Temptations in R&B, Hip Hop & Rap Music

"The Temptations Sing Smokey" (10/20/1998) R&B Temptations (R&B) (The), Motown RecordsThe Temptations: David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams (vocals). Producers: William "Smokey" Robinson, Ronnie White. Originally released on Gordy #912 in February 1965. Includes liner notes by Berry Gordy, Jr. All tracks have been digitally remastered using 24-bit technology from the original master tapes. This was only the group's second LP, and it was an extremely strong one, built around two monster hits ("My Girl" and the previously recorded "The Way You Do the Things You Do") and one close runner-up ("It's Growing"), plus a brace of some of the best songs in the Motown catalog, including renditions of "You Beat Me to the Punch," "What's So Good About Goodbye?," "You've Really Got a Hold on Me," and "Way Over There." All are done in a style unique to the Temptations, with arrangements that are distinctly different from the familiar versions by other Motown acts, and all are worthwhile. The original CD version, released in the mid-'80s, was a major disappointment. In 1998, it was remastered in 24-bit digital audio, giving it vastly superior sound quality (the 1998 copyright on the back is the giveaway, along with the reference to Polygram as owner of Motown); it was the first of the classic individual Motown albums already out on CD to get this treatment. The stereo separation on the reissue is very sharp, the sound is a lot closer and louder, and the detail is startling, right down to the rhythm section, parts of which, on "Baby, Baby I Need You" and "My Girl," stand out in astonishingly sharp relief. The bass on the latter is so solid it's scary, and the disc is worth owning almost as much for the sound as the music, just to show what listeners were missing on those earlier CDs. ~ Bruce Eder

"Gettin' Ready [Remaster]" (05/18/1999) R&B Temptations (R&B) (The), Motown RecordsThis 1999 reissue includes two bonus tracks not on the original release. The Temptations: David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Otis Williams, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin. Producer include: William "Smokey" Robinson, Norman Whitfield, William "Micky" Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter. Originally released on Gordy (918). Includes liner notes by Harry Weinger. All tracks have been digitally remastered using 24-bit technology. The marvelous title track alone, with Eddie Kendricks gliding into the stratosphere, made this an instant winner. There were several fine songs that weren't hits, such as "Not Now, I'll Tell You Later" and "I've Been Good to You," and there sure wasn't anything wrong with powerhouse cuts like "Ain't Too Proud to Beg." The Temptations would score four straight number one hits in the mid-'60s, each one an unforgettable classic. ~ Ron Wynn

"Psychedelic Soul [US]" (06/24/2003) R&B Temptations (R&B) (The), Motown RecordsThe Temptations: Dennis Edwards, Otis Wilson, Richard Street, Eddie Kendricks, Damon Harris, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin (vocals). Additional personnel: Norman Whitfield (arranger); Dennis Coffey (guitar). Producer: Norman Whitfield. Compilation producer: Harry Weinger. Recorded bewteen 1968 & 1973. Includes liner notes by Leonard Pitts, Jr. This is part of Motown's "Funk Essentials" series. Things were changing on the musical landscape in the late 1960s, and the Temptations--stalwarts of Motown's golden age of matching suits, choreographed moves, and songs about innocent romance--were changing too. Though the group's Motown albums from this era are a mixed bag (their new progressive aesthetic was paired with songs hearkening back to the group's mid-'60s sound), Britain's Spectrum Records provides the invaluable service of compiling the best of the Tempts late-'60 and early-'70s "psychedelic soul" material on one set. The spectacular, driving "Cloud Nine" kicks things off, and the 24-track, two-disc set doesn't let up from there. "Cloud Nine," like much of the group's music of this period, features a longer, open song structure with heavy percussive grooves, distorted, echoing guitars, and vocal call and response. Fans will no doubt recognize the churning "Ball of Confusion" and the amazingly atmospheric "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," but fine lesser-known singles are here too, the driving, funky "I Can't Get Next to You" and 1973's "Masterpiece" among them. Producer/songwriter Norman Whitfield helped evolve the group's music, and this set is a showcase for his achievements, as well as for the group's stellar performances. This is an essential purchase for any fan of forward-looking funk and soul.

