Birthday remembrance to Renaldo Obie Benson (June 14, 1936 – July 1, 2005). He also co-wrote Whats Going On - Benson was on tour with the Four Tops when he witnessed a scuffle between protesters and the police over a disused urban lot which the protesters called Peoples Park. He started writing the first draft of Whats Going On. He worked on the song with lyricist Al Cleveland, who was renting the upstairs section of Bensons duplex. Benson wanted the Four Tops to record his song, but they refused on the grounds that it was a protest song. He approached Joan Baez to record the song while appearing on a British television show, but was unsuccessful. Finally, he approached Marvin Gaye who liked the song, but wanted The Originals to cut a version of it. Benson eventually persuaded Gaye to record the song by offering him a cut of the royalties. Gaye definitely earned the credit by adding lyrics and other touches to the song. The song was recorded in June 1970, but Motown refused to release it at first, claiming it was uncommercial. Finally, the song was released and reached #2 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, while topping the R&B/ Soul chart. Whats Going On is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest songs of all time. GARY
Posted on: Sat, 14 Jun 2014 10:38:32 +0000