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''What's Going On'' is the eleventh
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American soul singer
Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
. It was released on May 21, 1971, by the
Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...
subsidiary label Tamla. Recorded between 1970 and 1971 in sessions at
Hitsville U.S.A. "Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house (formerly a photographers' studio) is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, near the New Center area. The house was purch ...
, Golden World, United Sound Studios in Detroit, and at The Sound Factory in West Hollywood, California, it was Gaye's first album to credit him as producer and to credit Motown's in-house session musicians, known as the Funk Brothers. ''What's Going On'' is a
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
with most of its songs segueing into the next and has been categorized as a song cycle. The narrative established by the songs is told from the point of view of a Vietnam veteran returning to his home country to witness hatred, suffering, and injustice. Gaye's introspective lyrics explore themes of drug abuse, poverty, and the Vietnam War. He has also been credited with promoting awareness of
ecological issues Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on th ...
before the public outcry over them had become prominent (" Mercy Mercy Me"). ''What's Going On'' stayed on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs for over a year and became Gaye's second number-one album on ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''s Soul LPs chart, where it stayed for nine week, and on the No. 2 spot for another 12 weeks, respectively. The title track, which had been released in January 1971 as the album's lead single, hit number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and held the top position on ''Billboard''s
Soul Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...
chart five weeks running. The follow-up singles "
Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" is the second single from Marvin Gaye's 1971 album, '' What's Going On''. Following the breakthrough of the title track's success, the song, written solely by Gaye, became regarded as one of popular music's most poi ...
" and "
Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", often shortened to "Inner City Blues", is a song by Marvin Gaye, released as the third and final single, and the climactic song from his 1971 landmark album, '' What's Going On''. Written by Gaye and Ja ...
" also reached the top 10 of the Hot 100, making Gaye the first male solo artist to place three top ten singles on the Hot 100 from one album. The album was an immediate commercial and critical success, and came to be viewed by music historians as a classic of 1970s soul. Multiple critics, musicians, and many in the general public consider ''What's Going On'' to be one of the greatest albums of all time and a landmark recording in popular music. In 1985, writers on British music weekly the '' NME'' voted it the best album of all time. In 2020, it was ranked number one on '' Rolling Stone''s list of the "
500 Greatest Albums of All Time * Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time * NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a 2013 special issue of British magazine '' NME'', available digitally or in newsstands on October 23. The li ...
".


Background

By the end of the 1960s, Marvin Gaye had fallen into a deep depression following the brain tumor diagnosis of his Motown singing partner Tammi Terrell, the failure of his marriage to Anna Gordy, a growing dependency on cocaine, troubles with the IRS, and struggles with Motown Records, the label he had signed with in 1961. One night, while holed up at a Detroit apartment, Gaye attempted suicide with a
handgun A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ...
, only to be stopped by Berry Gordy's father. Gaye started to experience more international success around this time as both a solo artist with hits such as " I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "
Too Busy Thinking About My Baby "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" is a Motown song written by Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, and Janie Bradford. The song was first recorded by The Temptations as a track on their 1966 album '' Gettin' Ready''. Eddie Kendricks sings lead on th ...
" and as a dual artist with Tammi Terrell, but Gaye said during this time that he felt he "didn't deserve" his success and he felt like "a puppet - Berry's puppet, Anna's puppet. I had a mind of my own and I wasn't using it." In March 1970, Gaye's singing partner Terrell died of a brain tumor. The singer responded to Terrell's death by refusing to perform onstage for several years. In January 1970, Motown released Gaye's next studio album, '' That's the Way Love Is'', but Gaye refused to promote the recording, choosing to stay at home. During this secluded period, Gaye ditched his previous clean-cut image to grow a beard, and preferred to wear sweatsuits instead of dress suits and sweaters. The singer also got back in touch with his
spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
and also attended several concerts held by the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music d ...
, which had been used for several Motown recordings in the 1960s. Around the spring of 1970, Gaye also began seriously pursuing a career in
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
with the professional football team the
Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
of the
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
, even working out with the Eastern Michigan Eagles football team. However, his pursuit of a tryout was stopped after the owner of the team advised him that any future injury would derail his career. Gaye befriended three of the Lions teammates, Mel Farr,
Charlie Sanders Charles Alvin Sanders (August 25, 1946 July 2, 2015) was an American professional football player who was a tight end for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1968 to 1977. Sanders was chosen for the NFL's 1970s All-D ...
and Lem Barney, as well as then- Detroit Pistons star
Dave Bing David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player, businessman, and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. After starring a ...
.


