THE UNDISPUTED TRUTH

—GORDY RECORDING ARTIST—

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The Undisputed Truth was an American Motown recording act, assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield as a means for being able to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques. Joe “Pep” Harris served as main lead singer, with Billie Rae Calvin and Brenda Joyce Evans on additional leads and background vocals.

They were introduced to Motown by singer Bobby Taylor, and, when The Delicates broke up in 1970, two of the members of that group, Billie Calvin and Brenda Evans began providing background vocals for artists around Motown.^[1] They sang backing on the hits “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” for Diana Ross and “Still Water (Love)” for The Four Tops. Joe Harris had been part of a Detroit soul group called The Fabulous Peps.

Formed in 1962, the group were renowned for their energetic stage performances, and they cut a handful of singles for various different labels before their dissolution in 1968. Harris also became a member of The Ohio Untouchables (later The Ohio Players). In 1970, Motown producer Norman Whitfield – partly as a response to criticism from Temptations fans that he was using the group as his personal plaything – put together Joe Harris, Billie Calvin and Brenda Evans to create his own recording act, The Undisputed Truth.

The group’s music and unusual costuming (large Afros and white makeup) typified the then-popular trend of “psychedelic soul” which Whitfield had inaugurated. A number of their singles became minor hits, and many of them were also songs for Whitfield’s main act, The Temptations, among them 1971’s “You Make Your Own Heaven And Hell Right Here On Earth” and “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone“. Their single Top 40 hit in the United States was the ominous “Smiling Faces Sometimes,” originally recorded by The Temptations, which hit #3 on the US Pop Charts in mid-1971.

Although they could never recreate the success of “Smiling Faces” they continued to make chart appearances throughout the early 1970s. They found some success with songs like “What It Is” (1972) and “Law of the Land” (1973) becoming modest hits on the US R&B Charts.

Founding member Billie Calvin died on June 23, 2007, at the age of 58, in Mureitta, California, USA, of heart disease. Tyrone “Lil Ty” Barkley died on February 14, 2017, at the age of 70, in Arizona.

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—PAPA WAS A ROLLIN’ STONE—

“Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone” is a song performed by Motown recording act The Undisputed Truth. It was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1971, and released as a single in May 1972. It peaked at number 63 on the Pop Charts and number 24 on the R&B Charts. The song was included on the Undisputed Truth’s album Law of the Land (1973).

In 1972, Whitfield took “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” and remade it as a 12-minute track for the Temptations, included on their 1972 album All Directions. The shorter 7″ single release of this Temptations version was a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and won three Grammy Awards in 1973.

While the original Undisputed Truth version of the song has been largely forgotten, the Temptations’ versions of the song have been enduring and influential soul classics.

The full-length album version was ranked number 169 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, one of the group’s three songs on the list. In retrospect, the Temptations’ Otis Williams considers “Papa” to be the last real classic the group recorded (it would be the Temptations’ last number one hit and would win them their second and final Grammy Award in a competitive category).