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Gordy G 7043 (B), June 1965
B-side of Since I Lost My Baby
(Written by Smokey Robinson and Cornelius Grant)
Tamla Motown TMG 526 (B), August 1965
B-side of Since I Lost My Baby
(Released in the UK under license via EMI / Tamla Motown)
I’ve written before about how, in many ways, I’m both uniquely qualified and also uniquely UN-qualified to be doing this at all. I’m too young, and what’s more I wasn’t raised with this music in my life; when I heard most of these songs for the first time, I had no idea which ones were the big hits, which ones were the forgotten classics, which ones were beloved, and which ones were met with disdain.
For a fine example, look no further than You’ve Got To Earn It, one of the best cases which shows me up for the newbie I am. I had this pegged as a slightly laboured reworking of The Way You Do The Things You Do, a throwback to an earlier time – the sort of thing that might have made quite a good follow-up single back in the spring of 1964, but with the Temptations having moved on so spectacularly and so fast, this – a retread of the same lyrical and musical themes from the big hit – was obsolete before it was born, ending up relegated to a throwaway B-side (almost literally, since it sat on the shelves for a full twelve months before being rescued for release here and subsequently on The Temptin’ Temptations album).
And yet… What I had pegged as an open-and-shut case of likeable filler – mildly diverting, inoffensive, hardly something to linger upon – appears instead to be a long-standing cult fan favourite. It appears on the box set, it appears on best-of compilations, and when the group’s Lost and Found rarities and out-takes anthology was released, well, not only did the compilers unearth a tighter, poppier re-recording from a few months later, but the entire set was titled You’ve Got To Earn It. There’s even a Seventies Stax cover by the Staple Singers. And that’s before I get into the comments here on Motown Junkies which have talked about this as a lost classic of sorts.
This is going to be another one of those times when I upset everyone, isn’t it?
Look, I get this. Although it’s a bit clumsy in its execution (that later version, bouncier and slicker, works better for me), this one has plenty going for it. It’s funny, in the sweet, knowingly corny style of The Way You Do The Things You Do and (to a lesser extent) It’s Growing, Smokey Robinson (here paired with a new name for the blog, the great Cornelius Grant) again packing the lyrics with self-consciously goofy rhyme schemes, Eddie Kendricks again selling the lead vocal with just the right mix of silly and serious to stop the thing collapsing around him, carrying it off with considerable charm. It’s even got a couple of catchy hooks in there – the call-and response chanting in the verses is wonderful:
To get fire from a match
You got to strike it
(Strike it! Strike it! Strike it! Strike it!)
To get the feeling from a kiss
You got to like it
(Like it! Like it! Like it! Like it!)
…and the middle eight, strongly reminiscent of the Don’t call a doctor, a nurse is worse breakdown from the Marvelettes’ You’re My Remedy and featuring a ripping sax solo, is particularly striking:
You’ve got to treat me kind
All the time
Throw the other guys right out of your mind, yeah!
… But it’s redundant. It’s very, very similar to, but nowhere near as good as, The Way You Do The Things You Do; it’s a pale imitation at best, lacking the thrills of the big hit, and by the summer of 1965 its time had surely passed. Its being exhumed now – and having its rough edges and its jokey, heavily lampshaded artifice contrasted with the perfect, open, honest beauty of Since I Lost My Baby, not to mention My Girl – must have been done solely in an attempt to connect past and present, remind people of the Temptations’ more playful, energetic side, but instead all it really does is highlight how out of time and place this record has become.
I do like it. Indeed, there’s not really anything wrong with it at all, it’s absolutely fine as far as pleasingly diverting B-sides go. It’s just the widespread admiration that baffles me. Would I jump up to turn it off? Of course not. Would I pick it out as some sort of highlight? Not in a million years.
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
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The Spinners “I’ll Always Love You” |
DISCOVERING MOTOWN |
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Motown Junkies 
You’ve got to treat me kind,
all the time,
Throw the other guys right out of your mind, yeah yeah…
…
If you deserve it you can get it,
I’ll be glad to see you with it.
Just show me that you love me,
and that you’re thinking of me.
In a decidedly light-hearted vein, Smokey does no less a generosity by Eddie Kendricks on this side than he gave David Ruffin on the A. There’s no image of anyone doubled up in pain here. Instead, we visualize some strong guy taking a sledgehammer to rocks, someone else churning butter, a match lighting a cigarette, hands turning on a faucet and cupping themselves for a drink, food articles in a mixing bowl, and yet another person pulling a pan of baked bread out of an oven. I think, even if Smokey hadn’t done the b-side of Gordy 7043, somebody would have known the blanketing regret of “Since I Lost My Baby” had to be relieved with something playful and spunky. That left Smokey no less obvious the man to do it, and the result is a ten for me, like the a-side.
I’ve already tipped my hand about this one (back on “I’ll Be Doggone”), but again, I think “Earn It” is one of the healthiest declarations of male self-worth that manages not to cross the line into arrogance. Eddie knows what he’s prepared to give, and fairly, insists on getting the same in return. We’re on his side, and this record, no end of vivid rhymes and a memorably sharp saxophone, was and remains joyful fun.
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This is going to be another one of those times when I upset everyone, isn’t it?
Nah. Probably the biggest point spread between you and I since “Looking For The Right Guy,” but everybody can’t love everything. Life would be too dull 🙂
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At a bare minimum this is a 7 for me. I just love it – so much fun and really great to sing along with. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the Staples Singers version is done as a gospel tune and works very well!
