A good three years lie between the by The Temptations groundbreaking album "Cloud Nine" (Gordy GS-939) and what consequentially developed out of it with the telling title "All Directions". The first three numbers are governed by a funky beat in all its various forms. While the live atmosphere of the emphatic group funk in "Funky Music Sho’ Nuff Turns Me On" opens the way to a meatier sound, "Run, Charlie, Run" is a snappy big-band number with harmonically enriched vocal breaks. Strongly rhythmic and melodic, and constructed with just a few repeated melodic elements, the clanging funk of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" hammers itself into the mind with a vengeance, and recalls the equally black group Kool And the Gang. The Temptations’ balladic style had also changed by this time, the naive sound of the early years being replaced with a more realistic, bittersweet timbre. As a result some songs have a pleasant dreaminess ("The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face") while others have a distinct gospel-like groove ("Mother Nature") with a deliberately toned-down praising of the Lord. Clearly both the music and the programme go in 'all directions'.


Track listing

All songs produced by Norman Whitfield.

Side A
1 "Funky Music Sho' Nuff Turns Me On" 3:05
2 "Run Charlie Run" 3:01
3 "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" 11:45

Side B
4 "Love Woke Me Up Early This Morning" 2:22
5 "I Ain't Got Nothin'" 3:33
6 "The First Time Ever I (Saw Your Face)" 4:11
7 "Mother Nature" 3:08
8 "Do Your Thing" 3:30


Personnel

* Dennis Edwards: vocals
* Damon Harris: vocals
* Richard Street: vocals
* Melvin Franklin: vocals
* Otis Williams: vocals
* The Andantes: Additional background vocals on "Love Woke Me Up This Morning"
* Norman Whitfield: producer
* The Funk Brothers: instrumentation


Technical Information:

Music Hall MMF 5.1 Turntable
Goldring 1042GX reference Cartridge
Belari VP-129 Tube Phono PreAmp with Sylvania 12AX7WA
Tascam US-144 external USB 2.0 Audiointerface
Interconnections by "Goldkabel"
Wavelab 5 recording software

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