THE TEMPTATIONS – GREATEST HITS II LP – EXC+ A1/B1 UK 1970 SOUL MOTOWN

The Temptations – Greatest Hits II
(Tamla Motown Records  1970  STML11170)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

G&L Flipback Sleeve in Excellent condition
– some wear to edges & some damage to bottom flap on back

Vinyl in Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from some light pops/crackles)

The Temptations are an American vocal group who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group’s work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top 10 hit single “Cloud Nine” in October 1968, pioneered psychedelic soul, and was significant in the evolution of R&B and soul music. The band members are known for their choreography, distinct harmonies, and dress style. Having sold tens of millions of albums, the Temptations are among the most successful groups in popular music.

Featuring five male vocalists and dancers (save for brief periods with fewer or more members), the group formed in 1960 in Detroit, Michigan under the name The Elgins. The founding members came from two rival Detroit vocal groups: Otis Williams, Elbridge “Al” Bryant, and Melvin Franklin of Otis Williams & the Distants, and Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams of the Primes. In 1964, Bryant was replaced by David Ruffin, who was the lead vocalist on a number of the group’s biggest hits, including “My Girl” (1964), “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” (1966), and “I Wish It Would Rain” (1967). Ruffin was replaced in 1968 by Dennis Edwards, with whom the group continued to record hit records such as “Cloud Nine” (1969) and “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)” (1970). The group’s lineup has changed frequently since the departures of Kendricks and Paul Williams from the act in 1971. Later members of the group have included singers such as Richard Street, Damon Harris, Ron Tyson, and Ali-Ollie Woodson, with whom the group scored a late-period hit in 1984 with “Treat Her Like a Lady”.

Over the course of their career, the Temptations released four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and fourteen R&B number-one singles. Their music has earned three Grammy Awards. The Temptations were the first Motown recording act to win a Grammy Award – for “Cloud Nine” in 1969 – and in 2013 received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Six of the Temptations (Edwards, Franklin, Kendricks, Ruffin, Otis Williams and Paul Williams) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Three classic Temptations songs, “My Girl”, “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)”, and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”, are among The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The Temptations were ranked at number 68 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of all time.

As of 2024, The Temptations continue to perform with Otis Williams in the lineup, who is the group’s last surviving original member. Williams owns the rights to “The Temptations” name.

Greatest Hits II (shown as Temptations Greatest Hits Vol. 2 on the label) is a 1970 greatest hits album for The Temptations, released by the Gordy (Motown) label. The sequel to the first Temptations greatest hits LP from 1966, Greatest Hits II collects several of the late-1960s hits that followed the release of the first compilation. Included here are the final collection of David Ruffin-led singles, including “(I Know) I’m Losing You”, “I Wish It Would Rain” and “I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)”, and the first of the Dennis Edwards-led psychedelic soul records, including “Cloud Nine” and “Psychedelic Shack”. A new non-album single, the #3 hit “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)”, is also included.

All of the songs included here were produced by Norman Whitfield. Not included are “All I Need”, a 1967 hit single produced by Frank Wilson), or the collection of duets singles with Diana Ross & the Supremes such as “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” that were produced by Wilson and Nickolas Ashford.

Track listing

Side one

1. “Cloud Nine” (Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield) (lead singers: Dennis Edwards, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Otis Williams)
2. “I Wish It Would Rain” (Roger Penzabene, Strong, Whitfield) (lead singer: David Ruffin)
3. “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)” (Strong, Whitfield) (lead singers: Eddie Kendricks, Dennis Edwards, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, Otis Williams)
4. “(I Know) I’m Losing You” (Cornelius Grant, Eddie Holland, Whitfield) (lead singer: David Ruffin)
5. “I Can’t Get Next to You” (Strong, Whitfield) (lead singers: Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Otis Williams)
6. “You’re My Everything” (Grant, Penzabene, Whitfield) (lead singers: Eddie Kendricks; bridge vocals: David Ruffin)

Side two

1. “Psychedelic Shack” (Strong, Whitfield) (lead singers: Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Otis Williams)
2. “Please Return Your Love to Me” (Strong, Whitfield, Barbara Neely) (lead singer: Eddie Kendricks)
3. “Runaway Child, Running Wild” (Strong, Whitfield) (lead singers: Dennis Edwards, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, Otis Williams)
4. “I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)” (Penzabene, Strong, Whitfield) (lead singer: David Ruffin)
5. “Don’t Let the Joneses Get You Down” (Strong, Whitfield) (lead singers: Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Otis Williams)
6. “(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It’s You That I Need” (Holland, Whitfield) (lead singer: David Ruffin; last verse: Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, Otis Williams)