AAMAM: Marvin Gaye’s Smooth 1, 2 Punch! Part 23 of 30

With its smooth and relaxed intro, Marvin Gaye’s 1971 hit “What’s Going On” was a departure from the glossy and neatly orchestrated Motown Sound his audience was so used too.  Gaye had reached a point in his life where he felt the needed to sing about the ills of society, war, poverty, and racism rather than sing dreamy love songs.  His decision to do so was well received in “What’s Going On.”  Gaye self-produced his song combined elements of classical music and R&B to create a unique sonic backdrop for a powerful message addressing the problems of the early ‘70s.

Sit back and take a listen to the masterful recording “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye!

AAMAM is always smooth!

What’s Going On: Black Conversations and Football Dreams

In 1967, Tammi Terrell, Marvin Gaye’s long time duet partner, collapsed into Gaye’s arms while on stage.  Terrell was diagnosed with brain cancer.  She battled this retched diseased for the next three years losing her battle in March 1970. Gaye was devastated and went into a stupor.  He became a recluse and confined himself to his Detroit home.  Future NFL Hall of Famers Lem Barney and Mel Farr whom befriended Gaye two years prior–Barney was said to have boldly knocked on

Tammi Terrell with Gaye

Gaye’s front door to introduce himself to the singer wherein which the singer invited him into his home and they became friends along with Mel Farr, later.  Gaye, Barney, and Farr hung out together, partied together and played sports together.  When Gaye became withdrawn with grief and sorrow as a result of Tammi Terrell’s death, friends Barney and Farr went to pay their dear friend a visit in an effort to cheer him up.  They succeeded in getting Gaye to get out and become more active and exercise.  They played basketball, golf, jogged, and lifted weights.  One day according to Barney, the singer invited he and Farr to the famed Hitsville studio, which wasn’t unusual, to watch him record tracks for an upcoming album.  However, this day was different! Gaye handed out lyric sheets to Barney and Farr.  Gaye wanted the two brawny football players on his record.  He needed their voices to re-create a sonic atmosphere of what it sounded like when brothers-particularly Black men, came together to hang out, talk, and get caught up with each other.  As a result, Barney and Farr stepped up to the microphone to be heard signifying on arguably one of the most recognizable song intros ever recorded.  That song was “What’s Going On?”

“What’s Going On?” was Marvin Gaye’s passionate protest of the Vietnam War.  Gaye’s new album of the same name was an epoch departure from the singer’s smoking love and slow groove ballads prior.  Needless to say, Berry Gordy, founder of Motown and composer of the “Motown Sound”–a music crafted to be non abrasive (to white sensibilities and radio) and catered to a pop oriented cross-over audience, found Gaye’s new album ridiculous in the Motown idiom.  Consequently, Gaye’s album was not released for six months.

During the six-month struggle with Motown, Marvin Gaye refused to record any new music or take on any performance gigs, which Biographer Ben Edmonds suggests lost him a half million dollars.  Rather what Gaye did in fact was to train to play in the NFL! Yes, the National Football League! He wanted to leave music behind.  Gaye believed he could play the game because he had several dreams of catching a pass and running it back for a touch down during the Super Bowl. He enlisted his football buddies Barney and Farr to help him train so that he would be able to get a try-out with the Detroit Lions.  They agreed.  As a youth, Gaye never play a down of football citing that his father would have beat him if he played sports because preacher’s kids didn’t play sports. However, at this point in his life he was serious about his new endeavor.  He worked out, ran daily and implemented a rigorous weight lifting regime. Gaye even practiced with the Eastern Michigan University football team to work on his fundamentals and catching technique.  Gaye’s biographer David Ritz suggests he worked him-self into great shape and gained 25 to 30lbs of muscle.

Jesse Jackson and Gaye Play a little B-Ball shortly After his Football workouts

Other writers describe Gaye as fitting the bill of a football player as he was 6’1”, strong and had become fast from his workouts.

In the end, Gaye’s dream of catching a pass in the NFL and running it back for touchdown never materialized.  Barney and Farr arranged a meeting between Gaye and the head coach of the Detroit Lions, Joe Schmidt.  Coach Schmidt, through many conversations with Gaye, denied Gaye a tryout for fear of a lawsuit if the singer was injured.  Gaye, of course, was disappointed and hurt.  He felt he wasted his time, effort as well as lost money (cancelled concert bookings) while training to play football all to be shut down before even setting foot on a field.

In January 1971, “What’s Going On” single was released (without Gordy’s knowledge) and became one of Gaye’s largest hits.  The single quickly reached gold status and both Lem Barney and Mel Farr, as record personnel, received their RIAA gold records–making them the only NFL Hall of Famers to have a gold record. That’s What’s Going On!

Happy Black Music Month!

Gaye speaks with his dad about those football dreams!

