Released May 21, 1971.

Masterpiece? Or three good tracks surrounded by filler? Discuss.

40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition coming May 31.

[www.pastemagazine.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-05-21 04:55 by tatters.

[en.wikipedia.org]

It's Number SIX on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.

1. Sgt Pepper
2. Pet Sounds
3. Revolver
4. Highway 61 Revisited
5. Rubber Soul
6. What's Going On
7. Exile On Main Street



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-05-21 05:25 by tatters.

I NEVER liked that song. For some reason I always found it annoying to listen to.

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tatters
Released May 21, 1971.

Masterpiece? Or three good tracks surrounded by filler? Discuss.

The whole album is great.

"This may be a ground-breaking personal statement, but like any Berry Gordy quickie it's baited skimpily: only three great tunes, "What's Going On," "Inner City Blues," and "Mercy, Mercy Me (the Ecology)" are so original they reveal ordinary Motown-political as the benign market manipulation it is. And Gaye keeps getting more subtle vocally and rhythmically. But the rest is pretty murky even when the lyrical ideas are good--I like the words on "What's Happenin' Brother" and "Flyin' High (in the Friendly Sky)" quite a bit--and the religious songs that bear Gaye's real message are suitably shapeless. Worst of all, because they're used a lot, are David Van De Pitte's strings, the lowest kind of movie-background dreck. Original grade: B (later changed to a B+)

-Robert Christgau



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011-05-21 05:44 by tatters.

"Surely Marvin's finest moment and, along with a number of Stevie Wonder's early 70s releases, one of a handful of GREAT Motown albums"

-Rob Bowman, All Music Guide to Rock

"Although it spawned three hits ... this was Motown's first true ALBUM. Its blend of unembarrassed spirituality and unflinching social realism, as well as relentless percussion set against lush orchestration, was unlike anything that came before it in both form and content"

-Ben Edmonds, The New Rolling Stone Album Guide

James Jamerson on bass.

Marvellous.

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GravityBoy
James Jamerson on bass.

Marvellous.

James plays on about half the album, including the title track. Bob Babbitt plays on the other half, including Mercy, Mercy Me and Inner City Blues. What always blew me away was that Marvin is doing most of the background vocals. It would be like finding out that the Temptations was ONE guy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-05-21 13:07 by tatters.

Legend has it has p*ssed lying on his back and this was one take.

[www.bobbabbitt.com]

I don't like it - too smooth and slow for me - but it may grow on me sometime.

[www.bbc.co.uk]

I did liked the song back then, but it's to slow for me too, I rather prefer the soul of Curtis Mayfield

__________________________

Wow. Color me shocked at the overall response to this record. To me it's THE political and emotional statement of the 70's. It's also one of the most powerful artistic moments in music history, IMHO. Smokey Robinson called it the greatest album of all time.

Every bit as impact-full today as when released in 1971. To me, it's not just three great songs. It covers everything; drug addiction, war, poverty, inner turmoil, joblessness, inner city issues etc. Every song is a beautiful rumination on these issues.

I love this record more than most in my collection. And I suspect that it's the whole of the album, not just three great songs that will be listened to 50 or 100 years from now.

TD75

What stupefies me most on this forum is that most of you have either never heard of this album or are only familiar with the title track.

A beautiful album. The production has such an inner-city warmth to it, reminding me of a hot summer day in Detroit. There is not filler on this album but a seamless melding that creates a landscape of sadness and redemption. What a difference from Motown to have Gay construct a statement of protest and introspection at a time when America's cities were crumbling with the decay of excess and war. One of the most important albums of the 70's and certainly one of the most beautifully realized visions from Motown.

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whitem8
A beautiful album. The production has such an inner-city warmth to it, reminding me of a hot summer day in Detroit. There is not filler on this album but a seamless melding that creates a landscape of sadness and redemption. What a difference from Motown to have Gay construct a statement of protest and introspection at a time when America's cities were crumbling with the decay of excess and war. One of the most important albums of the 70's and certainly one of the most beautifully realized visions from Motown.

I think it may have been the last great Motown album recorded, in part, at least, at Hitsville in Detroit. I'll have to do some research on that. The "vision", however, was entirely Gaye's own. This album marks the first time a Motown artist assumed total artistic control over his own work. Berry Gordy hated this album, and was very reluctant to release it. He only did so after the title track, released four months earlier with a somewhat different mix, became a hit. To this day, Berry Gordy still doesn't like it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-05-22 16:55 by tatters.

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tatters

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whitem8
A beautiful album. The production has such an inner-city warmth to it, reminding me of a hot summer day in Detroit. There is not filler on this album but a seamless melding that creates a landscape of sadness and redemption. What a difference from Motown to have Gay construct a statement of protest and introspection at a time when America's cities were crumbling with the decay of excess and war. One of the most important albums of the 70's and certainly one of the most beautifully realized visions from Motown.

I think it may have been the last great Motown album recorded, in part, at least, at Hitsville in Detroit. I'll have to do some research on that. The "vision", however, was entirely Gaye's own. This album marks the first time a Motown artist assumed total artistic control over his own work. Berry Gordy hated this album, and was very reluctant to release it. He only did so after the title track, released four months earlier without a somewhat different mix, became a hit. To this day, Berry Gordy still doesn't like it.

I've always found that weird, considering he'd sanctioned the Temptations' change into socially conscious artists in 1968 with Cloud Nine.

I've heard only 4 or 5 tracks - kinda bland for me - does it stupefy you, tatters? :-)

Stax Records is what I love...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-05-22 16:53 by Amused.

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Thricenay

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tatters

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whitem8
A beautiful album. The production has such an inner-city warmth to it, reminding me of a hot summer day in Detroit. There is not filler on this album but a seamless melding that creates a landscape of sadness and redemption. What a difference from Motown to have Gay construct a statement of protest and introspection at a time when America's cities were crumbling with the decay of excess and war. One of the most important albums of the 70's and certainly one of the most beautifully realized visions from Motown.

I think it may have been the last great Motown album recorded, in part, at least, at Hitsville in Detroit. I'll have to do some research on that. The "vision", however, was entirely Gaye's own. This album marks the first time a Motown artist assumed total artistic control over his own work. Berry Gordy hated this album, and was very reluctant to release it. He only did so after the title track, released four months earlier with a somewhat different mix, became a hit. To this day, Berry Gordy still doesn't like it.

I've always found that weird, considering he'd sanctioned the Temptations' change into socially conscious artists in 1968 with Cloud Nine.

Those late 60s Temptations records were targeted at the socially conscious white rock audience. If socially conscious rock and roll was what people were buying, then Berry would have his writers write those songs, and he'd get white musicians like Dennis Coffey and Bob Babbitt to play on them. But I guess Berry thought What's Going On wasn't commercial enough, meaning he thought white people wouldn't like it.

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tatters

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Thricenay

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tatters

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whitem8
A beautiful album. The production has such an inner-city warmth to it, reminding me of a hot summer day in Detroit. There is not filler on this album but a seamless melding that creates a landscape of sadness and redemption. What a difference from Motown to have Gay construct a statement of protest and introspection at a time when America's cities were crumbling with the decay of excess and war. One of the most important albums of the 70's and certainly one of the most beautifully realized visions from Motown.

I think it may have been the last great Motown album recorded, in part, at least, at Hitsville in Detroit. I'll have to do some research on that. The "vision", however, was entirely Gaye's own. This album marks the first time a Motown artist assumed total artistic control over his own work. Berry Gordy hated this album, and was very reluctant to release it. He only did so after the title track, released four months earlier with a somewhat different mix, became a hit. To this day, Berry Gordy still doesn't like it.

I've always found that weird, considering he'd sanctioned the Temptations' change into socially conscious artists in 1968 with Cloud Nine.

Those late 60s Temptations records were targeted at the socially conscious white rock audience. If socially conscious rock and roll was what people were buying, then Berry would have his writers write those songs, and he'd get white musicians like Dennis Coffey and Bob Babbitt to play on them. But I guess Berry thought What's Going On wasn't commercial enough, meaning he thought white people wouldn't like it.

But there's got to be more to it than that, if (as you say) Gordy still dislikes the record to this day. Gordy's treatment of Gaye during that period seems unduly callous, given how distraught Gaye was about Tammi Terrell's death. No matter how much authority Gordy wanted to exert over his wilful artist, to dismiss What's Going On as the 'worst thing I've ever heard' -- not only to Gaye, but to others within Gaye's earshot -- suggests it was a personal matter, not a professional one.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-05-22 18:33 by Thricenay.

