Smiling Faces Sometimes 1922598 219623033 2008-06-16T03:17:19Z 71.61.11.133 /* Overview */ {{Infobox Single | Name = Smiling Faces Sometimes | Artist = [[The Undisputed Truth]] | from Album = The Undisputed Truth | Released = [[May 13]], [[1971]] | Format = 7" single | Recorded = [[Hitsville USA]] (Studio A); 1971 | Genre = [[Psychedelic soul]] | Length = 3:16 | Label = [[Motown|Gordy]]<br><small>G 7108</small> | Writer= [[Norman Whitfield]] <br /> [[Barrett Strong]] | Producer = Norman Whitfield | Chart position = <nowiki></nowiki> *<nowiki>#</nowiki>3 <small>([[Billboard Hot 100|US Pop Singles]])</small> **<nowiki>#</nowiki>2 <small>([[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks|US R&B Singles]])</small> | NoReviews = yes | Last single = "Save My Love For A Rainy Day" <br />1971 | This single = "Smiling Faces Sometimes"<br />1971 | Next single = "You Make Your Own Heaven And Hell Right Here On Earth"<br />1971 }} "'''Smiling Faces Sometimes'''" is a [[soul music|soul]] song written by [[Norman Whitfield]] and [[Barrett Strong]] for the [[Motown]] label. The song was originally recorded by [[The Temptations]] in [[1971]]. [[record producer|Producer]] Norman Whitfield had the song re-recorded by [[The Undisputed Truth]] the same year, resulting in a number-three [[Billboard Hot 100]] position for the group. "Smiling Faces" was the [[1970s One-hit wonders in the United States|only Top 40 single]] released by the Undisputed Truth, and was included on their debut album ''The Undisputed Truth''. ==Overview== Both versions of "Smiling Faces Sometimes" deal with the same subject matter, "back-stabbing" friends who do their friends wrong behind their backs ("Smiling faces sometimes...they don't tell the truth...smiling faces sometimes tell lies"), but in different ways. The Temptations' original uses an arrangement similar to a [[haunted house]] film score to represent feelings of fear and timidness. Included on the 1971 ''[[Sky's the Limit]]'' album, "Smiling Faces Sometimes" runs over 12 minutes, most of which is comprised of extended instrumental passages without any vocals. An edited version was planned as the Temptations' summer [[1971]] single release, but this plan was dropped when Eddie Kendricks, frustrated by personnel problems within the group, quit The Temptations and signed a solo deal with Motown in March [[1971]]. Whitfield who was known for recording dramatically different versions of the same song with different Motown artists. He hated including [[Smokey Robinson & the Miracles]]' "[[I Heard It Through the Grapevine]]" (re-recorded as hit records for [[Gladys Knight & the Pips]], and [[Marvin Gaye]]) and The Temptations' "[[War (song)|War]]" (re-recorded as a hit for [[Edwin Starr]]). After Kendricks left The Temptations, an undaunted Whitfield re-recorded the song with his latest protégés, a [[psychedelic]] [[trio (ong was referenced in [[The O'Jays]]' similarly-themed [[1972]] hit "Back Stabbers", and has been covered by [[Bobbi Humphrey]], [[Joan Osbourne]], [[Rare Earth (band)|Rare Earth]], and others. Future Undisputed Truth singles would never make it higher than #63, a position attained by both [[1972]]'s "[[Papa Was a Rollin' Stone]]" and [[1974]]'s "Help Yourself". Ironically, "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" was re-recorded by The Temptations shortly after its release, and the re-recorded version became not only a #1 pop hit, but a three-time [[Grammy Award]] winner as well. ==Credits== * Written by [[Norman Whitfield]] and [[Barrett Strong]] * Produced by Norman Whitfield * Instrumentation by [[The Funk Brothers]] ===Undisputed Truth version=== * Lead and background vocals by Joe Harris, Billie Rae Calvin, and Brenda Joyce ===Temptations version=== * Lead vocals by [[Eddie Kendricks]] and [[Dennis Edwards]] * Background vocals by [[Dennis Edwards]], [[Melvin Franklin]], [[Paul Williams (The Temptations)|Paul Williams]], [[Eddie Kendricks]], and [[Otis Williams]] [[Category:1971 singles]] [[Category:The Temptations songs]]