Marvin Gaye, Jr.: The Humanitarian (with a nod to Frankie Knuckles)

Yesterday marked the 30^th anniversary of the death of Marvin Gaye, Jr. Hard to believe it’s been that long. Had he survived the tragic death, by the hands of his father, he would reached 75 years of life. Imagine that! Today we can remember and recognized Marvin as one of the most important music artist of our time. His music, his voice, and his lyrics are indeed timeless.

Marvin’s presence has not faded. He is often the central figure in academia and out in the streets among project aristocrats on issues of race, society, culture, politics, economic, and the musicality of it all. He is the litmus for soulful sexy R&B, today.   Marvin is perpetually relevant. He continues to influence art in all its forms. Marvin was the everyday man, commenting on the everyday experience with an unmatched passion, which marked him as a humanitarian. During a 1971 interview with Phil Symes, Marvin speaks of the content on his then new album What’s Going On he stated, “The material is social commentary but there’s nothing extreme on it. I did it not only to help humanity but to help me as well, and I think it has. It has given me a certain amount of peace.” Marvin was talking to us. We are still listening and will continue to do so.

**In honor of Marvin Gaye and Frankie Knuckles, whom we lost yesterday, I submit the following Big Moses House mix of “What’s Going On”:

Your Sunday iPod Add: Voodoo

Here is your Sunday iPod add the album Voodoo by D’Angelo.  Yes the entire album.  D’Angelo’s second and last album is a musical and lyrical masterpiece.  Some critics compare it to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On album.  Just last week GQ released a great article about D’Angelo and his so called ‘comeback’ and not necessarily a musical one.  (Check it out).

Anyway, this got me to thinking about D’Angelo and his music.  He was a large part of the Neo-Soul wave of music a few years back . . . well a lot of years back . . . ok, well over 15 years ago! Dang!  I brought up his Voodoo album on my iTunes and was blown away.  It’s not that I forgot all about D’Angelo it’s just that his album reminded me of how great music sounds when the practitioner has talent.  Oops, did I say that!  Yep! From beginning to end this album has an undeniable groove that exudes blackness.  I mean it’s has real Rhythm and Blues, soul, jazz, funk, Hip Hop, and gospel all rolled up into one musical experience.  Produced by good friend ?uestlove the album contains artists such as Roy Hargrove, James Poyser, Charlie Hunter, Raphael Saadiq, Method Man, Redman, and Q-Tip.  You must add this your iPod.  Trust me, you will thank me later.

D’angelo LIVE

Soul and The Business of Music

So, I’m still reeling from the comments made a few weeks ago by Terius Youngdell Nash a.k.a. The Dream when he said, “Blacks can’t do soul records anymore.”  Maybe reeling is too strong of a word and over emphasizes my response to what he said. Let’s just say his statement has kept me thinking about the state of Black music and the music industry for quite a few days now.  My prolonged thinking about his statement is not predicated on if what he said may or may not be true but rather what I hear on the radio in terms of soul music.  I don’t hear it!  You see, for some time, I’ve heard people say that Black music is changing–artists don’t sing like they used to and the music lacks a certain dimension.  The sound that was once front and center in a soul song has now paled in comparison to what was once heard on the radio or is simply missing altogether (think of the vocals and music of Al Greene, Marvin Gaye, Teddy Pendergrass, Aretha Franklin, Patti Labelle, and Chaka Kahn).  This is indeed what I hear from people of a “certain age,” like myself, who have had the opportunity to witness the evolution of music over the past few decades.  From what I hear on the radio Blacks in fact don’t make soul music anymore.

So, I was thinking, “why is this?” and  “why don’t I hear Blacks singing soul music on the radio anymore?  Something has changed.  Is it that Blacks can’t sing with a soul sensibility anymore?  Let me be clear, when I say soul, I’m speaking of a voice, which possesses the ability to grab your attention and drag you through emotional highs and lows weather you want to or not.

Chaka singing soul

I’m speaking of the kind of voice that contains enough power to fill almost any room without being mic’d and can navigate the chordal dynamics of a live band without getting lost in the sonic and melodic interplay of the instruments.  Furthermore, someone who has a bit of musical acuity must wield this voice.  The person wielding this voice can and will stop anyone in their tracks.  It is hard to ignore.

But wait, surprisingly, this voice does in fact exist.  It can be heard in the small clubs, coffee shops, backrooms, the parking lot of churches, rented halls, weddings ceremonies, funerals, and talent contests from New York, Atlanta, to Austin, and Los Angeles.

