The Undisputed Truth

The Undisputed Truth was an American soul and disco funk group. It was founded in 1970 by the then Motown producer Norman Whitfield .

history

The Undisputed Truth was originally a trio consisting of Joe Harris, Billie Rae Calvin and Brenda Joyce. Harris was a member of The Preps and the Ohio Players in the 1960s . Calvin and Joyce were u. a. Background singers for The Four Tops , Diana Ross and Edwin Starr . Her records appeared on the Motown sub-label Gordy.

Producer Whitfield experimented with psychedelic sound effects on their recordings as he had done with The Temptations since the late 1960s. The song material of The Undisputed Truth often consisted of titles that had been recorded by the Temptations before or at about the same time and some of the versions were big hits. So z. B. Ball of Confusion , Ungena za Ulimwengu (Unite the World) , Superstar (Remember How You Get Where You Are) , Law of the Land , Papa Was a Rollin 'Stone and Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) . However, the practice was that individual titles were recorded by several contract artists at the same time in Motown / Gordy anyway not uncommon.

Smiling Faces Sometimes from the self-titled debut album by The Undisputed Truth, which was released in 1971, reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1971 , her biggest hit. There is also a version of this title by the Temptations. Between 1972 and 1974 three more LPs were released, which consisted almost exclusively of cover versions , including Marvin Gayes What’s Going On , With a Little Help from My Friends by The Beatles , Roberta Flacks Killing Me Softly with His Song or Brother Louie by Hot Chocolate .

After Norman Whitfield left Motown Records in 1975, The Undisputed Truth moved with Rose Royce and Willie Hutch to the newly founded label "Whitfield Records" (under Warner Bros. Records Inc. distribution). Billie Rae Calvin and Brenda Joyce left the band at the same time, which also carried out an image change. Joe Harris and his new teammates Virginia "V" McDonald, Tyrone "Big Ty" Douglas, Tyrone "Lil Ty" Barkley and Calvin "Dhaak" Stephenson appeared in futuristic costumes in the style of George Clinton's funk bands Funkadelic and Parliament . In 1977 they had a smaller disco hit in Great Britain with You + Me = Love . However, they did not make their big break with the two Warner albums Method to the Madness (1977) and Smokin ' (1979). In 1981, The Undisputed Truth finally disbanded.

Discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
year	Title music label	US	R&B	Remarks
1971	The Undisputed Truth Gordy 955	US43 (18 weeks) US	R&B7 (22 weeks) R&B	First published: July 1971 Producer: Norman Whitfield
1972	Face to Face with the Truth Gordy 959	US114 (12 weeks) US	R&B16 (11 weeks) R&B	First published: January 1972 Producer: Norman Whitfield
1973	Law of the Land Gordy 963	US191 (2 weeks) US	R&B52 (5 weeks) R&B	First published: July 1973 Producer: Norman Whitfield
1974	Down to Earth Gordy 968	-	R&B35 (10 weeks) R&B	First published: August 1974 Producer: Norman Whitfield
1975	Cosmic Truth Gordy 970	US186 (2 weeks) US	R&B42 (7 weeks) R&B	First published: March 1975 Producer: Norman Whitfield
1975	Higher Than High Gordy 972	US173 (4 weeks) US	R&B52 (4 weeks) R&B	First published: October 1975 Producer: Norman Whitfield
1977	Method to the Madness Whitfield 2967	US66 (17 weeks) US	R&B19 (14 weeks) R&B	First published: December 1976 Producer: Norman Whitfield

More studio albums

1979: Smokin ' (Whitfield 3202)

