''Masterpiece'' is a 1973 album by

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

for the Gordy ( Motown) label, produced and written by

Norman Whitfield Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators of the Mo ...

Overview

The title refers to the album being not the group's intended masterpiece, but Norman Whitfield's. Having already produced songs for the Temptations such as "

Smiling Faces Sometimes "Smiling Faces Sometimes" is a soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label. It was originally recorded by the Temptations in 1971. Producer Norman Whitfield had the song re-recorded by the Undisputed Truth the sa ...

" and "

Papa Was a Rollin' Stone "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" is a song originally performed by Motown recording act The Undisputed Truth in 1972, though it became much better known after a Grammy-award winning cover by The Temptations was issued later the same year. This la ...

" which emphasized his instrumental tracks over the group's vocals, Whitfield goes one step further here. The title track, at nearly 14 minutes long, includes only three minutes of vocals from the group, who all share sections of the lead vocal. "Masterpiece" shares space on side one with "Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)", a slow classic-styled ballad led by

Richard Street Richard Allen Street (October 5, 1942 – February 27, 2013) was an American soul and R&B singer, most notable as a member of Motown vocal group The Temptations from 1971 to 1993. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Street was the first memb ...

which opens the album. Side two of the LP opens with "Ma", an ode to a hillbilly mother led by Street,

Damon Harris Otis Robert "Damon" Harris Jr. (July 17, 1950 – February 18, 2013) was an American soul and R&B singer, most notable as a member of The Temptations from 1971 to 1975. Twenty years old when he joined the group, Harris was the youngest member ...

, and

Melvin Franklin David Melvin English (October 12, 1942 – February 23, 1995) better known by the stage name Melvin Franklin, or his nickname "Blue", was an American bass singer. Franklin was best known for his role as a founding member of Motown singing ...

, which was recorded as the title track of Rare Earth's 1973 Whitfield-produced LP. "

Law of the Land The phrase ''law of the land'' is a legal term, equivalent to the Latin ''lex terrae'', or ''legem terrae'' in the accusative case. It refers to all of the laws in force within a country or region, including statute law and case-made law. Use in ...

", led by

Dennis Edwards Dennis Edwards Jr. (February 3, 1943 – February 1, 2018) was an American soul and R&B singer who was best known as the frontman in The Temptations, on Motown Records. Edwards joined the Temptations in 1968, replacing David Ruffin and sang ...

, Street, and Harris, was recorded the same year by

The Undisputed Truth The Undisputed Truth was an American Motown recording act, assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield as a means for being able to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques. Joe "Pep" Harris served as main lead singer, with ...

. 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, while the eight-minute album closer, "Hurry Tomorrow", is a solo spot for Harris, which explores a

hallucinogenic drug Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized ...

trip. Many critics, and the Temptations themselves, remarked that much of ''Masterpiece'', and especially its title track, sounded like a Norman Whitfield/

Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

solo recording featuring supporting vocals by the Temptations. Fans complained directly to the Temptations themselves, and some music journalists began snidely referring to the Temptations as "The Norman Whitfield Chorale Singers" and other such names. ''Masterpiece'' proved to be Whitfield's penultimate album with the Temptations; after producing their album ''

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

'' later in 1973, he left Motown to form his own record label. Despite the criticism directed towards the LP, "Masterpiece" became a #1 hit on the Billboard

R&B singles chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

, and a #7 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Its follow-up, the "Papa Was a Rolling Stone"-like "Plastic Man", hit #40 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)" also became a Top 40 hit in the late summer/early fall of 1973. "Law of the Land" was released as a UK-only single by Tamla Motown, and just missed out on the

UK Top 40 The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, peaking at #41 in late 1973. ''Masterpiece'' was the final Temptations LP recorded in Detroit at Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studio. By 1973, Motown Records had completed its migration to

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, and beginning with the next release, ''

'', the Temptations would record in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

-area studios.

Track listing

All selections written and produced by

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) #"

" – 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

Singles history

*"Masterpiece" (Vocal) **Gordy single 7126, February 1, 1973; * B-side: "Masterpiece" (Instrumental) *"Plastic Man" **Gordy single 7129, May 10, 1973; B-side: "Hurry Tomorrow" *"Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)" **Gordy single 7131, July 24, 1973; B-side: "Ma" *"Law of the Land" **Tamla-Motown single TMG-866, 1973 (UK only); B-side: "Run Charlie Run" (from ''

All Directions ''All Directions'' is a 1972 album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label, produced by Norman Whitfield. It reached number two on the ''Billboard'' 200, making it the band's most successful non-collaborative album on the chart, and becam ...

'')

Charts

Album

Year-end charts

Singles

References

{{Authority control 1973 albums The Temptations albums Gordy Records albums Albums arranged by Paul Riser Albums produced by Norman Whitfield Albums recorded at Hitsville U.S.A.