Marvin Gaye What's Going On

Love this album. I went through a stage several years ago where I pursued every variation of it on vinyl. Vinyl has seen a resurgence in recent years which is at once cool and a bummer as it has caused a what was once a plethora of easy vinyl at thrift stores to disappear, leaving nothing but Mitch Miller, Paul Williams and Firestone Christmas albums on the shelves.

Anyhow, I, as with most of my obsessions, dove as deep as possible into this thing, learning quite a bit about vinyl, pressing plants and the distribution of vinyl. Most of what I know came from personal pursuit but the details came from the generous help of other collectors and even a tremendous help from Harry Weinger who was behind the release of the Detroit Mix of this album on the deluxe edition CD issued several years ago.

I created a little website devoted to this pursuit. It's in a bit of disarray but was my first adventure in creating a website. Enjoy.

Marvin Gaye What's Going On



By the way, this album is spiritual. It changed Motown. The story is legendary about Gordy Berry's resistance to it as it violated the "sound" of Motown and Marvin's equal stubbornness in having it released. It tackles politics, the environment, love and God in one extended mix. It is the original DJ mix in that it is a continuous flow from one song to the next. This is even more apparent on the Detroit Mix where the chatter is not edited and phased out after the opening track.

As a former pot smoker (a 'weedy' as a friend of my wife's says), I realize that this album, from beginning to end, is the equivalent of the stages of getting high. But, then again, when on drugs, everything reminds you of drugs. Alice in Wonderland is about drugs, Scooby Doo is about drugs, Winnie the Pooh is about drugs.

Anyhow, from the initial and upbeat rush of the album in the beginning ("What's Happening Brother") to the middle stages when everything slows down (with lyrics such as "I go crazy when I can't find it" there is no subtlety there) to the stage when God enters ("God is Love through "Wholly Holy") to the very end when the mood turns a bit somber ("Inner City Blues") as the drugs wear off, it fits perfectly.

It was the first album to include the Funk Brothers band in the liner notes, no longer relegated to anonymity. It is truly a spiritual album and still sounds amazingly and relevant fresh today.