Conception

While traveling on his tour bus with the
Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the ...
on May 15, 1969, Four Tops member Renaldo "Obie" Benson witnessed an act of
police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
and violence committed on
anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...
protesters who had been protesting at Berkeley's People's Park in what was later termed as " Bloody Thursday". Benson later told author Ben Edmonds, "I saw this and started wondering 'what was going on, what is happening here?' One question led to another. Why are they sending kids far away from their families overseas? Why are they attacking their own kids in the street?" Returning to Detroit, Motown songwriter Al Cleveland wrote and
composed Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
a song based on his conversations with Benson of what he had seen in Berkeley. Benson sent the song to the Four Tops but his bandmates turned the song down. Benson said, "My partners told me it was a protest song. I said 'no man, it's a love song, about love and understanding. I'm not protesting. I want to know what's going on. Benson offered the song to Marvin Gaye when he participated in a golf game with the singer. Returning to Gaye's home outside Outer Drive, Benson played the song to Gaye on his guitar. Gaye felt the song's moody flow would be perfect for The Originals. Benson eventually convinced Gaye that it was his song. The singer responded by asking for partial writing credit, which Benson allowed. Gaye added new musical composition, a new melody and lyrics that reflected Gaye's own disgust. Benson said later that Gaye tweaked and enriched the song, "added some things that were more ghetto, more natural, which made it seem like a story and not a song ... we measured him for the suit and he tailored the hell out of it." During this time, Gaye had been deeply affected by letters shared between him and his brother after he had returned from service in the Vietnam War over the treatment of Vietnam veterans. Gaye had also been deeply affected by the social ills plaguing the United States at the time, and
covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...
the track "
Abraham, Martin & John "Abraham, Martin and John" is a 1968 song written by Dick Holler. It was first recorded by Dion, in a version that was a substantial North American chart hit in 1968–1969. Near-simultaneous cover versions by Smokey Robinson and the Mirac ...
", in 1969, which became a UK hit for him in 1970. Gaye cited the 1965 Watts riots as a pivotal moment in his life in which he asked himself, "with the world exploding around me, how am I supposed to keep singing love songs?" One night, he called Berry Gordy about doing a protest record, to which Gordy chastised him, "Marvin, don't be ridiculous. That's taking things too far." The singer's brother Frankie wrote in his 2003 autobiography, ''My Brother Marvin'', that while reuniting at their former childhood home in Washington, D.C., Frankie's recalling of his tenure at the war made both brothers cry. At one point, Marvin sat propped up in a bed with his hands in his face. Afterwards, Gaye told his brother: "I didn't know how to fight before, but now I think I do. I just have to do it my way. I'm not a painter. I'm not a poet. But I can do it with music." In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', Marvin Gaye discussed what had shaped his view on more socially conscious themes in music and the conception of his eleventh studio album:


