- Since I Lost My Baby
- The Girl’s Alright With Me
- Just Another Lonely Night
- My Baby
- You’ve Got To Earn It
- Everybody needs Love
- Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)
- Don’t Look Back
- I Gotta Know Now
- Born To Love You
- I’ll Be In Trouble
- You’re The One I Need
Best Song: Since I Lost My Baby
If all albums were like this, we wouldn’t need music reviews would we? Everything would be set in stone, and there would be no room for negative comments on music. Fortunately (or unfortunately), there is a lot of fluff in the music industry, so when a reviewer comes across a classic album like this one, he feels like the luckiest man in the world.... Okay, okay, lets begin
After nearly 3 years of being called the “Hitless Temptations” they finally reached the top 20 in early 1964 with “The Way You Do The Things You Do”. It’s as if they finally found the right formula, as hits kept churning out one after another. They were on their way to becoming one of the biggest acts in r&b history. 1965’s “The Temptin’ Temptations” would be a pinnacle point in their career.
Although anyone of the members of the group had the ability to sing lead, the majority of the leads here are given to falsetto Eddie Kendricks, a whopping 9 out of 12 tracks. Each one a perfect showcase for his voice that in all likelihood was sent from heaven. Some are probably even saved by his voice, given the fact that “You’ve Got To Earn It” possibly has the corniest lyrics of its generation. “To get water from a faucet, you've got to turn it, and if you want my love, You've got to earn it” Smokey Robinson must’ve been off of his rocker when he wrote that one, that’s for sure. It’s a good enough song, but it’s probably the worst on the album, but as said, Eddie is wonderful on it.
“I Gotta Know Now” and “Everybody Needs Love” are first rate soul cuts, produced by Norman Whitfield, who would go on to be their sole producer in their psychedelic period. The lush strings on “Everybody Needs Love” sets up an atmosphere of impeccable beauty that fits oh so well with Eddie’s tender vocals. “I’ll Be In Trouble” and “Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue) were actually released as singles the previous year, being follow ups to “The Way You Do The Things You Do”. They are quizzically included on here, but no harm done. “Girl” is catchy with an intense buildup from the verses to the chorus, and “I’ll Be In Trouble” can get a bit boring, but its pleasant nonetheless.
I must never dare to forget about the other 2 lead singers of the group, Paul Williams and David Ruffin. Williams actually sang lead on most of their debut album, but now his contribution as lead vocalist was now to be overshadowed by Ruffin and Kendricks. A shame of course, although, having 2 of the best soul singers in the same group in Ruffin and Kendricks, I’m not surprised. He belts out a heart renching ballad in “Just Another Lonely Night”, being just as good as any of his many lead contributions on their debut album. And then there is “Don’t Look Back”, undoubabtedly his most famous song, being a concert favorite back then. Maybe his best ever, maybe not. It would also be the highest charting song on the Hot 100 with Paul on lead, peaking at #83.
The two Ruffin lead songs were in fact the two biggest hits on the album. “Since I Lost My Baby” is one of the best songs ever released by the Motown label. Melancholy at its finest, Ruffin is extremely convincing as a desperate man who has lost his lover, while the rest of the world is living in perfect harmony. Quite sad if you ask me. And then there’s “My Baby”. This time Smokey delivers with the songwriting (which he pretty much always did, being one of the best to ever do it, he just dropped the ball on “You’ve Got To Earn It”) The lines “Enough gold in her personality, to set Ft. Knox to shame.” totally makes up for the childish lyrics of “You’ve Got To Earn It”
So, this is the record that I would get if I was looking for the “ultimate early Temptations” album. There is next to no flaws, while each member is at their peak vocally. This is the delicate time in their career, before the harder edge soul sound and the psychedelic stuff, which were all great, but there is something about this record that just stands out to everything else. I mean come on, were they ever sweeter than they were on “The Girl’s Alright With Me”?
Rating 5 out of 5
