Marvin Gaye - What's Going On - DETROIT MIX

it was a joke...of all the clever folks in here, i thought you'd be the first to "get that" bit of a joke....morning humor....

 

I think we drove the price up!


http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Going-Marvin-Gaye/dp/B000059RL3

 

Ah - the perils of overestimating anyone's cleverness, especially mine!

 

Mal, this particular moment, and the flow of the Detroit Mix as a whole, really stood out for me as well.

 

If you are even a CASUAL fan of MG, GET THE DELUXE EDITION of WGO.

Once you hear the DETROIT mix, you can't go back. No comparison.

 

i do listen to the Detroit Mix a lot and it really is an amazing listen to an amazing record. its such a special album and to have both of these very ear opening listens, so different, yet the pillars of the piece are the same, we're very lucky. Really, this with Lets Get It On and What's GoinG On deluxe are all essential purchases.

Its amazing the amount of quality material this guy left on the cutting room floor so to speak....

On another Marvin note, I just watched a DVD of his....the Marvin Gaye "The Real Thing" and its a terrific overview of his TV appearances, where they used master tapes to create stereo and surround mixes to augment many lip syncing early performances and also where they have some great live footage from later in the career...

but the best part of this dvd is the half dozen acappella Marvin vocals that are added as an audio bonus and they are startlingly fun to be a fly on the wall in the studio hearing marvin cut these vocals....whoa....

 

From what I know, the Detroit mix was done without Marvin's presence. The mix that wa approved by Marvin was the L.A. mix.

 

Well, I disagree... I dig the funky Detroit mix but ultimately still prefer the slicker LA mix. Of course I've loved WGO for over 3 decades now and consider it to be beyond brilliant.

Obligatory live youtube link with the incredible James Jamerson Jr.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9KC7uhMY9s

Bobby Sutliff

 

great link, thanks for sharing that!!!!!...its also on that DVD I mentioned above earlier...

I took Peters comments to mean that if you're thinking of getting WGO on cd, go the few extra bucks to get it all, the deluxe and the live stuff....cause even a casual fan of Marvin's brilliance will dig what is here ultimately....i

 

Marvin was present for the Detroit mix.

According to the book "What's Going On: Marvin Gaye and The Last Days of the Motown Sound" by Ben Edmonds:

"The album was mixed on April 5 by Steve Smith with an abundance of input from the writer/producer/artist sitting in the chair next to him, and delivered just under the wire. Marvin headed back to Los Angeles to honor the thespian obligation from which he'd tried unsuccessfully to extricate himself, secure in the knowledge that the gift he had been given was ready to be given to the world". (page 192)


Also see Bob Olhsson's post (linked below), which confirms that Marvin was heavily involved in the Detroit mix.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=3061645&postcount=29

 

No. Marvin worked on the "Detroit Mix" but he changed his mind and it was remixed in Los Angeles, at his request.

The mix we've known and loved since 1971 is the mix Marvin wanted us to hear.

Please read Bob Olhsson's comments in the thread linked below - start with post #26. He should know!

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=132408&page=2

 

so as I read through that old thread, it sounds like the Detroit Mix is what Marvin intended. he might have signed off on the original mix, but maybe to appease Motown's unhappiness with the finished product?

A confusing tale to understand now...

 

Spot on. Everyone involved with this album has said on record over and over again the released LP was what Marvin wanted. Any notion that he remixed it because he got "nervous over Motown's displeasure with it" is flat out incorrect.

 

Based upon what I have read in the Edmonds book, the WGO DE liner notes, and Bob Olhsson's comments (linked above), I believe it was Marvin, and Marvin alone who decided to have the album remixed. And I'm all the glad for it.

As for the motivation behind the remix? I have no idea. I know nothing of Marvin wanting to appease anyone at Motown, ever. If anything, Marvin seemed to go out of his way NOT to appease Motown.

