About

What's Going On is not only Marvin Gaye's masterpiece, it's the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices, a man finally free to speak his mind and so move from R&B sex symbol to true recording artist. With What's Going On, Gaye meditated on what had happened to the American dream of the past -- as it related to urban decay, environmental woes, military turbulence, police brutality, unemployment, and poverty. These feelings had been bubbling up between 1967 and 1970, during which he felt increasingly caged by Motown's behind-the-times hit machine and restrained from expressing himself seriously through his music.

Finally, late in 1970, Gaye decided to record a song that the Four Tops' Obie Benson had brought him, "What's Going On." When Berry Gordy decided not to issue the single, deeming it uncommercial, Gaye refused to record any more material until he relented. Confirmed by its tremendous commercial success in January 1971, he recorded the rest of the album over ten days in March, and Motown released it in late May. Besides cementing Marvin Gaye as one of the most important artists in pop music, What's Going On was far and away the best full-length to issue from the singles-dominated Motown factory, and arguably the best soul album of all time.

Motown/UMe has marked the 50th anniversary of Marvin Gaye’s single release for What’s Going On — the title track from Rolling Stone’s Greatest Album of All Time — with an all-encompassing reissue of the 1971 LP. What’s Going On was released on January 20th, 1971, four months before the LP arrived. Over the past 20 years, the album has been reissued every decade, with early mixes, instrumentals and other rarities culled from the era added to each release.

To honor the single’s 50th birthday, Motown/UMe grouped together all that bonus music for the digital release dubbed What’s Going On: Deluxe Edition/50th Anniversary, which contains the original album plus 12 bonus tracks including single versions, demos and more, the “Detroit Mix” of the album and the collection of “Funky Nation” instrumentals from Gaye’s post-What’s Going On recording sessions.

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Label: Tamla, UMe
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo
Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Stereo, Mono, Album, Reissue, 180g, Gatefold, 50th Anniversary
Reissued: 2022 / Original Release: 1971
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Rhythm & Blues, Soul

File under: Funk / Soul
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