I didn't own this album when it was first released, but yesterday I bought this version, a 50th anniversary limited edition in translucent green with a bonus poster. Fifty years on, but it's never too late to collect Marvin Gaye's masterpiece.
Social comment through music has a long history, famously Billie Holiday in 1939 singing of "Strange Fruit" - an extremely brave and dangerous stand to take at that time. By the 1960's that social commentary was lumped under the generic title of 'Protest Songs' and they've appeared in many forms since then, not always obviously. Sometimes the sing-along quality of a song can disguise it's true meaning by not really LISTENING to the words. Bob Dylan did it (although he denies being a protest singer) with his early folk folk/rock. Bob Marley used reggae, M.I.A. used rap (Paper Planes), Grandmaster Flash gave us hip-hop awareness (The Message), The Cranberries screamed out 'Zombie' and in the vastness of Australia Midnight Oil told us the 'Beds Are Burning'. Even swamp-rockers CCR sang about the 'Fortunate Son'.
It was left to Marvin Gaye to record the ultimate concept album about war, social unrest and injustice and unusually for that time, the environment. He used a song cycle from the perspective of a Vietnam Vet (his brother Frankie) and further inspiration came from a member of the Four Tops, 'Obie' Benson, who witnessed the police violence against anti-war protesters. Obie wrote a song with Al Cleveland based on what he'd seen but the Four Tops refused to record it. Instead, during a game of golf, he offered it to Marvin Gaye. Marvin added, re-arranged and developed the song with Benson's blessing (and songwriting credit) and it became the basis for this album.
Four singles were released from the LP, and three made #1 on the US R&B chart. The two most popular were 'What's Going On' and 'Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) but 'Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)' also got to the #1 spot. In 2020, it was ranked number one on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
I'm not going to do a track by track diatribe - the album should be listened to in it's entirety, in one sitting, quietly, reflectively. The tracks aren't defined, they segue into each other so the album becomes and exceeds the sum of it's parts.
In November 1971 Sly Stone was due to put out 'Africa Talks to You' but in response to Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' he changed the album title to 'There's A Riot Goin' On' (Vinyl Vault 22 July 2020).
This is a perfect album - as powerful today as it was 50 years ago. Listen to it. Now.
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