 

Um, no. Reading through the threads, there's only one source spouting that, and it's not anyone who worked with Marvin or Motown. If you have the time, do some independent research with reliable sources. There's only one, simple story. It's only been complicated by baseless misinformation.

 

According to the DE booklet, Marvin felt pressured to change it. If he hadn't been pressured by Motown, he would have ran with the Detroit mix.

 

Grant, that is simply not true. I'm reading through the DE booklet (again) and it does not say that at all!

 

haha...even more confused reading the last few posts, since my last poast.. (editing this due to post #42...i've got the booklet, so i'm gonna read it for myself now....)
either way, ....its a work of art, either version works for me...it doesnt matter now anyway, its nice to have two variations of this masterwork...

its clear to me Marvin wouldnt allow its release if he wasnt satisfied with the final mix that came out....

 

William, I strongly recommend reading the Ben Edmonds book. It's a fascinating account, not only of the making of What's Going On, but of the relative state of Marvin Gaye at the time, and the years leading up to then. It's one of the best music-related books I've ever read.

 

Well, that's what i'm sure I read. Unfortunately, my CD is in a sealed box, so I can't verify what I thought I read.

From what I recall reading, correct or not, I have to believe that the Detroit Mix is what Marvin intended. Bob never said specifically why Marvin broke down when he heard the first mix. After all, he put all of his sweat into it. He put all his vocal and mic techniques into it. It seemed to realize his original concept, except for what the engineer cut out.

But, just because Marvin redid the album is no reason to not like the first version. It's your opinion, but I, and a lot of us, thing the Detroit mix is brilliant. Too bad Marvin is no longer around to tell him that.

 

i'd just read the whole booklet cover to cover, it's not in there that I can find.

 

OK, I am man enough to admit that I imagined it. Maybe i'm recalling someone's speculation.

 

Grant,

I like the Detroit mix. Not nearly as much as the LA mix, but I've no problem with people liking one or the other. People should like whatever they like. I'm glad both mixes are available for everyone to enjoy.

What I do have a problem with is the suggestion that Marvin had it remixed "under pressure from Motown" and released an album that compromised his artistic vision. There is absolutely no evidence to support this, yet it gets stated on this forum like it's gospel. It drives me nuts.

The album that Marvin Gaye released in 1971 is the album that Marvin Gaye wanted us to hear. Any suggestion to the contrary, without evidence to support it, is an insult to the artistry of Marvin Gaye.

Again, that doesn't mean you can't prefer the Detroit mix, but if Marvin wanted the Detroit mix released in 1971, it would have been released in 1971.

 

I have ordered this and i hope it arrives in time for my vacation. sounds like a great read.....thanks for the tip off about it. and thanks for the info you always share in here. Your input into the entire forum is invaluable IMO....

 

Thanks to the powers that be for changing the thread title [Now, if you can just go in to my first post and reinstate the "g" there too I will rest easy tonight ]

As for the Detroit/LA mix thing - I have to believe that Marvin nailed it with the original Steve Smith mix. Why it was felt that a remix was required I don't know - maybe Berry or others felt it didn't sound commercial enough, I don't know. I can well imagine that Marvin was pretty insecure about this album we all revere now before it was released - it's easy to see now how great it is but breaking new artistic ground is not an easy thing to do (just look what happened to Brian Wilson in 1967 ) and if people at Motown were pressuring Marvin to remix the sucker I can well imagine he talked himself out of his gut instinct that created the wonderful "Detroit Mix".

Of course, this is all conjecture - still, I believe to my soul that Marvin's heart was in the "Detroit Mix". The remix sounds less raw and is probably more commercial for the times, but to me it also sounds more distanced from the artist's inner soul.

Or maybe it's just the painkillers I'm on.....

Either way, it's a fine, fine, superfine album and whichever way you love to listen to it the most you know it will heal you - and that is something that sets this album apart from all others.

Everything is everything.