"COME IN AND TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR MIND"
YOU'D BE SURPRISED WHAT YOU MIGHT FIND
Psychedelic Shack
is the twelfth
studio album by
The Temptations
for the
Gordy (Motown) label
released in 1970.
Completely written by
Norman Whitfield
and
Barrett Strong
and produced by
Whitfield,
Psychedelic Shack
almost completely abandoned
the
"Motown Sound"
formula,
instead delving
fully into
psychedelia.
Along with
the hit title track,
the album also
features
the group's
original version of
"War",
which became a
major hit for
Edwin Starr
later in 1970.
Background and Recording
Psychedelic Shack
was one of the last albums
completed before
the third incarnation of
The Temptations
Dennis Edwards,
Paul Williams,
Eddie Kendricks,
Melvin Franklin,
and
Otis Williams
broke apart.
During the recording of the album,
Paul Williams,
already possessing a
fragile condition
because of
sickle-cell disease,
was now also fighting
complications from
five years of
heavy alcoholism.
Williams would frequently
be unable to
record or perform,
and
the Temptations
had to resort to hiring
Richard Street,
an old friend of
Otis Williams'
and lead singer of
minor Motown act
The Monitors,
as a stand-in for
Paul Williams.
At the same time,
Eddie Kendricks'
growing
animosity towards
Otis Williams
and
Melvin Franklin,
and the group's
general frustration over
their lack of
creative control
and their treatment
at the hands
of Motown,
resulted in an
increased amount
of infighting
and set the stage for
Kendricks'
imminent departure
in early 1971.
Like most
Temptations albums
from the group's
"psychedelic period",
producer
Norman Whitfield
held full
creative control
over
Psychedelic Shack.
The only freedom afforded
the Temptations
themselves for this album was
the occasional opportunity for
Kendricks to arrange
the vocal harmonies.
The album cover,
a collage/illustration by
Hermon Weems,
places photographs of
the Temptations
in a depiction of a
psychedelic shack:
an establishment in
urban neighborhoods
where people could go to
"enhance their minds"
through art, music,
and
mind-altering drugs.
Music and Lyrics
The album begins with a
knock at the door,
and the sound of
footsteps as a
stranger wanders into
an unfamiliar location.
Finding a phonograph,
the stranger drops the needle
on the song that happened
to be in the player
The Temptations'
1969 number-one hit
"I Can't Get Next to You".
The phonograph is
heard playing
"I Can't Get Next to You's" intro,
reaching
Dennis Edwards' interruption
("Hold on, everybody, hold it, hold on...listen!")
before the album
immediately segues into
the first song,
"Psychedelic Shack".
"Psychedelic Shack"
was the only single
from this album,
and was a
complete departure
from previous
Temptations recordings.
Setting the tone
for much of the album,
"Psychedelic Shack's"
vocals,
guitar lines
and drums
shift back and forth
across the
stereo spectrum,
and all five
Temptations trade
lead vocal duties
at irregular intervals.
Keyboardist
Earl Van Dyke
remembered
"Psychedelic Shack"
as one of his
favorite recording sessions.
"You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here on Earth",
later issued as
the B-side
of the 1971 hit
"Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)",
features
Edwards, Kendricks, Franklin,
and
Otis Williams
informing the public
that each individual person
is responsible for their fate
and that
"the final decision
[to do right or wrong]
is still up to you".
"Hum Along and Dance",
essentially wordless,
is an example of
Whitfield's growing emphasis
on his production
and instrumentation
at the expense of
The Temptations' vocals,
an issue that caused a
significant amount of
friction between
the group and
their producer.
While this version of
"Hum Along and Dance"
is the original recording
of the composition,
the song is better known
in cover versions by
Rare Earth
and
The Jackson 5
A crossfade joins
"Hum Along and Dance"
and the next track
on the album,
"Take a Stroll Thru Your Mind".
"Take a Stroll Thru Your Mind"
is a popular
Temptations album track
done in
psychedelic/blues style,
and is an overt
eight-minute ode
to marijuana usage.
All five Temptations
trade lead vocals
across the
two tracks.
"It's Summer",
the only ballad on the album.
Instead of love
and relationship issues
"It's Summer"
explores the positive elements
that come with the
onset of summer,
with basso
Melvin Franklin
reciting the song's
lyrics in spoken verse.
The Temptations
would later record
a sung version of
"It's Summer",
and release it
as a single
for the
Solid Rock album.
The next track,
"War",
is a serious
anti-Vietnam
protest sung by
Paul Williams
and
Dennis Edwards.
Motown received a
significant number of
requests to release
"War"
as a single;
instead of risking
the careers of
the Temptations
with such a
politically charged song,
the song was
re recorded by
Edwin Starr
before Motown
allowed its release
as a single.
TRACKLIST
Psychedelic Shack
You Make Your Own
Heaven And Hell Right Here On Earth
Hum Along And Dance
Take A Stroll Thru Your Mind
It's Summer
War
You Need Love Like I Do
(Don't You)
Friendship Train
Psychedelic Shack
(Extended Version)
Runaway Child, Running Wild
(Long Version)
Ball Of Confusion
(Extended Version)
I Can't Get Next To You
(ReMix)
Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
(Full Version)
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