Marvin Gaye's What's Goin' On

[SoFlaJets]

I was watching (again) Standing In The Shadows Of Motown for probably the 25th time and they were talking about the late, great Motown bass player James Jamerson and how Marvin decided that he needed him to play bass for him on this new project he was working on. So if you've seen the documentary we all know how Marvin found James at the end of a gig he was playing and that he was "blasted". Neat story how he played this difficult part on his back because he couldn't stay up on the stool.

 

So I'm listening and go to see if James had worked on that particular track or if it was Bob Babbitt. (FTR; it WAS Jamerson's bass on What's Goin' On) But what struck me was there were two names in the personnel listings that an old time NFL fan like me especially one who has never missed a Lions game on Thanksgiving Day easily remembered; Mel Farr and Lem Barney. Here's how Wiki explained their presence;

 

To add more to the song's laid-back approach, Gaye invited the Detroit Lions players Mel Farr and Lem Barney to the studio and, along with Gaye and the Funk Brothers, added in vocal chatter, engaging in a mock conversation. Musician and songwriter Elgie Stover, who later served as a caterer for Bill Clinton and was then a Motown staffer and confidante of Gaye's, was the man who opened the song's track with the words, "hey, man, what's happening?" and "everything is everything".^[13]Later Gaye brought Lem Barney and Mel Farr with him to record the song's background vocal track with him.

[BroadwayJoe12]

Awesome story. Was listening to Trouble Man and Inner City Blues on repeat last night, the man was a genius. 

[SoFlaJets]

Awesome story. Was listening to Trouble Man and Inner City Blues on repeat last night, the man was a genius. 

I love Trouble Man

[kelticwizard]

It was known at the time that Mel Farr and Lem Barney were on that record.  That record was huge, and it came at a time when various forms of music were all crossing over and borrowing from each other.

[SoFlaJets]

It was known at the time that Mel Farr and Lem Barney were on that record.  That record was huge, and it came at a time when various forms of music were all crossing over and borrowing from each other.

You don't have to tell me KW, I LIVED during that great great time in music history. John Mellencamp has a cool intro to the video R.O.C.K. In The USA where he's giving an interview and talks about how during the 60's you could hear all styles of music on AM radio. You'd hear Harper Valley PTA  Next The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown all kinds of British music,early punk like Louie Louie soul jazz R&B great stuff all on 1 station