Temptations Best Hits
Mertie Oldow
It's been 60 years since the Temptations made their first appearance on the Billboard R&B charts with their first release on Motown, "(You're My) Dream Come True," a soulful ballad written and produced by Berry Gordy.
That song peaked at No. 22, earning the Tempts a spot on Gordy's Motortown Revue and setting the wheels in motion for what even now remains one of the most successful singing groups the world has ever known.
Within a decade of releasing "(You're My) Dream Come True," they'd sent four singles to the top of Billboard's Hot 100 as their sound evolved from early hits as iconic as "My Girl" to the more ambitious psychedelic soul of such classics as "Cloud Nine," which earned Motown its first Grammy, and "Ball of Confusion."
Here's one unapologetically subjective countdown of their greatest songs, from the timeless appeal of the non-charting "I Want a Love I Can See" to their very funky team-up with guitarist Eddie Hazel on "Shakey Ground."
That toy piano intro is sublime. Most people will be hooked before the first words escape David Ruffin's mouth as he tries to capture the extent to which his love for you is growing every day. And speaking of those lyrics, they could scarcely be more instantly identifiable as the work of a young Smokey Robinson, who co-wrote this gem of a love song with the Miracles' Pete Moore. Sample line: "Like the size of a fish that the man claims broke his reel, it's growing." Robinson was coming off a huge Temptations single, "My Girl." This one didn't do as well, but few songs have. "It's Growing" peaked at No. 18 on the Hot 100.
This richly orchestrated masterstroke was brilliantly produced by Whitfield, who wrote the song with Edward Holland, Jr. It also features one of Motown's most distinctive basslines. You could make a solid case for the extent to which James Jamerson out-grooves the competition based entirely on this performance. He even manages to groove on the opening verse without a drummer, who doesn't really make his presence felt until the second verse, where the other Temptations weave their way through Ruffin's desperate pleas, delivered in his legendary rasp, with an emphatic, extremely contagious refrain of "I need you/Baby, I need you." This one peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Written and produced by Whitfield, this one wears its sense of self-importance on its actual sleeve. The title tells you everything you need to know about what they were hoping to accomplish here. I believe the term for that would be a baller move. And the song length definitely follows suit. Thirteen minutes and 49 seconds?! It's pretty clear that Whitfield meant for this to be another "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," his chart-topping masterpiece of the previous year, adhering closely to the formula that made that record what it was. You're nearly four minutes into a sumptuous bed of orchestrated soundtrack funk before we hear from any actual Temptations, who rise to the occasion here with a heartfelt delivery of Whitfield's gritty portrait of how "nobody cares what happens to folks down here in the ghetto." This one topped the R&B charts, hitting No. 7 on the Hot 100.
Robinson produced this soulful gem, a song he reportedly wrote to shine a spotlight on the great and yet underutilized Paul Williams, their original lead singer, whose star had been eclipsed in the Temptations firmament by Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks. It was relegated to the B-side after DJs made their preference clear for the intended flip, "My Baby," with the red-hot Ruffin on lead vocals. "My Baby" outperformed it on the Hot 100 and the R&B charts. But "Don't Look Back" became a go-to track to close their live performances, its reputation growing through the years to where it now has more than twice as many streams on Spotify and has inspired countless covers, from Peter Tosh with Mick Jagger to Elvis Costello.
There's more than a passing resemblance to the effervescent rhythm that made the Supremes song "You Can't Hurry Love" such a chart-topping triumph the previous summer. And although this single didn't do what the Supremes did with a similar approach, the energy of "All I Need" is every bit as irresistible as it builds to its inevitable climax, Ruffin in the role of the unfaithful lover vowing to "undo the wrong I've done." All he needs is just to hear you say you forgive him. This one peaked at No. 8 on Billboard's Hot 100, doing better on the R&B charts, where it got to No. 2.
Their final single to feature Ruffin on lead vocals was also their second consecutive single with lyrics by Rodger Penzabene. It took the Tempts to No. 1 on Billboard's R&B charts (much like that previous Penzabene single, "I Wish It Would Rain"). But this one only got to No. 13 on the Hot 100. Not for lack of being an exceptional recording. Ruffin clearly went out on a high with this positively tortured vocal. The intensity he brings to "On my bended knees, I'm beggin' you to stay here with me" is like a master class in desperation, underscoring the heartache of lyrics reportedly written as an open letter from Penzabene, who died by suicide before this single was released, to his unfaithful wife.
