to help the people of new Orleans, murder of Michael Jackson, Casey Anthony killing of here daughter and the shooting of Travon Martin are making me say What Marvin Gaye was saying back in 1971, “What’s Going On.”

As an industry professional I have learned to take chances, make mistakes cause that mistake could be a history changer that would last a lifetime.