Released: January 1972
After returning to semi-sanity with some soulful love songs on Sky’s The Limit, Norman Whitfield decided to take the Temptations back to psychedelic land on Solid Rock.
I bet the chaos caused by Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams leaving the group gave Whitfield the opening to pull the stunts we’ll get to in a moment. The good news is that the replacements (Damon Harris and Richard Street) are top notch singers. In fact, Harris’s falsetto is every bit the equal of Kendricks’s. Meanwhile, Street didn’t have the same power as Williams, but his voice had its own rich quality.
The Funk
Let’s get the turd out the way. “Stop the War Now” is excess defined. It actually is a fine funk jam, if it didn’t run for 12:30. If Whitfield wanted to record an instrumental then just record one because the Temptations’ vocals are kind of incidental on this song.
Hence the joke they were the Norman Whitfield Singers, which is quite the hit to the pride of a group who could absolutely sing their asses off.
“Ain’t No Sunshine” suffers a similar fate as “Stop the War Now” although it’s truncated by comparison with just 7:17 of runtime. Oh and here’s a fun fact. The original by Bill Withers is two minutes long. THIS version’s intro is 2:30 before the song actually gets going. So, yeah, another excessive excursion.
Despite my grips, I shamefully kind of like it.
At least Whitfield showed some restraint on “What It Is?”. It strikes the perfect balance of being a funk jam and showcasing the Temptations’ vocals. All in an economical 5:15, too!
Even better is “Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)”, a diss track to departed Temptations David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks. Just under three minutes long, this here is some psychedelic soul-funk fire. The band is fully alive, the vocals are limber. Amazing what a little beef can do for a song.
The Other Stuff
“Take A Look Around” opens the album and it’s a mercifully quiet message song given Whitfield’s propensity for bombast on that front.
The album’s lone ballad is “Smooth Sailing (From Now On)”, which is a mid-tempo delight featuring Harris’s tenor/falsetto. Honestly it sounds like a time capsule since it’s more akin to musical vibes of 1967 than 1972. I won’t complain though. The Temptations could use a little more pop sensibilities in their stew at this point.
Street got the lead on a cover of “The End of Our Road”, which was originally done by Gladys Knight & the Pips. It’s standard fare R&B.
The worst song on this album is a re-recording of “It’s Summer” which first appeared on Psychedelic Shack. Whereas the original was bad, it was also novel in that Melvin Franklin spoke the words. Here it’s turned over to Dennis Edwards who tries to sing the message and the already ho-hum track becomes downright miserable.
Not Edwards’s fault. The thing is just poorly constructed.
ALBUM GRADE: C
This album surprisingly returned the Temptations to the top of the R&B albums chart, but tellingly it only reached #24 pop their worst showing there since 1965. Probably didn’t help that the two singles relatively flopped. “Superstar” was #8 R&B and #18 pop while “Take A Look Around” was #10 R&B and #30 pop.
As for you dear reader, if you need some funky stoner music, this album might be for you! Otherwise it’s an inessential release.
Song Scores
Take A Look Around: 7/10
Ain't No Sunshine: 7/10
Stop The War Now: 4/10
What It Is?: 7/10
Smooth Sailing (From Now On): 7/10
Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are): 8.5/10
It's Summer: 2/10
The End of Our Road: 5/10