Recording

On June 1, 1970, Gaye entered Motown's
Hitsville U.S.A. "Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house (formerly a photographers' studio) is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, near the New Center area. The house was purch ...
studios to record "What's Going On". Immediately after learning about the song, many of Motown's musicians, known as The Funk Brothers noted that there was a different approach with Gaye's record from that used on other Motown recordings, and Gaye complicated matters by bringing in only a few of the members while bringing his own recruits, including drummer Chet Forest. Longtime Funk Brothers members Jack Ashford, James Jamerson and Eddie Brown participated in the recording. Jamerson was pulled into the recording studio by Gaye after he located Jamerson playing with a local band at a blues bar and Eli Fontaine, the saxophonist behind "Baby, I'm For Real", also participated in the recording. Jamerson, who could not sit properly on his seat after arriving to the session drunk, performed his bass riffs, written for him by the album's arranger David Van De Pitte, on the floor. Fontaine's
alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...
riff to open the song was not originally intended. When Gaye heard the playback of what Fontaine thought was simply a demo, Gaye instantly decided that the riff was the ideal way to start the song. When Fontaine said he was "just goofing around", Gaye being pleased with the results replied, "Well, you goof off exquisitely. Thank you." The laid-back sessions of the single were credited to lots of "
marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
smoke and rounds of
Scotch Scotch most commonly refers to: * Scotch (adjective), a largely obsolescent adjective meaning "of or from Scotland" **Scotch, old-fashioned name for the indigenous languages of the Scottish people: ***Scots language ("Broad Scotch") *** Scottish G ...
". Gaye's trademark multi-layering vocal approach came off initially as an accident by engineers Steve Smith and Kenneth Sands. Sands later explained that Gaye had wanted him to bring him the two lead vocal takes for "What's Going On" for advice on which one he should use for the final song. Smith and Sands accidentally mixed the two lead vocal takes together. Gaye loved the sound and decided to keep it and use it for the duration of the album. That September, Gaye approached Gordy with the "What's Going On" song while in California where Gordy had relocated. According to one account, Gordy disliked the song, allegedly calling it "the worst thing I ever heard in my life". As a result, Gaye angrily responded to Gordy's alleged putdown by going on strike until Gordy changed his mind. Gordy himself denied this claim, stating he loved the song's jazzy feel but cautioned Gaye that the sound was out of date of the sound of the times and also feared the loss of Gaye's crossover audience by releasing the political song. Gaye continued to record his own compositions during this time, some of which later made his 1973 album, '' Let's Get It On''. Motown executive Harry Balk recalled trying to get Gordy to release the song at the end of the year, to which Gordy replied to him, "that
Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...
stuff in the middle, that scatting, it's old." Gordy mentioned later that he feared no one would buy songs with a jazz influence after his attempt to be a record store owner of a jazz shop folded after a year, years prior to starting Motown. Most of Motown's
Quality Control Quality control (QC) is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. ISO 9000 defines quality control as "a part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements". This approach places ...
Department team also turned the song down, with Balk later stating that "they were used to the 'baby baby' stuff, and this was a little hard for them to grasp." With the help of Motown sales executive
Barney Ales Baldassare "Barney" Ales (May 13, 1934 – April 17, 2020) was an American music industry executive best known as a leading figure and sometime company president at Motown Records. He is credited with successfully promoting the black-owned com ...
, Harry Balk got the song released to record stores on January 20, 1971, sending 100,000 copies of the song without Gordy's knowledge, with another 100,000 copies sent after that success. Upon its release, the song became a hit and was Motown's fastest-selling single at the time, peaking at number 1 on the Hot Soul Singles Chart, and peaking at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Stunned by the news, Gordy drove to Gaye's home to discuss making a complete album, stating Gaye could do what he wanted with his music if he finished the record within 30 days before the end of March and thus effectively giving him the right to produce his own albums. Gaye returned to Hitsville to record the rest of ''What's Going On'', which took a mere ten business days between March 1 and March 10. The album's rhythm tracks and sound overdubs were recorded at Hitsville, or Studio A, while the strings, horns, lead and background vocals were recorded at Golden World, or Studio B. The album's original mix, recorded in Detroit at both Hitsville and Golden World as well as United Sound Studios, was finalized on April 5, 1971. When Gordy listened to the mix, he worried that no other hit single would emerge from it. To ease Gordy's worries, Gaye and the album's engineers entered The Sound Factory in West Hollywood in early May, integrating the orchestra somewhat closer with the rhythm tracks, while Gaye used different vocal tracks and added extra instrumentation. Presented to Motown's Quality Control department team, they were worried about future hit singles due to its concurrent style with each song leading to the next. Gordy however vetoed their decision, agreeing to put this mix of the album out that month.


