Masterpiece (Temptations album)

Infobox Album | Name = Masterpiece
Type = Album
Artist = The Temptations


Released = February 21 1973
Recorded = 1972 - 1973
Genre = Soul/Funk/Psychedelic soul
Length = 42:08
Label = Gordy
GS 965
Producer = Norman Whitfield
Reviews =
* Allmusic (3/5) [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:16he4jo70way~T00 link]
Last album = "All Directions"
(1972)
This album = "Masterpiece"
(1973)
Next album = "The Temptations in Japan"
(1973)

"Masterpiece" is a 1973 album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label, entirely written and produced by Norman Whitfield.

Overview

The title refers to the album being not the group's intended masterpiece, but Whitfield's. Having already produced songs for the Temptations such as "Smiling Faces Sometimes" and "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" which emphasized his instrumental tracks over the group's vocals, Whitfield goes one step further here.

The title track, at nearly fourteen minutes long, includes only three minutes of vocals from the group, who all share sections of the lead vocal. "Masterpiece" shares space on side one with "Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)", a slow classic-styled ballad led by Richard Street which opens the album. Side two of the LP opens with "Ma", an ode to a hillbilly mother led by Street, Damon Harris, and Melvin Franklin, which was recorded as the title track of Rare Earth's 1973 Whitfield-produced LP. "Law of the Land", led by Dennis Edwards, Street, and Harris, was recorded the same year by The Undisputed Truth. The song is a message track in the tradition of "Don't Let the Joneses Get You Down" from "Puzzle People". "Plastic Man", with its lead vocal shared between Edwards, Harris, Franklin, and Street, disparages "plastic people" who operate in backhanded ways, while the eight-minute album closer, "Hurry Tomorrow", is a solo spot for Harris, which explores a hallucinogenic drug trip.

Many critics, and the Temptations themselves, remarked that much of "Masterpiece", and especially its title track, sounded more like Norman Whitfield/Funk Brothers solo recordings rather than Temptations recordings. Fans complained directly to the Temptations themselves, and some music journalists began snidely referring to the Temptations as "The Norman Whitfield Chorale Singers" and other such names.

Despite the criticism directed towards the LP, "Masterpiece" became a #1 hit on the Billboard R&B singles chart, and a #7 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Its follow-up, the "Papa Was a Rolling Stone"-like "Plastic Man", hit #40 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)" also became a Top 40 hit in the late summer/early fall of 1973.

"Masterpiece" was the final Temptations LP recorded in Detroit at Motown's Hitsville USA studio. By 1973, Motown Records had completed its migration to Hollywood, California, and beginning with the next release, "1990", the Temptations would record in Los Angeles-area studios.

Track listing

:"All selections written and produced by Norman Whitfield."

ide one

#"Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)" – 4:36
#"Masterpiece" – 13:49

ide two

#"Ma" – 4:46
#"Law of the Land" – 5:08
#"Plastic Man" – 5:53
#"Hurry Tomorrow" – 8:06

Personnel

ingles history

*"Masterpiece [Vocal] "
**Gordy single 7126, February 1, 1973; *b-side: "Masterpiece [Instrumental] "

*"Plastic Man"
**Gordy single 7129, May 101973; b-side: "Hurry Tomorrow"

*"Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)"
**Gordy single 7131, July 241973; b-side: "Ma"

*"Law of the Land"
**Tamla-Motown single TMG-866, 1973 (United Kingdom only); b-side: "Run Charlie Run" (from "All Directions")

Chart history