The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul
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{{Infobox Album | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Albums -->
Name = The Temptations with a Lot 'o Soul |
Type = [[Album]] |
Artist = [[The Temptations]] |
Cover = Lot-o-soul-tempts.jpg |
Released = [[July 17]], [[1967]] |
Recorded = 1966 - 1967 |
Genre = [[Soul music|Soul]] |
Length = N/A|
Label = [[Motown|Gordy]]<br><small>GS 922</small> |
Producer = [[Norman Whitfield]] <br /> [[Smokey Robinson]] <br /> [[Brian Holland]] <br /> [[Lamont Dozier]] <Br /> [[Frank Wilson (musician)|Frank Wilson]] <br /> [[Ivy Jo Hunter]] |
Reviews =
* [[Allmusic]] (4.5/5) [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:pay67ub0h0ja link] |
Last album = ''[[Temptations Live!]]''<br />(1967) |
This album = ''The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul<br />(1967) |
Next album = ''[[The Temptations in a Mellow Mood]]''<br />(1967) |
}}
'''''The Temptations with a Lot 'o Soul''''' is a 1967 album by [[The Temptations]] for the Gordy ([[Motown]]) label. Featuring four hit singles, ''With a Lot o' Soul'' is the most successful Temptations album from their "classic 5" era, during which [[David Ruffin]], [[Eddie Kendricks]], [[Paul Williams (The Temptations)|Paul Williams]], [[Melvin Franklin]], and [[Otis Williams]] constituted the Temptations' lineup.
==Overview==
The four singles from the album, all Top 20 pop/ Top 10 R&B hits, were "(I Know) I'm Losing You", "All I Need", "You're My Everything", and "(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need". three of these four songs also reached the Billboard Pop Top 10 as well. [[Norman Whitfield]] produced most of the tracks here, supporting the Temptations' vocals with a hard-edged [[soul music|soul]] sound with elements of the music of [[James Brown (musician)|James Brown]].
"[[(I Know) I'm Losing You]]", already a nine-month-old hit by the time ''With a Lot o' Soul'' was released, opens the album. The rest of the album expands upon the template established by Norman Whitfield with "I'm Losing You". Whitfield and the other ''With a Lot o' Soul'' producers, including [[Ivy Jo Hunter]], [[Smokey Robinson]], and, on "[[All I Need (The Temptations song)|All I Need]]" (in which Ruffin portrays a man who admits to his lover he has been unfaithful and begs her forgiveness), Whitfield's protégé [[Frank Wilson (musician)|Frank Wilson]], supply the group a more modern sound than was present on preivous or contemporary Motown releases. Most of the tracks on side A the album feature [[brass instrument|brass]]-heavy, dramatic backing tracks with more prominent uses of [[electric guitar]] lines (Whitfield's "(I Know) I'm Losing You" and Ivy Jo Hunter's "Sorry is a Sorry Word" from side B) and shifts in dynamics (Whitfield's "Ain't No Sun Since You've Been Gone", the single "(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need", and the Eddie Kendricks-led "Save My Love for a Rainy Day").
Paul Williams delivers a dramatic performance on the Smokey Robinson-produced "No More Water in the Well", an uptempo number regularly identified as one of his standout performances. Williams and the other Temptations constantly complained about Williams' not being able to sing lead on more album tracks, and on singles as well, but Motown paid their complaints no heed, and continued to rely on David Ruffin's (and occasionally Eddie Kendricks') leads for each single.
Side B begins with "Just One Last Look", written and produced by [[Holland-Dozier-Holland]], Motown's main songwriting and production team. The Temptations were one of the few major Motown acts never to release a single produced by the trio, because of Whitfield's tight hold on the group. [[Brian Holland]] and [[Lamont Dozier]] had to in fact fight for the chance to produce "Just One Last Look" for the Temptations, and Whitfield successfully blocked its release as a single. "Just One Last Look" remains the only H-D-H produced track to appear on any Temptations studio album.
While David Ruffin takes most of the leads on the album and its singles, he shares the spotlight with Eddie Kendricks on the Norman Whitfield/Cornelius Grant/[[Roger Penzabene]] love ballad "You're My Everything". Penzabene wrote "You're My Everything" specifically with Kendricks in mind to sing it (Ruffin only sings lead during the bridge), and visualized the singer performing it to a "special girl" Kendricks would pick out of the audience (''"You're the girl I sing about/in every love song I sing/You're my everything, girl."'').
''With a Lot o' Soul'' concludes with three more ballads: Smokey Robinson's "Now That You've Won Me" (led by Ruffin), Norman Whitfield's "Two Sides to Love" (led by Kendricks), and Robinson's "Don't Send Me Away" (a rare lead showcase for stalwart Temptation Otis Williams).
==Track listing==
''[[Superscripts]]'' denote lead singers for each track: (''a) [[David Ruffin]], (b) [[Eddie Kendricks]], (c) [[Paul Williams (The Temptations)|Paul Williams]], (d) [[Melvin Franklin]], (e) [[Otis Williams]], (f) Four-part harmony.''
