The Undisputed Truth was a 1970s Motown recording act, assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield as a means for being able to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques. Joe Harris served as main lead singer, with Billie Rae Calvin and Brenda Joyce Evans, formerly of The Delicates, on additional leads and background vocals.
By the time “Method To the Madness” was released, band mentor Norman Whitfield had seemingly decided to reinvent The Undisputed Truth, moving them away from psychedelic soul towards a more contemporary disco and funk sound. As on earlier albums Whitefield was again responsible for most of the album’s nine tracks – he wrote or co-wrote everything on the LP. he group’s patented white afros remained in place, but the change in direction came with a revamped personnel lineup; Tyrone Berkeley, Joe Harris, and Calvin Stevens joined by Taka Boom (Chaka Kahn’s younger sister) who replaced Virginia McDonald. Moreover, this time around, judging by tracks like ‘Cosmic Contact’ and ‘Hole In the Wall’, Whitfield seemed to have been listening to quite a bit of Sly Stone and George Clinton and The Funkadelic/Parliament empire.
‘Cosmic Contract’ wasn’t so much a song as it was a bunch of Clinton-styled synthesizer sound effects and spoken word segments.
Thankfully the title track found the group moving into a Sly Stone-styled slice of funk. While the song wasn’t particularly original or impressive, like her sister, Boom’s shrill voice was well suited to the genre. Great slap bass solo and kudos to Whitfield for fading the song out before it got too repetitive
‘Sunshine’ was a pretty, heavily orchestrated old-school styled ballad that seemed very out of place on this set. To my ears it sounded very much like something The Temptations would have covered.
Showcasing Boom on lead vocals (she was more than an equal to her male partners), ‘You + Me = Love’ was an up tempo, disco-tinged number. Perfect dance floor fodder with a pounding hook in the title hook which meant there wasn’t a great deal of originality flowing through this one. The extended eleven plus minute dance version went on and on giving the backing band lots of opportunities to showcase their instrumental chops. With all four members sharing lead vocals, ‘Hole In the Wall’ was an okay number that served to mix soul and funk influences. The George Clinton influences were very apparent on this one, but the real standout was actually the slap bass pattern.
With Boom again handling lead vocals, ‘Loose’ actually sounded a bit like an early Rufus track. The woman certainly had a sultry delivery that bore at least a passing resemblance to her sister’s powerful voice.
Joe Harris’ rough and gnarly voice was one of Motown’s forgotten gifts and was perfectly suited for old-school soul numbers like ‘Life Ain’t So Easy’. With it’s social activism lyric, this one was a throwback to Whitfield’s early-1970s catalog. Easily one of the best songs on the album.
Unlike anything else on the album, ‘Take a Vacation from Life (and Visit Your Dreams)’ had a cool, almost ’60s Brazilian jazzy vibe to it … very pretty melody with some great acoustic guitar and Boom’s restrained vocals made this the album’s standout track.
It sure sounded like Whitfield borrowed the bass line and parts of the arrangement from Rose Royce’s ‘Carwash’ for ‘Down To the Disco’ (but then he wrote and produced that song as well).
Track listing
01. "Cosmic Contact" (Norman Whitfield) - 3:50
02. "Method To The Madness" (Norman Whitfield) - 3:55
03. "Sunshine" (Norman Whitfield) - 5:12
04. "You + Me = Love" (Norman Whitfield) - 11:10
05. "Hole In The Wall" (Norman Whitfield, Rochelle Runnells) - 3:20
06. "Loose" (Norman Whitfield, Rochelle Runnells) - 3:21
07. "Life Ain’t So Easy" (Norman Whitfield) - 3:57
08. "Take A Vacation From Life (And Visit Your Dreams)" (J. McGhee, N. Whitfield) - 4:30
09. "Let’s Go Down To The Disco" (Norman Whitfield) - 9:10
Credits
Performer [Undisputed Truth] – Calvin “Dhaakk” Stephenson, Joe Harris, Taka Boom, Tyrone “Lil Ty” Barkley
Guitar – John McGhee, Kenji Brown, Melvin “Wah Wah” Ragin*
Keyboards – Michael Nash, Victor Nix
Percussion – Henry Garner
Saxophone – Michael Moore
Trumpet – Freddie Dunn, Kenny Copeland
Bass – Lequeint “Duke” Jobe
Bongos – Terral Santiel
Arranged By – Norman Whitfield, Paul Riser
Coordinator [Album Coordinator] – Clay McMurray
Other [Wardrobe & Makeup Technician] – Linda Thompson
Engineer [Recording And Mixing Engineer] – Learnard “Colonel Disco” Jackson, Norman Whitfield, Steve Maslow, Steve Smith
Photography By – Gernot Plitz
Producer, Design, Illustration [Cover Illustration] – Norman Whitfield
Companies, etc.
Record Company – Whitfield Records Corp.