I’d be more inclined to compare this with the Miracles “In Case You Need Love” more than TWYDTTYD, and now all three songs will be going through my head all day, to the dismay of my co-workers, I’m sure!
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Hi Miss Mary! We’re thinking alike with the 7’s lol
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I NEVER associated this song with ‘The Way You Do the Things You Do’ – this is a thesis presented with a string of striking analogies, rather than a love song in which girl’s irresistibility is refracted through a series of romantic and complimentary metaphors. And O what irresistible bouncy fun this is! And Eddie TASTES the reality of each one, not just the kiss you have to like, but the churned butter, the struck match, the baked bread… It’s GROUNDED in the things of this earth – like Neruda and his Ode to a Sock (in my mind because the composer Peter Togni has just set it to music and his version, well, knocks my socks off)… For me it’s a 9.5+ – Love Dave’s comment, too, about male self-worth not spilling over into arrogance. — On an entirely different subject, I just read the good news – congratulations and a hearty welcome to the planet for Martha!! And Mary, you’re absolutely right, this is part of the same funky constellation which includes ‘In Case You Need Love,’ another favourite.
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P.S. Here’s a link to the Neruda poem: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ode-to-my-socks/
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This was the side that was chosen “Record of the Week” by renowned New York DJ, Jack Spector…and I agree with him on its quality. At least 8/10 from me.
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“You’ve Got To Earn It” made it up to #26 on (Spector’s) radio station WMCA.
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I go for an 8 on this as well and can’t get it out of my mind since I started to read the entry. That said, I am one of those who lived through this period with the Tempts as a main focus so it does have that resonance. Fine track
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I don’t know if I read you correctly but when you say things had moved on and compared to My Girl and Since I Lost My Baby, it must have sounded old hat. But I don’t think contemporary listeners at the time listened that way. At least I didn’t. (And, please, don’t think I’m accusing you of presentism.) At the time I remember flipping the record over and was glad that the guy with the high voice (didn’t really know their names back then) was singing lead on a fast Temptations record again.
While things were changing quickly in the mid-60s and there was a lot of new music coming from everywhere, this still didn’t have a retread feel in 1965. I can see what you’re saying and in retrospect there may be some correctness in your perspective but this has always sounded good to me. I probably played it as much as Since I Lost My Baby. I’d give it an 8. Incidentally I like the alternate take of it too.
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By the way, Steve, since I didn’t read the Supremes interview, I missed your wonderful, joyful, fabulous news. All my best and congratulations and welcome to our newest Motown Junkie!
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Not as good as “The Way You Do The Things You Do” but it deserves a 7/10 at least. This is a fun likeable and danceable record. The lyrics are corny, but that’s the point of this song. A lover jokingly, but seriously meaning “You’ve got to earn it” it being my love and affection.
I like it!
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One of my favorites from the Tempts. Motown put out some of the best dance music during that era. My favorite line from this.. “if you deserve it you can get it.. I”ll be glad to see you with it.” Solid 8/10 for me.
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Yup…I think of this tune by my Tempts as right up there with The Way You Do the Things You Do in performance, music, lyric and danceability. At least an 8/10 for me also! Totally awesome b-side, that’s for sure!
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I would easily give this a 10 because it just has a really awesome, exciting, raw and funky flavor. Eddie is cool and manly as can be and the Tempts background vocals are really raw and funky. The Funk Brothers are just jamming like no other band has ever done before or since. Just excellent and free-wheeling.
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Heh heh heh…alright, you’re right! I can see that tune being a 10/10! Soooo much fun!
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The Temptations are alright with me and so is this tune. I’m glad you agree.
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This is my first time commenting and “scoring” so I’ve got to get up to speed with your guys. But fitting for my first comment is that I do it on a Temptation song as they were my favorite group and the source of all my fantasies of “maybe one day, Otis, will simply pick me out of the audience and ask me up on stage to fill a suddenly absence spot…when Eddie left?…and I actually BECOME a Temptation”. Of course 40+ years later, I’ve have accept the fact that it’s likely it’s never gonna happen (sniff-sniff)!
Ok, back to reality: Compared to all Tempts releases across the board, I agree this is one of their middling efforts so I agree with the “5” score. Not only is the song a bit clunky but it’s a little stale and cornier with that kind of lyric format since the absolute dynamic poetic classic version of TWYDTTYD. Now if we’re talking about the alternate “You got to earn it” album version then either a 6 or 7 because that version it IS much tighter in execution and pleasing to the ear and dance-able with it’s more peppery rhythm. I like how Eddie went down to a 2nd tenor voice at end with his “just show me that you want it” phrase. And last I am formally announcing in print for the first time in history my greatest pet peeve about my beloved Tempts: This is one of the many songs where Eddie leads instead of normally being the beautiful high tenor in the background and for some ungodly reason another tempt (Otis?) feels the need (or likely the producer insists on it) to try to duplicate the “high tenor” portion in the background well beyond his natural range. Result?: A whiny grating quality to the background that I can’t stand. I MUCH prefer the natural 2nd tenor to bass range of the Eddie-less back ground that was common in the Temptation’s “In a Mellow Mood” album whichever Eddie lead. The only thing I hate more than that Eddie-less whiny grating background is the sacrilegious attempts to add female voices to the background. Blasphemous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I welcome comment and critical critique and disagreement!
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I remember this being a double-sider with the b-side topping out in some regions. Probably because it was so funky and the handclaps were irresistible! I also remember it being a guaranteed floor-filler at platter parties. As far the alternate/pop take on “Lost and Found”? It needs a little hot sauce and some seasoned salt.
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