Black Music Month

An exquisite 'MASTERPIECE' and one of my all time favorite albums from start to finish. KK

'What's Going On' was the first concept album, it was met with resistence from Motown label head Berry Gordy, however Gordy quickly had to eat crow, as 'What's Going On' became a triple million seller and some 40 plus years later, it's still relevant in dialogue about the world in which we live in.

What's Going On was the eleventh studio album by Marvin Gaye, released May 21, 1971, on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in June 1970 and March–May 1971. 'What's Going On' was the first album on which Motown Records' main studio band, the group of session musicians known as the Funk Brothers, received an official credit.

The first Marvin Gaye album credited as being produced by the artist himself.  The album is told from the point of view of a Vietnam War veteran returning to the country he had been fighting for, and seeing nothing but injustice, suffering and hatred. The album features introspective lyrics and socially conscious themes of drug abuse, poverty, and the Vietnam War.  Gaye has etched his name of the music books of Greatness, as a scholar.

(http://youtu.be/HAT-YUPuUAw)