Marvin Gaye What's Going On followup?

[young america]

Maybe this is too obscure for a lot of you, but I consider What's Going On to be the greatest album ever made. A few years back I came across several tracks Marvin was working on as the followup to WGO.
Four titles are: I'm Going Home, Where Are We Going, Piece of Clay, and You're The Man. Does anyone know about any other tracks?

[MotownSteve]

Hi young ameria,
I don't know of any other tracks but for years I've been saying that What's Going On is the greatest album ever. Beatle fans might say Abbey Road. But I'll stick with WGO. Yesterday I was driving listening to WOGL and they mentioned it was Martin Luther King's birthday and then played the song WGO. I thought that was very fitting. What is bothersome, at least to me, is that the album came out in 1971 and the question still has not been answered. Which is another way of saying it means as much today as it did 40 years ago. To be exact, on May 21 it will be 40.

[arrr&bee]

Marvin was way ahead of his time when it came to his writing,just as sam cooke was before him some say that marvin was close to insane at the end of his life i say bullfeathers take a listen to[madness]and tell me he didn't know what he was saying...marvin gaye was a genius to the end!!

[young america]

Yes, It's Madness is a great tune. Not sure when he cut that one, but it's a gem. The song Dream of a Lifetime is another unsung classic.

[midnightman]

Yeah there was going to be a follow-up called You're the Man. It was gonna include another collection of socially conscious songs but Marvin didn't wanna copy himself. He wanted to try something different and besides from the contractual Diana & Marvin album [[which was planned even before Marvin worked on What's Going On) so he tried a lot of things in 1972: he worked on a jazz instrumental album, a funk rock album and an album with Willie Hutch and him producing. The idea to do "Let's Get It On" also took place in 1972 and began to take shape in early 1973. According to the liner notes on the deluxe edition issue of Let's Get It On, it was Ed Townsend's idea to transform the song [[originally a gospel song, then a political song) into a sexual song [[unlike Marvin's 1960s love songs) and that's when a new door opened up for Marvin on what direction he wanted to go. Of course production on You're the Man stopped due to the controversy surrounding its title track which unabashedly was a jab at Nixon [[hence why Motown wouldn't promote it to Top 40 radio, it peaked at #50 pop), guess Motown feared Marvin would be on Nixon's hit list alongside John Lennon for his opinions on him and he would've been on the FBI's hit list under J. Edgar Hoover's COINTELPRO. I'm kinda surprised Marvin wasn't found to have an FBI file on him noting that he was never afraid to speak his mind in either his interviews or his music.

As for "What's Going On" and the album itself, yes, it is still a relevant album. I like the Beatles' material but Marvin's album was on a more personal level. Tomorrow actually marks the 40th anniversary the single was released. :)

January 20, 1971 - a great day in music. And he was still 31 around this time.

[midnightman]

Marvin was way ahead of his time when it came to his writing,just as sam cooke was before him some say that marvin was close to insane at the end of his life i say bullfeathers take a listen to[madness]and tell me he didn't know what he was saying...marvin gaye was a genius to the end!!

Yep. Marvin spoke his life through his music, which is why I'm more sympathetic. "It's Madness" is indeed a great cut.

"World, I'm not the same
I go somewhere and can't remember how I came
I'm completely turned around, lost in space
It's your face I see constantly..."

----
Deep until the end for sure.

[soulwally]

Side one of What's Going On is the best album SIDE ever!

[tamla617]

soul wally
i agree,i can play it,over and over,and i never get fed up with it.i have a confession to make,i didnt like it when it 1st came out,there,i've said it! i couldnt get my head 'round it.i bought it 3 years later,blimey that was like admitting i was an alcaholic.not that i am,lets nail that one now.
i added this album to my list on the motown forum in songs that are different to what you expected etc.and it did!