Cover Culture : Big Youth / Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On

COVER VERSION VS ORIGINAL SONG

Since the early 1960s and even prior, numerous iconic Jamaican hits were derived from popular foreign songs. The original pop and soul tracks were frequently embraced by audiences on the island, leading reggae artists to create their own renditions. Some of these artists gained fame by covering chart-topping songs, turning these adaptations into timeless classics.

For instance, American artist Bill Withers recorded the Grammy-winning song Ain’t No Sunshine, which Horace Andy later adapted, while Dennis Brown’s rendition of Black Magic Woman originally came from Fleetwood Mac. These two examples represent just a small fraction of the many covers that have emerged over the past sixty-five years.

Since the advent of these adaptations, both Jamaican and international reggae musicians have persistently reimagined pop and soul hits, continuing this tradition into the present. You’re welcome to listen to both the original and the cover versions to determine which one resonates with you the most.

BIG YOUTH

In the early ’70s, Manley Augustus Buchanan, better known as Big Youth, paved the way for a host of gifted young deejays to contest with renowned figures like U Roy and Dennis Alcapone. He made his recording debut in 1972 with the track Movie Man for Gregory Isaacs’ African Museum label. Although not successful, it led him to collaborate with several producers, most notably Lee Perry, Phil Pratt, and Augustus ‘Gussie’ Clarke, who was behind Big Youth’s first significant hit, The Killer. By the mid-’70s, he began self-producing and shifted to a more melodic singing style instead of just chanting. In 1976, he released a 7″ single that featured a reggae version of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, infused with improvised lyrics reflecting his Rastafarian beliefs and a few verses of another of Marvin Gaye’s songs, Mercy Mercy.

MARVIN GAYE

Marvin Gaye’s masterpiece What’s Going On was released in 1970 through Motown’s subsidiary Tamla. The song was initially inspired by a police brutality event observed by Renaldo “Obie” Benson, a member of the Four Tops. Composed by Benson, Al Cleveland, and Gaye, it was produced by Gaye himself. This track represented Gaye’s shift from the classic Motown sound towards more introspective and personal themes. It climbed to the top of the Hot Soul Singles chart for five weeks and reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, ultimately selling over two million copies, making it Gaye’s second-most successful hit for Motown. What’s Going On stands as one of the most important songs ever, which explains the numerous interpretations by artists such as The Undisputed Truth, Cyndi Lauper, Joe Cocker, and John Legend, to name a few.