"Live at Temptations: Summer '04" (05/25/2004) R&B Various Artists, Dee VeePersonnel: Denny Tsettos (programming); John Garcia (vocals); Wes Borland (guitar). DJ: Denny Tsettos. Audio Mixers: Denny Tsettos; E-Smoove. Audio Remixers: Erick "More" Morillo; Steve Lee ; Albert Cabrera. Editors: Denny Tsettos; Joe Carrano. Arrangers: Denny Tsettos; E-Smoove.

"Cloud Nine/Puzzle People [Remaster]" (01/15/2001) R&B Temptations (R&B) (The), Motown Records2 LPs on 1 CD: CLOUD NINE (1969)/PUZZLE PEOPLE (1969). Both are available separately on CD and cassette. This two-fer CD features two of the Temptations' finest albums, the late 1960s classics CLOUD NINE and PUZZLE PEOPLE, on which the band hooks up with producer Norman Whitfield to create psychedelic soul like "Run Away Child Running Wild" and "I Can't Get Next To You." Part of Motown's European remastering series of its classic albums, this single-CD compilation of the two LPs Cloud Nine and Puzzle People runs circles around any existing domestic CD of either title for sound quality. Representing much of the group's output for the year 1969, the two albums show the group advancing in the face of adversity -- Paul Williams, who had been very much the Temptations' sparkplug in its earlier years, was in declining health, and music was changing around the group, almost faster than a lot of soul artists of the era could keep up with. This remastered collection is a reminder, even better than the Emperors Of Soul box, of precisely how ambitious and urgent the Temptations' music became in response, and how the group and producer Norman Whitfield helped expand and change soul music's boundaries in the process. "Cloud Nine" itself was a Grammy-winning single that introduced Dennis Coffey's wah-wah pedal guitar to the Temptations' sound, and prominently featured Dennis Edwards, Paul Williams, and Eddie Kendricks on lead vocals; "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" got one of its hardest, busiest renditions; and "Run Away Child, Running Wild" blew out the boundaries of song length to a whopping nine-and-a-half minutes, not a second of it wasted and even working in a brief featured spot for Melvin Franklin's bass singing. It's amazing that Berry Gordy failed to see the value of productions like "Run Away Child, Running Wild" without Whitfield's coaxing, because it's spellbinding to hear 30-plus years later -- the group does vocal acrobatics around the band's pounding, surging performance, evolving like a soulful "Bolero." (It's also obvious, listening to tracks like this, that without them Marvin Gaye would have had an even harder time getting What's Goin' On out the door.) From there through the sweeter strains of the gently orchestrated, deeply passionate "Hey Girl," the surging, poetic lament "Why Did She Have to Leave Me," and the driving, intense "I Gotta Get a Way," listeners are treated to some of the best "lost single" tracks in Motown's late-'60s output. And then there's "Gonna Keep on Tryin' Till I Win Your Love," which, on close listening, seems like an intriguing and rewarding semi-rewrite of "I Can't Help Myself," utilizing the same beat and a few similar modulations. The tracks from Puzzle People are more intense, beginning with "I Can't Get Next to You," another full-throttle workout for all three leads. "Hey Jude," which opens with a boogie-woogie piano figure before moving into the Temptations' more familiar style, proves that Wilson Pickett didn't have the last word to say in soul covers of the Beatles hit, although they could have stretched it out another 30 or 40 seconds beyond its length of three minutes and change. The other major cover here, of the Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing," is equally choice for its boldness and power. The group applies its talents most successfully to topical concerns with the pounding, serious "Don't Let the Jones Get You Down" and "Message From a Black Man," the latter a conceptual piece complete with narrative passages bookending a poignant lyric. The lyricism here is saved for the later tracks, including "Little Green Apples," a soft, guitar-dominated ballad, while "You Don't Love Me No More" is an enjoyably spirited piece and "Since I've Lost You" is a sweetly harmonized ballad with restrained orchestration. The only slight disappointment is "Slave," an extended track that doesn't do quite enough to justify its length. The two albums are featured in release order on the disc, and the restored sound works wonders, giving the voices real body in the playback and pushing a solid ba

