Temptations Live! Explained

Temptations Live!
Type:	Live album
Artist:	The Temptations
Cover:	Temptations-live.jpg
Released:	March 6, 1967
Recorded:	October 3, 1966
Venue:	The Roostertail's Upper Deck, Detroit, Michigan
Genre:	Soul
Length:	47:45
Label:	Gordy GS 921
Producer:	N/A
Prev Title:	Greatest Hits
Prev Year:	1966
Next Title:	The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul
Next Year:	1967

Temptations Live! is the first live album to be released by The Temptations. The album was recorded on October 3, 1966, at the Roostertail in Detroit, Michigan. The album cover photograph was taken in March 1966 at The 20 Grand, 14th and Warren in Detroit, Michigan,^[1] and the album was released on Gordy (Motown) Records in 1967. The album features David Ruffin, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams performing their regular live repertoire for a highly receptive crowd mostly consisting of young women. Included in the set are Temptations hits such as "My Girl", "My Baby", "Get Ready", "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", "Don't Look Back", and the group's then-current single, "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep". Out of the several live albums the group recorded during their career, this is the only one to feature David Ruffin. The album remained on the Billboard pop albums chart for 51 weeks, peaking at number 10.

Track listing

Superscripts denote lead singers for each track: (a) David Ruffin, (b) Eddie Kendricks, (c) Paul Williams, (d) Melvin Franklin.

Side one

1. Intro by Scott Regen – 0:03^[2]
2. Medley – 4:49
   1. "Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)" (Norman Whitfield, Edward Holland Jr.) ^b
   2. "The Girl's Alright with Me" (Whitfield, Holland, Eddie Kendricks) ^b
   3. "I'll Be in Trouble" (Smokey Robinson) ^b
   4. "I Want a Love I Can See" (Robinson) ^{c, a}
3. "What Love Has Joined Together" (Robinson, Robert Rogers) – 3:01 ^b
4. "My Girl" (Robinson, Ronnie White) – 3:08 ^a
5. ""Yesterday"/"What Now My Love" (Lennon–McCartney, Gilbert Bécaud, Pierre Delano, Carl Sigman) – 3:08 ^{a, d}
6. "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" (Whitfield, Holland) – 2:23 ^a
7. Group Introduction – 0:49
8. "I Wish You Love" (Albert Beach, Charles Trenet) – 1:52 ^b
9. "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (Whitfield, Holland) – 2:57 ^a

Side two

1. "Old Man River" (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II) – 4:44 ^d
2. "Get Ready" (Robinson) – 2:10 ^b
3. "Fading Away" (Robinson, Rogers, Warren Moore) – 1:55 ^b
4. "My Baby" (Robinson, Rogers, Moore) – 2:10 ^a
5. "You'll Lose a Precious Love" (Robinson) – 2:50 ^a
6. "Baby, Baby I Need You" (Robinson) – 1:50 ^{c, b}
7. "Don't Look Back" (Robinson, White) – 7:07 ^c

Compact disc bonus track

1. "The Way You Do the Things You Do" (Robinson, Rogers) – 3:24 ^b

Personnel

• The Temptations – Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, Paul Williams, Otis Williams, and Melvin Franklin (David English)
• The Temptations Band:
  • Cornelius Grant – guitar, musical director
  • Bill Upchurch – bass
  • "Stormin" Norman Roberts – drums
• Johnny Trudell's Horn Section:
  • Johnny Trudell, Maurice Davis, and Floyd Jones or Billy Homer – trumpets
  • Don White and George Bohanon – trombones
  • Ted Buckner and Ernie Rogers – alto saxophones;
  • George Benson and Angelo Carlisi – tenor saxophones;
  • Thomas "Beans" Bowles – baritone saxophone, flute
• Scott Regen - M.C.

See also

• List of Billboard number-one R&B albums of the 1960s

Notes and References

1. Temptations Live! (remastered) . . 2012 . booklet . . 314549515-2 . New York City.
2. Scott Regan's introduction was expanded to 1:09 for the 1999 CD remaster of this album; "The Way You Do the Things You Do" was added or this release as well.