Eddie Kendricks' lead vocal here could not be smoother or more soulful as he pledges his devotion to his everything on one of the Temptations' most romantic ballads, setting the tone with "You surely must know magic girl 'cause you've changed my life." You'd be forgiven for thinking those lyrics were Smokey's, but this is the first of four Temptations singles with lyrics by Penzabene. Ruffin grabs the spotlight on the bridge, his grittier vocal a dramatic contrast that further sets that section of the song apart, and he returns to testify over the fadeout. This one peaked at No. 6 on Billboard's Hot 100.
This melancholy breakup song was written by Robinson and Warren Moore with Robinson producing. It opens with Ruffin contrasting his heartache to the sunshine of a beautiful new day over lush orchestration with Melvin Franklin, their bass singer, punctuating his lines with the lowest possible "Oh yeah." "But after I've been crying all night," Ruffin sighs, "the sun is cold and the new days seem old." There's a seemingly effortless grace to the melody and orchestration, resulting in one of the prettiest singles they ever recorded. This one peaked at No. 17 on Billboard's Hot 100, faring better on the R&B charts, where it peaked at No. 4.
The playful lyrics started as a joke in the Miracles' station wagon on the Motortown Revue with Robinson and Bobby Roberts rhyming pickup lines to pass the time. In the opening verse, for instance, Kendricks rhymes "You got a smile so bright/you know you coulda been a candle" with the somehow more absurd "I'm holding you so tight/You know you coulda been a handle." America was smitten (for obvious reasons), giving the Temptations the breakthrough they desperately needed with only one low-charting R&B hit, "Dreams Come True," to show for their first seven times at bat. With Robinson producing, this one topped the R&B charts and hit No. 11 on the Hot 100, a peak they wouldn't top until three singles later with "My Girl."
Speaking of those early 45s that didn't chart, this song is every bit as irresistible as the hit that followed. It just didn't reach the audience it so richly deserved outside the Midwest, where it was a regional hit that went on to become a staple of their live show. It also introduced the winning formula that paved the way for "My Girl" as the first Temptations single written and produced by Robinson, whose lyrical genius is on full display, brought to life by a truly impassioned Paul Williams, who just wants a love he can see. "Don't want a love you have to tell me about," Williams sings. "That kind of loving I can sure do without."
That horn part is amazing, underscoring Ruffin's gritty testifying on the chorus hook as he pleads with the woman he knows he's losing and pulling back on the verses, finally taking the spotlight on a truly brilliant instrumental break. Whitfield's production of a song he co-wrote with Cornelius Grant and Edward Holland, Jr. is flawless, easing you into the horn-driven heartache with Grant on that classic guitar intro accompanied by tambourine until Ruffin makes his first appearance, sounding suitably bereft to let her know he knows her love is fading, the horns punctuating his pleas. This topped the R&B charts, hitting No. 8 on Billboard's Hot 100.
The Temptations introduced a new lead singer (Dennis Edwards, in for Ruffin) and a new direction (psychedelic soul) in one fell swoop on this percussive triumph, a Whitfield production co-written by Whitfield and Strong. Edwards' vocals make it clear that he can sound at least as gritty as the legend he's replacing on an unflinching portrait of life "in the slums of the city," where he spent his childhood in "a one-room shack that slept 10 other children beside me" and "we hardly had enough food or room to sleep." This one had a Hot 100 peak of No. 6.
The trend toward more socially relevant psychedelic soul continued on "Ball of Confusion," produced by Whitfield, who co-wrote this classic with Strong. Edwards, Kendricks, Franklin and Paul Williams rap on, brother, as they navigate a laundry list of social ills, from war to politicians who "say more taxes will solve everything" and "unemployment rising fast," which for some reason rhymes with "the Beatles' new record's a gas." And this is all after setting the tone with "People moving out, people moving in/ Why? Because of the color of their skin." The production is great, making excellent use of harmonica and trippy guitar effects over a hypnotic bass groove that all but dares your body not to groove along. This one peaked at No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100, climbing one spot higher on the R&B charts.
Robinson was on a roll, having followed the chart-topping "My Girl" with three consecutive Top 20 entries on the Hot 100 for Temptations songs he'd written and produced. "Get Ready" somehow didn't keep that streak alive, losing steam at No. 29 despite the fact that it's among the most contagious singles the Temptations ever cut. There's so much joy in Kendricks' lead vocal, rhyming "So, fiddle-ee-dee, fiddle-ee-dum" with "Look out, baby, 'cause here I come" in his sweetest falsetto as Motown drummer Benny Benjamin powers his way through the track with pure adrenaline while the horns add exclamation points. "Get Ready" topped the R&B charts, but Robinson had made a deal with Berry Gordy that if his song didn't crack the Top 10, Whitfield's "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" would be the next Temptation single. When "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" became a bigger single, Robinson was out as the Temptations' main producer, marking the end of one fantastic era and the launching of another.
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