===Side one===
#"[[(I Know) I'm Losing You]]" (Cornelius Grant, [[Edward Holland, Jr.]], [[Norman Whitfield]]) <sup>a</sup>
#"Ain't No Sun Since You've Been Gone" (Grant, [[Sylvia Moy]], Whitfield) <sup>a</sup>
#"[[All I Need (The Temptations song)|All I Need]]" ([[Frank Wilson (musician)|Frank Wilson]], E. Holland, [[R. Dean Taylor]]) <sup>a</sup>
#"[[(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need]]" (E. Holland, Whitfield) <sup>a, f</sup>
#"No More Water in the Well" ([[Pete Moore|Warren Moore]], [[Smokey Robinson]], [[Bobby Rogers|Robert Rogers]]) <sup>c, f</sup>
#"Save My Love for a Rainy Day" ([[Roger Penzabene]], Whitfield) <sup>b</sup>
===Side two===
#"Just One Last Look" ([[Holland-Dozier-Holland]]) <sup>a</sup>
#"Sorry is a Sorry Word" (E. Holland, [[Ivy Jo Hunter]]) <sup>a</sup>
#"[[You're My Everything (The Temptations song)|You're My Everything]]" (Grant, Penzabene, Whitfield) <sup>b, a</sup>
#"Now That You've Won Me" (Robinson) <sup>a</sup>
#"Two Sides to Love" (Moy, Whitfield) <sup>b</sup>
#"Don't Send Me Away" ([[Eddie Kendricks]], Robinson) <sup>e, d</sup>
==Known outtakes==
The following outtakes were included on the Temptations box set ''[[Emperors of Soul]]'' in 1994.
*"I Got Heaven Right Here on Earth" (E. Holland, Whitfield)
**Produced by Norman Whitfield, lead by David Ruffin
*"I'm Doing It All" (Robinson, Grant)
**Produced by Smokey Robinson, lead by Eddie Kendricks
*"Angel Doll" ([[Stevie Wonder]], [[Clarence Paul]], Morris Broadnax)
**Produced by Clarence Paul, lead by David Ruffin
==Personnel==
* [[David Ruffin]]: vocals
* [[Eddie Kendricks]]: vocals
* [[Paul Williams (The Temptations)|Paul Williams]]: vocals
* [[Melvin Franklin]]: vocals
* [[Otis Williams]]: vocals
* [[The Andantes]]: background vocals ("Just One Last Look", "Sorry is a Sorry Word")
===Producers===
* [[Norman Whitfield]]: "(I Know) I'm Losing You", "Ain't No Sun Since You've Been Gone", "(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need", "Save My Love for a Rainy Day", "You're My Everything", "Two Sides to Love", Executive Producer (Album)
* [[Smokey Robinson]]: "No More Water in the Well", "Now That You've Won Me", "Don't Send Me Away"
* [[Frank Wilson (musician)|Frank Wilson]]: "All I Need"
* [[Brian Holland]] and [[Lamont Dozier]]: "Just One Last Look"
* [[Ivy Jo Hunter]]: "Sorry is a Sorry Word"
==Singles history==
*"(I Know) I'm Losing You"
**Gordy single 7057, [[November 2]], [[1966]]; [[b-side]]: "I Couldn't Cry If I Wanted To" (non-album, recorded 1963)
*"All I Need"
**Gordy single 7061, [[April 13]], [[1967]]; b-side: "Sorry is a Sorry Word"
*"You're My Everything"
**Gordy single 7063, [[June 13]], 1967; b-side: "I've Been Good to You" (from ''[[Gettin' Ready]]'', US Pop #124)
*"(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need"
**Gordy single 7065, [[September 26]], 1967; b-side: "Don't Send Me Away"
==Chart history==
{|class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Name
!align="left"|Chart (1966 - 1967)
!align="center"|Peak<br>position
|-
|''The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul''
|align="left"|U.S. Billboard Pop Albums
|align="center"|7
|-
|''The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul''
|align="left"|U.S. Top R&B Albums
|align="center"|1
|-
|"(I Know) I'm Losing You"
|align="left"|U.S. Billboard Pop Singles
|align="center"|8
|-
|"(I Know) I'm Losing You"
|align="left"|U.S. Billboard R&B Singles
|align="center"|1
|-
|"All I Need"
|align="left"|U.S. Billboard Pop Singles
|align="center"|8
|-
|"All I Need"
|align="left"|U.S. Billboard R&B Singles
|align="center"|2
|-
|"You're My Everything"
|align="left"|U.S. Billboard Pop Singles
|align="center"|6
|-
|You're My Everything"
|align="left"|U.S. Billboard R&B Singles
|align="center"|3
|-
|"(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need"
|align="left"|U.S. Billboard Pop Singles
|align="center"|14
|-
|"(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need"
|align="left"|U.S. Billboard R&B Singles
|align="center"|3
|}
==Sample==
{{listen|filename=1966-tempts-im-losing-you.ogg|title="(I Know) I'm Losing You"|description=Released in 1966 as a single from ''The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul''|format=[[Ogg]]}}
[[Category:1967 albums|Temptations with a Lot 'o Soul]]
[[Category:The Temptations albums|Temptations with a Lot 'o Soul]]
[[Category:Motown Records albums|Temptations with a Lot 'o Soul]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Norman Whitfield]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Smokey Robinson]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Frank Wilson]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Ivy Jo Hunter]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Brian Holland]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Lamont Dozier]]