What's Going On

Annotation

As discussed above, Marvin Gaye, born in Washington D.C. (2 April 1939), helped shape the sound of the Detroit-based Motown Records in the 1960s, and thus he became one of the most influential soul singers of the era. In the early 1970s with the album What's Going On, he worked on his own production, breaking away from the Motown team. It introduced the concept album to R&B, while it contained innovative music, using gospel, jazz, soul, and classical orchestration, as the songs flowed seamlessly together. Note that Gaye also released the Vietnam-related songs Soldier's Plea (1962) and "I Want to Come Home for Christmas" (1972). The song "What's Going On" (Tamla Records # T 54201), the title track to the album above, also released as a single, included some war references - "we don't need to escalate you see, war is not the answer" - as well as documenting inner-city violence and racial tensions. Considered one of the greatest songs ever by various music publications, such as Rolling Stones, this single scored big in the charts, selling over two million records. As well as topping the R&B Billboard chart for five weeks, it crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, reaching # 2. (1)

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Civil Rights Songs

As discussed above, Marvin Gaye, born in Washington D.C. (2 April 1939), helped shape the sound of the Detroit-based Motown Records in the 1960s, and thus he became one of the most influential soul singers of the era. In the early 1970s with the album What's Going On, he worked on his own production, breaking away from the Motown team. It introduced the concept album to R&B, while it contained innovative music, using gospel, jazz, soul, and classical orchestration, as the songs flowed seamlessly together. Note that Gaye also released the Vietnam-related songs Soldier's Plea (1962) and "I Want to Come Home for Christmas" (1972). The song "What's Going On" (Tamla Records # T 54201), the title track to the album above, also released as a single, included some war references - "we don't need to escalate you see, war is not the answer" - as well as documenting community violence and Civil Rights issues. Considered one of the greatest songs ever by various music publications, such as Rolling Stones, this single scored big in the charts, selling over two million records. As well as topping the R&B Billboard chart for five weeks, it crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, reaching # 2. (1)

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

About the artist

Born 2 April 1939, Washington, DC, USA. Died 1 April 1984, Los Angeles, California, USA

Themes

Soldier's Perspective

In collections

Civil Rights Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs