Nice one, Ellen! And what a terrific song - I'm not sure what TV show that YT clip is from, but it seems that they're singing live (unusual when lip-synching was the norm) over a recorded backing track, and what a performance!
As for ". . . and the band played on. . .", I can see two different interpretations. It could be "same old same old" despite all the troubles in the world, or it could be that in the face of all this confusion, music remains a healing/unifying power as ". . . the band plays on." I prefer the latter!
I couldn't find out what TV show it's from, maybe with more sleuthing, but it's an official Tempts video and they don't identify it. But yeah, they are consummate pros in every way, and, according to Otis, found the dance routines quite challenging.
I've seen that first explanation of 'the band plays on' but I prefer your second one too!
Hey, Hugh.....From the Ed Sullivan Show in mid-'70, I think I'm leaning toward a synched performance over their record. No mics are present, and there are enough long shots of the group to give the group some "cover" and "relief" that no one singer is being focused on for all that long (so, their lip-synching didn't have to be precise for the entire length of the song)! This way, too, they could concentrate a little more on their dancing. Just a guess.
I dunno Brad, that's some pretty darn good lip synching. I just watched it again and A-B'd it with the version on my Tempts double CD 'Very Best Of' (same take as the YT link at the top of Ellen's post), and it's a very different version - no spacy guitar or voice over at the beginning, and definitely a different vocal take - and the majority of acts on Ed Sullivan, if that's where this is from, did in fact perform live.
I think it's possible there are overhead mics just out of the field of view - with a pre-recorded backing track they could control volume & mix more than with a live band so a few overheads would work with a group of singers all moving around. . . theoretically.
But really, the important think to focus on is those matching orange suits, dang!
That's good to hear.....I had always thought Sullivan did stuff live. And, I had thought about overhead mics, but wasn't sure of the close pick-up of them in that era! Fun to test'n'debate it, though! And, yes, the suits....no lip-synching there! Thanks, Hugh!
Yes, I have to agree, I love the recorded version, but the focus in the live performance is the orange suits and the dance moves. They were known for their sartorial splendor and visually exciting and perfectly synched footwork, and that's where my attention certainly goes. Don't have a clue if their lips are out of time with the music!
The song addresses practically every social and political issue of the times in a name-check style Billy Joel used later with "We Didn't Start The Fire". But it was aptly named and still relevant to our time (both the front and bracketed title), and Whitfield used all of the group's voices considerably well- bass singer Melvin Franklin was used very uniquely as a musical period for the others' sentences.
Great observations. I loved how Whitfield used Melvin -- it's my favorite part and I listen for it, and never thought of it as a musical period for the others' sentences.
But yeah, he seemed very astute at balancing them within songs and also across songs to keep all group members involved and happy and to enhance the song in really fun ways.
Interesting about the name-checking approach used here and in Billy Joel's later tune.
Whitfield was always astute about using singers the same way he used musicians- to get points across and people dancing. He did it with The Tempts for sure, but just as well with Edwin Starr, The Undisputed Truth, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Marvin Gaye and (later) Rose Royce on the "Car Wash" soundtrack.
Nice, thoughtful piece on this absolute classic. I interviewed Dennis Coffey (guitarist for the Funk Brothers, etc.) and he had this to say about Norman Whitfield: "He was doing these protest things. I used to see Norman in the clubs all the time. He was a very savvy guy that went out in the streets to hear what the people were reacting to." Thanks to that we have Ball Of Confusion and many others!
You’re welcome! Feel free to quote. The article was available on Mass Appeal before they trashed their archives 😤. Something I need to “UnArchive,” as my new series would have it!
Ellen.......I put a quarter into the magic Google machine, and along with a generic fortune and some lotto numbers, it spat out: "The Temptations performed 'Ball of Confusion' on The Ed Sullivan Show. A live performance of the song is available on YouTube." That's logical, as Ed was already "plugged into" Motown quite a bit...he adored The Supremes (he called them, "The Girls"), whom he had on countless times!
