Next up: Marvin Gaye's
What's Going On: The Detroit Mix. There are significant differences between the original mix of
What's Going On and the product released by Motown, so I'm reading. Here is where I listen and give some quick thoughts, which are below. I will be playing the album, the thoughtfully released 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, via Spotify through a Dragonfly DAC USB converter and a pair of Grado SR60 headphones. This is really the best rig I have when listening digitally, and it sounds great so far...
First and then second thoughts: This is a wonderful new way to listen to it. James Jamerson's bass comes to the foreground and the bongos are more prominent. So are the horns placed more to the fore in the mix. Quick anecdote: It's rumored that Jamerson played his bass lying down because he was too drunk to sit down and play the bass line. That's something crazy. I know Uruk has sang Jamerson's praises many times in this forum (somebody's listening, Uruk!) but this interlude during "Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky)" is something else. The bongos particularly come to the fore in the title track.
As for the most controversial (?) decision, which is regarding the intro/endtro decision on the title track, I'm not sure which I like better, definitively speaking. The talking, which goes in the beginning of the final mix, is at the end of Track One and segues into Track Two for the Detroit mix. Both, as have been noted elsewhere, have merits. The talking in the final mix at the beginning of the track gives an immediacy to the party vibe of the album, which is important given its lyrical and topical content. It frames the discussion in the context of a friendly gathering rather than a lecture. It works brilliantly as a device to do that. The Detroit mix, on the other hand, flows a little more naturally and starts the album off more traditionally, with a cold start and then the segue into the second song.
I like the final mix of that particular song better, frankly.
The segue starts, "What's Happening Brother" comes on, and the bongos go again, but they're more muted, even in this mix. The album starts to get orchestral a bit, though the orchestra is muted in this mix compared to the final one. The final mix certainly brings the strings and the woodwinds up a bit in this song, which is a good thing, IMO. I love the orchestral nature of the final mix of this song. The drum arpeggios are muted here, as in other parts, whereas in the final mix, they're brought up a bit. I like both the orchestral, flute, woodwinds, and high-pitched percussion of the final mix precisely because the segue between "What's Happening..." and "Flyin' High (In The Friendly Sky)" is more dream-like and sounds more like the lyrical content. Flyin' Home? Naw, Flyin' High.
At about 2:30 into "Save The Children," the band freaks out in a jazz breakdown within the context of the song that's different than the final mix. It's absolutely wonderful, and I wish it were left in the final mix. It grooves.
Then "God Is Love" and "Mercy, Mercy Me." I'm going off of first and brief second impressions here. I can't hear that much of a difference between that and the final mix, other than the noted orchestra/rhythm-horn emphasis. The nature of "Mercy, Mercy Me" as the
hit shines through here. It stands alone, and they don't do too much with the mix, other than, again, the drum/orchestra dynamic. On a personal note: It's one of my favorite songs ever, about a topic most people consider me antiquated and to the right on. That's how good the song is. Wow.
Right now, I'm into Side Two, where the other instruments are playing a greater role than Marvin's voice in the final mix. The bongos, horns, and flute and piano on "Right On" are much more prominent in the mix, at least to these ears. It could also be in the mastering, as I'm used to a particular mastered version of the album (The Back To Black version released in Europe). The sax at about 5:20 takes precedence over the sort of high-pitched percussive notes in the original mix. I think I also like the original segue better, but I am not as much a sax guy as I appreciate percussive arpeggios (when percussion has a varied pitch, that is).
The "Wholy Holy" intro is also different. It's inessential, in my opinion, though there's rarely a false note in either of these mixes. It was cut. It may have dragged on too long for those overseeing the final cut. It's a lot of repetition and emphasized the gospel nature of the song. I was going to say it sounds like testifying in church, but I haven't really been to Afro-American churches, nor have much experience in their history or workings, so I didn't want to sound out-of-sorts. But it seems pretty apparent they're going gospel/testify a bit here.
"Inner City Blues" just started. The bongos, again, come to the fore here, whereas they're muted in the final mix. I like this better, but it is indeed grittier than the original. It sounds more like that summer street sweat that Uruk alluded to from
Let's Get It On than the more ethereal-sounding final mix of
What's Going On. God, I'm such a fanboy of this album. I could just listen to it. Back to the song. Certainly there's a different endtro, which ends with Marvin singing "Who are they to judge us/Just because we wear our hair long?" I'm inclined to think the final cut got axing this right. The lament seems too time-bound and topical for such a heady album. In retrospect, that was a good move to cut it or mute the vox somewhat.
All told, that was awesome. A nice way to hear the album in a different mix. The original observations are what I'll leave the reader with. The bongos, sax, bass, and horns come to the fore in the Detroit mix of the songs. The Berry Gordy/Motown version sounds more ethereal, more like a grand artistic achievement, something a record exec could respect. This mix sounds a little more gritty, a little more in the province of the artist, a little more real. And somewhere in between, you get utter greatness.
That was a great thirty-six minutes or so spent. I would highly encourage listening to it if you're a fan.
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