All Directions cover

All Directions

Released

The Temptations’ aptly named All Directions from 1972 served up four wonderfully orchestrated ballads, a pair of funky jams, a languid take on Isaac Hayes ‘Do Your Thing’ and producer Norman Whitfield’s most fully realised psychedelic soul song, the epic ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone.’ Epic being the operative word as the album version comes in at twelve minutes. An album of contrasts, from the angry ‘Run Charlie Run’ to the sweet and gentle harmonies of ‘I Aint Got Nothing,’ All Directions is certainly varied but still one of the Temptations’ stronger albums.

Harold Heath

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