Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye is one of the great pioneers of the R&B genre.  Before he became the pioneer that he is today, he started out in church.  He played piano and sang during the services.  His love for music then pushed him into the direction of R&B and doo-wop.  He formed a group called the Marquees, which shed the light upon him.  Harvey Fuqua, his mentor, brought Marvin along into his new group called, “Harvey & the New Moonglows”.  Other than his mastery in piano, Gaye had a vocal range of three octaves.  Which made him quite talented and valuable.  Hence, he left Fuqua’s band to start on his solo career.  Gaye found work drumming and singing for other artists.  Marvin was also a pretty good drummer.  He stared out his career as a studio drummer for the Ann, Harvey, and Tri-Phi labels.   As time went on, Marvin caught the eye of the CEO of Motown, Berry Gordy, which was the start of his success.  He was then crowned the Prince of Motown and The Prince of Soul due to his solo and duet hits. 

When Marvin’s younger brother, Frankie, came back from Vietnam, Marvin was hurt to see what had become of his brother.  His brother was stationed in Vietnam for three years.  Every time Marvin and Frankie sat down and talked about Frankie’s Vietnam experiences, Frankie would cry during his reminisced experiences.  Marvin was already moved by Frankie’s words but there was something else that got to Marvin.  It was the little details Frankie told him about the children eating out of the horrendous Vietnam garbage cans.  Frankie stated that compared to Vietnams garbage cans, America’s garbage was clean.  So Frankie and the other soldiers use to leave some food on their plates for the children to eat off of.  Also the economic depression and violence in the streets motivated Marvin to create the hit single “Whats Going On”

The “Whats Goin On” Album was splendid album in my opinion.  The 60’s and 70’s music was the most creative time period in music.  Usually the regular Motown records were processed but Marvin’s album felt like it had no filter to it.  The “Whats going on” album talked about Marvin’s real feelings and current situations.  It felt like there were no limitations.  That record felt like an extension of Marvin’s persona.