Marvin Gaye (David Corio/Michael Ochs Archives)

They are just not heard on the radio.  Why not?  The music industry has changed! There has been a disturbance in the force!  I feel record companies have evolved from small enterprises led by individuals who had real interest in music and music culture to large companies run by executives hell-bent on the promotion and sale of a product with huge profits in mind.  At one time, small enterprising leaders were more often than not willing to take a chance on artists and their artistry.  They recognized “talent” and the importance of developing that talent as well as understood the value of uniqueness.  Today, record companies employ executives who are imbued with a business sense and have no real ground level connection to music and its culture.  They do not take chances; it’s not good business sense.  Today’s record company executive is simply about the product and the bottom line.  A question like “Does investing in this individual, group, or band make fiscal sense given our financial outlook and projections this quarter?” is what ultimately drives today’s record company.  Don’t get me wrong, I know the small record enterprises run by individuals with a connection to the music had a bottom line as well.  They too wanted to make a profit.  However, the drive for a profit did not diminish or compromise the integrity of the music, in fact, these individuals wanted to capture the essence of the music and keep theirs and the music’s integrity intact (think Stax, 50s and 60s Atlantic records and Motown).  Being true to the music and letting the artist explore, expand, and flourish in their musical endeavors made great radio several decades ago.

Moreover, record companies are money-making entities refined and designed to profit and are no longer in the business of developing or showcasing soul music and its culture.  For the large music companies (Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG Music Group, Warner Music Group, and EMI) the music and the artists are strictly a product to be sold.  The ear for soul music no longer holds capital within the large companies.  Record companies function in such a way as to make a quick return on their investments.  Taking time to develop an artist is a no go–artists’ music must be immediately viable.  In order to do this, record companies must continuously seek out the next popular “sensation” to market and sell, which by its very design the product tends to be disposable.  As a result, speaking for myself, in terms of soul music, when I listen to the radio I am subjected to less than mediocre efforts.  Gone are the intelligent soulful hyperboles and any decent poetic aesthetic imbedded in lyrics.  Ultimately, to a certain extent, record company executives become the final arbiter of musical taste of an entire population.  Are you serious?!!!!

In the end, can Blacks do soul records?  Yes, they can.  They can record songs thick with cultural history individual talent and musical skill that will sit you down.  But these recordings will not be found on the radio.  Record companies neither have the ear nor the financial drive for Black soul music. That’s okay, the Dream and I can listen to Internet radio!

Obama, Blackness, and Al Green

Wow! Did you hear President Barack Obama at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre sing Reverend Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together”?  It was a little taste of his crooning ability, which I thought was surprisingly remarkable.

White House photo by Pete Souza

My thought was seconded when my wife called from work after hearing TMZ play the now viral video of Obama singing.  Excitedly, she explained Obama sounded like Marvin Gaye singing an Al Green song.  She then ended our conversation with a scream reserved for front row seats at a Maxwell concert as TMZ played the Obama video again.  Other bloggers and journalist around the web described his voice as cool, controlled, golden, smooth, a buttery falsetto, and one writer explained American Idol’s Randy Jackson would have said “wow it was NOT pitchy dogg!”

Kudos to Obama and his voice!

However, there is more to this impromptu performance than how great Barack Obama sounded.  To a certain extent, his imitation of Al Green was, for a brief moment, revealing.  He exposed his African-American experience.  His Blackness. With high-level vocal inflection and convincing Al Green mimickery, he was able to show us where he comes from and who he really is, which is a black man in America.  I know he is biracial with a caucasian mother who hails from Kansas and a Kenyan father from a town near Lake Victoria, Kenya.  I know he was reared in the tropics of Hawai’i and Jakarta. Certainly, these people and places in his early life combined don’t exactly scream the African-American experience or imbue him with Blackness.  His African-American experience and Blackness developed when he left home to attend college.  Admittedly, it was at Occidental College where he truly confronted the issue of an African-American identity (see his book Dreams From My Father).  Regardless of the image he had in his mind about himself or his undeniable DNA mix, he was seen as a black man in late 70s Los Angeles society.  It was in college where he began to socialize with mostly African-American students, joined African-American clubs, and took on the plight of the African-American struggle.  At this point he was absorbing Blackness through friendships, songs, food, and love.  His childhood and adolescent years, which were not without problems due to the color of his skin, were discarded and as a young adult as he took on the exclusive identity of a black man.

From this point on he began to experience life as an African-American and in turn expressed a black phenotype or Blackness.  His smooth walk, his talk, which is pronounced and curiously Southern when he speaks at Black Churches, and his swag are all undoubtedly a glimpse into his acquired Blackness.

Let's Stay Together album released Feb. 1972

Obama sang and delivered, albeit short in duration, “Let’s Stay Together” with a confidence deeply rooted in Black culture.  He performed the song from what an Atlanta professor of mine called the “temple of his familiar”–essentially meaning: coming from an individuals unique life experience.  This past Thursday Obama, through song, reminded us of his African-American experience.

Having sang on stage of the legendary Apollo Theater Obama’s brief performance crushed the possibility of a booing crowd and thwarted the slick dance moves of the dreaded Sand Man thus truly authenticating, validating, and vindicating his African American experience and Blackness.  I only wish he had sang more!