#The Temptations #David Ruffin #Eddie Kendricks #Motown #R&B #soul #funk #psychedelic soul #1960s
The Temptations were an American vocal group noted for their smooth harmonies and intricate choreography. Recording primarily for Motown Records, they were among the most popular performers of soul music in the 1960s and ’70s. Originally called the Elgins, the Temptations were formed in 1961 from the coupling of two vocal groups based in Detroit - the Primes, originally from Alabama, and the Distants. That same year they signed with Motown. After a slow start - with the addition of David Ruffin and largely under the direction of songwriter-producers Smokey Robinson and Norman Whitfield - the Temptations turned out a string of romantic hits. Bass Melvin Franklin, baritone Otis Williams, and occasional lead Paul Williams provided complex harmonies, and the two regular lead singers, David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks, strikingly complemented each other. Ruffin had a remarkable sandpaper baritone and Kendricks a soaring tenor. Paragons of sleek fashion and practitioners of athletic choreography, the Temptations epitomized sophisticated cool. In the late 1960s they shifted to a more funk-oriented sound and to more socially conscious material when Whitfield became the group’s producer and principal songwriter. From: https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Temptations
The list of Motown songs based around a guitar riff is a short one, but this masterpiece should be at the top of that one and several others. Producer Norman Whitfield wrote the song with Edward Holland of Holland-Dozier-Holland, but the Temps’ road manager Cornelius Grant supplied the signature guitar line. Grant’s contribution not only got him co-writing credit, but earned him the spot to play on the record – that’s him you hear on guitar in the song. The Temptations’ classic line-up was in full effect for this number. David Ruffin nails the vocals. The rasp in his voice makes it sound like he’s been up all night drinking, smoking and thinking about where this relationship has gone. When the rest of the Temps chime in with “looosing you” it sounds like a desperate cry echoing out of the abyss. The subtleties in Whitfield’s arrangement take center stage in the last minute of the song, as the playing of Eddie “Bongo” Brown and the Funk Brothers horn section take over. Check out that great trombone line and how the long low note underscores the desperate feel of the song. You can hear Ruffin’s world collapsing as the horns ramp up and dance with the voices as the song fades out. The gravity of the situation would be dire if it weren’t so easy to dance to. Seizing on the rock elements of the song, Rare Earth cut a 10 minute cover for their 1970 “Ecology” album. Motown cut the track down to three minutes and released it as a single that summer where it peaked at No. 7 on the pop charts, one slot higher than the Temptations’ original. The greatest bar band of all time, the Faces, cut their version a year later. It was also released as a single and appeared on Rod Stewart’s blockbuster “Every Picture Tells A Story” album. From: https://joelfrancis.com/2009/06/17/the-temptations-%E2%80%93-%E2%80%9Ci-know-i%E2%80%99m-losing-you%E2%80%9D/
