Psychedelic Shack - THE TEMPTATIONS***

Psychedelic Shack/Hum Along & Dance/War/Its Summer/You Make You're Own Heaven & Hell/You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You)/Take A Stroll Through Your Mind/Friendship Train

Under the direction of Norman Whitfield Psychedelic Shack sees soul group the Tempations making a slight nod towards psychedelia, just as the genre started to wane among rock groups. Contains the US No. 7 title track hit single. (US:9 UK:56)

"Psychedelic Shack demonstrates that no amount of experimentation was allowed to get in the way of the essential necessity of making a thumpingly good collection of tracks, and that whatever may have been used in the making of this record, nothing was allowed to degenerate into outright self-indulgence. Every minute of this set feels alive - even the lengthy tracks that close out the respective sides."

"Released in 1970 the Temptations and Norman Whitfield were in full psychedelic mode throughout this album. Some of the members of the group were becoming uncomfortable singing psychedelic songs, but personally I prefer this version of the Tempts over all others."

"1970 may have been the last year when the word 'psychedelic' was in fashion, but in the case of The Temptations, their psychedelic journey was still just beginning. They had had such influences within their music at least since Cloud Nine, but my first impression of Psychedelic Shack was that it wasn't very psychedelic soul, more like 'ordinary' soul and funk with a psychedelic twist. On the other hand, the eightand- half-minute Take A Stroll Thru Your Mind is evidently psychedelic, but it isn't anything much more – you just get a twisted soundscape on a very simple pattern of music."

"After Norman Whitfield replaced Smokey Robinson as The Temptations' producer, the group went from making gentle songs like My Girl to politically chancy numbers like Ball Of Confusion. Though I never felt The Temptations were all that comfortable singing the political tunes Whitfield and lyricist Barrett Strong submitted to the group to sing, on Psychedelic Shack they appear far more at ease. It helps that the lush, funky production of Whitfield is on point throughout. Just because this album is called Psychedelic Shack doesn't mean that it actually is all that 'psychedelic'. The title track and Hum Along & Dance are the only numbers that really flirt with the San Francisco sound of the era."