MARVIN GAYE “WHAT’S GOING ON”

What’s Going On is the eleventh studio album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released May 21, 1971, on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. Recording sessions took place in June 1970 and March–May 1971 at Hitsville U.S.A., Golden World and United Sound Studios in Detroitand at The Sound Factory in West Hollywood, California. What’s Going On was the first Marvin Gaye album for which Gaye is credited as producer and Motown Records’ main studio band, the session musicians known as the Funk Brothers, received a credit.

What’s Going On is a concept album consisting of nine songs, most of which segue into the next. It has been categorized as a song cycle; the album ends with a reprise of the album’s opening theme. The story is told from the point of view of a Vietnam veteran returning to the country he had been fighting for, and seeing only hatred, suffering, and injustice. Gaye’s introspective lyrics discuss themes of drug abuse, poverty, and the Vietnam War. He has also been credited with promoting awareness of global warming before the public outcry against it had become prominent.

What’s Going On was an immediate success, both commercially and critically. Having endured as a classic of 1970s soul, a deluxe edition set was released on February 27, 2001, and featured a recording of a May 1972 concert shot at Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center. Worldwide surveys of critics, musicians, and the general public have shown that What’s Going On is regarded as one of the landmark recordings in pop music history, and one of the greatest albums of the 20th century. The album was ranked number six both on Rolling Stone’s 2003 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, and in the magazine’s update nine years later.