Often considered a song incubator project for Whitfield, vocal trio The Undisputed Truth scored a #3 hit of their own with psychedelic soul single “Smiling Faces Sometimes” from their self-titled debut The Undisputed Truth. The song urges wariness of back-stabbing by opportunistic, so-called friends. The album’s 11 tracks include five songs by the potent songwriting partnership of Whitfield with Barrett Strong. One of these is “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” which had already been a Whitfield-produced hit for Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1967 and chart-topper for Marvin Gaye in late 1968. The Undisputed Truth version is similar to Gaye’s version, albeit more uptempo and with more percussive urgency. “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today)” describes a litany of social ills. The Strong/Whitfield collaboration had appeared in an edited form on the Temptations’ Greatest Hits II in 1970. The Undisputed Truth version features the full 10:50 backing track replete with bristling trumpet and echoing fuzz-guitar, mirroring Whitfield’s approach to trippy singles including “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.” The starry-eyed Holland-Dozier-Holland composition “We’ve Got a Way Out Love” swells with stirring orchestration. The trio’s vocal blend shines on “Save My Love for a Rainy Day,” with a more relaxed arrangement that was better suited to the song than the 1967 version by the Temptations. Whitfield and the trio put their stamp on Ashford & Simpson’s utopian “California Soul” and quintessential psych-pop song “Aquarius” from the musical Hair. The album concludes with a melancholy but soulful interpretation of Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” The understated arrangement incorporates fervent Gospel emotion and a strong bass groove but runs off the rails at the first chorus when the backbeat shifts to the off-beat.
Released in March, 1973, Neither One of Us was the ninth studio album by Gladys Knight & the Pips. Slow burning soul ballad “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)” became Knight’s most successful single during her time with Motown, reaching #2 on the pop charts and winning a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus. Formerly a country a single by Jim Weatherly, the song transitioned naturally to Knight’s emotive vocal style. Written by Gladys and her brother and bandmate Merald “Bubba” Knight, the colorful “Daddy Could Swear, I Declare” was another top 20 single. Knight’s voice breaks with emotion during “This Child Needs its Father.” Other highlights include a funky cover of Bill Withers’ 1972 single ““Who Is She (And What Is She to You)?,” with the Pips’ vocal punctuation riding atop urgent conga percussion and percolating organ. The group also digs into a soulful waltz through Ron Miller’s “For Once in My Life,” most familiar in its uptempo arrangement by Stevie Wonder. The album topped the soul charts.
The Strong/Whitfield partnership underscores all but one song on the Temptations’ 15th album Solid Rock, the group’s first studio project after the departure of lead tenor Eddie Kendricks and baritone Paul Williams. “Smiling Faces Sometimes” had been planned as a Kendricks feature, but the song was dropped with the singer’s departure. Williams appears on one album track, the single “It’s Summer,” a breezy song reflecting the tone of “Just My Imagination.” Prototypical diss track “Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)” was released in response to trash-talking in the press by Kendricks and fellow ex-member David Ruffin. Featuring trademark vocal interaction, a strong showing from Dennis Edwards’ sandy tenor, and boasting a dynamite soul soundtrack by the Funk Brothers, the song reached #18 on the Hot 100. “Take a Look Around” is a message song about trouble on neighborhood streets featuring new tenor Damon Harris. Martial drums and Melvin Franklin’s deep-voiced prayer introduce “Stop the War Now,” a protest against the languishing conflict in Vietnam. “Does anybody give a damn about the men in Vietnam?,” ask the Temptations in familiar harmony, before quoting Edwin Starr’s “War.” The song closes side one with heavy tension and a running time of 12 and a half minutes. The deceptively ebullient “The End of Our Road” features Williams’ replacement Richard Street. Following a lengthy and mournful intro, Street and Harris trade lead vocals on Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
