Marvin Gaye

Good morning.

Today we’re listening to Marvin Gaye, singer and songwriter from Washington D.C. Fifty years ago, Gaye released What’s Going On, which combined the Motown sound with lyrics about burning social and political issues. That same year, Gaye held instrumental recording sessions with funk players in Detroit. These sessions were hard to come by until last week, when they were put on streaming services as Funky Nation: The Detroit Instrumentals. We’re playing that album first, but we also recommend revisiting What’s Going On given what’s going on.

Funky Nation: The Detroit Instrumentals - Marvin Gaye (40m, spoken intro on track 1)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

What’s Going On - Marvin Gaye (40m, singing throughout)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal