Marvin Gaye is an all time great in my opinion and is widely known more for his love songs. His image before recording the hit song "What's Going On" was totally different. Marvin played the role of the ladies' man before he had this drastic change of heart on what he wanted his music to sound like and accomplish. This was all due to the war stories of Vietnam that his brother Frankie told him about. They would keep in contact through writing letters, but everything didn't really sink in with Marvin until his brother returned home. The one thing that bothered Marvin the most was the image of kids having to dig through the garbage cans just so they could find something to eat (Benson, 2001, http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/dec/08/extract). What's Going On took a lot of time and effort just to be recorded and released. Marvin wanted this song to sound like no other Motown song, so he got different musicians and producers to work with. He got the song recorded and finalized after several mixes then let Berry Gordy hear the song that he worked so hard on just to get denied. The "What's Going On" album was very different from Gaye's previous work. He had mostly new musicians to work on this project besides for a few guys that he could count on. An accidental doubling of his voices was played together and Marvin loved it so much that it became his signature sound of the album. He wanted to create music with a purpose that would reach the souls of the people (Benson, 2001, http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/dec/08/extract). As a listener, the album was what I needed to hear instead of what I wanted to hear and that being of a positive influence. As a professional, the material and instrumentation was great. The choices of instruments and arrangements created a feeling of inspiration and a happy heart. It a big theatrical sound to it that was very pleasant to listen to.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye is an all time great in my opinion and is widely known more for his love songs. His image before recording the hit song "What's Going On" was totally different. Marvin played the role of the ladies' man before he had this drastic change of heart on what he wanted his music to sound like and accomplish. This was all due to the war stories of Vietnam that his brother Frankie told him about. They would keep in contact through writing letters, but everything didn't really sink in with Marvin until his brother returned home. The one thing that bothered Marvin the most was the image of kids having to dig through the garbage cans just so they could find something to eat (Benson, 2001, http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/dec/08/extract). What's Going On took a lot of time and effort just to be recorded and released. Marvin wanted this song to sound like no other Motown song, so he got different musicians and producers to work with. He got the song recorded and finalized after several mixes then let Berry Gordy hear the song that he worked so hard on just to get denied. The "What's Going On" album was very different from Gaye's previous work. He had mostly new musicians to work on this project besides for a few guys that he could count on. An accidental doubling of his voices was played together and Marvin loved it so much that it became his signature sound of the album. He wanted to create music with a purpose that would reach the souls of the people (Benson, 2001, http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/dec/08/extract). As a listener, the album was what I needed to hear instead of what I wanted to hear and that being of a positive influence. As a professional, the material and instrumentation was great. The choices of instruments and arrangements created a feeling of inspiration and a happy heart. It a big theatrical sound to it that was very pleasant to listen to.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment