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4 unusual facts about What's Happening Brother


Frankie Gaye

Gaye's recollections of his tenure at the Vietnam War inspired Marvin's song, "What's Happening Brother", from the album, What's Going On.

In 1970, Frankie returned to civilian life in D.C. Emotional conversations between Frankie and Marvin over Frankie's horrific recollections of the war led to Marvin to compose the song "What's Happening Brother", later issued for Marvin's album, What's Going On, released in 1971.

What's Happening Brother

Throughout this song, Marvin mentions in his brother's third person about the nightclub, about whether or not his baseball team would "win the pennant" and wonders how his friend has been which brings upon the question, "what's happening brother?" Musically the song follows the same path as "What's Going On" and features The Andantes as background vocalists.

In Marvin's case, the song was dedicated to his younger brother, Frankie, who was returning from a three-year duty at Vietnam, in essence, Marvin later told interviews that Frankie's experience in Vietnam inspired him to collaborate on the songs for the What's Going On project.



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