Customer Reviews

Psychedelic Soul

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Whether you love or hate the Temptations' psychedelic funk/soul material, it cannot be disputed that it was something that was on the cutting edge of nothing like Motown had ever done before. Taking a page from Sly and the Family Stone, Funkadelic's early material, Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsies and James Brown, legendary writers/producers Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong had taken the Tempts out of their doo-wop roots and moon-in-June lyrics and placed them smack dab in the middle of reality. PSYCHEDELIC SOUL focuses on this chapter of the legendary quintet's career, which spans from 1968 to 1974. It's amazing how well the group weathered changing musical tastes, as well as personnel changes: Through those years they lost their most popular leads David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams, and they gained Dennis Edwards (who carved a legendary spot of his own in the group and did a phenomenal job stepping into Ruffin's shoes), Damon Harris and Richard Street in their places and continued to release solid material during those years...but now it was something totally different.

"Cloud Nine", which opens this 2 CD set and not only signals the birth of their psychedelic phase but features the debut of Dennis Edwards as the new group lead, is a dark tale of a poor, urban family and their broken home, and how one family member escapes from his dismal surroundings. Not a big deal, you say? Maybe not now...but in 1968, this WAS a big deal. And to hear it coming from the Temptations, the most popular male singing group in R&B history, really was something. These guys just didn't sing about subjects like this. Prior to this, they were crooning the sugary lyric "please return your love to me, girl/forgive me for the wrong I've done"...now all of a sudden, they were tackling issues and musical sounds that were unheard of on vinyl -- for a Motown act, anyway. "Cloud Nine" (Motown's first single EVER to win a Grammy in March, 1969 and therefore, making it historical) just opened to the door to other funk-driven stories that dealt with bad-a**ed kids, drugs, crime, prison, avarice, poverty, unemployment, racism, jealousy, politics, deadbeat dads, you name it -- a long way from "My Girl", indeed.

Aside from having the original, full album versions of popular Tempts' cuts like the haunting "Runaway Child, Running Wild", the demand for respect in "Message From A Black Man", "Hum Along And Dance", the trippy funk/blues number "Take A Stroll Thru Your Mind", the cautionary "Smiling Faces Sometimes", slices of life like the Grammy-winning "Papa Was A Rolling Stone", "Masterpiece" and others, you get two previously unreleased versions of "Psychedelic Shack" (in its extended form, an unbridled Funk Brothers jam session) and "Ball of Confusion". Very interesting to hear if you are an old school Temptations' completist like I am.

Some of the extended tracks have the tendency to wear on your nerves, which is why I didn't rate it five stars. At times you get the feeling that Whitfield was ego-tripping, flaunting his skills being Motown's top producer after the departure of Holland/Dozier/Holland at the Tempts' expense. Did we REALLY need a 12 minute version of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" or nearly 14 minutes of "Masterpiece" (the latter being nothing more than a lengthy instrumental with the Tempts' vocals in there somewhere for about two or three minutes)?! In lieu of those lengthy tunes on this set, they could have settled for the edited versions and included "Law of The Land" and "Let Your Hair Down", the second of these songs being a #1 R&B single in '74. Unfortunately it faded into obscurity as one of their lesser known hits. I think after this, the guys were justifiably upset with being used for Whitfield's long-winded comments on the state of the world, and demanded some changes. After the LP "1990" (which title track is included here), the group ceased working with him and the psychedelic soul era officially ended.

Aside from that, PSYCHEDELIC SOUL shows us just how funky these guys could get. A purchase worthy of your collection, especially if you don't have the original LPs that these songs came from.

....funky stuff with a social conscious.

By now nearly everybody knows the legend of how when top vocalist David Ruffin left the Temptations, it was suggested by Otis Williams that producer Norman Whitfield take a listen to Height-Ashbury pop funksters Sly and the Family Stone to get the group goin' in a new direction. That resulted in the fantastic "Cloud Nine". Whitfield and the group and Motowns stable of arrangers (most notably Riser's orchestrations, Dennis Coffey's spacely wah-wah's) and usual suspects (the Funk Brothers) must have known they were doing something which would start a musical revolution. Yeah. Some of the best years ever in R and B music.

Get it, put it in your player and let it ride. If you ain't diggin' on the recently remastered cuts by Suha Gur, then you must require your Soul overhauled. I particularly like the subtle changes on "Ball of Confusion" Gur did in May 2003.

And this compilation just proves the point on what I have been ranting about for years. Whoever makes those types of decions at Motown should decide to remaster a lot of the original albums, in the order they were first produced. Who wouldn't snap up the album "Sky's The Limit" with it's original cover, song sequence and modern-day remastering? I know I would.

What makes this set special is that at long last, the full length album versions of songs like "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone", "Runaway Child, Runnin' Wild," and "Masterpiece" are available on a compilation CD. This set also includes "Ungena Za Ulimwengu (Unite The World)," which although it was a top 40 hit on Billboard's pop chart in 1970, never seems to make it onto Motown's greatest hits collections for the Temps.

