Undisputed Truth – "Smiling Faces Sometimes" (1971)

Smiling faces, smiling faces

Sometimes they don't tell the truth

Are you a University of Maryland student looking for a cheap way for you and your buddies to get  absolutely sh*t-faced this weekend?

If so, I’ve got some great news for you!

Anheuser-Busch recently shipped hundreds of 77-packs of Natural Light beer to its local distributor for delivery to liquor stores in College Park, Maryland – home of the University of Maryland’s 30,000-student flagship campus.

(Why a 77-pack?  Because the Natural Light brand was introduced in 1977.)

Those 77-packs are selling for about $30.  That’s only 39 cents a can, or less than $10 a case.  (To quote the Who, “I’d call that a bargain – the best I ever had!”)

Here’s a report on the 77-packs from a local TV station:

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Anheuser-Busch deserves the thanks of young binge drinkers, but let’s give credit where credit is due and thank A-B’s local distributor, Bob Hall LLC, as well.

After all, they’re the guys delivering those 77-packs to the local stores – who I hope are checking IDs carefully.  (After all, we don’t want any 77-packs falling into the hands of underage Georgetown Prep students!)

One down, 76 to go!

Eric Best, the general manager of Bob Hall, was thrilled by the positive consumer response to the bargain 77-packs.  “It was selling out as our guys were delivering it off the trucks,” Best told the Baltimore Sun.  So he quickly got on the phone to the Natural Light brand manager to beg them to send him some more.  

Bob Hall hoped to deliver 1400 cases of the 65-pound behemoths to local stores in time for tailgating and homecoming parties.

That’s 107,800 cans of Natural Light, boys and girls.  (I’d be surprised if there was a single one of those 107,800 cans left unopened by the end of Maryland’s homecoming.)

I’m sure it was high fives all around at Bob Hall LLC when they saw just how fast those 77-packs were flying off the store shelves.  Ka-ching, ka-ching!

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Not that the good folks at Bob Hall want people to consume Natural Light  irresponsibly.  “It’s a party pack,” said a Bob Hall spokesman. “It’s not an individual challenge to drink 77 beers.”

(Hopefully someone in your frat
has a car with a really big trunk)

Heaven forbid!  Like the man said, those 77-packs are for parties.  If four dudes get together with an equal number of babes, there’s enough in one of those 77-packs for everyone to have nine-plus beers.

Which should be more than enough to get the job done!

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All this is going on as the “Task Force to Study State Alcohol Regulation, Enforcement, Safety, and Public Health” is assessing the Old Line State’s current system of regulating the sale of alcohol.

The preamble to the statute that established that task force makes a number of excellent points:

– For example, according to the Centers for Disease Control, excessive alcohol use is responsible for approximately 1321 deaths annually in Maryland, not to mention $5 billion in economic costs.

– As the CDC also points out, “alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug among youth in the United States.”

– Also, excessive alcohol use is commonly involved in sexual assault because “excessive alcohol consumption increases aggression.”

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Given all that, it may come as a bit of a surprise to you that one of the members of the esteemed Task Force is none other than Eric Best, the general manager of the aforementioned Bob Hall beer distributorship.

Haven't decided on your
 Halloween costume yet?

After all, he’s as responsible as anyone for those 1400 cases of bargain Natural Light 77-packs that are flooding the University of Maryland campus this weekend.

Why in the world would the leadership of the Maryland legislature appoint one of the biggest sellers of cheap beer in the state to a task force that claims to be the sworn enemy of excessive alcohol use – especially excessive alcohol use by Maryland youth?

To paraphrase the 18th-century English poet, William Cowper, our legislative leadership moves in mysterious ways, its wonders to perform.

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“Smiling Faces Sometimes” was written by the greatest of all the Motown producer/songwriter teams, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong (who also penned “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Cloud Nine,” “I Can’t Get Next to You,” and many other Motown classics).

The song was originally recorded by the Temptations, who released a 12-minute version of “Smiling Faces Sometime” on a 1971 album.  Shortly thereafter, the Undisputed Truth recorded a much shorter version of the song, which made it all the way to #3 on the Billboard “Hot 100.”

The Temptations returned the favor the very next year.  After the Undisputed Truth’s recording of “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” stalled at #63 on the “Hot 100,” the Temptations’ cover made it all the way to #1.

Click here to listen to “Smiling Faces Sometimes.”

And click on the link below to buy the song from Amazon.  Unless you’ve spent all your money on Natural Light 77-packs, of course.