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vinyl LP front cover detail
Artwork [Sculpture] by Parvis Sadighian
detail photo by Styrous®
Of all the Motown groups my favorite is The Temptations; not because they were one of the most successful groups in music history but their albums were beautifully produced.
Every great music group has a man who had a vision and the expertise to make the group's sound unique. For The Temptations it was Norman Whitfield.
photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
My very favorite album by The Temptations is the 1973 album, Masterpiece; each and every song is outstanding; my favorite songs from the album are Hurry Tomorrow, Ma, Law of the Land and, of course, Masterpiece (links below).
Artwork [Sculpture] by Parvis Sadighian
photo by Styrous®
Masterpiece was released on February 21, 1973, and the title refers to the album being not the group's intended masterpiece, but that of Norman Whitfield. The album rightfully belongs in my “Just the cover, ma’am!” category (link below), which it will anyway, but the album is just too fantastic to limit this to just the cover. It definitely will go in my "Desert Island" category (link below).
So, let's get the spectacular cover out of the way first. It features an embossed cover with the four members of the group by sculpture artist Parvis Sadighian. Sadighian also did the covers for Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Jerry Butler.
The Temptations ~ Masterpiece
vinyl LP front cover detail
Artwork [Sculpture] by Parvis Sadighian
detail photo by Styrous®
The cover featured a fake marble bas relief of the group’s faces in profile. Underneath, a sign said “Produced by Norman Whitfield”, which also appeared on the back. The implication was that The Temptations were an artwork sculpted by their producer, the more important figure here. While the musicians were credited on the back, the individual Temptations were not. And there was a large soft-focus image of the producer on the flip, with The Temptations emerging from his head.
The Temptations ~ Masterpiece
vinyl LP back cover
Design by Des Strobel & Asari Graham
photo by Jim Britt
photo of album cover by Styrous®
Having already produced songs for the Temptations such as "Smiling Faces Sometimes" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" which emphasized his instrumental tracks over the group's vocals, Whitfield went one step further with Masterpiece.
The title track, Masterpiece, at nearly 14 minutes long, includes only three
minutes of vocals from the group, who all share sections of the lead
vocal. Whitfield entitled it "Masterpiece"
because he felt it was a perfect blending of strings, horns, rhythm
players, voices, studio tricks, and sweetening elements.
However, the word 'masterpiece' does not appear in the song's lyrics,
which do not point to anything obvious from which to draw a title. As
with their Whitfield-produced hit from the previous year, Papa Was a Rollin' Stone,
the Temptations do not make their first appearance until after a long
instrumental section. This added to already building tension between
the group and Whitfield and led some music writers to start referring to
the group as "the Norman Whitfield Choral Singers" and other such
names. Fans complained directly to the Temptations
themselves.
I don't care what the critics or anyone else think or say, I love this
album and consider it the best one they produced. So there!
The Temptations ~ Masterpiece
vinyl LP back cover detail
photo by Jim Britt
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
Masterpiece with echoey brass led by Richard Street opens the album and shares space on side one with Hey Girl (I Like
Your Style), a slow classic-styled ballad.
Side two of the LP opens with Ma, an ode to a hillbilly mother led by Street, Damon Harris, and Melvin Franklin with his resonnate bass. The song was recorded as the title track of the Rare Earth 1973 Whitfield-produced LP.
Law of the Land, led by Edwards, with Street and Harris backing him, was a fantastic song to dance to; I loved the echoey trumpets. Law 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. It was another great song to dance to.
The eight-minute album closer, Hurry Tomorrow, my favorite cut from the album,
is a solo spot for Harris with his beautiful falsetto and Franklin's rich bass backing him as a counterpoint; it explores a hallucinogenic drug trip with sensational sonic effects! I remember being TOTALLY wiped out and listening to this song; it is only eight minutes long but it seemed to go on FOREVER!
date & photographer unknown
photos by Styrous®
Track list:
Side one:
- "Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)" – 4:36 (lead singer: Richard Street)
- "Masterpiece" – 13:49 (lead singers: Dennis Edwards, Otis Williams, Richard Street, Damon Harris, Melvin Franklin)
Side two:
- "Ma" – 4:46 (lead singers: Richard Street, Damon Harris, Melvin Franklin)
- "Law of the Land" – 5:08 (lead singers: Dennis Edwards, Damon Harris, Richard Street)
- "Plastic Man" – 5:53 (lead singers: Dennis Edwards, Damon Harris, Melvin Franklin, Richard Street)
- "Hurry Tomorrow" – 8:06 (lead singer: Damon Harris)
Personnel:
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Companies, etc.
Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
Credits:
Arranged By – Paul Riser
Artwork [Sculpture] – Parvis Sadighian
Bass – Bob Babbitt, Eddie Watkins*, Leroy Taylor
Bells, Percussion [Gourd], Timpani, Vibraphone – Jack Brokensha
Bongos, Congas – Eddie "Bongo" Brown
Design – Des Strobel*
Design [Creative Assistant] – Asari Graham
Drums – Aaron Smith (2), Andrew Smith (4), Richard "Pistol" Allen*, Uriel Jones
Engineer, Mastered By – Orson Lewis
Guitar – Eddie Willis, Joe Messina, Melvin "Wah Wah" Ragin*, Paul Warren, Robert Ward, Robert White
Harmonica – Ted Lucas
Mastered By, Producer, Written-By – Norman Whitfield
Organ – Johnny Griffith
Organ, Piano – Earl Van Dyke
Photography By [Liner Photo] – Jim Britt
Tambourine, Maracas – Jack Ashford
Trumpet – Maurice Davis
Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
Credits:
Arranged By – Paul Riser
Artwork [Sculpture] – Parvis Sadighian
Bass – Bob Babbitt, Eddie Watkins*, Leroy Taylor
Bells, Percussion [Gourd], Timpani, Vibraphone – Jack Brokensha
Bongos, Congas – Eddie "Bongo" Brown
Design – Des Strobel*
Design [Creative Assistant] – Asari Graham
Drums – Aaron Smith (2), Andrew Smith (4), Richard "Pistol" Allen*, Uriel Jones
Engineer, Mastered By – Orson Lewis
Guitar – Eddie Willis, Joe Messina, Melvin "Wah Wah" Ragin*, Paul Warren, Robert Ward, Robert White
Harmonica – Ted Lucas
Mastered By, Producer, Written-By – Norman Whitfield
Organ – Johnny Griffith
Organ, Piano – Earl Van Dyke
Photography By [Liner Photo] – Jim Britt
Tambourine, Maracas – Jack Ashford
Trumpet – Maurice Davis
Notes:
Original release with embossed cover.
℗ 1973 Motown Record Corporation.
℗ 1973 Motown Record Corporation.
Label: Gordy – G965L, Gordy – G 965L
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 21 Feb 1973
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Funk
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Culture Sonar ~ The Temptation’s Masterpiece – An Appreciation
Let's Sing It ~ Masterpiece album lyrics
Music Fest News ~ The Temptations’ Masterpieces
udiscovermusic ~ Masterpiece: Norman Whitfield And The Temptations YouTube links:
Rare Earth ~ Ma (17 mins., 10 secs.)
The Temptations ~
Masterpiece (13:34)
Masterpiece full album (42:28)
Papa Was a Rolling Stone (11:50)
Styrous® ~ Sunday, February 21, 2021