This superb collection puts together some of the greatest psychedelic soul records ever made. Norman Whitfield was a genius and this record is a proof of his amazing talent as a record producer and songwriter. Wonderful vocal performances by The Temptations, great musical arrangements by Paul Riser and some of the best grooves cooked by The Funk Brothers are here, making this compilation a must buy for Funk and Soul fans everywhere.

I've got the old albums but I've never been able to find all these selected tracks on CD's. It's as though this CD was put together just for me! When people think of the Temptations, they always mention the sounds of the early and mid 60's and never the rest. Most groups die when the music changes. However, the Temptations always changed when the times called for change. This is why they were the best and continue to be the best ever. No one has ever been able to harmonize like these brothers no matter who was in the lineup.

This 2 CD set focuses on the Temptations' psychedelic period and features new, unreleased extended versions of "Ball Of Confusion" and "Psychedelic Shack". For the die-hard Temptation fan, there is really nothing new here other than the extended cuts. The rest are songs you probably already own, as most of them are on the box set Emperors of Soul. But for the newbie who doesn't own a lot of Temptations music, this is like finding gold. These CDs have the major psychedelic funk and soul hits and popular album selections that the group made with Norman Whitfield producing after Dennis Edwards joined them. From "Cloud Nine" to "1990", you will see why Norman Whitfield was considered to be a musical genius, and how truly talented and vocally gifted the Temptations were. My favorites: "You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here On Earth", "Take A Stroll Through Your Mind" and "Message From a Black Man". Powerful stuff!!

Like their contemporaries The Beatles, The Temptations went through a second phase in the careers. During the late 60's much of the youth were "turning on," rioting in the streets, or marching against The Vietnam War. The Temptations, like fellow labelmate Marvin Gaye, jumped on the protest bandwagon and released hit after hit the spoke to the young or "the establishment" in an attempt to confront the issues of the day.

The songs on this compilation, all produced by the legendary Norman Whitfield, feature a group in transition, not just in personnel but in musical presentation. The lyrics are harder, the harmonies are tighter, and the songs themselves are extremely experimental, many of them foreshadowing the "extended cut" which would be so popular during the disco days of the late seventies.

There is no filler here. Each selection is a funky trek back in time when Motown ruled the airwaves. Of course any listener has his favorites but it would be unfair to single out some as better than others when the entire album is a piece de resistance.

Over two hours of Temptations...Now that's funky!

THE SONGS ON THIS ALBUM WERE VERY GOOD, BUT MY BEEF WAS WITH THE LENGTH OF THE SONG TITLED SMILING FACES SOMETIMES. THE TEMPTATIONS WERE THE FIRST TO RECORD THIS SONG IN 1971 BEFORE UNDISPUTED TRUTH. IT WAS ON THE SKY'S THE LIMIT ALBUMN. IF ANYONE WANTS TO REALLY HEAR SOME MOTOWN GET DOWN MUSIC FIND THAT ALBUM AND LISTEN TO EDDIE'S SWEET VOICE BLENDED IN WITH THAT AWESOME LEAD GUITAR AND BASS ARRANGEMENT. THAT SONG WAS ABOUT 8 OR 9 MINUTES LONG. IT WILL ROCK YOU AWAY. PLEASE IF YOU RECORD THAT SONG ON ANOTHER CD MAKE IT THE FULL LENGTH VERSION. EVERONE WILL LOVE IT, IT'S AWESOME. IF YOU WANT SOME GOOD HIGHWAY RIDING MUSIC FIND THAT SONG.

THE SONGS ON THIS ALBUM WERE VERY GOOD, BUT MY BEEF WAS WITH THE LENGTH OF THE SONG TITLED SMILING FACES SOMETIMES. THE TEMPTATIONS WERE THE FIRST TO RECORD THIS SONG IN 1971 BEFORE UNDISPUTED TRUTH. IT WAS ON THE SKY'S THE LIMIT ALBUMN. IF ANYONE WANTS TO REALLY HEAR SOME MOTOWN GET DOWN MUSIC FIND THAT ALBUM AND LISTEN TO EDDIE'S SWEET VOICE BLENDED IN WITH THAT AWESOME LEAD GUITAR AND BASS ARRANGEMENT. THAT SONG WAS ABOUT 8 OR 9 MINUTES LONG. IT WILL ROCK YOU AWAY. PLEASE IF YOU RECORD THAT SONG ON ANOTHER CD MAKE IT THE FULL LENGTH VERSION. EVERONE WILL LOVE IT, IT'S AWESOME. IF YOU WANT SOME GOOD HIGHWAY RIDING MUSIC FIND THAT SONG.

Ok, so its not the Temptations you remember...this isn't for fans of the "Big Chill". Nobody will argue that this isn't the prime Temps, however this is a very interesting period for the Temps and motown...a period of transition. This reissue has all songs that are available on other CD's (with a few exceptions). Do you need the long versions of these tripped out tunes? Of course you do! The title is Psychedelic Soul, and thats what you get...with great sound. This double disc set can get a bit much at times...thats when you turn off the detroit "head" music and put on something else. Fans of The Funk Brothers, jump on this set, you'll love it.