berry gordy was a songwriter.orld. >> ironically, here he was trying his best to make black music that would cross over to the white world. he ended up making the greatest black music ever. >> he created a machine where you take the artist and polish him up and make them a great package that they can play the ed sullivan show and kill. >> back in the '60s, marvin gaye wanted to be frank sinatra. >> he was svelte, clean-shaven, debonair. and all of that changed in the '70s. >> marvin wanted to compete on a high level, "why can't i make a record like the beatles? i'm selling records like they sell. why can't i have that artistic expression?" ♪ talk to me so you can see what's going on, what's going on, what's going on ♪ ♪ tell me what's going on ♪ >> marvin gaye was very much affected by the vietnam war. his brother was in vietnam, so he's hearing all these stories about what's going on over there. he's seeing the protest here, and it's changing him. >> he holds up a mirror to america, "look at yourselves, america."