Copyright (c) – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Manufactured By – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Distributed By – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Published By – Stone Diamond Music Corp.
Published By – May Twelfth
Published By – Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp
Notes
Whitfield Records Corp, […] manufactured & distributed by Warner Bros. Records Inc., a Warner Communications Company [logo] ?© 1976 Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Recorded At: The Village Recorder, Motown Recording Studios
Mixed At: The Village Recorder, Motown Recording Studios
Genre: Psychedelic Funk, Soul
Length: 48:29
© 1976
Label – Whitfield Records
‘Cosmic Contract’ wasn’t so much a song as it was a bunch of Clinton-styled synthesizer sound effects and spoken word segments.
Thankfully the title track found the group moving into a Sly Stone-styled slice of funk. While the song wasn’t particularly original or impressive, like her sister, Boom’s shrill voice was well suited to the genre. Great slap bass solo and kudos to Whitfield for fading the song out before it got too repetitive
‘Sunshine’ was a pretty, heavily orchestrated old-school styled ballad that seemed very out of place on this set. To my ears it sounded very much like something The Temptations would have covered.
Showcasing Boom on lead vocals (she was more than an equal to her male partners), ‘You + Me = Love’ was an up tempo, disco-tinged number. Perfect dance floor fodder with a pounding hook in the title hook which meant there wasn’t a great deal of originality flowing through this one. The extended eleven plus minute dance version went on and on giving the backing band lots of opportunities to showcase their instrumental chops. With all four members sharing lead vocals, ‘Hole In the Wall’ was an okay number that served to mix soul and funk influences. The George Clinton influences were very apparent on this one, but the real standout was actually the slap bass pattern.
With Boom again handling lead vocals, ‘Loose’ actually sounded a bit like an early Rufus track. The woman certainly had a sultry delivery that bore at least a passing resemblance to her sister’s powerful voice.
Joe Harris’ rough and gnarly voice was one of Motown’s forgotten gifts and was perfectly suited for old-school soul numbers like ‘Life Ain’t So Easy’. With it’s social activism lyric, this one was a throwback to Whitfield’s early-1970s catalog. Easily one of the best songs on the album.
Unlike anything else on the album, ‘Take a Vacation from Life (and Visit Your Dreams)’ had a cool, almost ’60s Brazilian jazzy vibe to it … very pretty melody with some great acoustic guitar and Boom’s restrained vocals made this the album’s standout track.
It sure sounded like Whitfield borrowed the bass line and parts of the arrangement from Rose Royce’s ‘Carwash’ for ‘Down To the Disco’ (but then he wrote and produced that song as well).
Track listing
01. "Cosmic Contact" (Norman Whitfield) - 3:50
02. "Method To The Madness" (Norman Whitfield) - 3:55
03. "Sunshine" (Norman Whitfield) - 5:12
04. "You + Me = Love" (Norman Whitfield) - 11:10
05. "Hole In The Wall" (Norman Whitfield, Rochelle Runnells) - 3:20
06. "Loose" (Norman Whitfield, Rochelle Runnells) - 3:21
07. "Life Ain’t So Easy" (Norman Whitfield) - 3:57
08. "Take A Vacation From Life (And Visit Your Dreams)" (J. McGhee, N. Whitfield) - 4:30
09. "Let’s Go Down To The Disco" (Norman Whitfield) - 9:10
Credits
Performer [Undisputed Truth] – Calvin “Dhaakk” Stephenson, Joe Harris, Taka Boom, Tyrone “Lil Ty” Barkley
Guitar – John McGhee, Kenji Brown, Melvin “Wah Wah” Ragin*
Keyboards – Michael Nash, Victor Nix
Percussion – Henry Garner
Saxophone – Michael Moore
Trumpet – Freddie Dunn, Kenny Copeland
Bass – Lequeint “Duke” Jobe
Bongos – Terral Santiel
Arranged By – Norman Whitfield, Paul Riser
Coordinator [Album Coordinator] – Clay McMurray
Other [Wardrobe & Makeup Technician] – Linda Thompson
Engineer [Recording And Mixing Engineer] – Learnard “Colonel Disco” Jackson, Norman Whitfield, Steve Maslow, Steve Smith
Photography By – Gernot Plitz
Producer, Design, Illustration [Cover Illustration] – Norman Whitfield
Companies, etc.
Record Company – Whitfield Records Corp.
Copyright (c) – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Manufactured By – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Distributed By – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Published By – Stone Diamond Music Corp.
Published By – May Twelfth
Published By – Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp
Notes
Whitfield Records Corp, […] manufactured & distributed by Warner Bros. Records Inc., a Warner Communications Company [logo] ?© 1976 Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Recorded At: The Village Recorder, Motown Recording Studios
Mixed At: The Village Recorder, Motown Recording Studios
Genre: Psychedelic Funk, Soul
Length: 48:29
© 1976
Label – Whitfield Records
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