Published on Nov 9, 1998
If you’ve become interested in the music of the Temptations
after watching the recent television miniseries about them, you no
doubt have found that there are many greatest-hits packages to
choose from on the group. Here is the rundown: if you are only
interested in their early, sweet soul numbers like “My Girl” or
“Get Ready” then
Greatest Hits, Vol. I is the album for you. If you prefer
the rougher, funkier sounds of “Cloud Nine” and “I Wish It Would
Rain” then
Greatest Hits, Vol. II is the album to get.
The two CD set called
Anthology is probably the best overall package because it
has ALL the hits plus some interesting album cuts. For die-hard
fans, there is a five CD Box set called
Emperors Of Soul. But if you are only looking for a single
CD collection of hits, there is
All The Best Sellers, a 10 song collection with all the big
hits. For a couple bucks more, though, I consider the single CD, 21
song collection called
The Ultimate Collection a better overview of the
Temptations’ music.
In 1997, Motown Records released
The Ultimate Collection series for some of their artists
including The Commodores and Smokey Robinson (both as a solo artist
and a member of the Miracles). Like the other collections, the one
for The Temptations is a well done single CD overview starting off
with their first big hit “The Way You Do The Things You Do” and
going through their last hit, 1986’s “Treat Her Like A Lady” which
was co-written by the last remaining original Temptation, Otis
Williams.
What can I say about the Temptations that hasn’t already been
said? I consider them to be the best of the R&B groups because
they started out in one direction – sweet, soul ballads – but grew
musically over the years. They are mostly known for the ballads,
especially the exquisite “Just My Imagination” with Eddie
Kendricks’ sweet falsetto vocals, harmonies as smooth as butter,
and a clever string arrangement. And of course there is the
original Robinson-penned mega hit “My Girl”. I am also stuck on the
less well-known ballad “It’s Growing”, also written by
Robinson.
The Ultimate Collection has those songs, and also shows the
gradually change to grittier songs that the Tempts were coming out
with as the times were a changing. David Ruffin lent his, uh, rough
vocals to the scorching “(I Know) I’m Losing You” and “Ain’t Too
Proud To Beg”. When Ruffin was replaced as lead singer by Dennis
Edwards in 1968, the band’s material was also getting more socially
conscious. Songs like “Cloud Nine”, “Ball Of Confusion” and “Papa
Was A Rolling Stone” are as hard-hitting as any song released in
the late sixties and early seventies. And “Shakey Ground” is as
funky as any song from that period.
This collection may be the ultimate but it is not perfect. Two
glaring omissions are the hypnotic “Runaway Child, Running Wild”
and the funkadelic “Psychedelic Shack”, two big hits that can be
found on
All The Best Sellers. I would have preferred them here over
a second acapella version of “My Girl” (as cool as it is), or
“Angel Doll”. I also miss “Masterpiece” although that one is not
quite as essential.
Despite those omissions, most of their important songs are
present and accounted for, and the track listing is in
chronological order, letting the listener hear the Tempts unfold
into a complete unit. If you just want a single disc overview of
their career,
The Ultimate Collection, is the best one around.