What's Going On - Recording

Recording

On June 10, 1970, Gaye entered Motown's Hitsville USA studios to record "What's Going On". Immediately after learning about the song, many of Motown's musicians, known as The Funk Brothers noted that there was a different approach with Gaye's record than there had been with other Motown recordings, and Gaye complicated matters by only bringing in a few of the members while bringing his own recruits, including drummer Chet Forest. Longtime Funk Brothers members Jack Ashford, James Jamerson and Eddie Brown participated in the recording. Jamerson was pulled into the recording studio by Gaye after he located Jamerson playing with a local band at a blues bar and Eli Fontaine, the saxophonist behind "Baby, I'm For Real", also participated in the recording. Jamerson, who couldn't sit proper on his seat after arriving to the session drunk, performed his bass riffs, written for him by the album's arranger David Van De Pitte, on the floor. Fontaine's open alto saxophone riff on the song was not originally intended. When Gaye heard the playback to what Fontaine thought was simply a demo, Gaye let him go. When Fontaine said he was "just goofing around", Gaye replied, "well, you goof off exquisitely. Thank you."

The laid-back sessions of the album was credited to lots of "marijuana smoke and rounds of Scotch". Gaye's trademark multi-layering vocal approach came off initially as an accident by engineers Steve Smith and Kenneth Sands. Sands later explained that Gaye had wanted him to bring him the two lead vocal takes for "What's Going On" to have him review which lead vocal take he would use for the final song. Smith and Sands accidentally mixed the two lead vocal takes together. Gaye loved the sound and decided to keep it and use it for the duration of the album, later using it for sessions of "God Is Love", which was recorded on the same day as "What's Going On". The album's rhythm tracks and sound overdubs were recorded at Hitsville, or Studio A, while the strings, horns, lead and background vocals were recorded at Golden World, or Studio B. The original version of "God Is Love" was recorded under the musical backing of an earlier version of "Just to Keep You Satisfied" by the Monitors. Much of the earlier recordings for What's Going On were primarily recorded and mixed at Hitsville between June and September 1970, where the final mixes of "What's Going On" were recorded.

That September, Gaye approached Gordy with the "What's Going On" song while in California where Gordy had relocated. Gordy took a profound dislike to the song, calling it "the worst thing I ever heard in my life". Gaye, who had also begun recording some songs that would later be featured on his later album, Let's Get It On, responded by going on strike from recording anything else for the label unless Gordy relented. Motown executive Harry Balk later recalled that he had tried to get Gordy to release the song to which Gordy replied to Balk, "that Dizzy Gillespie stuff in the middle, that scatting, it's old.". Most of Motown's Quality Control Department team also turned the song down, with Balk later stating that "they were used to the 'baby baby' stuff, and this was a little hard for them to grasp." Gordy also felt the song was too political to be a hit on radio and too unusual compared with what was considered a part of the popular music sound of that time to be commercially successful.

With the help of Motown sales executive Barney Ales, Harry Balk got the song released to radio stations, sending 100,000 copies of the song without Gordy's knowledge, on January 17, 1971, with another 100,000 copies sent after that success. Upon its release, the song became a hit and was Motown's fastest-selling single at the time, peaking at #1 on the Hot Soul Singles Chart, and peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Gordy was stunned by the news and drove to Gaye's home to discuss him making a complete album, stating Gaye could do what he want with his music if he finished the record within 30 days before the end of March. Gaye returned to Hitsville to record the rest of What's Going On, which took ten business days between March 1 and March 10. The album's original mix, recorded in Detroit at both Hitsville and Golden World as well as United Sound Studios, was finalized on April 5, 1971. When Gordy listened to the mix, he cautioned Gaye of the album's potential of possibly alienating Gaye's core fan base, which was mostly women, however, Gaye refused to budge. Gaye and his engineers re-recorded the album at the The Sound Factory in West Hollywood in early May. Though Motown's Quality Control department team feared no other hit released from the album due to its concurrent style with each song leading to the next, Gordy surprisingly allowed this mix to be released that month.