"The Early Classics" (12/02/2003) R&B Four Tops (The), Spectrum Music (UK)This 1996 collection of tracks recorded by the soul group the Four Tops includes "It's The Same Old Song" and "Reach Out I'll Be There." There's an overabundance of Four Tops compilations on the market, mostly thanks to Motown's differing marketing strategies over the decade and a half since the CD boom began (meanwhile, the long-promised box set languishes forgotten, off the release schedule). What sets this release apart is its low price ($12 or less) and its 18 songs, which include not only the essential hits ("Reach Out," "I Can't Help Myself," "It's the Same Old Song," "Baby I Need Your Loving," "Ask the Lonely," etc.) but any number of early LP tracks and B-sides, including "Love Feels Like Fire," "Helpless," "Where Did You Go," "Just as Long as You Need Me," and "Is There Anything That I Can Do," many of which haven't been on CD since the early, woefully badly mastered two-on-one disc of their first two albums was deleted. Those first two LPs by the group were filled with both busted singles and songs that might just as easily have been issued as 45s -- there was no difference in the philosophy behind their album tracks, so anyone who enjoys those early hits can simply luxuriate in the astonishing vocalizing by Levi Stubbs, Lawrence Payton, Obie Benson, and Abdul Fakir, and some occasional surprises, such as the Smokey Robinson co-authored and produced "Is There Anything That I Can Do" (a flawed but magnificently passionate song), the ethereal "Where Did You Go," and the soaring, brash "Tea House in China Town." The difference is that the LP cuts have got much better sound this time out, because they used the mid-'90s remasterings, and the assembly of material is so well chosen that this makes a fine little early best-of compilation on its own. Motown's London office conceived and executed this release on behalf of the German Karussell label, and both have outdone Motown's U.S. division where this group and repertory are concerned. ~ Bruce Eder This CD covers the classic Temptations era from 1964 to 1968, with 1968 being unrepresented. "(You're My) Dream Come True" is the sole exception, with the release date of 1962. For the Temptations-challenged, their classic era began and ended with David Ruffin. This is a good album for Temptations completists for the B-sides and album cuts, but front runners will bemoan the omission of classics like "The Way You Do the Things You Do," "I Know I'm Losing You," etc. Eddie Kendricks leads the most songs (11), Ruffin fronts five, and Paul Williams works his baritone on two selections, including Smokey Robinson and Ronnie White's lilting "Don't Look Back." ~ Andrew Hamilton

"Temptations" (10/16/2001) R&B Freestyle Fellowship, Ground ControlFreestyle Fellowship: Mikah 9, Aceyalone, Self Jupiter, P.E.A.C.E. Additional personnel includes: RBX, Abstract Rude, Supernatural. Recording information: Project Blowed Recordings (2001). Though they've become legendary figures in the West Coast hip-hop underground through their appearances at clubs like L.A.'s renowned Good Life, Temptations is only the third album that MCs Aceyalone, Mikah Nine, Self-Jupiter, and P.E.A.C.E. (who actually sits most of this one out) have released as Freestyle Fellowship. It certainly qualifies as long-awaited -- it's Fellowship's first outing together since 1993's Inner City Griots -- and it finds the group's mic skills as hot as ever. But the uncompromising attitude spelled out in the song "No Hooks No Chorus" ends up hurting the album, as too many tracks focus almost exclusively on the lyrical end of the hip-hop equation, backing the group's rhymes with raw, repetitive grooves. It's an approach that probably works well live, but it makes seemingly endless songs like the title cut tough to fight through at home. And while it's difficult to argue with any of the group's MCs -- particularly the dexterous, fleet-tongued Aceyalone -- when they make their case on "Best Rapper in the World," it's also hard to avoid imagining how many more converts Fellowship might have attracted with just a little more imagination musically. ~ Dan LeRoy

