All Directions

Studio album by The Temptations

Released

July 27, 1972

Recorded

1972

Genre

Soul, funk, psychedelic soul

Length

33:33

Label

Gordy
GS 962

Producer

Norman Whitfield

The Temptations chronology

Solid Rock
(1972)

All Directions
(1972)

Masterpiece
(1973)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Rolling Stone Album Guide

All Directions is a 1972 album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label, produced by Norman Whitfield.

The LP features the #1 hit "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", a twelve-minute cover of a Whitfield-produced Undisputed Truth single. "Papa" won three Grammy Awards in 1973: Best R&B Performance by a Group for the Temptations, Best R&B Instrumental Performance for Whitfield and arranger/conductor Paul Riser's instrumental version of "Papa" on the single's b-side, and Best R&B Song for Whitfield and lyricist Barrett Strong. All Directions was Strong's final LP as the Temptations' lyricist; Strong in fact had no direct involvement in the album as both of his compositions for it -- "Papa was a Rollin' Stone" and "Funky Music Sho' 'Nuff Turns Me On", were both covers (originally by The Undisputed Truth and Edwin Starr, respectively). Strong left Motown to restart his career as a recording artist.

According to group leader Otis Williams, the Temptations fought "tooth and nail" not to record "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" or "Run Charlie Run", a socially conscious Black power track (dealing primarily with the phenomenon of white flight) that called for them to repeatedly call out, in an affected Caucasian accent, "the niggers are comin'!" According to legend, lead singer Dennis Edwards didn't want to sing "Papa's" opening lines, because his own father had died on the third of September, but in actuality, Edwards' father had died on the third of October. In addition, his father was a minister, "a good, steady, religious man", not a "rolling stone".

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Wikipedia