James Jamerson
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James Lee Jamerson was an American bassist. He was the bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s, though Motown did not credit session musicians on their releases until 1
Jamerson in 1964
Gullah basket
What's Going On (album)
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What's Going On is the eleventh studio album by the American soul singer Marvin Gaye. It was released on May 21, 1971, by the Motown Records subsidiary label Tamla. Recorded between 1970 and 1971 in s
James Jamerson
…Grapevine" by Gladys Knight & the Pips and later Marvin Gaye, "Reach Out I'll Be There" and "Bernadette" by the Four Tops, and most of Gaye's 1971 album What's Going On. He occasionally recorded for other labels, such as on "Boom Boom" by John Lee Hooker in 1962 and "Higher and Higher" by Jackie Wilson in 1967. Motown…
Marvin Gaye What's Going Onalbumcover
Gaye experienced personal and professional turmoil in the late 1960s and part of his refocusing on music was attending concerts from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center (pictured 2008).
Fellow soul singer Renaldo Benson (pictured c. 1967) inspired Gaye to write about political themes and social change in his music.
Gaye recorded the album in Detroit at Motown's in-house studio, Hitsville U.S.A. (since converted into a museum, pictured 2006).