"Legacy" (06/08/2004) R&B Temptations (R&B) (The), Motown RecordsThe Temptations (R&B): G.C. Cameron, Joe Henderson, Otis Williams , Ron Tyson, Terry Weeks (vocals). Additional personnel: Danesha Simon (vocals); Darryl Jones, J.K. (guitar); Dinky Bingham (keyboards, bass guitar); Steve "The Scotsman" Harvey (keyboards, drums, percussion); Shannon Sanders (keyboards); Bobby Watson (bass guitar). Though only Otis Williams remains from the band's original 1961 line-up, these Motown superstars are still going strong in name and vocal prowess on 2004's LEGACY. The album finds the Temptations riding tight, soulful grooves and practicing the airtight harmonies they've been unleashing since the '60s, but with updated production and an urban sound that places them squarely in the camp of smooth, contemporary R&B. The lyrics to the opening cut, "Still Tempting," read like a history lesson of the group's evolution and a declaration of their will to continue. The funky "'Round Here" has some of the muscular groove of the band's best late-'60s/early-'70s material, while the love songs "Somethin' Special" and "You Are Necessary in My Life (The Wedding Song)" downshift to sultry, candlelight-and-wine moods. With their attention to contemporary tastes, arrangements, and production values, the quintet proves they are no oldies-only attraction. Though their work has kept pace with the times, that classic vocal magic still takes center stage.

"The Early Classics" (05/23/2000) R&B Four Tops (The), Spectrum Music (UK)There's an overabundance of Four Tops compilations on the market, mostly thanks to Motown's differing marketing strategies over the decade and a half since the CD boom began (meanwhile, the long-promised box set languishes forgotten, off the release schedule). What sets this release apart is its low price ($12 or less) and its 18 songs, which include not only the essential hits ("Reach Out," "I Can't Help Myself," "It's the Same Old Song," "Baby I Need Your Loving," "Ask the Lonely," etc.) but any number of early LP tracks and B-sides, including "Love Feels Like Fire," "Helpless," "Where Did You Go," "Just as Long as You Need Me," and "Is There Anything That I Can Do," many of which haven't been on CD since the early, woefully badly mastered two-on-one disc of their first two albums was deleted. Those first two LPs by the group were filled with both busted singles and songs that might just as easily have been issued as 45s -- there was no difference in the philosophy behind their album tracks, so anyone who enjoys those early hits can simply luxuriate in the astonishing vocalizing by Levi Stubbs, Lawrence Payton, Obie Benson, and Abdul Fakir, and some occasional surprises, such as the Smokey Robinson co-authored and produced "Is There Anything That I Can Do" (a flawed but magnificently passionate song), the ethereal "Where Did You Go," and the soaring, brash "Tea House in China Town." The difference is that the LP cuts have got much better sound this time out, because they used the mid-'90s remasterings, and the assembly of material is so well chosen that this makes a fine little early best-of compilation on its own. Motown's London office conceived and executed this release on behalf of the German Karussell label, and both have outdone Motown's U.S. division where this group and repertory are concerned. ~ Bruce Eder This CD covers the classic Temptations era from 1964 to 1968, with 1968 being unrepresented. "(You're My) Dream Come True" is the sole exception, with the release date of 1962. For the Temptations-challenged, their classic era began and ended with David Ruffin. This is a good album for Temptations completists for the B-sides and album cuts, but front runners will bemoan the omission of classics like "The Way You Do the Things You Do," "I Know I'm Losing You," etc. Eddie Kendricks leads the most songs (11), Ruffin fronts five, and Paul Williams works his baritone on two selections, including Smokey Robinson and Ronnie White's lilting "Don't Look Back." ~ Andrew Hamilton