The show ran through March 1971, and "Ball of Confusion" was released in May 1970, with the Temps' appearance likely being sometime that summer.
Thanks for finding that information -- your excellent research skills come to the rescue yet again!
That certainly makes sense. It looks like an Ed Sullivan stage, doesn't it?
I haven't seen an Ed Sullivan official video for it, but I know from visiting the Ed Sullivan site in the past that they didn't put every performance up on YT. That would probably take years given how long they were broadcasting and how many performances they had on every show. Looks like the Tempts got permission to use the vid. A smart move.
You're most welcome, Ellen! Before I enjoined Google, my guess was either Sullivan or Hollywood Palace, but it turns out The Palace had its last broadcast in February '70, mere weeks before The Temps had their single released! "Missed it by that much!"
Just minutes ago, I ran across this clip from The Palace in 1964. It's Dino, Desi & Billy with The Everly Bros.' "Since You Broke My Heart." I'm featuring DD&B in a piece I hope to publish by the weekend! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJaI540m1A0 Enjoy!
I remember Dino, Desi and Billy! How young and sweet are they in that vid. I'm guessing I had a crush on them (can't recall!). Looking forward to reading the piece.
Little-heard was Dino, Jr.'s little bro, the equally crush-worthy Ricci, and his 1977 Epic album, "Beached" (Ricci was 24). It's crawling with name players.....members of Beach Boys, Chicago, America, and more! https://www.discogs.com/release/7746130-Ricci-Martin-Beached
It would be irresponsible of me not to mention the racial divide of that period (they had very good reason to protest) and although we rocked to the beat, even had our heroes (BB King), there was a musical divide as well. For me personally, I reverted to Mississippi Delta blues and stole music from that region for live play (keeping me in good graces). But the recording quality and musical prowess has to be respected since being studio live recorded (minimal postproduction) and captured on vinyl.
My heartache resides in an absence of high-quality audio in the entire industry today. Hi-fidelity seems to have gone the wayside.
Yes, absolutely, we saw it and lived it. Blacks in the 60s being channeled into 'race music' like soul and R&B and whites into straight up pop and rock. It's sobering to think about all the good music we wouldn't have had if there had been no Motown, or if Ed Sullivan had not been so open to new artists of any color or nationality. Who would have broke the Beatles, Stones, or Motown artists in US TV? Maybe Dick Clark, but he served the youth market, whereas Ed reached mainstream America and created a mass market for the music that contributed to a flourishing.
I hear you about the high quality audio too. I'm wanting to write about the changes that brought about a crash in the availability of music other than solo artists creating songs on their computer or with professional songwriters. This video is quite good in outlining the problem -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_DjmtR0Xls -- with almost 11,000 comments, many by musicians who say bands cannot make it in the industry anymore, period.
Time to ditch the music industry completely and start a different system. Enough of people who don't care at all about the music and expect to reap outrageous rewards without taking any risks or doing anything to earn it, and exploiting the artists. (Don't get me started!)
Isn't it sad that music was usurped by an industry only concerned with profit, they only do one thing (sell music). Imagine what it could be like listening to Motown with a good set of speakers and hi-fidelity reproduction. Today we can add all the bass, mid and treble, volume, stereo, midi-maxi, surround sound or whatever else there is to geek out on, and we're still stuck with digital, which sucks, or 8 track, which sucks, or cassette, which sucks. People are collecting vinyl and restoring the tons of old stereo equipment because they want that sound, the thing that captures the moment, and reproduces it with reasonable fidelity. We want to feel the music, hear the subtle nuance of the instruments and voices along with the skill of execution required to pull off live performance. Oh well, there's still plenty of live music, we just have to seek it out, which might be a good thing for performers. And we want to "get you started"...spin ya' up.
Yes, the upside is that people are hungry for live performance, from what I'm hearing. Not for stadium seats at $2000 a ticket or crappy recordings.
