Attending a youth club in the mid-70s (youth club, how novel does that sound today?), brought me into contact with older teenagers and staff members who broadened my musical horizons beyond The Beatles and The Who.
Believing that if John Lennon had the first word on 60s rock, then Pete Townshend had the last, the best example of how my outlook began to widen came on one of the regular nights when a youth club worker and some know-all fifteen-year-olds, such as myself, would take in an LP or two to sit and dissect.
Under my arm went ‘Rubber Soul‘, ‘Tommy‘, or ‘Abbey Road‘, whose undoubted merits would be discussed by a group of young friends who no doubt thought themselves the best-informed critics on the planet – or at very least the small English town in which we lived.
In the back of my mind is vague recollection of puzzled expressions on the faces of fellow teenagers when hearing snatches of ‘Quadrophenia‘ – the looks of bewilderment put there by background sound effects of crashing waves and moving trains.
The huddle at the record player was viewed with even more astonishment when ‘The Dark Side of the Moon‘ received an airing at one listening session.
The point I am eventually coming around to make is this; one night a member of staff requested a slot – from memory sounding a touch apprehensive introducing Motown into what was usually a guitar-based rock-collective.
Saying something along the lines of ‘here’s something a bit different to what you usually listen to, this is by Marvin Gaye‘ for certain there would have been a collective groan – Gaye known to us for a couple of yesteryear singles occasionally played on the radio. (All this time later it seems so inadequate describing ‘I Heard it Through the Grapevine‘ as merely a ‘single’, but such was my naivety at the time).
Having cut my musical teeth on Lennon, Townshend and to an increasing extent Ray Davies, lyrics were my true fascination – the album now ninety seconds into its first track, making my ears twitch at hearing the line, ‘Picket line and picket signs/Don’t punish me with brutality,’ a phrase unlike anything I had come across in a song before.
At a time when people known to me dropped Bob Dylan couplets into conversations (the way I do now), his form of protest music did not make people move at the hips – but by the time Marvin Gaye reached his first chorus, people around me were on their feet dancing.
During the next thirty-five minutes it became clear this was music that had a powerful message and yet could be danced to – which serves to make ‘WHAT’S GOING ON‘ one of the most remarkable albums ever made. At the end of that week, I went out and bought it – and we have never been parted since.
For the next forty-odd years when occasionally attempting the somewhat futile exercise of compiling my ‘ten greatest albums ever made‘ list, it has never dropped lower than three. The 1985 New Musical Express chart of the best 200 LPs of all time, their survey carried out every ten years, (this one published 12 months after Gaye had tragically died at the age of 44), placed it at Number One – while in 1999 The Guardian newspaper declared it the ‘Greatest Album of the 20th Century.’
Released in May 1971, ‘What’s Going On‘ is an album where a hundred labels could be attached, but no singular one does it justice. It is soul music of course, yet contains overtones of jazz, funk and blues. It is thematic – although not a concept album in any traditional or heaven forbid, pretentious sense.
In observing the social ailments of early 70s America from a black, urban perspective, for the most part Gaye adopts the persona of a foot solider returning from the Vietnam war – the fundamental question being ‘what’s going on?’ when observing streets wracked by crime, drugs, police harassment and industrial strife.
But not only are the people struggling – the planet too is in trouble, Gaye pointing out on ‘Mercy Mercy Me‘ (The Ecology), ‘Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas, fish full of mercury‘, and ‘Radiation under ground and in the sky/Animals and birds who live nearby are dying.’
Making a climate change protest long before anyone had thought of such a title, even when he airs trenchant views on social and political alienation, hope still springs eternal – faith the key in overcoming travails be they personal or global. In ‘God is Love‘ Gaye implores us to have faith in each other and in God:
‘He made this world for us to live in, and gave us everything/And all he asks of us is we give each other love.’
Throughout the nine tracks his lyrics range from the intensely personal to examining wider aspects of inner-city life. This obvious break from Motown traditions is also evident in the music, the stylised nature of 60s singles that had brought the label so much success discarded in favour of long, almost free form melodies, where groove has replaced precision.
At times Gaye delivers his vocal lines almost as conversational pieces (it would not be stretching a point too far in considering them the earliest examples of rap, particularly on the heart-stopping ‘Save The Children‘). But when he sings, his phrasing and articulation are simply superb – leaving no doubt whatsoever of the influence he would later have on such fine vocalists as Don Henley and Michael McDonald.
