The Temptations Sing Smokey (1965)

Probably few would argue with the idea that Motown, as a label, was best at chucking out nonstop streams of hit singles. But now and then, across the colossal breadth of the catalog, whole albums will turn up that are worth tracking down and snapping up—and not just those sponsored by Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder. This is a prime example right here. It's practically a concept album in its way, combining the marquee act Temptations on the one hand with one of the label's best songwriters (with and without assorted other Miracles), Smokey Robinson. What's particularly appealing here is how nicely it cuts across the various looks of the act, with David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, and Paul Williams each getting their individual shots to shine as lead singers, as well as various combinations of them and others (such as Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams) and the group in ensemble. I guess Ruffin tends to be my favorite Temptation, but there are cases to be made for them all, and perhaps most of all for the versatility of the act itself. There are big hits here—"My Girl," "The Way You Do the Things You Do," and "It's Growing"—along with straight-up covers that other artists got the hits with, including the Miracles themselves: "You Beat Me to the Punch," "You've Really Got a Hold on Me," "What's So Good About Good Bye." But the central concept holds for every one of the dozen songs here: Smokey Robinson had a hand in writing them, the Temptations performed them. And that's it. The result does not go on any longer than 35 minutes, except it's easy enough to lengthen out by playing over and over and over, back to back to back. It does no harm to this set—in fact, the music just gets better with such familiarity, as any number of fine points continue to disclose themselves: the always clever word play of Smokey's lyrics, a handful of particularly nice arrangements from the Funk Brothers (the guitar support on "You'll Lose a Precious Love" just jumped out at me a minute ago), and/or simply the knack the Temptations so often demonstrated for any of a number of different ways to stand a song up and get it to hold its position forever in one's memory. This is some highly durable product.

"Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" (1970)

63. Temptations, "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" (June 6, 1970, #3)

When Motown went psychedelic it was not without some cringing on the sidelines. Partly it seemed such a purely calculated move, partly it was obvious that it was several steps, at least, behind the rest of the world—and partly there was something about it that wasn't right, that wasn't quite, really, psychedelic, as in rooted somehow in the experience of hallucinogenic drugs. For the Temptations, arguably Motown's house act, they pretty much got all that out of their system and behind them with "Psychedelic Shack," after which there was this and then on to things more classically soulful, e.g., "Just My Imagination" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." But don't pass this one up too quick. It's a pure blast, from the roaring yet almost subliminal count-off to the bass that sets the virtually impossible tempo to the rush of words the vocalists struggle to spit out quickly enough. All too self-consciously political ("Air pollution, revolution, gun control / Sound of soul / Shootin' rockets to the moon / Politicians say more taxes will / Solve everything"), and incidentally trying with all its might to walk both sides of the message street, it's nevertheless a pure rave-up gas, making up with sheer throttling propulsion what it lacks in subtlety or insight. As with a similar topical Motown song of that particular moment, Edwin Starr's "War," the attempt at message is a variously admirable gesture, but it's the sonics that deliver the goods. And the message of this song could be how Daffy Duck stole Olive Oyl from Popeye with a mayonnaise and bologna sandwich and it wouldn't be any less impressive. Band and singers both are amped up electric and the thing absolutely scorches.