With the music industry now trying to go in the direction of AI-generated music so they can get the cost down to almost nothing, they're digging their own grave. Time to get together a vision for what we want, for when the system fails and a new era can be ushered in. Sound fidelity and grassroots music-making must be part of that. Can't wait to be part of it!
You are part of it, just like the reader makes the story come alive, the listener (audience) is the greatest of all pleasures for a performer. It's about the story, about the music. The pandemic was another big hit for live performance, getting an audience is all that much harder. But they're coming back, tucked away in back rooms and open mics, pubs, speakeasy's and stages everywhere.
The people's music is like water, it can't be defeated. Done now.
Very well said, David, and very encouraging. Appreciate your perspective as an experienced and passionate musician. Makes my heart glad to have an optimistic view on the future of music.
Just yesterday I was listening to the Love and Rockets cover of this song and wondering if you were going to cover it. And here it is ! LOL-- I love your series. Thank you for it!
16 hrs ago·edited 16 hrs agoLiked by Ellen from Endwell
Yes, it's an 80's Goth version! Great songs really do transcend genres. As a teenager of the 80's this was the first version of the song that I knew. Oh, and they changed the lyrics a little: "Economics, reaganomics, birth control, the status quo." Again showing how the theme of the song is -- sadly-- timeless and still relevant.
Nice one, Ellen! And what a terrific song - I'm not sure what TV show that YT clip is from, but it seems that they're singing live (unusual when lip-synching was the norm) over a recorded backing track, and what a performance!
As for ". . . and the band played on. . .", I can see two different interpretations. It could be "same old same old" despite all the troubles in the world, or it could be that in the face of all this confusion, music remains a healing/unifying power as ". . . the band plays on." I prefer the latter!
Thanks, Hugh!
I couldn't find out what TV show it's from, maybe with more sleuthing, but it's an official Tempts video and they don't identify it. But yeah, they are consummate pros in every way, and, according to Otis, found the dance routines quite challenging.
I've seen that first explanation of 'the band plays on' but I prefer your second one too!
Hey, Hugh.....From the Ed Sullivan Show in mid-'70, I think I'm leaning toward a synched performance over their record. No mics are present, and there are enough long shots of the group to give the group some "cover" and "relief" that no one singer is being focused on for all that long (so, their lip-synching didn't have to be precise for the entire length of the song)! This way, too, they could concentrate a little more on their dancing. Just a guess.
If so, those guys were master lip synchers as well!
I dunno Brad, that's some pretty darn good lip synching. I just watched it again and A-B'd it with the version on my Tempts double CD 'Very Best Of' (same take as the YT link at the top of Ellen's post), and it's a very different version - no spacy guitar or voice over at the beginning, and definitely a different vocal take - and the majority of acts on Ed Sullivan, if that's where this is from, did in fact perform live.
I think it's possible there are overhead mics just out of the field of view - with a pre-recorded backing track they could control volume & mix more than with a live band so a few overheads would work with a group of singers all moving around. . . theoretically.
But really, the important think to focus on is those matching orange suits, dang!
That's good to hear.....I had always thought Sullivan did stuff live. And, I had thought about overhead mics, but wasn't sure of the close pick-up of them in that era! Fun to test'n'debate it, though! And, yes, the suits....no lip-synching there! Thanks, Hugh!
Yes, I have to agree, I love the recorded version, but the focus in the live performance is the orange suits and the dance moves. They were known for their sartorial splendor and visually exciting and perfectly synched footwork, and that's where my attention certainly goes. Don't have a clue if their lips are out of time with the music!
"...and the band played on..."
The song addresses practically every social and political issue of the times in a name-check style Billy Joel used later with "We Didn't Start The Fire". But it was aptly named and still relevant to our time (both the front and bracketed title), and Whitfield used all of the group's voices considerably well- bass singer Melvin Franklin was used very uniquely as a musical period for the others' sentences.
