On 1 May 1972, in his first live performance since his singing partner, friend and soulmate Tammi Terrell died of a brain tumour, Marvin Gaye performed the whole What's going on album at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. The JFK Center had been established two months after Kennedy's assassination in November 1963 as a "living memorial" to the great President. In 1969 Terrell, with whom he had recorded the Motown classic "Ain't no mountain high enough", collapsed on stage in his arms. The collapse marked the beginning of her terminal decline. She died on 16 March 1970. Her collapse marked a turning point in Gaye's musical career, from where he would eventually cast aside the artistic shackles of the Motown label and reemerge as a truly great, truly innovative black musician. Marvin would later say of Tammi's death - "It affected me tremendously. So much so that I didn't perform for a couple of years."
This concert marked the beginning of Gaye's re-emergence from the self-imposed musical exile which had followed Terrell's death. Those who were fortunate enough to be in attendance were treated to one of the few, if not the only, full live renditions of Gaye's era defining album. The album release had marked Gaye's emergence as the truly great, free thinking, black American musician of his generation.
By this stage in his career, Gaye was a drug taking, peace loving idealist who had developed a healthy hatred for big business and military-style discipline, having served for a short time in air force. The assassination of Martin Luther King on 4 April 1968 also had a profound impact on Gaye. It seemed to him that America was going crazy. He began to write and record songs which touched on the darker side of life, not least of which was "I heard it thru the grapevine", a song of loss and betrayal, loneliness and humiliation. A song of desperation. Although it had previously been released by fellow Motown legends Gladys Knight and the Pips it was only with the release of Gaye's own recording that it topped the US and UK charts, selling over 4 million copies. It is, in the opinion of many critics, the best single of the rock era.
After years of emulating white musical styles and white fashions, Gaye had stopped wearing the classy suits which had become his trademark, opting instead for sweatshirts and gym shoes. He also grew a beard for the first time and began to study the writings of black political activists such as Malcolm X and Dick Gregory. Around this time, in his early 30s, Marvin began to pay attention to his body after years of neglect. He cut back on his marijuana consumption and took up running and weightlifting (sound like anyone we know?). Reading between the lines, it appears that this was an attempt by Marvin to assert his masculinity and prove his manhood - might the same be said of Chris?
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It was in this climate of the late 1960s that Marvin began working on What's going on.
"What's going on" was a familiar black greeting of the time, and served as a multi-layered song title. It could be a greeting, a serious question or simply a statement of fact. The single was recorded in a party atmosphere over 5 days in June and July 1970 and eventually released in January 1971. The atmosphere was created by various artists and professional football players, who were present during the recording, rapping one-liners such as "what's happening man" and "Everything is everything", giving the track a real black, street element. The record opens with such party banter before it is interrupted by the sweet horn intro and finally another layer is added by Gaye's chilled, soft and simmering voice uttering the immortal words…"mother, mother, there's too many of you crying…". It is one of the most articulate and heart-felt anti-war songs of all time, written, performed and produced by an artist who had not hitherto been considered political. The impact was overwhelming.
It was only after the successful release of the single that Marvin began recording What's going on the album, which was self-produced and largely self-composed. The album is a social commentary taking in most of the key issues of the day, including mans abuse of the of land and environment, the hell of the Vietnam War, trigger happy policing, nuclear war and the general state of urban life in America. World events weighed heavy on Gaye's heart, and on this album he brings home the confusion of the Vietnam era and the sense of longing for more peaceable times. Although in parts the album is deeply religious and spiritual - Marvin believed the album was divinely inspired (track 8, Wholy Holy) and in parts it is deeply pessimistic and depressing (track 4, Save the Children), the album plays like one continuous track, with songs just running onto one another. Despite these depressing themes the overall effect is uplifting and inspiring. When it was released in May 1971 it was a commercial and critical hit.
What's going on gave Marvin huge financial rewards, a greater degree of artistic independence than he had ever before been permitted and, above all, the prestige and respect he yearned for. The 1 May 1972 was even nominated Marvin Gaye Day.
Fast forward. Sunday 1 April 1984. It's 12.30pm. Aged 44, Marvin Gaye is a physical and mental wreck. He has a crippling coke and marijuana habit and is rampantly paranoid, possibly even mildly schizophrenic. His career is on hold and he owes millions in tax. He is slumped at the side of his bed wearing a maroon bathrobe. He has one bullet wound in his right chest, just above the nipple. The bullet has perforated his lung, heart, diaphragm, liver, stomach and left kidney. He has a second bullet wound, fired at point blank range, which enters his left shoulder and exits his back. He is declared dead at 1.01pm. Shot by his own father.
Fast forward. Saturday 27 April 2002. It's 3.36pm:
"Oh, brother, brother, brother, There's far too many of you dying…"
Simi and Chris, dancing, mincing, grinning and spinning, eyes closed in wondrous appreciation.
Terry Jones voice over: "Southport 30th Anniversary Weekender, its Saturday afternoon, its Connoisseurs Corner! THIS IS SOUL MUSIC"
It sure is.
