Album: What's Going On
Artist: Marvin Gaye
Born: Washington, D.C.
Released: May 1971
Genre: Soul
Influenced: Michael Jackson, Todd Rundgren, Prince, Massive Attack
This album has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure it's seeped into my DNA. I'm so used to listening to my vinyl copy that hearing What's Going On in any other format (especially mp3) sounds thin and lifeless. For me, there's no better vocalist in the history of pop than Marvin Gaye. Many of the soul albums covered so far were built around two or three great songs, but the originality of What's Going On was being one of the first soul records to embrace the LP format. Each song flows into the next seamlessly and there's a unity of themes and concerns. So many of the albums covered so far on this blog have tackled the topic of war, especially in the context of America's engagement in Vietnam, but none has done it with as much emotional depth nor as directly as What's Going On. Both the lyrics and the tone of the album point to Marvin's fragile state of mind at the time, not just the heartfelt pleas, "picket lines and picket signs / don't punish me with brutality", but also the tenderness of his singing. The album's unusual arrangements, personal tone and hard-hitting themes were a revolution not just for Motown and soul music, but for pop music generally.
As well as the title track, there are so many great songs on this album, my favourites being Save The Children, Mercy Mercy Me and Inner City Blues. The use of voice dubs on Save The Children is really effective, giving the song emotional depth as it builds to a crescendo and then breaks and segues into Mercy Mercy Me. Both songs summon up a sort of coming apocalypse, this time ecological ("oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas / fish full of mercury") and the song's great rhythm section helps to drive things forward. Side 2 is more focused on social inequality but also sounds great, with Right On enhanced by Latin percussion and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, while the standout track and album closer, Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler), has a looser funk sound. The song would be a template for much of the socially-conscious soul and funk music of the 70s (the central theme of governments finding money for space exploration and wars but not poverty has resonated far beyond music). Marvin Gaye would make more daring albums, not least the batshit crazy breakup album Here, My Dear, but nothing as emotionally powerful and sonically glorious as this.
This album has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure it's seeped into my DNA. I'm so used to listening to my vinyl copy that hearing What's Going On in any other format (especially mp3) sounds thin and lifeless. For me, there's no better vocalist in the history of pop than Marvin Gaye. Many of the soul albums covered so far were built around two or three great songs, but the originality of What's Going On was being one of the first soul records to embrace the LP format. Each song flows into the next seamlessly and there's a unity of themes and concerns. So many of the albums covered so far on this blog have tackled the topic of war, especially in the context of America's engagement in Vietnam, but none has done it with as much emotional depth nor as directly as What's Going On. Both the lyrics and the tone of the album point to Marvin's fragile state of mind at the time, not just the heartfelt pleas, "picket lines and picket signs / don't punish me with brutality", but also the tenderness of his singing. The album's unusual arrangements, personal tone and hard-hitting themes were a revolution not just for Motown and soul music, but for pop music generally.
As well as the title track, there are so many great songs on this album, my favourites being Save The Children, Mercy Mercy Me and Inner City Blues. The use of voice dubs on Save The Children is really effective, giving the song emotional depth as it builds to a crescendo and then breaks and segues into Mercy Mercy Me. Both songs summon up a sort of coming apocalypse, this time ecological ("oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas / fish full of mercury") and the song's great rhythm section helps to drive things forward. Side 2 is more focused on social inequality but also sounds great, with Right On enhanced by Latin percussion and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, while the standout track and album closer, Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler), has a looser funk sound. The song would be a template for much of the socially-conscious soul and funk music of the 70s (the central theme of governments finding money for space exploration and wars but not poverty has resonated far beyond music). Marvin Gaye would make more daring albums, not least the batshit crazy breakup album Here, My Dear, but nothing as emotionally powerful and sonically glorious as this.
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