Great observations. I loved how Whitfield used Melvin -- it's my favorite part and I listen for it, and never thought of it as a musical period for the others' sentences.
But yeah, he seemed very astute at balancing them within songs and also across songs to keep all group members involved and happy and to enhance the song in really fun ways.
Interesting about the name-checking approach used here and in Billy Joel's later tune.
Whitfield was always astute about using singers the same way he used musicians- to get points across and people dancing. He did it with The Tempts for sure, but just as well with Edwin Starr, The Undisputed Truth, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Marvin Gaye and (later) Rose Royce on the "Car Wash" soundtrack.
A really interesting guy. I'll have to read more about him!
Another one of his songs coming up in a couple of posts.
Nice, thoughtful piece on this absolute classic. I interviewed Dennis Coffey (guitarist for the Funk Brothers, etc.) and he had this to say about Norman Whitfield: "He was doing these protest things. I used to see Norman in the clubs all the time. He was a very savvy guy that went out in the streets to hear what the people were reacting to." Thanks to that we have Ball Of Confusion and many others!
Thanks, Jeremy! And thanks for sharing that inside scoop!
Can I quote you on that in an upcoming post? Or is your interview available? Would love to read it.
You’re welcome! Feel free to quote. The article was available on Mass Appeal before they trashed their archives 😤. Something I need to “UnArchive,” as my new series would have it!
Thanks, will be pleased to include it.
I hear you about the disappearing archives.
Were you in the Young Aborigines? Honored to have you drop by and have subscribed to your stack.
Ellen.......I put a quarter into the magic Google machine, and along with a generic fortune and some lotto numbers, it spat out: "The Temptations performed 'Ball of Confusion' on The Ed Sullivan Show. A live performance of the song is available on YouTube." That's logical, as Ed was already "plugged into" Motown quite a bit...he adored The Supremes (he called them, "The Girls"), whom he had on countless times!
The show ran through March 1971, and "Ball of Confusion" was released in May 1970, with the Temps' appearance likely being sometime that summer.
Thanks for finding that information -- your excellent research skills come to the rescue yet again!
That certainly makes sense. It looks like an Ed Sullivan stage, doesn't it?
I haven't seen an Ed Sullivan official video for it, but I know from visiting the Ed Sullivan site in the past that they didn't put every performance up on YT. That would probably take years given how long they were broadcasting and how many performances they had on every show. Looks like the Tempts got permission to use the vid. A smart move.
You're most welcome, Ellen! Before I enjoined Google, my guess was either Sullivan or Hollywood Palace, but it turns out The Palace had its last broadcast in February '70, mere weeks before The Temps had their single released! "Missed it by that much!"
I completely forgot about Hollywood Palace. What a blast from the past. As I've said before, you have a great memory, Brad!
Just minutes ago, I ran across this clip from The Palace in 1964. It's Dino, Desi & Billy with The Everly Bros.' "Since You Broke My Heart." I'm featuring DD&B in a piece I hope to publish by the weekend! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJaI540m1A0 Enjoy!
I remember Dino, Desi and Billy! How young and sweet are they in that vid. I'm guessing I had a crush on them (can't recall!). Looking forward to reading the piece.
Little-heard was Dino, Jr.'s little bro, the equally crush-worthy Ricci, and his 1977 Epic album, "Beached" (Ricci was 24). It's crawling with name players.....members of Beach Boys, Chicago, America, and more! https://www.discogs.com/release/7746130-Ricci-Martin-Beached
Here's a recently-released extended version of that album: https://open.spotify.com/album/2m0mx2yOyP3h2uDwa1iuYo?si=4e76d462295a4e46
This album is in desperate need of an article!
It would be irresponsible of me not to mention the racial divide of that period (they had very good reason to protest) and although we rocked to the beat, even had our heroes (BB King), there was a musical divide as well. For me personally, I reverted to Mississippi Delta blues and stole music from that region for live play (keeping me in good graces). But the recording quality and musical prowess has to be respected since being studio live recorded (minimal postproduction) and captured on vinyl.
