All Directions

Infobox Album | Name = All Directions
Type = Album
Artist = The Temptations


Released = July 27 1972
Recorded = 1972
Genre = Soul/Funk/Psychedelic soul
Length = 33:33
Label = Gordy
GS 962
Producer = Norman Whitfield
Reviews =
* Allmusic (4.5/5) [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:mmpyxddbjolg~T00 link]
Last album = "Solid Rock"
(1972)
This album = "All Directions"
(1972)
Next album = "Masterpiece"
(1973)

"All Directions" is a 1972 album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label, produced by Norman Whitfield.

Overview and background

The LP features the #1 hit "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", a twelve-minute cover of a Whitfield-produced Undisputed Truth single. "Papa" won three Grammy Awards in 1973: Best R&B Performance by a Group for the Temptations, Best R&B Instrumental Performance for Whitfield and arranger/conductor Paul Riser's instrumental version of "Papa" on the single's b-side, and Best R&B Song for Whitfield and lyricist Barrett Strong. "All Directions" was Strong's final LP as the Temptations' lyricist; Strong in fact had no direct involvement in the album as both of his compositions for it -- "Papa was a Rollin' Stone" and "Funky Music Sho' Nuff Turns Me On", were both covers (originally by The Undisputed Truth and Edwin Starr, respectively). Strong left Motown to re-start his career as a recording artist.

According to group leader Otis Williams, the Temptations fought "tooth and nail" "not" to record "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" or "Run Charlie Run", a socially conscious Black power track (dealing primarily with the phenomenon of white flight) that called for them to repeatedly call out, in an affected Caucasian accent, "the niggers are comin'!" The group was certain that "Papa" and "All Directions" would flop, and that they would be back to singing ballads like "My Girl" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" again. Although the first single, "Mother Nature", charted at number 92 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart, "Papa" was a number-one hit and is today one of the Temptations' signature songs.

Also included on "All Directions" are the Edwin Starr cover "Funky Music Sho' Nuff Turns Me On" (the b-side to "Mother Nature", a Top 30 R&B hit), the Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell cover "Love Woke Me Up Early This Morning", and "I Ain't Got Nothin'", a rare lead showcase for Otis Williams.

Track listing

"All songs produced by Norman Whitfield."

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