associated_acts death_date death_place birth_place label article_title background birth_date genre origin name occupation
harvey fuqua , kenneth stover , marvin gaye july 11 , 2011 hilton head island , south carolina athens , georgia motown elgie stover
 non_performing_personnel 1938 r & b , soul cleveland , ohio elgie stover songwriter
elgie stover

elgie stover -lrb- 1938-2011 -rrb- was an american songwriter , composer , producer and background singer , most famous for his associations with uncle harvey fuqua and legendary motown star marvin gaye , co-writing two of gaye 's songs from the singer 's acclaimed 1971 album , `` what 's going on '' .
growing up in cleveland , ohio , elgie and his brother kenneth later moved to detroit , where the brothers worked closely with harvey fuqua on his tri-phi records label .
in the late-1960s , after befriending staff from motown , the brothers signed with the label as staff songwriters and producers .
elgie 's most famous works came as the result of working so closely with gaye , with whom he and kenneth had befriended shortly after they signed with motown .
elgie co-wrote with marvin , wife anna and iris gordy on the originals ' 1970 classic , `` the bells '' .
a year later , stover 's greatest contribution came when he took part in co-writing `` flying high in the friendly sky '' and `` god is love '' on marvin 's `` what 's going on '' .
he is credited as the voice that helps open the hit `` what 's going on '' with `` hey man , what 's happening ? ''
and `` everything is everything '' .
elgie later co-wrote gaye 's 1973 ballad , `` just to keep you satisfied '' .
stover is vocally heard shouting and screaming on a demo version of gaye 's later hit , `` distant lover '' , from a november 1970 session as gaye struggled with motown over releasing the `` what 's going on '' single .
in later years , he served as caterer for bill clinton and his secret service men .
elgie died on july 11 , 2011 , at hilton head hospital in hilton head island , south carolina .
he was survived by a wife , emma jones , sons david , monroe and ladell , daughters terri and tonya and sister alma .
