Marvin Gaye What's Going On on Numbered Limited-Edition 180g 33RPM LP from Mobile Fidelity   

Mobile Fidelity’s Remaster Will Make You Want to Holler... Capturing the Pure Essence of this All-Time Soul Classic! 

Mastered from the Original Master Tapes for Supreme Sound

1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to analog console to lathe

Named the 6th best album in music history by Rolling Stone, the staggeringly influential What’s Going On is pure soul genius and an ageless document about urban ills, employment issues, and social responsibilities that’s as relevant today as it was upon release in 1971. At once, Marvin Gaye both revolutionized Motown’s sound and upped the ante for his fellow musicians. Incredibly, the record almost didn’t get made.

Gaye initially tried giving the defining title track to the Originals, a Motown group he’d been producing. But the singer changed his mind when songwriter Renaldo Benson offered him a cut of the publishing deal. Before recording, Gaye turned the studio into a frat house by inviting members of the Detroit Lions football team and getting everyone stoned. Motown head honcho Barry Gordy detested the results but soon realized that Gaye’s ultimatum to release it as a single had merit. After selling 100,000 copies in its first day, the single allowed Gaye carte blanche to make the remainder of the album on his terms.

Yet it was only after Gordy offered Gaye a financial challenge to complete the album inside of a month did the vocalist get to work. String, brass, and vocal overdubs were laid over the rhythm tracks while Gaye pioneered a new dual-vocal approach by relaxing and taking inspiration from a Lester Young album. The sessions’ vibes are reflected in tunes such as “Flyin’ High (In the Friendly Sky).” Environmental concerns and spiritual conversations, meanwhile, form the core of staples like “What’s Happening Brother,” “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology),” and “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler).”

Mobile Fidelity’s pristine remaster from the original analog tapes highlights every contour of the rich timbres of Gaye’s voice. Sonics are airy, natural, and vivid. Seldom has contemplating the American Dream sounded so essential.

Get your low-numbered pressing of this collectable touchstone--as well as Gaye's sexually charged Let's Get It On--now from Music Direct!