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Track Listings
| 1. What's Going On |
| 2. What's Happening Brother |
| 3. Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky) |
| 4. Save The Children |
| 5. God Is Love |
| 6. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) |
| 7. Right On |
| 8. Wholy Holy |
| 9. Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler) |
| 10. God Is Love (Bonus Track) |
| 11. Sad Tomorrows aka Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky) |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Sly & The Family Stone might have psychedelicised soul music, but Marvin Gaye personalised 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, flavouring it with layer upon layer of his own multi-tracked vocals, oceans of hand percussion, strings, flutes and jazzy horn solos. Spacy and loose as a spliff-fuelled Sunday afternoon jam in the park, the nine songs all played like hit singles. 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. --Don Waller
Description
Originally released in 1971, WHAT'S GOING ON remains a landmark album, one that redefined music with powerful, anthemicsongs that remain pertinent to this day. Before WHAT'S GOING ON, R&B albums were collections of singles, with secondary"filler" material rounding out the LPs. Marvin Gaye changedall this by releasing a concept album that went beyond the usual boy-meets-girl scenario, weaving together an aural collage of societal ills. "Crime is increasing/Trigger-happy policing", from "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", is as potent a line today as it was over 20 years ago, and withthe country still divided over the Vietnam War, the title track became a rallying cry for peace.
Dark, mercurial, and jazzy, WHAT'S GOING ON was as radical musically as it was conceptually. Layered with lush orchestrations, heavenly background vocals, and loose, fiercely grooving arrangements, WHAT'S GOING ON so surpassed anything previously known as soul music that it virtually reinvented the genre. The criticaland commercial success of Gaye's opus also enabled other artists to break free from the creative shackles imposed by Motown and other companies, and to experience more autonomy inmusical and thematic expression, thereby changing the industry. In short, the musical and historical significance of WHAT'S GOING ON cannot be overestimated; it was Gaye's masterpiece, and still stands as one of the greatest soul albums ofall time.
Sly & The Family Stone might have psychedelicised soul music, but Marvin Gaye personalised 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, flavouring it with layer upon layer of his own multi-tracked vocals, oceans of hand percussion, strings, flutes and jazzy horn solos. Spacy and loose as a spliff-fuelled Sunday afternoon jam in the park, the nine songs all played like hit singles. 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. --Don Waller
Description
Originally released in 1971, WHAT'S GOING ON remains a landmark album, one that redefined music with powerful, anthemicsongs that remain pertinent to this day. Before WHAT'S GOING ON, R&B albums were collections of singles, with secondary"filler" material rounding out the LPs. Marvin Gaye changedall this by releasing a concept album that went beyond the usual boy-meets-girl scenario, weaving together an aural collage of societal ills. "Crime is increasing/Trigger-happy policing", from "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", is as potent a line today as it was over 20 years ago, and withthe country still divided over the Vietnam War, the title track became a rallying cry for peace.
Dark, mercurial, and jazzy, WHAT'S GOING ON was as radical musically as it was conceptually. Layered with lush orchestrations, heavenly background vocals, and loose, fiercely grooving arrangements, WHAT'S GOING ON so surpassed anything previously known as soul music that it virtually reinvented the genre. The criticaland commercial success of Gaye's opus also enabled other artists to break free from the creative shackles imposed by Motown and other companies, and to experience more autonomy inmusical and thematic expression, thereby changing the industry. In short, the musical and historical significance of WHAT'S GOING ON cannot be overestimated; it was Gaye's masterpiece, and still stands as one of the greatest soul albums ofall time.
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