THE TEMPTATIONS/PSYCHEDELIC SHACK STML 11147 (-70) UK

It seems the album most of all was a brain child of Norman Whitfield, who produced and wrote/co-wrote all songs. The group itself was rather shattered at the time, still having a gap after David Ruffin and dealing with Paul Williams sickle-cell desease and growing alcoholism. There was also discontent with the band being more or less forced into psychedelia and Gordy's handeling of their affairs. Against that background it's surprising how good this turned out. In spite of the title it's a lot more soul than psych. The classic Motown sound is hardly there anymore, replaced with a more elegant style that would show a lot on the lists and dance floors with other groups and artists later in the seventies. The experimental elements mainly consists of some spread out effects, for the time slightly odd arrangements and stretched tracks with longer instrumental parts. It may have been regarded as psych 1970, but a few years later it was common American seventies soul. So it may be seen as an early sign of what to come, but most of all it's a smashing Temptation album with just a little more spin than usual. It's also nice to get the original version of "War", which later became a world wide hit for Edwin Starr. The one on here is more elaborated and well arranged, making Starr's turn sound almost blunt in comparison. Premiere US on Gordy (GLPS-947). Through the years I've heard rumours about a UK mono and seen the mono number in books and on lists, but never been able to confirm a r/l copy so it's probably just a rumour. First UK had label as shown here and laminated flip/back cover. (TÖMÖ*) (ÄIÖ*)