My heartache resides in an absence of high-quality audio in the entire industry today. Hi-fidelity seems to have gone the wayside.
Yes, absolutely, we saw it and lived it. Blacks in the 60s being channeled into 'race music' like soul and R&B and whites into straight up pop and rock. It's sobering to think about all the good music we wouldn't have had if there had been no Motown, or if Ed Sullivan had not been so open to new artists of any color or nationality. Who would have broke the Beatles, Stones, or Motown artists in US TV? Maybe Dick Clark, but he served the youth market, whereas Ed reached mainstream America and created a mass market for the music that contributed to a flourishing.
I hear you about the high quality audio too. I'm wanting to write about the changes that brought about a crash in the availability of music other than solo artists creating songs on their computer or with professional songwriters. This video is quite good in outlining the problem -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_DjmtR0Xls -- with almost 11,000 comments, many by musicians who say bands cannot make it in the industry anymore, period.
Time to ditch the music industry completely and start a different system. Enough of people who don't care at all about the music and expect to reap outrageous rewards without taking any risks or doing anything to earn it, and exploiting the artists. (Don't get me started!)
Isn't it sad that music was usurped by an industry only concerned with profit, they only do one thing (sell music). Imagine what it could be like listening to Motown with a good set of speakers and hi-fidelity reproduction. Today we can add all the bass, mid and treble, volume, stereo, midi-maxi, surround sound or whatever else there is to geek out on, and we're still stuck with digital, which sucks, or 8 track, which sucks, or cassette, which sucks. People are collecting vinyl and restoring the tons of old stereo equipment because they want that sound, the thing that captures the moment, and reproduces it with reasonable fidelity. We want to feel the music, hear the subtle nuance of the instruments and voices along with the skill of execution required to pull off live performance. Oh well, there's still plenty of live music, we just have to seek it out, which might be a good thing for performers. And we want to "get you started"...spin ya' up.
Yes, the upside is that people are hungry for live performance, from what I'm hearing. Not for stadium seats at $2000 a ticket or crappy recordings.
With the music industry now trying to go in the direction of AI-generated music so they can get the cost down to almost nothing, they're digging their own grave. Time to get together a vision for what we want, for when the system fails and a new era can be ushered in. Sound fidelity and grassroots music-making must be part of that. Can't wait to be part of it!
You are part of it, just like the reader makes the story come alive, the listener (audience) is the greatest of all pleasures for a performer. It's about the story, about the music. The pandemic was another big hit for live performance, getting an audience is all that much harder. But they're coming back, tucked away in back rooms and open mics, pubs, speakeasy's and stages everywhere.
The people's music is like water, it can't be defeated. Done now.
Very well said, David, and very encouraging. Appreciate your perspective as an experienced and passionate musician. Makes my heart glad to have an optimistic view on the future of music.
Such a great and timeless song. Sadly, still relevant.
Yes, it's almost eerie how spot on it is. It certainly says something...
Excellent analysis, as always, Ellen!
Thanks so much, Dan!
Just yesterday I was listening to the Love and Rockets cover of this song and wondering if you were going to cover it. And here it is ! LOL-- I love your series. Thank you for it!
Thanks so much for reading and being in synchronicity musically!
Just checked out that cover and it's quite different but really like it. Here's the link for folks -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFQowBOEjR0
Yes, it's an 80's Goth version! Great songs really do transcend genres. As a teenager of the 80's this was the first version of the song that I knew. Oh, and they changed the lyrics a little: "Economics, reaganomics, birth control, the status quo." Again showing how the theme of the song is -- sadly-- timeless and still relevant.
You can't keep a great song down. They seem to pop up where you least expect them.
Those changed lyrics are perfect for the 80s! I love to see artists make a song their own, especially when it's lyrically complex like this.
What a record !! 👍