Psychedelic Shack (album) - Overview

Overview

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" (one of the earliest uses of sampling). 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, guitarlines, 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 remembers "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 is still up to you". The song would be covered in 1971 by Whitfield-groomed Motown act The Undisputed Truth.

"Hum Along and Dance", essentially wordless, is an example of Whitfield's growing emphasis on his production and instrumentation over the contributions of the vocalists, an issue that caused a significant amount of friction between the Temptations 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 (from Ma, 1973) and The Jackson 5 (from G.I.T.: Get It Together, also 1973). 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.

Side B begins with "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 rerecorded by Edwin Starr before Motown allowed its release as a single.

The final two songs on the album are compositions more closely associated with Gladys Knight & the Pips, another Whitfield-produced act. "You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You)", led by Kendricks, was recorded simultaneously by both The Pips and the Temptations, with the Pips' version being issued as a single. "Friendship Train", the seven-minute album closer led by Edwards, is a cover of a 1969 Pips single. Tom Jones would record a cover of "You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You)" in 1999.