This song won a Grammy for the Temptations in 1972 and is considered one of their greatest tracks. But it was first recorded and released earlier that year by a different Motown act, the Undisputed Truth. Producer Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong wrote the tune to exploit the socially conscious “psychedelic soul” genre that by the early ’70s had surpassed the label’s ballad-oriented acts.
The Undisputed Truth version topped out at No. 63 on the charts, but Whitfield wasn’t done with the song. He often recorded the same songs with different acts, and for the Temptations he pulled out every stop, concocting a nearly 12-minute opus — the vocals don’t start until nearly 4 minutes in, and the verses are separated by extended instrumental sections. The keyboards and strings made it sound more like Isaac Hayes than the Temps, but an edited single version reached No. 1.
A number of artists have covered the song, including jazz fusion vibraphonist Roy Ayers for his “Red, Black and Green” LP in 1976.