Music and lyrics

"What's Going On", the title track, features soulful, passionate vocals and multi-tracked background singing, both by Gaye. The song had strong jazz, gospel,
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...
, and
arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
s. Reviewer Eric Henderson of Slant stated the song had an "understandably mournful tone" in response to the fallout of the late 1960s counterculture movements. Henderson also wrote that "Gaye's choice to emphasize humanity at its most charitable rather than paint bleak pictures of destruction and disillusionment is characteristic of the album that follows." This is immediately followed in segue flow by the second track, "What's Happening Brother", a song Gaye dedicated to his brother Frankie, in which Gaye wrote to explain the disillusionment of war veterans who returned to civilian life and their disconnect from pop culture. "Flyin' High (In the Friendly Sky)", which took its title from a United Airlines tag, "fly the friendly skies", dealt with dependence on heroin. The lyric, "I know, I'm hooked my friend, to the boy, who makes slaves out of men", references heroin as "boy", which was slang for the drug. " Save the Children" was an emotional plea to help disadvantaged children, warning, "who really cares/who's willing to try/to save a world/that is destined to die?", later crying out, "save the babies". A truncated version of "God Is Love" follows "Save the Children" and makes references to God. "
Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" is the second single from Marvin Gaye's 1971 album, '' What's Going On''. Following the breakthrough of the title track's success, the song, written solely by Gaye, became regarded as one of popular music's most poi ...
" was another emotional plea, this time for the
environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
. Motown legend, musician and Funk Brothers leader
Earl Van Dyke Earl Van Dyke (July 8, 1930 – September 18, 1992) was an American soul musician, most notable as the main keyboardist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Career Van Dyke, who was born in Detr ...
once mentioned that Berry Gordy didn't know of the word "ecology" and had to be told what it was, though Gordy claimed otherwise. The song featured a memorable tenor saxophone solo from Detroit music legend
Wild Bill Moore William M. "Wild Bill" Moore (June 13, 1918 – August 1, 1983) was an American R&B and jazz tenor saxophone player. Moore earned a modest hit on the Hot R&B charts with "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll", which also was one of the earliest roc ...
. "Right On" was a seven-minute jam influenced by funk rock and
Latin soul Latin soul (sometimes used synonymously with Boogaloo) was a short-lived musical genre that had developed in the 1960s in New York City. It had consisted of a blend of Cuban mambo with elements of Latin jazz and soul music. Although short-lived, ...
rhythms that focused on Gaye's own divided soul in which Gaye later pleaded in falsetto, "if you let me, I will take you to live where love is King" after complying that "true love can conquer hate every time". "Wholy Holy" follows "God Is Love" as an emotional gospel plea advising people to "come together" to "proclaim love
s our S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. History ...
salvation". The final track, "
Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", often shortened to "Inner City Blues", is a song by Marvin Gaye, released as the third and final single, and the climactic song from his 1971 landmark album, '' What's Going On''. Written by Gaye and Ja ...
", focuses on
urban poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little , backed by a minimalist, dark
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
-oriented funk vibe, with its bass riffs composed and performed by
Bob Babbitt __NOTOC__ Robert Andrew Kreinar (November 26, 1937 – July 16, 2012), known as Bob Babbitt, was a Hungarian-American bassist, most famous for his work as a member of Motown Records' studio band, the Funk Brothers, from 1966 to 1972, as well a ...
, who also performed on "Mercy Mercy Me". The entire album's stylistic use of a song cycle gave it a cohesive feel and was one of R&B's first concept albums, described as "a groundbreaking experiment in collating a pseudo-classical suite of free-flowing songs."
David Hepworth David Hepworth (born 27 July 1950) is a British music journalist, writer and publishing industry analyst who was instrumental in the foundation of a number of popular magazines in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Along with the journalist, editor and b ...
described the album as "like a jazz record not merely because it had jazz manners and was slathered in strings and employed congas and triangle as its most prominent form of percussion...But it's also jazz in the sense that... plays like one long single."
The Absolute Sound ''The Absolute Sound'' (TAS) is an American audiophile magazine which reviews high-end audio equipment, along with recordings and comments on various music-related subjects. History ''The Absolute Sound'' was founded in 1973 by Harry Pearson, ...
described the album as "a brilliant psychedelic soul song-cycle".