Compilations

1976: The Best of the Undisputed Truth ( Motown 8029)
1991: Best of the Undisputed Truth (Motown 5489)
1995: Milestones: The Best of the Undisputed Truth (Motown 530 570)
2002: The Collection ( Spectrum 544726)
2003: Smiling Faces: The Best of Undisputed Truth (Motown 58102)
2017: Nothing but the Truth ( Kent Soul 469; release: August 25)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
year	Title album	UK	US	R&B	Dance	Remarks
1971	Save My Love for a Rainy Day The Undisputed Truth	-	-	R&B43 (2 weeks) R&B	-	First published: February 2, 1971 Author: Norman Whitfield
	Smiling Faces Sometimes The Undisputed Truth	-	US3 (18 weeks) US	R&B2 (17 weeks) R&B	-	First published: May 13, 1971 Authors: Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong Original: The Temptations , 1971
	You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here on Earth Face to Face with the Truth	-	US72 (6 weeks) US	R&B24 (6 weeks) R&B	-	First published: November 16, 1971 with Paul Riser Orchestra Authors: Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong Original: The Temptations , 1970
1972	What it is? Face to Face with the Truth	-	US71 (5 weeks) US	R&B35 (4 weeks) R&B	-	First published: January 25, 1972 Authors: Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong
	Papa Was a Rollin 'Stone Law of the Land	-	US63 (5 weeks) US	R&B24 (6 weeks) R&B	-	First published: May 9, 1972 Authors: Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong
	Girl You're Alright Law of the Land	-	-	R&B43 (5 weeks) R&B	-	First published: October 10, 1972 Authors: Clay McMurray, Pam Sawyer
1973	Mama I Got a Brand New Thing (Don't Say No) Law of the Land	-	-	R&B46 (2 weeks) R&B	-	First published: February 15, 1973 Author: Norman Whitfield
1973	Law of the Land Law of the Land	-	-	R&B10 (7 weeks) R&B	-	First published: June 5, 1973 Author: Norman Whitfield Original: The Temptations , 1973
1974	Help Yourself Down to Earth	-	US63 (7 weeks) US	R&B19 (16 weeks) R&B	-	First published: February 14, 1974 Author: Norman Whitfield
1974	I'm a Fool for You Down to Earth	-	-	R&B39 (13 weeks) R&B	-	First published: June 25, 1974 Author: Norman Whitfield
1975	UFO’s Cosmic Truth	-	-	R&B62 (8 weeks) R&B	-	First published: April 8, 1975 Author: Norman Whitfield
1975	Higher Than High Higher Than High	-	-	R&B77 (7 weeks) R&B	-	First published: August 4, 1975 Author: Norman Whitfield
1976	You + Me = Love Method to the Madness	UK43 (4 weeks) UK	US48 (11 weeks) US	R&B37 (13 weeks) R&B	Dance5 (26 weeks) Dance	First published: August 1976 Author: Norman Whitfield
1976	Let's Go Down to the Disco Method to the Madness	-[US: ↑]	US48 (11 weeks) US	R&B68 (9 weeks) R&B	Dance40 (1 week) Dance	First published: November 1976 Author: Norman Whitfield
1979	Show Time Smokin '	-	-	R&B55 (10 weeks) R&B	-	First published: April 1979 Author: Norman Whitfield

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More singles

1974: Lil 'Red Ridin' Hood (released October 17th)
1975: Earthquake Shake (release: January, not published)
1975: Boogie Bump Boogie (release: October 21)
1977: Sunshine (release: March)
1979: I Can't Get Enough of Your Love (released July)

swell

^ Joel Whitburn: The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits . 7th edition. Billboard Books, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8230-7690-3 , p. 650.
↑ ^a ^b Chart sources: UK Billboard Hot 100 Billboard 200 (1) Billboard 200 (2)
^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4 .
^ Joel Whitburn : Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, ISBN 978-0-89820-156-7 .

Web links

The Undisputed Truth on Allmusic (English)
The Undisputed Truth at Discogs (English)
The Undisputed Truth at 45cat.com

[1] Joel Whitburn: The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits . 7th edition. Billboard Books, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8230-7690-3 , p. 650.

[charts-2] Chart sources: UK Billboard Hot 100 Billboard 200 (1) Billboard 200 (2)

[3] Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .

[4] Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4 .

[5] Joel Whitburn : Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, ISBN 978-0-89820-156-7 .