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Thricenay

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tatters

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Thricenay

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tatters

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whitem8
A beautiful album. The production has such an inner-city warmth to it, reminding me of a hot summer day in Detroit. There is not filler on this album but a seamless melding that creates a landscape of sadness and redemption. What a difference from Motown to have Gay construct a statement of protest and introspection at a time when America's cities were crumbling with the decay of excess and war. One of the most important albums of the 70's and certainly one of the most beautifully realized visions from Motown.

I think it may have been the last great Motown album recorded, in part, at least, at Hitsville in Detroit. I'll have to do some research on that. The "vision", however, was entirely Gaye's own. This album marks the first time a Motown artist assumed total artistic control over his own work. Berry Gordy hated this album, and was very reluctant to release it. He only did so after the title track, released four months earlier with a somewhat different mix, became a hit. To this day, Berry Gordy still doesn't like it.

I've always found that weird, considering he'd sanctioned the Temptations' change into socially conscious artists in 1968 with Cloud Nine.

Those late 60s Temptations records were targeted at the socially conscious white rock audience. If socially conscious rock and roll was what people were buying, then Berry would have his writers write those songs, and he'd get white musicians like Dennis Coffey and Bob Babbitt to play on them. But I guess Berry thought What's Going On wasn't commercial enough, meaning he thought white people wouldn't like it.

But there's got to be more to it than that, if (as you say) Gordy still dislikes the record to this day. Gordy's treatment of Gaye during that period seems unduly callous, given how distraught Gaye was about Tammi Terrell's death. No matter how much authority Gordy wanted to exert over his wilful artist, to dismiss What's Going On as the 'worst thing I've ever heard' -- not only to Gaye, but to others within Gaye's earshot -- suggests it was a personal matter, not a professional one.

It was probably some kind of professional jealousy thing. Gordy always saw himself as the mastermind, and, as such, a kind of creative genius. Here, Marvin was handing him a finished work of TRUE genius that Gordy and his staff writers had no part in creating. On the other hand, Gordy envisioned Motown as "the sound of young America" and to him that meant records (and artists) with happy, smiling faces. What's Going On is in many ways a sad, depressing, morose album. It's also ultimately very spiritually uplifting, but Berry either didn't get the complexity of it, or didn't think the listeners would. "This is not what we do here Marvin!", you can almost hear him say.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2011-05-22 19:57 by tatters.

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tatters

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Thricenay

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tatters

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Thricenay

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tatters

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whitem8
A beautiful album. The production has such an inner-city warmth to it, reminding me of a hot summer day in Detroit. There is not filler on this album but a seamless melding that creates a landscape of sadness and redemption. What a difference from Motown to have Gay construct a statement of protest and introspection at a time when America's cities were crumbling with the decay of excess and war. One of the most important albums of the 70's and certainly one of the most beautifully realized visions from Motown.

I think it may have been the last great Motown album recorded, in part, at least, at Hitsville in Detroit. I'll have to do some research on that. The "vision", however, was entirely Gaye's own. This album marks the first time a Motown artist assumed total artistic control over his own work. Berry Gordy hated this album, and was very reluctant to release it. He only did so after the title track, released four months earlier with a somewhat different mix, became a hit. To this day, Berry Gordy still doesn't like it.

I've always found that weird, considering he'd sanctioned the Temptations' change into socially conscious artists in 1968 with Cloud Nine.

Those late 60s Temptations records were targeted at the socially conscious white rock audience. If socially conscious rock and roll was what people were buying, then Berry would have his writers write those songs, and he'd get white musicians like Dennis Coffey and Bob Babbitt to play on them. But I guess Berry thought What's Going On wasn't commercial enough, meaning he thought white people wouldn't like it.

But there's got to be more to it than that, if (as you say) Gordy still dislikes the record to this day. Gordy's treatment of Gaye during that period seems unduly callous, given how distraught Gaye was about Tammi Terrell's death. No matter how much authority Gordy wanted to exert over his wilful artist, to dismiss What's Going On as the 'worst thing I've ever heard' -- not only to Gaye, but to others within Gaye's earshot -- suggests it was a personal matter, not a professional one.

It was probably some kind of professional jealousy thing. Gordy always saw himself as the mastermind, and, as such, a kind of creative genius. Here, Marvin was handing him a finished work of TRUE genius that Gordy and his staff writers had no part in creating. On the other hand, Gordy envisioned Motown as "the sound of young America" and to him that meant records (and artists) with happy, smiling faces. What's Going On is in many ways a sad, depressing, morose album. It's also ultimately very spiritually uplifting, but Berry either didn't get the complexity of it, or didn't think the listeners would. "This is not what we do here Marvin!", you can almost hear him say.

