Contradiction (album)

Contradiction is the eighth studio album by The Ohio Players, and the fourth album recorded for Mercury.

History
Contradiction was not as ballad-heavy as Honey, but it did expand on the mixture of funk, soul, and rock that they played with on that album. The title track also showed a leaning towards the work they did on Westbound. "Who'd She Coo?" was released as a single and went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart.

The band recorded Contradiction at three different recording studios, each session utilizing Barry Mraz as their engineer. The album cover depicts a nude woman feeding a horse a shiny red apple. While the horse is identified by name and breed in the liner notes (an Anglo-Trakehner stallion named Wasyl), the model is uncredited.

It is the fifth and last Ohio Players album to be announced also as a quadraphonic (four-channel stereo) release in the 8-track tape format. However, it was never actually released as no known copies have surfaced even among collectors, and there is no evidence the remix was ever performed. Contradiction was one of three Ohio Players albums released in 1976. Westbound released Rattlesnake, featuring songs not used during their time with the label. With four Mercury albums under their belt and hit singles on the charts, the group would approve a greatest hits compilation, Gold.

Personnel

 * Billy Beck – grand piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, Hohner Clavinet, RMI Electric Piano, ARP "Odyssey" Synthesizer, ARP String Ensemble, percussion, vocals
 * James "Diamond" Williams – drums, timbales, congas, cowbells, steel drums, temple blocks, percussion, vocals
 * Marshall "Rock" Jones – electric bass, percussion
 * Marvin "Merv" Pierce – trumpets, trombones, percussion
 * Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks – trumpets
 * Clarence "Satch" Satchell – flute, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, percussion, vocals
 * Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner – guitars, harmonica, percussion, vocals

Production

 * Ohio Players – producers
 * Barry Mraz, Lee Hulko – engineers
 * Rob Kingsland, Karl Richardson, Steve Klein, Hank Neuberger – assistant engineer
 * Jim Ladwig – art director
 * Joe Kotleba, Jim Schubert – design
 * Paul Gremmler – cover photography
 * David Alexander – Ohio Players photos

Charts

 * Singles