Release and promotion

Released on May 21, 1971, ''What's Going On'' shipped gold upon its release and became Gaye's first Top 10 entry on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs, peaking at number six. It stayed on the chart over a year, selling some two million copies within twelve months. It was Motown's (and Gaye's) best-selling album to that date – until he released '' Let's Get It On'' in 1973. It also became Gaye's second number-one album on ''Billboard''s Soul LPs chart, where it stayed for nine weeks, remaining on the Billboard Soul LPs chart for 58 weeks throughout 1971 and 1972. The title track, which had been released in January 1971 as the lead single to promote the album, sold more than 200,000 copies within its first week and two-and-a-half-million by the end of the year. It hit number 1 in ''
Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...
'', number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (behind Three Dog Night's " Joy to the World"), number 1 on the ''
Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' Top 100, and held the pole position on ''Billboard'''s Soul Singles chart five weeks running. The follow-up single, "
Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" is the second single from Marvin Gaye's 1971 album, '' What's Going On''. Following the breakthrough of the title track's success, the song, written solely by Gaye, became regarded as one of popular music's most poi ...
", peaked at number-four on the Hot 100, and also went number-one on the R&B chart. The third, and final, single, "
Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", often shortened to "Inner City Blues", is a song by Marvin Gaye, released as the third and final single, and the climactic song from his 1971 landmark album, '' What's Going On''. Written by Gaye and Ja ...
", peaked at number-nine on the Hot 100, while also rising to number-one on the R&B chart, thus making Gaye the first male solo artist to place three top ten singles on the Hot 100 off one album, as well as the first artist to place three singles at number one on any ''Billboard'' chart (in this case, R&B), off one single album. The album had a modest commercial reception in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom; "Save the Children" reached number 41 on the latter country's singles chart, while the album, 25 years after its original release, reached number 56 . In 1984, the album re-entered the ''Billboard'' 200 following Gaye's untimely death. In 1994, the album was certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
in the United States for sales of half a million copies after it was issued on CD. According to
Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
, it has vended over 1.7 million copies since sales tracking began (in 1991). It was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments of 300,000 albums. Six months after the release of ''What's Going On'', Sly and the Family Stone released ''
There's a Riot Goin' On ''There's a Riot Goin' On'' (sometimes referred to as ''Riot'') is the fifth studio album by American funk and soul band Sly and the Family Stone. It was recorded from 1970 to 1971 at Record Plant Studios in Sausalito, California and released lat ...
'' (1971), titled in response to Gaye's album.


