Edited by Azizi Powell
This post features information about and videos/sound file examples of Marvin Gaye's now classic 1971 song cycle album "What's Goin On".
This post is presented for its historical, sociological, and aesthetic values. All copyrights remain with the copyright holders.
My thanks to Marvin Gaye for focusing attention on important social & political subjects through his creativity, artistry, and advocacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these YouTube examples.
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Additional videos have been added to this post which was originally published in 2012.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/06/marvin-gaye-mercy-mercy-me-whats-going.html for lyrics and notes about these songs.
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BACKGROUND FOR THE "WHAT'S GOING ON" ALBUM
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Gaye
"Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye (he added the 'e' as a young man), was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range...
In 1971, Marvin issued his landmark album, What's Going On. The album and its tracks were responsible in the changing landscape of rhythm and blues music as the album presented a full view of social ills in America, including war, police brutality, racism, drug addiction, environmentalism, and urban decay. Beforehand, recordings of social unrest had been recorded by the likes of (Curtis Mayfield &) The Impressions, The Temptations, Sam Cooke, Sly and the Family Stone and James Brown, but this was the first album fully devoted to those issues. The album was produced under what is called a song cycle and because of its theme of "what's going on" was considered one of the first concept albums to be released in soul music...
After helping to collaborate what became "What's Going On", [Marvin Gaye] returned to Hitsville on June 1, 1970 to record the song, which was inspired by Gaye's brother's accounts of his experience at the Vietnam War and co-writer Renaldo "Obie" Benson of the Four Tops' disgust of police brutality after seeing anti-war protesters attacked in San Francisco...
Released on May 21, 1971, the What's Going On album instantly became a million-seller crossing him over to young white rock audiences while also maintaining his strong R&B fan base. Because of its lyrical content and its mixture of funk, jazz, classical and Latin soul arrangements which departed from the then renowned "Motown Sound", it became one of Motown's first autonomous works, without help of Motown's staff producers. Based upon its themes and a segue flow into each of the songs sans the title track, the concept album became the new template for soul music.
Other hit singles that came out of the album included "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", making Gaye the first male solo artist to have three top ten singles off one album on the Billboard Hot 100. All three singles sold over a million copies and were all number-one on the R&B chart. International recognition of the album was slow to come at first though eventually the album would be revered overseas as a "landmark pop record". It has been called "the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices"."
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FEATURED EXAMPLES
Example #1: Marvin Gaye - Mercy Mercy Me
DeTudo, Uploaded on Sep 6, 2007
lyrics
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Where did all the blue sky go?
Poison is the wind that blows
From the north, east, south, and sea
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas
Fish full of mercury
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Radiation in the ground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
What about this overcrowded land?
How much more abuse from man can you stand?
My sweet Lord
My sweet Lord
My sweet Lord
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Example #2: Marvin Gaye - What's Going On + Save the Children LIVE
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rareformulamusic, Uploaded on Sep 28, 2009
Not owned by me, I just wanted to share Marvin's greatness with everybody.
From his Live in Amsterdam in '76 concert.
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Example #3: Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
MarvinGayeVEVO, Published on Jul 5, 2011
Music video by Marvin Gaye performing Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler). (C) 1971 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
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Example #4: Marvin Gaye "What's Going On - What's Happening Brother"
Abdul Jalil, Published on May 10, 2012
Marvin Gaye "What's Going On - What's Happening Brother"
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