Marvin Gaye
What’s Going On-40th Anniversary Edition
Hip-Oselect Records
www.hip-oselect.com
By George W. Harris

Marvin Gaye’s musical apotheosis, What’s Going On, almost didn’t even get released, as Motown bigwig Barry Gordy felt that the concept album just didn’t fit into the label mold. Just shows how out of touch even the most astute executives can be. It’s only turned out to be one of the most important releases in the Baby Boomer era, and it’s message of peace and love still resonate today, particularly with the bumper sticker theme of “War Is Not The Answer” coming from the singers lips.

This disc, which has been reissued in a myriad of ways, is special in that the sound is just wonderful and clean, and it includes a number of alternative versions, rehearsals and mixes for single (45rpm) releases. Songs like the title track, “Mercy Mercy Me” and Wholy Holy” became part of the American soul psyche, with the phrase “right on” added to our vocabulary thanks to Gaye’s use of it here. And then, you’ve got the song “Inner City Blues” which reaches right into your viscera, while “God Is Love” and “Jesus Is Our Love Song” showing that pop culture and religion can co-exist in harmony. An essential release in a myriad of planes and perspectives, with possibly a singer’s best plea for bringing spiritual (instead of a sexual) healing to the world as the true answer to man’s condition.