Critical reception

''What's Going On'' was generally well received by contemporary critics. Writing for '' Rolling Stone'' in 1971, Vince Aletti praised Gaye's thematic approach towards social and political concerns, while discussing the surprise of Motown releasing such an album. In a joint review of ''What's Going On'' and
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
's ''
Where I'm Coming From ''Where I'm Coming From'' is the 13th album by Stevie Wonder. The album was released by Motown Records on April 9, 1971 and peaked on the Billboard Pop Albums at #62, and on the ''Billboard'' R&B Albums Chart at #7. All nine songs were written ...
'', Aletti wrote, "Ambitious, personal albums may be a glut on the market elsewhere, but at Motown they're something new ... the album as a whole takes precedence, absorbing its own flaws. There are very few performers who could carry a project like this off. I've always admired Marvin Gaye, but I didn't expect that he would be one of them. Guess I seriously underestimated him. It won't happen again." ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' described the record as "a cross between Curtis Mayfield and that old Motown spell and outdoes anything Gaye's ever done". '' Time'' magazine hailed it as a "vast, melodically deft symphonic pop suite". '' The Village Voice'' critic
Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
was less impressed. Writing in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981), he deemed it both a "groundbreaking personal statement" and a Berry Gordy product, baited by three highly original singles but marred elsewhere by indistinct music and indulgent use of David Van De Pitte's strings, which Christgau called "the lowest kind of movie-background dreck". According to Paul Gambaccini, Gaye's death in 1984 prompted a critical re-evaluation of the album, and most reviewers have since regarded it as an important masterpiece of popular music. In '' MusicHound R&B'' (1998), Gary Graff said ''What's Going On'' was "not just a great Gaye album but is one of the great pop albums of all time", and ''Rolling Stone'' later credited the album for having "revolutionized black music". '' The Washington Post'' critic Geoffrey Himes names it an exemplary release of the progressive soul development from 1968 to 1973, and '' Pitchfork''s Tom Breihan calls it a prog-soul masterpiece. BBC Music's David Katz described the album as "one of the greatest albums of all time, and nothing short of a masterpiece" and compared it to Miles Davis's ''
Kind of Blue ''Kind of Blue'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded on March 2 and April 22, 1959, at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, and released on August 17 of that year by Co ...
'' by saying "its non-standard musical arrangements, which heralded a new sound at the time, gives it a chilling edge that ultimately underscores its gravity, with subtle orchestral enhancements offset by percolating congas, expertly layered above James Jamerson's bubbling bass". In his 1994 review of Gaye's re-issues, '' Chicago Tribune'' reviewer Greg Kot described the album as "soul music's first 'art' album, an inner-city response to the Celtic mysticism of Van Morrison's '' Astral Weeks'', the psychedelic pop of The Beatles' ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composi ...
'' ndthe rewired blues of Bob Dylan's '' Highway 61 Revisited''." Richie Unterberger found the album somewhat overrated, writing in '' The Rough Guide to Rock'' (2003) that much of its "meandering introspection" paled in comparison to its three singles. A remastered deluxe edition with 28 additional tracks was released on May 31, 2011, to similar acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 100, based on ten reviews.


Accolades

In 1985, writers on British music weekly the '' NME'' voted it best album of all time. ''What's Going On'' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2004, the album's title track was ranked number four on ''Rolling Stone''s list of the
500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...
. A 1999 critics' poll conducted by British newspaper '' The Guardian'' named it the "Greatest Album of the 20th Century". In 1997, ''What's Going On'' was named the 17th greatest album of all time in a poll conducted in the United Kingdom by
HMV Group Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
, Channel 4, '' The Guardian'' and Classic FM. In 1997, ''The Guardian'' ranked the album number one on its list of the 100 Best Albums Ever. In 1998 ''Q'' magazine readers placed it at number 97, while in 2001 the TV network
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
placed it at number 4. In 2003, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. ''What's Going On'' was ranked number 6 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the
500 Greatest Albums of All Time * Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time * NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a 2013 special issue of British magazine '' NME'', available digitally or in newsstands on October 23. The li ...
, one of three Gaye albums to be included, succeeded by 1973's '' Let's Get It On'' (number 165) and 1978's ''
Here, My Dear ''Here, My Dear'' is the fifteenth studio album by music artist Marvin Gaye, released as a double album on December 15, 1978, on Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. allmusic - Here, My Dear overview/ref> Recording sessions for the album took ...
'' (number 462). The album is Gaye's highest-ranking entry on the list, as well as several other publications' lists. In a revised 2020 list, this time voted on by musicians instead of music critics, the album moved up to the top spot, replacing The Beatles' ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''.


Track listing


Original release

All songs produced by Marvin Gaye. Songwriters as shown in the 1971 original album liner notes release:


2001 Deluxe Edition

In 2001, a "Deluxe Edition" 2-CD version of the album was released by Motown, which included the original LP as released, the discarded "Detroit
Mix Mix, mixes or mixing may refer to: Persons & places * Mix (surname) ** Tom Mix (1880-1940), American film star * nickname of Mix Diskerud (born Mikkel, 1990), Norwegian-American soccer player * Mix camp, an informal settlement in Namibia * Mix ...
" of the album, and the
mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...
45 rpm mixes of the singles. Also included was a recording of Gaye's first live concert performance after two years away from the stage following Tammi Terrell's illness and death, performed at The Kennedy Center Concert Hall in his native Washington, D.C., on May 1, 1972.


