Johnny Thunders
FILEUNDER So Alone
Whitfield, who always operated slightly to the left of Gordy’s agenda, saw his protégés The Undisputed Truth as “a perfect cross between Sly and the 5th Dimension”. He says so on the cover of their second album of 1971, Face To Face With The Truth Lost gem though it is, the material underlines how of-its-moment that recipe was. But it’s classic Whitfield, with his trademark spare, lengthy backing tracks, bold dynamic shifts and production tricks, like putting the vocals through a Leslie cabinet on Ungena Za Ulimwengu. You Make Your Own Heaven And Hell Right Here On Earth is lushly orchestrated. A nine-minute cover of What’s Going On is more chilled than politically charged, but sounds lovely. Arguably Motown’s finest singer, Eddie Kendricks made a lot of terrific records nobody bought. People…Hold On was no exception. It has its share of the Sesame Street politics Motown specialised in, like the noble but platitudinous Someday The World Will Be A Better Place, but Frank Wilson’s production is terrific, pretty advanced for 1972, especially the extended Girl You Need A Change Of Mind, a disco floorfiller par excellence. Unfortunately, its lyric boils down to “forget women’s lib, baby, all you need is a good seeing-to”. So, not futureproofed in every department. Also in this excellent series: Four Tops’ Still Waters Run Deep, Smokey Robinson’s reliable Smokey and, away from Motown, Barry White’s excellent 1974 blaxploitation soundtrack Together Brothers, Ohio Players’ Fire and Ramsey Lewis raiding The White Album for stirring jazz instrumentals on Mother Nature’s Son.