The Undisputed Truth - The Undisputed Truth (1971)

This sparkling debut, fueled by "Smiling Faces Sometimes," a number three pop hit, zoomed to #43 on Billboard's Top 200 albums chart. Lead singer Joe Harris had recorded as a teenager with Little Joe & the Moroccos and later with the Fabulous Peps, and logged a brief, unsuccessful stint with the Ohio Players. Additionally, Brenda Joyce and Billie Rae Calvin had done background work and sung in the Delicates. Producer Norman Whitfield brought one original song to the session, "You Got the Love I Need"; every other cut was previously recorded by others (Holland-Dozier-Holland's "We Got a Way Out Love" was originally done by the Originals, and so on). Whitfield had the creative juices flowing on "Ball of Confusion," which bounces along for more than ten minutes and is true bliss; the arrangement is totally different from the Temptations blockbuster. The monster "Smiling Faces Sometimes" has a dead serious beat and some strong comments about people who show their teeth all the time. The tracks, with a couple of exceptions, follow a pattern: Harris sings lead, sounding Jerry Butler-ish, and Joyce and Calvin sweeten the tracks with their sugary, two-part harmonies. On Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," Whitfield experiments with the trio by testing the pop/psychedelic waters, an indication of a new direction for Undisputed Truth.