2011 Super Deluxe Edition

Disc 1 (original album & bonus tracks) #
  • "What's Going On" (Original Rejected Single Mix) # "Head Title (Distant Lover)" (Demo) # "Symphony" (Demo) # "I Love the Ground You Walk On" (Instrumental) # "What's Going On" (Mono Single Version) # "God is Love" (Mono Single Version) # "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (Mono Single Version) # "Sad Tomorrows" (Mono Single Version) # "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" (Mono Single Version) # "Wholy Holy" (Mono Single Version) Disc 2 ("The Detroit Instrumental Sessions and More") # "Checking Out (Double Clutch)" # "Chained" # "Country Stud" # "Help the People" # "Running from Love" (Version 1) # "Daybreak" # "Doing My Thing" # "T Stands for Time" # "Jesus is Our Love Song" # "Funky Nation" # "Infinity" # "Mandota" (Instrumental) # "Struttin' the Blues" # "Running from Love" (Version 2 with Strings) # "I'm Going Home (Move)" # "You're the Man" (Parts I & II) # "You're the Man" (Alternate Version 1) # "You're the Man" (Alternate Version 2) LP (Original Detroit Mix â€“ April 5, 1971) # "What's Going On" (Detroit Mix) â€“ 4:08 # "What's Happening Brother" (Detroit Mix) â€“ 2:43 # "Flyin' High (In the Friendly Sky)" (Detroit Mix) â€“ 3:49 # "Save the Children" (Detroit Mix) â€“ 4:02 # "God Is Love" (Detroit Mix) â€“ 1:47 # "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (Detroit Mix) â€“ 3:08 # "Right On" (Detroit Mix) â€“ 7:32 # "Wholy Holy" (Detroit Mix) â€“ 3:08 # "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" (Detroit Mix) â€“ 5:46