The opening title track begins with the hubbub of the party thrown to welcome home the Vietnam veteran, the gorgeous saxophone refrain that begins the song floats in like a cool summer breeze – but in fact is heralding a wind of change.
In documenting a raft of social problems, Gaye maintains hope that salvation will be found in an elevated sense of spiritual awareness – greater compassion for one another a first step toward recovery of a fractured society.
Should that not create enough present-day echoes, then his depictions of drug abuse ‘Flyin’ High‘ (In the Friendly Sky), scarred war veterans ‘What’s Happening Brother‘, ecological damage ‘Mercy Mercy Me‘ and depressed landscapes ‘Inner City Blues‘ (Make Me Wanna Holler) combine to give the album an uncanny contemporary resonance.
Such focus and immediacy serve to place ‘What’s Going On‘ not only ahead of the game in the excellent work it would shortly prompt from Curtis Mayfield (‘Superfly‘ 1972) and Stevie Wonder (‘Innervisions‘ 1973) – but at the forefront of artistic ambition, where it has pretty much remained ever since.
Recorded mostly in the Motown base of Detroit shortly before they decamped to Los Angeles, (initially the label was sceptical about promoting such a challenging record, one that referenced war in Southeast Asia and strife on US streets), complaints from executives that it was not in keeping with what Motown was renowned for, made Marvin one suspects, feel even more gratified.
Despite those reservations, the album was rapturously received and an immediate best seller, proving Motown had scope to develop beyond the infectious pop-soul records of the 60s it had so successfully nurtured – but also how intense and atmospheric soul music could be, ‘What’s Going On‘ a key text in 70s expressionism.
In terms of its luscious tone and in conjuring the tensions of US street life, to these trans-Atlantic ears only ‘Born to Run‘ by Bruce Springsteen stands in comparison – both albums bursting with conviction, brimming with detail, potent in theme.
Yet where Springsteen occasionally paints a fatalistic picture of the world his characters inhabit, Gaye always comes down on the side of benevolence – even though his masterpiece edges to a close with five and a half minutes of the monumental ‘Inner City Blues‘ (‘Crime is increasing/Trigger happy policing/Panic is spreading/God knows where we’re heading‘).
Despite the throbbing bass lines and ominous keyboard patterns, he resists the temptation to leave the outlook bleak – briefly segueing a snatch of the title track into the final few moments to rekindle positivity, thus completing the circuitous journey on which the album has taken us.
The uplifting burst of piano and congas bringing proceedings to an end have gospel connotations, not only evoking his childhood as son of a Washington preacher, but also completing Gaye’s transition from classy performer of superbly crafted 60s soul to sharp-eyed critic of the world as he saw it.
Marvin Gaye went on to make more brilliant albums – the magnificent, sexually charged follow-up ‘Let’s Get It On‘ (1973), deemed by the ‘NME Encyclopedia of Rock’ (1977 edition) as ‘the most joyous celebration of sex ever recorded‘, a description impossible to improve on. The 1976 double set ‘Here My Dear‘ chronicles his divorce from Anna Gordy (sister of Motown boss Berry), each of the four sides containing songs that were frank, melodic and utterly compelling.
After a period in the wilderness ‘Midnight Love‘ (1982) was a welcome return to form, the sublime ‘Sexual Healing‘ giving him a long overdue hit single.
It was, however, the final peak of an extraordinary career – Gaye shot dead by his father on April 1, 1984 (the day before his 45th birthday) after intervening in a dispute between his parents.
His death took from the world a man blessed with jaw-dropping talent, brilliant pianist, innovative producer, peerless singer, stunning writer.
Each of these gifts were brought to bear on the miraculous ‘What’s Going On‘ – when he created not just a landmark recording of the 20th Century but hoisted musical creativity to a whole new level of accomplishment.
WHAT’S GOING ON – MARVIN GAYE (Released May 21 1971):
What’s Going On/What’s Happening Brother/Flyin’ High (In the Friendly Sky)/Save the Children/God is Love/Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)/Right On/Wholy Holy/Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler);
This article was first published on 8/10/2019.
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.