Track Listing
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 (Make Me Wanna Holler)
10. What's Going On (alternate Detroit mix)
11. What's Happening Brother (alternate Detroit mix)
12. Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky) (alternate Detroit mix)
13. Save The Children (alternate Detroit mix)
14. God Is Love (alternate Detroit mix)
15. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) (alternate Detroit mix)
16. Right On (alternate Detroit mix)
17. Wholy Holy (alternate Detroit mix)
18. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) (alternate Detroit mix)
19. What's Going On (rhythm 'n' strings mix)
1. Sixties Medley (That's The Way Love Is/I Heard It Through The Grapevine/Little Darling (I Need You)/You're All I Need To Get By/Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing/Your Precious Love/Pride And Joy/Stubborn Kind Of Fellow)
2. Right On (live at the Kennedy Center)
3. Wholy Holy (live at the Kennedy Center)
4. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) (live at the Kennedy Center)
5. What's Going On (live at the Kennedy Center)
6. What's Happening Brother (live at the Kennedy Center)
7. Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky) (live at the Kennedy Center)
8. Save The Children (live at the Kennedy Center)
9. God Is Love (live at the Kennedy Center)
10. Stage Dialogue (live at the Kennedy Center)
11. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) (reprise/live at the Kennedy Center)
12. What's Going On (reprise/live at the Kennedy Center)
13. What's Going On (original single mix)
14. God Is Love (original single mix)
15. Sad Tomorrows
16. Head Title (early version of Distant lover)
| Details | | Number of CDs: | 2 | | Producer: | Marvin Gaye | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Distributor: | Universal Music | | Recording Mode: | Stereo |
Album Notes
This deluxe edition of WHAT'S GOING ON includes a 20-page booklet with complete lyrics, never-before-published photos from personal family collections and an essay by David Ritz.Personnel includes: Marvin Gaye (vocals, piano); David Van Depitte (arranger, conductor); Robert White, Joe Messina (guitar); Johnny Griffith (celeste, keyboards); Earl Van Dyke (keyboards); Eli Fountain (alto saxophone); Wild Bill Moore (tenor saxophone); Jack Brokensha (vibraphone, percussion); Bob Babbit, James Jamerson (bass); Chet Forest (drums); Eddie Brown, Earl DeRouen (bongos, conga); Jack Ashford (tambourine, percussion). Recorded at Hitsville, Golden World and United Sound Studios, Detroit, Michican. Originally released on Tamla (310).Originally released in 1971, WHAT'S GOING ON remains a landmark album, one that redefined music with powerful, anthemic songs that remain pertinent to this day. Up to that point, R&B albums were collections of singles, with secondary material rounding out the LPs. Marvin Gaye changed all 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 twenty years ago. With the country still divided over the Vietnam War, the title track became a rallying cry for peace. Layered with lush orchestrations, heavenly background vocals and traces of jazz in particular spots, WHAT'S GOING ON never sounds musically dated. The critical and commercial success of Marvin Gaye's opus also enabled other artists to break free from the creative shackles imposed by Motown, and experience more autonomy in the making of their music.
Editorial Reviews
...There are very few performers who could carry a project like this off. I've always admired Marvin Gaye, but I didn't expect that he would be one of them...
Rolling Stone (08/05/1971)
...there is no question that he has gotten progressively better...Gaye's multi-tracked lead vocals answer one another like a man talking to himself, finally enveloping the listener in a world view of incalculable intensity...
Rolling Stone (09/30/1971)
Included in Q Magazine's Best Motown Records Of All Time - ...one of the finest albums ever recorded.... gorgeous soulful settings, bewitching melodies and Gaye's magisterial singing.
Q (10/01/1999)
Ranked #4 in NME's list of the 'Greatest Albums Of All Time.'
NME (10/02/1993)
Ranked #1 in NME's list of 'The Greatest Albums Of The '70s' - ...politicized music has never been done better...it's also infused with a beautiful spirituality...
NME (09/11/1993)
Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century
Vibe (12/01/1999)
5 stars out of 5 - ...Global and personal anguish were never so exquisitely conveyed...
Uncut (05/01/2003)
4 stars out of 5 - ...Revolutionary...
Rolling Stone (01/23/2003)
...There are very few performers who could carry a project like this off. I've always admired Marvin Gaye, but I didn't expect that he would be one of them...
Rolling Stone (08/05/1971)
4 stars out of 5 - ...Revolutionary...Vibe (12/99, p.164) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th CenturyQ (10/99, p.161) - Included in Q Magazine's Best Motown Records Of All Time - ...one of the finest albums ever recorded.... gorgeous soulful settings, bewitching melodies and Gaye's magisterial singing.NME (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #4 in NME's list of the 'Greatest Albums Of All Time.'NME (9/11/93, p.18) - Ranked #1 in NME's list of 'The Greatest Albums Of The '70s' - ...politicized music has never been done better...it's also infused with a beautiful spirituality...Rolling Stone (9/30/71, p.42) - ...there is no question that he has gotten progressively better...Gaye's multi-tracked lead vocals answer one another like a man talking to himself, finally enveloping the listener in a world view of incalculable intensity...Rolling Stone (8/5/71, p.44) - ...There are very few performers who could carry a project like this off. I've always admired Marvin Gaye, but I didn't expect that he would be one of them...Uncut (5/03, p.116) - 5 stars out of 5 - ...Global and personal anguish were never so exquisitely conveyed...
Rolling Stone (01/23/2003)
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