    Personnel

    * All lead vocals by
    Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
    * Produced by Marvin Gaye * Members of the
    Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music d ...
    Conducted and Arranged by David Van De Pitte * Background vocals: ** Marvin Gaye ** The Andantes (Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps) ** Mel Farr,
    Charlie Sanders Charles Alvin Sanders (August 25, 1946 July 2, 2015) was an American professional football player who was a tight end for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1968 to 1977. Sanders was chosen for the NFL's 1970s All-D ...
    and Lem Barney of the
    Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
    **
    Dave Bing David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player, businessman, and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. After starring a ...
    of the Detroit Pistons ** Bobby Rogers of The Miracles ** Elgie Stover **
    Kenneth Stover Kenneth C. Stover (born August 21, 1948 in Athens, Georgia, United States – December 2010, in Cleveland, Ohio) was an American Motown songwriter, producer, and singer. He contributed background vocals on Marvin Gaye's 1971 album '' What's Going ...
    *
    Strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
    , Woodwinds and Brass **
    Gordon Staples Gordon Staples was an American violinist and past concertmaster for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He was known for his work as a leader and conductor of the string section on recording sessions for Motown Records during their heyday in the 1 ...
    , Zinovi Bistritzky, Beatriz Budinzky, Richard Margitza, Virginia Halfmann, Felix Resnick, Alvin Score, Lillian Downs, James Waring â€“ violins ** Edouard Kesner, Meyer Shapiro, David Ireland, Nathan Gordon â€“ violas ** Italo Babini, Thaddeus Markiewicz, Edward Korkigan â€“ cellos ** Max Janowsky â€“ double bass ** Carole Crosby â€“ harp ** Dayna Hardwick, William Perich â€“ flutes ** Larry Nozero, Angelo Carlisi, George Benson,
    Tate Houston Tate Houston (November 30, 1924 – October 18, 1974) was a Detroit-based American baritone and tenor saxophonist. He played with Lionel Hampton's band and in 1946, he recorded with the Billy Eckstine band. In 1947, he played with Sonny Stitt ...
     â€“ saxophones ** John Trudell, Maurice Davis â€“ trumpets ** Nilesh Pawar â€“ oboe ** Carl Raetz â€“ trombone * The Funk Brothers – Instrumentation, spoken interlude ("What's Going On") and solo horns ** Eli Fountain â€“ alto saxophone "What's Going On" **
    Wild Bill Moore William M. "Wild Bill" Moore (June 13, 1918 – August 1, 1983) was an American R&B and jazz tenor saxophone player. Moore earned a modest hit on the Hot R&B charts with "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll", which also was one of the earliest roc ...
     â€“ tenor saxophone "Mercy Mercy Me" ** Marvin Gaye â€“ piano,
    Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...
    ("Mercy Mercy Me"),
    box drum A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can ...
    ("What's Going On") ** Johnny Griffith â€“
    celeste Celeste may refer to: Geography * Mount Celeste, unofficial name of a mountain on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada * Celeste, Texas, a rural city in North Texas ** Celeste High School, public high school located in the city of Celeste, ...
    , additional keyboards **
    Earl Van Dyke Earl Van Dyke (July 8, 1930 – September 18, 1992) was an American soul musician, most notable as the main keyboardist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Career Van Dyke, who was born in Detr ...
     â€“ additional keyboards **
    Jack Brokensha John Joseph "Jack" Brokensha (5 January 1926 – 28 October 2010) was an Australian-born American jazz vibraphonist, known for his work with the Australian Jazz Quartet and Motown Records. Biography Brokensha was born in Nailsworth, South Austral ...
     â€“ vibraphone, percussion **
    Joe Messina Joseph Lucian Messina (December 13, 1928 – April 4, 2022) was an American guitarist. Dubbed the "white brother with soul", he was one of the most prolific guitarists in Motown Records' in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers. Early life Mes ...
    , Robert White â€“ electric guitars ** James Jamerson â€“ bass guitar "What's Going On", "What's Happening Brother", "Flyin' High", "Save the Children", "God Is Love", and the
    b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
    "Sad Tomorrows" **
    Bob Babbitt __NOTOC__ Robert Andrew Kreinar (November 26, 1937 – July 16, 2012), known as Bob Babbitt, was a Hungarian-American bassist, most famous for his work as a member of Motown Records' studio band, the Funk Brothers, from 1966 to 1972, as well a ...
     â€“ bass guitar "Mercy Mercy Me", "Right On", "Wholy Holy" and "Inner City Blues" ** Chet Forest â€“ drums ** Jack Ashford â€“ tambourine, percussion ** Eddie "Bongo" Brown â€“ bongos,
    congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...
    ** Earl DeRouen â€“ bongos and congas "Right On" ** Bobbye Hall â€“ bongos "Inner City Blues" "... such as Bobbye Hall whose insistent bongos can be heard ..." * Katherine Marking â€“
    graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...
    * Alana Coghlan â€“ graphic design * John Matousek â€“ mastering * Vic Anesini â€“ Digital Remastering * James Hendin â€“ Photography * Curtis McNair â€“ Art Direction


    Charts


    Weekly charts


    Year-end charts


    Certifications


    See also

    * List of number-one R&B albums of 1971 (U.S.) * ''
    What's Going On Live ''What's Going On'' Live is a live album recorded in 1972 by American soul singer Marvin Gaye and released posthumously in 2019 by Motown. The album documents a live performance of his album '' What's Going On'' and has received mixed feedback f ...
    '', a 2019 album


    References


    Sources

    * * * * * * * * * *


    External links

    * *
    "Marvin Gaye: What's Going On Now"
    €”an episode of the
    BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
    radio program ''The Documentary'' on the making of the album, on the 50th anniversary of its release {{Authority control 1971 albums Albums produced by Marvin Gaye Albums recorded at Hitsville U.S.A. 1970s concept albums Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Marvin Gaye albums Progressive soul albums Psychedelic music albums by American artists Psychedelic soul albums Tamla Records albums United States National Recording Registry albums Song cycles Albums recorded at the Sound Factory