| "My Baby" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Temptations | ||||
| from the album The Temptin' Temptations | ||||
| B-side | "Don't Look Back" | |||
| Released | September 30, 1965 (1st pressing) October 30, 1965 (2nd pressing) | |||
| Recorded | Hitsville USA (Studio A); August 4 and August 11, 1965 | |||
| Genre | Soul, R&B, Pop | |||
| Length | 3:05 | |||
| Label | Gordy G 7047 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Smokey Robinson Robert Rogers Warren Moore | |||
| Producer(s) | Smokey Robinson | |||
| The Temptations singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"My Baby" is a 1965 hit single recorded by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. Written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson, Bobby Rogers, and Pete Moore and produced by Robinson, the song was a top 20 pop hit in the United States, and a top 5 hit on the R&B charts.
An extension of the theme from the group's #1 hit "My Girl", which had been released the previous December, "My Baby" features The Temptations, with David Ruffin on lead, bragging about the qualities of a special lady. Ruffin praises his woman's hairstyles ("hair soft like a baby lamb/and I love to run my fingers through it") and personality ("the gold in her personality/could set Fort Knox to shame"), and hopes that "she digs me the way I am/but if I have to change/you know I'm gona do it for my baby".
Cash Box described the single as an "easy-going, pop-r&b romantic shuffler about a love-sick fella who’ll do anything for his girlfriend." "My Baby" was a notable attempt to create an uptempo danceable number for the Temptations; all of their previous Top 20 hits to this point had been either ballads or mid-tempo numbers. The single immediately following "My Baby", "Get Ready", followed the same plan, and was produced with an even faster tempo and a brassier arrangement.
Unusually for Temptations singles, "My Baby's" B-side, the Paul Williams-led "Don’t Look Back", was a minor hit in its own right, becoming a top 20 R&B hit and serving for several years as the Temptations' live-show closing number. Both sides of the single would be remixed for its 2nd pressing, adding on the following statements: "Taken from the album #G 914 The Temptin' Temptations."
Personnel
- Lead Vocals by David Ruffin
- Background Vocals by Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, and Otis Williams
- Written by William "Smokey" Robinson, Robert Rogers, and Warren Moore
- Produced by Smokey Robinson
- Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
Chart history
| Chart (1965) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart | 13 |
| U.S. Billboard R&B Singles | 4 |
References
- Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 571.
- "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. October 16, 1965. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
- Williams, Otis and Romanowski, Patricia (1988, updated 2002). Temptations. Lanham, MD: Cooper Square. ISBN 0-8154-1218-5.
- Williams, Otis and Weigner, Harry (2002). My Girl: The Very Best of the Temptations (Compact disc liner notes). New York: Motown/Universal Records.
