What's Going On by Marvin Gaye...Episode #28

About this episode

In this episode of Classic Rock Album Olympics music historians Gary Wenstrup and Robert Rodriguez take Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On for a spin and award gold, silver and bronze medals for their favorite tracks. Medal Winners What’s Going On Flyin’ High (In The Friendly Sky) Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) What’s Happening Brother Inner City Blues (Makes Me Want To Holler) The album was released in the summer of 1971 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums ever made. It marked a dramatic artistic transformation for Marvin Gaye and for Motown itself. Rather than focusing on romantic love songs, Gaye created a deeply personal concept album that addressed war, poverty, racial injustice, environmental concerns, police brutality, drug abuse, and spiritual renewal. Inspired in part by conversations with his brother Frankie, who had recently returned from service in Vietnam, What’s Going On captured the hopes, frustrations, and uncertainty of America during one of the nation’s most turbulent periods. What’s Going On was produced by Marvin Gaye, making him one of the first Motown artists to exercise complete creative control over a major project. Recording sessions took