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When Marvin Broke Pattern

Dressed in a crisp white linen shirt, black slacks and black loafers, Berry Gordy Jr. settled into a plush sofa last week as Marvin Gaye's voice boomed through a recessed speaker system. The founder of Motown Records had invited me to his estate here high above Los Angeles to talk about "What's Going On," Gaye's monumental hit single and album released 40 years ago, to be reissued Tuesday as a remastered anniversary package. By the end of the title track, Mr. Gordy's eyes were watery. (click below to read more)

"For years, people have written that I stood in the way of this song's release and that Marvin had threatened never to record for me again if I didn't put it out," said the 81-year-old Mr. Gordy. "That must make for great reading, but none of it is true."

Released first as a single in January 1971, "What's Going On" marked a major turning point for Gaye, Motown and soul music. Rather than continue to record formulaic pop hits, Gaye co-wrote a song that expressed his deep concern about the Vietnam War and the toll it was taking on American society.

The single was considered a gamble for Motown. Its blunt protest theme was in stark contrast with Gaye's sexy public persona and Motown's congenial image. But as "What's Going On" raced up the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Gaye rushed back into the studio to complete a concept album that included "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues." The new songs—supported by horns, strings and a choir arranged by David Van DePitte—took on urban decay, poverty, unemployment, Vietnam veterans, children and pollution.

Released in May 1971, the LP reached No. 6 on Billboard's Top 10 album chart in July, and two of its songs are now in the Grammy Hall of Fame—the title track and "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)." To commemorate the album's 40th anniversary, UME/Motown will release a remastered edition that includes two CDs with 16 previously unreleased tracks and a vinyl LP of Gaye's first mix.

When Gaye began developing the single in 1970, Mr. Gordy was taken aback by the directness of the lyrics. "I'll be honest. At first I didn't want Marvin to do it," said Mr. Gordy. "I was in Bermuda when Marvin called to tell me he was putting together a protest song. I said, 'Protest?' I was stunned. Up until then, Marvin's career had been based on a positive image, and his fans loved him for it. I told him we should talk when I returned."

In 1970, Gaye had been in a yearlong crossover slump—particularly painful for one of Motown's top earners. His previous six singles had failed to gain traction, reaching only high double-digits on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart.

"To understand my first reaction to Marvin's 'What's Going On,' you have to understand my close relationship with him," said Mr. Gordy, whose sister Anna was married to Gaye at the time. "Marvin often came to me with crazy ideas. One time he wanted to be a professional boxer. Then later he wanted to join the Detroit Lions. He was a restless genius, and with genius comes a little craziness. My job was to make him see the consequences of his decisions, to protect him."

When Mr. Gordy returned from Bermuda, he and Gaye had several conversations about the single. He told Gaye that as one of the label's best-selling stars and a Motown leader, he had certain responsibilities. "Marvin's answer was, 'No, BG, you don't understand, you have to let me do this. I want to awaken the minds of men,'" Mr. Gordy said. "When I heard that, it changed my mind."

But Mr. Gordy still had reservations about some of Gaye's lyrics for "What's Going On," specifically the line about police brutality. "I told Marvin he couldn't generalize like that, that the people in the Detroit Police Department were my friends and that every policeman wasn't brutal," Mr. Gordy said. "I said, 'Even though something is true, Marvin, why should you and Motown be the ones to say it?' Marvin said, 'Who else but us?' Of course, Marvin was right."

By 1970, social issues and protest weren't completely new themes for Mr. Gordy or Motown. In 1963, Mr. Gordy had Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. record his "I Have a Dream" speech for Motown's Gordy label. And hit songs like the Supremes' "Love Child" (1968), the Temptations' "Ball of Confusion" (1970) and Edwin Star's "War" (1970) had abstractly addressed poverty, children born out of wedlock and the brutality of war.

"My reason for pushing back on Marvin wasn't to stop the single, just to determine whether or not this was another one of his wild ideas," Mr. Gordy said. "Motown was about music for all people—white and black, blue and green, cops and the robbers. I was reluctant to have our music alienate anyone. This was a big risk for his image."

What about the delay between the single's completion in September 1970 and its release four months later at the end of January 1971? "The other labels would put out their big releases in September and October for Christmas," Mr. Gordy said. "But we would typically wait until after the holiday season to release singles on our major artists so the field would be clear."

Did someone really leak the single leaked to a Los Angeles disc jockey in January 1971, as some articles have said, to test public reaction or force Mr. Gordy's hand? "That's another one of those colorful stories," Mr. Gordy said. "Motown had tight controls, and no one at the label would have done something like that. Marvin would never have defied me."

Interestingly, two of the most singular aspects of "What's Going On" that were extended to the album began as errors. The opening alto-sax solo by Eli Fontaine actually was a warm-up phrase for an overdub that Gaye decided to keep. And Gaye's harmonized duets with himself occurred when Ken Sands, the engineer, accidentally played back two of his vocal versions on one mono tape.

"Marvin would use that duet technique on many of his studio albums going forward," said Mr. Gordy, after we relocated to his spacious home office. "We called his love of overdubbing 'Marvin on top of Marvin on top of Marvin.' We also had a name for Marvin at Motown, but I can't remember it."

To jog his memory, Mr. Gordy reached over to his speakerphone and pressed a button. When a female voice answered, Mr. Gordy said, "Smokey, please." Within seconds, Mr. Robinson was on the line.

"We called him 'Dad,'" Mr. Robinson said. "He walked like an old man, with all the troubles he had with his feet."

After getting off the phone, Mr. Gordy laughed lovingly and shook his head. Then he looked across the room and grew serious, pointing to the largest color photo on the wood-paneled wall. It was a framed image of Mr. Gordy, Gaye and other top stars on stage at the televised "Motown 25" reunion concert in 1983, a year before the singer's death at age 44.

"I loved Marvin, and I think of 'What's Going On' as one of Motown's most prestigious singles and albums," Mr. Gordy said. "I thought those records would ruin him. Instead, they made him an icon."