most spectacular

if youre even marginally less obsessed w r&b / soul 1968 - 1978 than i am this post is truly disposable.
okay okay thanks. sorry.
is there anything richer and more colorful, more gleefully experimental / endlesly rewarding, more mind-alteringly kaleidoscopic than the psychedelic motown productions of norman whitfield in the early 70s?
maybe.
but those tracks are still fuckig mindblowing. & they are overflowing with pretty confounding decisions: funky bassline + stately harpsichord?? 14-minute sound-collage dirges instead of ballads? who DOES that!?!?!?!
and you can hear him giggling maniacally at the fun stereo engineering could yield: listen to this right-left-panning drum intro:


norman. even at his peak brian wilson was composerly and feels stiff with those anal strings (i'm talking about his meticulous string arrangements, but yes i agree "anal strings" is one of the worst pairings of words)... plus, the only thing better than a genius who falls from a staggering height of brilliance into a dark pit of despair is a genius who, instead of collapsing after the peak of his career, dutifully carries on. and i'm not even saying fuck brian wilson-- or even paul dano!-- but instead saying: norman whitfield was a better man, a better producer, a more interesting character, and brian wilson can go fuck himself.

his closest production contemporary is curtis mayfield, who had a similar penchant for injecting molten gold guitar lines, diverse percussion, and gorgeously unfurling harps, best exemplified here:

BUT clearly it took him the format of a Soundtrack to really let loose and be that indulgent. norman's ok jelqing himself off for a whole half of a record, sprawling out hypnotic bonkers grooves w/ impeccable vocal arrangements and space-funk ..... god it's so good.
i've assembled my 3 favorite productions below:

Little Green Apples (1969) - The Temptations

the opening guitar part is so stunning i famously sampled it a year ago.

Take a Stroll Thru Your Mind (1970) - The Temptations

this song is really transcendental.
it's also probably norman's sparsest, just bongos and a walking bassline, with thos psyched-out doo-wop vocals popping in & out & around the head. proto-ASMR grunts & moans. a masterpiece in restraint... and then when that fuzz guitar shreds in it fucking SCHRIPPS!!!!!!

Smiling Faces Sometimes (1973) - Rare Earth

norm clearly believed this tune to be a fertile plot of land, ripe for experimentation: he continuously  revisited it   over the course of his career, each time using it as a vessel that housed whatever he was interested in at the time. this is his 4th & final (as far as i am aware) & best version.

Wishing on a Star (1977) - Rose Royce

how the lowkey disney ass orchestra swirls behind her? the watery guitar?? the clicky late 70s smooth beat grounded as those waves of sound overwhelm it? or how about when the drums lurch into a sweaty double-time sprint in the final 3rd giving the track just the momentum it needed!?!?!?! and its warmth and nuance remain unmatched.

honorable mentioned to this whole album Sky's The Limit (1971) by the Temptations, because it favors unorthodox orchestral percussion for the majority instead of funk drumming. who would've fuckign thought.

ta-ta!