The Temptations - The Temptations Sing Smokey (1965/2015) [Official Digital Download 24/192]

Shortly, a caravan of stars will join Smokey Robinson on his brand new album, to perform some of the most-loved songs of the past 50 years with their creator. His duet partners range from modern marquee names such as John Legend and Jessie J to heritage hitmakers such as Elton John and James Taylor. But a half-century ago, there was The Temptations Sing Smokey. David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams – The Temptations – were arguably the most sublime interpreters of Smokey’s work. This album is the evidence, offering Kendricks’ feather-light falsetto as doppelganger of Robinson’s own peerless tones, and Ruffin’s honey-and-sandpaper delivery as the epitome of rhythm, blues and soul.

The album is actually rather like a college graduation celebration, beginning with care-free exuberance (“The Way You Do The Things You Do”) and closing with the slow, emotional realisation that the night’s end means parting company with friends who will never again gather like this. And yet, as five voices round on that final, melancholy note, everyone in the room is reminded that “(You Can) Depend On Me.” The college metaphor extends to the graduation of these five young men, because The Temptations Sing Smokey did mark the Temptations’ transition to the real world. After the commercial failure of their first seven singles for Motown, Smokey Robinson wrote (with fellow Miracle Bobby Rogers) and produced the breakthrough with “The Way You Do The Things You Do.” It’s an irresistible sequence of similes – Robinson’s trademark – powered by a swinging band track, topped by Kendricks’ compelling lead.

No wonder this was their first bona fide hit, an R&B No. 1 in 1964 and a pop crossover triumph. Welcome to the future, to the demanding round of hit records and follow-ups, of showcase gigs and sell-out tours, of media demands, irreconcilable itineraries and personal challenges. Welcome to stardom.

Even so, there are marvellous reminders in this album of the Temptations’ origins, of five mellifluous voices, forged in doowop (“Baby, Baby I Need You”) and sometimes an older, unadorned style (“What’s So Good About Good Bye”). The ballad “You’ll Lose A Precious Love” is also a throwback to 1950s street-corners, wherein David Ruffin’s lead tears out the listener’s heart while Melvin Franklin’s impossible bass pleads, “Don’t destroy this precious love.”

Much of this album was recorded at Motown in 1964, as the momentum of record sales gave the group – and Smokey – fresh confidence. Robinson refits several songs that he recorded with the Miracles (“Way Over There,” “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me”) and Mary Wells (“You Beat Me To The Punch”), and in all cases, the Temptations shade them a little deeper. With “Who’s Lovin’ You,” none can outshine the Miracles’ anguished original, but Ruffin’s religious take comes close, complete with his glide up the register at the song’s end. This is the version, after all, which inspired Michael Jackson’s astonishing revisit five years later.

And so to the touchstone, the ticket to ride, Smokey’s – and Motown’s – monument for the ages: “My Girl.” He brought the song to New York’s Apollo Theatre, where both The Miracles and The Temptations were performing that October. An iconic photo captures the writer briefing his messengers backstage, with David Ruffin reading what appears to be a lyric sheet. Later, back in Detroit, Robinson assembled all the elements: James Jamerson’s opening bass line, Robert White’s ascending guitar figure, sweeping strings shaped by arranger Paul Riser and, above all, the rich cohesion of The Temptations. Hallelujah! (Classic Motown)

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.

Tracklist:

01. The Way You Do The Things You Do
02. Baby, Baby I Need You
03. My Girl
04. What Love Has Joined Together
05. You'll Lose A Precious Love
06. It's Growing
07. Who's Lovin' You
08. What's So Good About Goodbye
09. You Beat Me To The Punch
10. Way Over There
11. You've Really Got A Hold On Me
12. (You Can) Depend On Me

Personnel:

David Ruffin - vocals (all tracks except 'Baby, Baby I Need You')
Eddie Kendricks - vocals
Paul Williams - vocals
Melvin Franklin - vocals
Otis Williams - vocals
Elbridge 'Al' Bryant - vocals ('Baby, Baby I Need You')
The Andantes - background vocals ('It's Growing')



All thanks go to the original releaser