Willard's Wormholes

Cosmic Truth (1975)
Norman Whitfield’s Psych Lab

The common knock on The Undisputed Truth is that they were the sorry step child to The Temptations. Truth be told, musically anyway, the band’s sound was often more akin to the spaced psychedelia of early Parliament/Funkadelic. But, those with finely tuned ears will immediately recognize The Temps’ songwriting and production style, courtesy of one of the original brick layers of the Motown sound, and one of the greatest 60s songwriters ever, Norman Whitfield. What Whitfield did for The Temps in the late 60s, he also did for The Truth in the early 70s – expanding the perimeters of modern soul to encompass highly stylized rock, funk and psychedelia. The bands even shared some of the same material (it was The Truth who first recorded Whitfield’s “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”). It’s been said for decades that producer Whitfield used the band (his studio creation) as lab rats to experiment with new sounds, more guitars and spacier constructs, and Cosmic Truth is a great example of his vision. The Truth’s take on the Temps’ “(I Know) I’m Losing You” shows how Whitfield could stretch a song’s root components to the breaking point, infusing extended guitar solos and jazzy interludes, while reinventing vocal arrangements from the ground up. The fuzz bass and stinging guitar work in “1990″ are worthy examples and the soulful take on Neil Young’s “Down By The River” (the LP’s only non-Whitfield song) is worth a listen, too.

Earthquake Shake (5:54)
Down By The River (6:35)
UFO’s (4:18)
Lil’ Red Ridin‘ Hood (4:02)
Squeeze Me, Tease Me (3:53)
Spaced Out (3:11)
Got To Get My Hands On Some Lovin‘ (2:36)
1990 (4:02)
(I Know) I’m Losing You (6:52)