** This is just a short biographical summary – for the full story, check out this artist’s reviews! **

Motown’s biggest-selling and highest-profile male group of the 1960s, the Temptations were formed in 1961 from two rival doo-wop groups, the Primes and the Distants, both filled with deep-fried Southerners whose families had relocated to Detroit. Initial Motown records met with little success until the appointment of Smokey Robinson as the group’s writer-producer, and the recruitment of another Southerner, David Ruffin, as a third lead singer in 1964, after which the group began to rack up significant hits, including some of Motown’s best-loved singles.

Ruffin left the group in 1968, which for many fans signalled the end of their classic period; under the tutelage of writer-producer Norman Whitfield the group then moved into a harder-edged, funk-influenced “psychedelic soul” direction, featuring socially-conscious lyrical themes and lengthy instrumental passages. The new approach polarised audiences, but still won critical plaudits and scored big hits in the late Sixties and early Seventies. Having gone through several line-up changes, the group continues today under the guidance of original member Otis Williams.

Review Archive: The TEMPTATIONS (1961-65)

We have 28 reviews for the Temptations currently available here on Motown Junkies – see our archive for more details, or click a link below:

1. Oh Mother Of Mine
2. Romance Without Finance
3. Check Yourself
4. Your Wonderful Love
5. (You’re My) Dream Come True
6. Isn’t She Pretty
7. Mind Over Matter (I’m Gonna Make You Mine) (as “The Pirates”)
8. I’ll Love You Till I Die (as “The Pirates”)
9. Paradise
10. Slow Down Heart
11. I Want A Love I Can See
12. The Further You Look, The Less You See
13. Farewell My Love
14. May I Have This Dance
15. The Way You Do The Things You Do
16. Just Let Me Know
17. I’ll Be In Trouble
18. The Girl’s Alright With Me
19. Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)
20. Baby Baby I Need You
21. My Girl
22. (Talking ‘Bout) Nobody But My Baby
23. It’s Growing
24. What Love Has Joined Together
25. Since I Lost My Baby
26. You’ve Got To Earn It
27. My Baby
28. Don’t Look Back
29. Get Ready

---