Well, Motown could do 'sad' and 'morose' (I weep unashamedly at the Supremes' 'I'm Livin' In Shame'), but I take your point. The irony, I suppose, is that Gordy never trusted himself after that to dismiss an artist's vision. Which led ultimately to the humiliating losses he suffered on A Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants.

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tatters
Released May 21, 1971.

Masterpiece? Or three good tracks surrounded by filler? Discuss.

40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition coming May 31.

[www.pastemagazine.com]

Masterpiece. Unquestionably.

I can remember vividly where I was at a friends house and the news flash on ABC rang " Marvin Gaye has passed away' WHAT??? I said to myself...then the broadcast informed the nature of his death.... It was a bad day for all.

Masterpiece. Get in the mood, throw some headphones on, and enjoy!

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Chris Fountain
I can remember vividly where I was at a friends house and the news flash on ABC rang " Marvin Gaye has passed away' WHAT??? I said to myself...then the broadcast informed the nature of his death.... It was a bad day for all.

I remember it, too. Sunny Sunday afternoon. Laying around listening to an FM rock station. Lady DJ gets on and says Marvin Gaye has just been shot to death. She sounds pretty upset. Then she puts on "What's Going On". Somehow, it wasn't as shocking as hearing the news that John Lennon had just been shot to death. I'm not sure why. Maybe because we're just not as surprised when a black person meets a violent end.

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Thricenay

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tatters

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Thricenay

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tatters

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Thricenay

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tatters

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whitem8
A beautiful album. The production has such an inner-city warmth to it, reminding me of a hot summer day in Detroit. There is not filler on this album but a seamless melding that creates a landscape of sadness and redemption. What a difference from Motown to have Gay construct a statement of protest and introspection at a time when America's cities were crumbling with the decay of excess and war. One of the most important albums of the 70's and certainly one of the most beautifully realized visions from Motown.

I think it may have been the last great Motown album recorded, in part, at least, at Hitsville in Detroit. I'll have to do some research on that. The "vision", however, was entirely Gaye's own. This album marks the first time a Motown artist assumed total artistic control over his own work. Berry Gordy hated this album, and was very reluctant to release it. He only did so after the title track, released four months earlier with a somewhat different mix, became a hit. To this day, Berry Gordy still doesn't like it.

I've always found that weird, considering he'd sanctioned the Temptations' change into socially conscious artists in 1968 with Cloud Nine.

Those late 60s Temptations records were targeted at the socially conscious white rock audience. If socially conscious rock and roll was what people were buying, then Berry would have his writers write those songs, and he'd get white musicians like Dennis Coffey and Bob Babbitt to play on them. But I guess Berry thought What's Going On wasn't commercial enough, meaning he thought white people wouldn't like it.

But there's got to be more to it than that, if (as you say) Gordy still dislikes the record to this day. Gordy's treatment of Gaye during that period seems unduly callous, given how distraught Gaye was about Tammi Terrell's death. No matter how much authority Gordy wanted to exert over his wilful artist, to dismiss What's Going On as the 'worst thing I've ever heard' -- not only to Gaye, but to others within Gaye's earshot -- suggests it was a personal matter, not a professional one.

It was probably some kind of professional jealousy thing. Gordy always saw himself as the mastermind, and, as such, a kind of creative genius. Here, Marvin was handing him a finished work of TRUE genius that Gordy and his staff writers had no part in creating. On the other hand, Gordy envisioned Motown as "the sound of young America" and to him that meant records (and artists) with happy, smiling faces. What's Going On is in many ways a sad, depressing, morose album. It's also ultimately very spiritually uplifting, but Berry either didn't get the complexity of it, or didn't think the listeners would. "This is not what we do here Marvin!", you can almost hear him say.

Well, Motown could do 'sad' and 'morose' (I weep unashamedly at the Supremes' 'I'm Livin' In Shame'), but I take your point. The irony, I suppose, is that Gordy never trusted himself after that to dismiss an artist's vision. Which led ultimately to the humiliating losses he suffered on A Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants.

You're right. They were always good with a tearjerker. "Ooh Baby Baby" always gets me, always fills me with guilt and makes me resolve, for a minute anyway, to be a better husband. "Does Your Mother Know About Me" is another one. Reminds me of a good friend, no longer with us. Even some of Michael Jackson's early stuff. "I'll Be There" and "Got To Be There".



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011-05-22 22:43 by tatters.