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Amazon.com essential recording
Sly & The Family Stone might have psychedelicized soul music, but Marvin Gaye personalized it. Although the powers-that-were Motown didn't even want to release the record, the unexpected success of What's Going On, issued in 1971, inspired Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, and just about every other black artist on the planet to take greater responsibility for their music and its meaning. Gaye co-wrote the songs and produced the album, flavoring it with layer upon layer of his own multi-tracked vocals, oceans of hand percussion, strings, flutes, and jazzy horn solos. Spacey and loose as a sp
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Amazon.com essential recording
Sly & The Family Stone might have psychedelicized soul music, but Marvin Gaye personalized it. Although the powers-that-were Motown didn't even want to release the record, the unexpected success of What's Going On, issued in 1971, inspired Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, and just about every other black artist on the planet to take greater responsibility for their music and its meaning. Gaye co-wrote the songs and produced the album, flavoring it with layer upon layer of his own multi-tracked vocals, oceans of hand percussion, strings, flutes, and jazzy horn solos. Spacey and loose as a spliff-fueled Sunday afternoon jam in the park, the nine songs all played like a hit single. The title track--inspired by his brother's return from the Vietnam War--and the obvious social commentary of "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" and "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" actually were hit singles. Two other tracks ("Wholly Holy" and "Save the Children") would inspire hit covers by Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross, respectively. Nevertheless, What's Going On sounds as fresh today as it did the week that it came out. Recommended reading: Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye by David Ritz (McGraw-Hill, 1985). --Don Waller
Marvin Gaye's What's Going On may be the most powerful soul record ever made. On this Deluxe Edition, the original recording is embellished with an alternate Detroit Mix of the album (which is almost equally strong) and a previously unreleased recording of Gaye's live performance at the Kennedy Center in 1972. It also includes brilliant liner notes, song lyrics, and a mini-essay by Smokey Robinson, who calls What's Going On his favorite album of all time. The raw emotionality of the live disc further demonstrates Gaye's commitment to his own sentiments and captures the longing and sadness that permeate the album. Gaye went into uncharted R&B territory on What's Going On: leaving love ballads behind, he explored social commentary from an intimate personal perspective. The world weighed heavy on his heart, and the album brings home the confusion of the Vietnam era, when America the Beautiful began to seem a bit ugly. Armed with only his heart and his voice, Marvin Gaye took on Uncle Sam, and won over the hearts of many Americans. --Lizz Mendez Berry
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Manufacturer: Motown
Release date: 7 April 1998
Number of discs: 1
EAN: 0731453088320 UPC: 731453088320
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