Saturday, August 25, 2012

The Undisputed Truth 'The Undisputed Truth' Gordy LP


The first LP that I've ever bought at the suggestion of Michael Monroe (who I recently realised with horror looks a bit like a former girlfriend of mine) and Sammy Yaffa from Hanoi Rocks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDaIDpCOWDA

(Unsurprisingly, I love the Amoeba Records 'What's In My Bag' series - people talking about buying records is kinda my thing!)

I had high expectations on my existing fandom of svengali/production genius Norman Whitfield's other act, The Temptations, whose 'All Directions' LP is personal favourite.

On first listen, I was a little underwhelmed - expecting a more psychadelic and experimental approach (which I believe happened later in their career) rather than the somewhat pedestrian run throughs of several pop/soul standards of the era ('California Soul' and 'Age of Aquarius') that start the LP. Things actually get into swing after that, with one of Whitfield's/Funk Brothers trademark wig outs on the 10 minute version of 'Ball of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today)' which ends the first side.

(My favourite moment on The Temptations 'All Directions' record is the eleven minute deconstruction of 'Papa Was A Rolling Stone' which takes up half of a side on the LP).

'The Undisputed Truth's second side has some similarly familiar titles, ending with a particularly memorable version of 'Like A Rolling Stone'.
Overall, the LP's a hit with me and I'll be keeping my eyes open for their later 'Kiss make-up before Kiss' period.

Whilst the space themed stage outfits were pretty mindblowing later on - they were already pretty snappy dressers here:

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