One of the pledges Ronald Reagan made in his campaign for governor of California in 1966 was to clamp down on political demonstrations on the state’s college campuses, labelling the University of California, Berkeley “a haven of communist sympathisers, protesters and sex deviants”. People’s Park — adjacent to and owned by Berkeley — was a regular venue for such demonstrations. On May 15 1969, an antiwar rally escalated into a “situation” and Governor Reagan ordered the police and the National Guard to disperse the crowd. In full riot gear, they did just that, ruthlessly; badges were concealed, bayonets were fixed, shotguns were discharged. There were many injuries and one fatality. The incident became known as Bloody Thursday.
The Four Tops, one of Motown’s premier groups, were on a West Coast tour, and their bus got caught in the traffic jams caused by the disturbances. Thus Renaldo “Obie” Benson, the Tops’ bass singer, had a ringside seat from which he witnessed the mayhem. “What’s happening?” he thought. It wasn’t just this event, of course; amid the escalation of the Vietnam war, the US in the 1960s was a recurring nightmare of riots and assassinations. Benson, a songwriter as well as a singer, had an idea for a song.
Back in his hometown of Detroit — itself the scene of severe riots in 1967 — Benson discussed the notion of a song with his housemate Al Cleveland and together they wrote “What’s Going On”.It was offered to Benson’s own group, The Four Tops, who declined on the grounds that they “didn’t do protest songs”. So they offered it to Marvin Gaye.
Even by Motown’s stratospheric standards, Gaye was astonishingly successful, with numerous solo hits. He was the label’s go-to male lead for a succession of duets with Mary Wells, Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell. A member of Motown’s hierarchy — he was married to founder and owner Berry Gordy’s sister — he was a troubled character. He had been bullied and beaten by his father in his childhood and teens; in adulthood, his moodiness and sensitivity were vital parts of his appeal.
Gaye loved Benson and Cleveland’s song, and suggested he produce it for another group, The Originals. But Benson promised Gaye a cut of the royalties if he made the record himself. Gaye accepted. He augmented the lyric with some of his own observations. His brother Frankie had seen a lot of action in Vietnam and the stories he told moved Gaye to tears. The war made its way into the lyric.
Gaye pulled every string in recruiting the cream of Motor City’s talent to create a majestic single. Motown’s incomparable house band The Funk Brothers were on sizzling form. The song was a lament. Rather than anger, it expressed anguish, accentuated by Gaye’s double-tracked vocals, instruments weaving in and out of the mix accompanied by the sound of bystanders’ chit-chat;“Hey man, what’s happenin’?” Gone was the thunderous Motown beat, replaced by a languid, lollopy, mellow rhythm. Gaye even threw in some old-fashioned scat, and it was all held together by the sublime bass guitar of Motown master James Jamerson.
Gaye’s brother-in-law didn’t like it, to put it mildly. “The worst thing I ever heard in my life,” Berry Gordy said. Always wary of political dabbling, his preferences in 1970 were for the diva-ication of his lover Diana Ross and the promotion of The Jackson 5. He thought Gaye was committing career suicide singing about picket lines and brutality. Gordy refused to release the record. Gaye refused to record anything else, going on strike.
The board members of Motown’s “quality control” also resisted its release. Gaye eventually wangled the record on to the market without Gordy’s knowledge in January 1971. It was a worldwide hit, selling 2m copies. Its success forced Gordy to allow Gaye to produce his own records, on condition that he have an album ready in two months. Gaye met the deadline, delivering the album What’s Going On, one of the greatest in pop history.
“What’s Going On” is so much Marvin Gaye’s song, it’s a superfluity to cover it (a sound file in circulation on YouTube and also used hauntingly in Spike Lee’s new film Da 5 Bloods, featuring Gaye’s isolated vocal track, illustrates his extraordinary singing) — but dozens have tried. The Undisputed Truth,for Motown, provide a late-night smoocher. Decent enough too are Donnie Hathaway,Richie Havens and The Shirelles.For a laugh, try Cyndi Lauper’sclod-hoppingly awful attempt from 1986 which opens to the sound of machinegun fire. Too many versions slip into the mawkishness that Gaye so deftly avoided; or they are pointlessly worthy and drab. Most poignant is Marvin’s brother Frankie’sversion recorded in 1991. Frankie survived the Vietnam war. Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by their father in 1984.
What are your memories of ‘What’s Going On’? Let us know in the comments section below.
‘The Life of a Song Volume 2: The fascinating stories behind 50 more of the world’s best-loved songs’, edited by David Cheal and Jan Dalley, is published by Brewer’s.
Music credits: UMC (Universal Music Catalogue); Spectrum; Rhino Atlantic; RCA/Legacy; Epic; Vanilla OMP
Picture credit: Pictorial Parade/Getty