Elemental Music’s Motown Collection keeps churning out essential components to the core of music and culture fueled by the 1970s. This round of releases begins with what I feel is the quintessential Motown release from the band The Undisputed Truth. Included are Temptations’ Solid Rock and Gladys Knight and the Pips’ Neither One of Us to round out a trifecta of hot soul.
The Undisputed Truth — The Undisputed Truth
One of the things that make this album my desert island pick for soul music is that the creator of the classic Motown sound, Norman Whitfield, helped craft the sound that became the band’s signature brand. What resulted was a debut hot platter filled with silky soul and punchy cultural statements.
Whitfield was the catalyst for the psychedelic soul sound and The Undisputed Truth was not exempt. With the iconic “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)” post 10-minute jam, the song’s socio-political stance and white hot guitar effects makes the song a hypnotic funktified rager that still is incredibly charged for today’s standards. Ending side one of the album, its sweaty pulsating rhythms only contribute to the serotonin-fueled mania the song naturally emits. We are going higher, trust us.
But let’s back up to the beginning and the two songs that get us into the functionality of this release. “You Got the Love I Need” and “Save My Love for a Rainy Day” are iconic soul songs that are the Sunday morning sermons that we need in today’s volatile climate. The backing track to “You Got The Love I Need” emanates out of the mid-1960s and can also be found in The Tempatation’s song, “I Got Heaven Right Here On Earth.” The music speaks for itself, and The Undisputed Truth creates musical magic together. You feel its classic sound hit the heart and an amplified melancholia comes over you, longing for that rich sound to carry us into eternity.
“Smiling Faces Sometimes,” a song originally recorded by The Temptations, hit number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. They hit their peak of single activity right out of the gate.
Several covers liter that album, with some standing out over others. “California Soul,” originally written by Ashford & Simpson, gives us a dreamy West Coast feel while “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” gives respectfully recreated from the original Gladys Knight and the Pips late ‘60s version. Hair’s signature song, “Aquarius” is a little too punchy and forced in comparison with the rest of the roster, but it does show that they are willing to tackle anything.
From the infectious harmonies to the lyrics, The Undisputed Truth were at the right place in the right time to burn white hot in 1971.
Temptations — Solid Rock
By the end of 1971, original lead singers Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams had left the band. Recalling back, Kendricks was becoming dissociated from the group as he began to seek out a solo career. Williams was dealing with some serious health issues that paved the way for his exit. While Kendricks and ex-Temptations member David Ruffin criticized the band’s direction, it fueled one of their bigger songs in their career and an iconic poster child for the “diss” song.
“Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)” started out as a song that Paul Whitfield and lyricist Barrett Strong wrote about a friend. However, after the drama with Kendricks and Ruffin, they re-worked it to be about them. The song landed in the Top 10 on the R&B singles charts and number 18 in the Billboard Hot 100. The thematics of the song coincides with The O’Jays “Backstabbers” of the same year showing the grit that was coming from the Soul world. It’s not surprising given the social and political climate of the time.
As popified as “Superstar” was, the band used their psychedelic tinges for their brazen anti-war song and the thirteen minute “Stop The War.” A great representation of the tone and virility of the pent-up tension of society. “Does anybody give a damn. About the men in Vietnam. Stop the war right now.” Their protest is clear and concise, surrounded by the delusion of guitars spinning in wah-wah ecstasy. This head song transforms into a call and response atop the soapbox of reason. If anyone got their point across, it was The Temptations.
A year after Bill Withers released the iconic “Ain’t No Sunshine,” The Temptations put their mark on the monster hit and turned it into a drifting smooth jazz escapade that could have easily influenced Bob James. This slow jam will make you lose your own reality as you disconnect into a fuzzed-out blues number.
Solid Rock would have been a stronger album if it started out with “What It Is.” The song immediately gets nasty through a powerhouse drum lick that ends up being sampled by musicians from Common and Bushwackas to Beck, DJ Q-Bert, Lo-Fidelity Allstars, and many others.
But they kick off the album with “Take A Look Around,” a clear psychedelic response to Kendricks and Ruffin’s issues with the group. So it took forefront. What it gave them was another massive hit for the band. Despite the drama, the band never flinched and although not comparable to Sky’s The Limit, things looked just fine for the band as Solid Rock would prove even if it was not as impactful as 1971’s artistic statement.
Gladys Knight & The Pips – Neither One of Us
There is something that hits the heart when Gladys Knight sings. Her gritty yet slightly silky voice provides solace through turbulent times. Gladys Knight & The Pips makes it feel okay to be an adult. Neither One Of Us, released in 1973, became their most successful album, climbing the Billboard Top LP chart to the #9 position. The title track reached #1 in the U.S. R&B chart and #2 in the singles chart.
As a result of the group not being second fiddle to The Supremes, Gladys Knight & The Pips left Motown for Buddha Records, Motown released Neither One Of Us immediately shooting songs up the charts. “Daddy Could Swear, I Declare” was a Top 20 hit on the Billboard 100. The song is filled with rich jangly 1970s soul in the grooviest way.
The soft hip sway of “The Child Needs His Father,” the gospel revolutionary sound of “Can’t Give It Up No More,” and the crooning serenade of “And This Is Love,” the album is chock full of deep sentiments.
All of this led to a massive moment for them by winning a 1973 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Group.
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