[Cover photo of Gladys Knight and the Pips]
Elemental Music’s ongoing Motown Sound Collection vinyl reissue series will be releasing three more titles from the Detroit label’s archives, arriving December 13, 2024, including Gladys Knight & the Pips’ Neither One of Us, The Temptations’ Solid Rock, and The Undisputed Truth’s self-titled album
With nineteen titles rolled out since last May, the Motown titles ranged from The Temptations’ I Wish It Would Rain, the Supremes’ I Hear a Symphony, and Marvin Gaye’s When I’m Alone I Cry.
More about Gladys Knight & the Pips’ Neither One of Us:
Released in 1973, Gladys Knight & the Pips’ ninth studio album was their most successful album, having climbed Billboard’s Top LPs chart to the #9 position and hitting pole position on the Top Soul LPs chart. The album’s title track which All Music Guide called “magnificent featuring stunning vocals by Gladys Knight” reached the #1 spot in the U.S. R&B chart and #2 in the Singles chart. Rolling Stone praised the song’s “prominent string section, a rush of backing vocals from the Pips, electric keyboards and feisty bass and Knight who had one of the sandiest voices on the Motown roster.” It’s follow-up single “Daddy Could Swear, I Declare” reached #2 in the R&B chart and landing in the Top 20 at #19.
More about The Temptations’ Solid Rock:
The 15th studio album by The Temptations, Solid Rock topped Billboard’s R&B album chart at #1 when it was released in 1972. The first album by the band without its founding members Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams, Solid Rock featured three singles. Originally a b-side to the band’s monumental single “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Needs Today),” “It’s Summer” just missed the top half of the Hot 100, peaking at #51. Faring quite a bit better, The Temptations’ second single “Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)” was a Top Ten hit on the R&B Chart and peaked at #18 on the Hot 100. “Take A Look Around” rounded out the album’s focus tracks, landing the band a Top 30 hit.
More about The Undisputed Truth’s The Undisputed Truth:
Released in 1971 and produced by one of the undisputed creators of the classic Motown Sound Norman Whitfield, the self-titled debut of The Undisputed Truth launched the band’s career by combining the traditional Motown Sound with psychedelia-laced soul. “A beautiful transitional record” (BBC), the first single “Save My Love for a Rainy Day” (peaked at #43 on the R&B chart), it set the stage for their second and career-high hit single “Smiling Faces Sometimes” which posited itself at #3 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Speculated to be a testing ground by Whitfield, many of the tracks had also been recorded by labelmates The Temptations and even includes a “quiet, reflective take” on the song “Aquarius” (from the musical Hair).
While 2024’s slate of releases concludes with these three albums, 2025 will see even more Motown Sound classics set for release including Reflections from Diana Ross & The Supremes, Pure Smokey by Smokey Robinson, and Changing Times by The Four Tops. All releases will replicate the sound and 12-by-12 full-color packaging of the ‘60s and ‘70s LPs.
Founded in 2012, Elemental Music specializes in releasing newly discovered and out-of-print recordings, primarily Jazz, Blues, and Soul.
