Customer Reviews
Essential Motown! - By: Ian Phillips, 14 Mar 2006 
The Temptations were one of Motowns hottest & most versatile acts. They began their career as The Primes, singing on street cornersin the ghetto areas for blacksin Detroit with Diana Ross And The Supremes (then known as their sister group, The Primettes). After signing to Motownin 1961, they took a seperate road from The Supremes & before long, were pumping out to what would amount too, an endless river of classics.
In early 1964, the dynamic David Ruffin took over as lead vocalist of the group & immediatley gave them their own unique, identifiable sound, muchin the way that Diana Ross had with The Supremes. Their first major hit would be produced by the genius, Smokey Robinson, who wrote & assembled the fantastic & highly infectious, The Way You Do The Things You Do, which featured a remarkable range of harmonies all blended fantastically well together which gelled neatly into the state-of-the-art soul production.
However catapulting them into wider recognition was their 1965 hit, My Girl, which soon became a chart-topper & one of their most distinguished classics. This was also one of Smokey Robinsons most lyrically & evocative compostions. With its sweeping strings & unforgetable vocal trade-offs on the chrous, this has easily become one of Motowns signature tunes.
They also conveyed their versatality on such lush, romantic ballads that steered narrowly into pop with such offerings as I Wish It Would Rain, Since I Lost My Baby & You're My Everything as well as enjoying a dynamic tour de force with Diana Ross & the Supremes on such fabulous cuts such as I'm Gonna Make You Love Me, which are all included on this superbly compiled collection.
They also made renowned classics such as the jamming, Get Ready & Ain't Too Proud To Beg. The alternating lead vocals between the forceful, aggressive delivery of David Ruffin & the sweet, sensual falsetto of Eddie Kendricks marked an interesting transistionin their work. David Ruffins voice mostly sounded seemingly angst ridden especially on the magnificent, (I Know) I'm Losing You.
Other than Smokey Robinson, a large portion of their work was produced by Norman Whitfield. What Whitfield encapsulated with his work with The Temptations was blending late 60's trends of Pop & Funk into this groups output, giving it a healthy balance & therefore making The Temoptations strong innovators with their music.
In 1968, David Ruffin was eventually fired & after an unsuccesful solo career, got caught upin a hazadous whirlwind of drugs & diedin 1991. He was replaced by Dennis Edwards, another forceful & dynamic singer that certainly had all the credibility of David Ruffin as The Temptations continued to pump out hits until the early 70's.
Cloud Nine marked a turning point for The Temptations, becoming one of their own & indeed, Motowns landmark recordings. It introduced an injection of social consciousness into the lyrics & featured a startling psychedelic guirtar riffage amidst the complex musical arrangements.
The Temptations were clearly influenced by the Rock-Soul-Psychedelic phenomenon & much of their output from the late 60's to the early 70's, encapsulted this explosive range of styles on such fantastic recordings as Psychedelic Shack & the compelling masterpiece, Runaway Child, Running Wild.
They scored one of my most favourite classicsin 1970 with the rip-roaring, Ball Of Confusion, which offered profound political statements & social commentary. Dennis Edwards voice is just explosive & gives startling ignition to the stark musical arrangements that is broken up by an effective harmonica interlude.
Finallyin 1972 they scored their last major hit of their heyday with the compelling, Papa Was A Rolling Stone (another favourite of mine), a triumphant soul masterpiece with its compelling undertones of red hot, pulsating funk. After this their momentum sadly wore thin but this compilation highlights their upmost glory days & they remain significant influencesin todays music culture.
One of the great Motown groups - By: Peter Durward Harris, 01 Mar 2003 This is not quite the ultimate Temptations collection, but it comes close. You could never fit all their great songs on one CD anyway, but the compilers were clearly determined to include some of their later recordings - the last three tracks on this CD. Angel doll, though recordedin 1967, was not one of their big hits - indeed, it was not even released at the time. The inclusion of these four tracks at the expense of real classics, including Beauty is only skin deep, devalues the title somewhat.
Despite the omissions, this is the best single-CD collection of Temptations music currently available & contains many familiar songs. It begins with The way you do the things you do. A big hitin America, it did not chartin Britain. I first came across the song via an excellent cover by Rita Coolidge, but the original version is impressive. Other classic sons here include My girl, Get ready, Ain't too proud to beg, I wish it would rain, Cloud nine, I can't get next to you, Ball of confusion, Just my imagination & Papa was a rolling stone.
Anybody seriously interestedin sixties musicin general & Motownin particular will enjoy the Temptations. Unless you want to go for a double-CD or a boxed set, this is the CD to choose.
