Marvin Gaye What's Going On CD

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).
WHAT'S GOING ON: DELUXE EDITION features the original album, plus an unreleased Detroit mix, a live version from Kennedy Center, and unreleased single versions and instrumentals.
WHAT'S GOING ON:
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). Includes liner notes by Smokey Robinson, Ben Edmonds and Harry Weinger.
LIVE AT THE KENNEDY CENTER:
Personnel includes: Marvin Gaye (vocals, piano); Robert White (guitar); Jack Ashford (glockenspiel, percussion, kazoo); Uriel Jones (drums); Eddie "Bongo" Brown (bongos); The Andantes, Freddie Gorman, Walter Gaines, Hank Dixon, C.P. Spencer (background vocals).
Recorded live at The Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. on May 1, 1972.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Personnel: Marvin Gaye (piano, drums, background vocals); Marvin Gaye (vocals, percussion); Robert White , Robert White (guitar); Carole Crosby (harp); Zinovi Bistritzky, Virginia Halfmann, Gordon Staples, Lillian Downs, Beatriz Budinszky, James Waring, Alvin Score, Rick Margitza (violin); Edouard Kesner, Meyer Shapiro, Nathan Gordon (viola); Thaddeus Markiewicz (cello); William Perich (flute); Angelo Carlisi (alto saxophone); George Benson , George Benson , Wild Bill Moore (tenor saxophone); Tate Houston (baritone saxophone); Bob Babbitt, James Jamerson (bass instrument); Max Janowsky (12-string bass); Lem Barney, Elgie Stover, Hank Dixon, Freddie Gorman, Marlene Barrow, Jackie Hicks, Walter Gaines, Bobby Rogers, Ken Stover, Louvain Demps, The Andantes, C.P. Spencer (background vocals); Joe Messina (guitar); Felix Resnick (violin); David Ireland (viola); Italo Babini (cello); Danya Hartwick (flute); Larry Nozero (soprano saxophone); Eli Fountain (alto saxophone); John Trudell, Maurice Davis (trumpet); Carl Raetz (trombone); Johnny Griffith (celesta, keyboards); Earl Van Dyke (keyboards); Jack Brokensha (vibraphone, percussion); Chet Forest (drums); Eddie Brown, Earl DeRouen (congas, bongos); Jack Ashford (tambourine, percussion).
Audio Mixers: Ken Sands; Larry Miles; Steve Smith .
Liner Note Authors: Marvin Gaye; Ben Edmonds.
Recording information: Golden World (Studio B), Detroit, MI; Hitsville (Studio A), Detroit, MI; Sound Factory, Los Angeles, CA; United Sound Studios, Detroit, MI.
Photographer: Jim Hendin.
Arrangers: Paul Riser; David Van De Pitte.
What's Going On is not only Marvin Gaye's masterpiece, it's the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices, a man finally free to speak his mind and so move from R&B sex symbol to true recording artist. With What's Going On, Gaye meditated on what had happened to the American dream of the past -- as it related to urban decay, environmental woes, miRolling Stone (1/23/03, p.68) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Revolutionary..."
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..."
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..."
Spin (p.122) - "The godhead of '70s soul albums plays like one seamless groove-song, with jazzy orchestrations..."
Q (p.120) - "[T]his was the first soul album to engage directly with the political and social upheaval of the times, from the Vietnam War to environmental pollution."
Q (1/03, p.69) - Included in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums Ever"
Q (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."
Uncut (5/03, p.116) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...Global and personal anguish were never so exquisitely conveyed..."
Vibe (12/99, p.164) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century
Living Blues (5-6/01, p.100) - "...A masterwork....Sumptuous packaging, insightful liner notes, and voluminous session information underscore the first-class presentation..."
Mojo (Publisher) (5/01, p.97) - "...Stands as both a eulogy and testament to a spirit of co-operation, understanding and harmony. It's a vision of Utopia in words and music one could wander around in forever."
NME (Magazine) (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #4 in NME's list of the 'Greatest Albums Of All Time.'
NME (Magazine) (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..."