My Girl (The Temptations song)

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"My Girl"
Single by The Temptations
from the album The Temptations Sing Smokey
B-side "(Talking 'Bout) Nobody But My Baby"
Released December 21, 1964
Format 7" single
Recorded Hitsville USA (Studio A); September 25, November 10 and November 17, 1964
Genre Soul, R&B, Rock, Pop
Length 2:59
Label Gordy
G 7038
Writer(s) Smokey Robinson
Ronald White
Producer Smokey Robinson
Ronald White
The Temptations singles chronology
"Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)"
1964		 "My Girl"
1964		 "It's Growing"
1965
"My Girl"
"My Girl" cover
Song by Otis Redding
Album Otis Blue
Released 1965
Format 7" single
Recorded Stax Studios, Memphis, Tennessee: 1965
Genre Soul
Length 2:52
Label Volt/Atco
Producer Steve Cropper
Otis Blue track listing
  1. "Ole Man Trouble"
  2. "Respect"
  3. "A Change Is Gonna Come"
  4. "Down in the Valley"
  5. "I've Been Loving You Too Long"
  6. "Shake"
  7. "My Girl"
  8. "Wonderful World"
  9. "Rock Me Baby"
  10. "Satisfaction"
  11. "You Don't Miss Your Water"

"My Girl" is a 1964 song recorded by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label which became a number one hit in 1965. Written and produced by The Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Ronald White, the song became the Temptations' first U.S. number-one single, and is today their signature song. Robinson's inspiration for writing this song was his wife, Miracles member Claudette Rogers Robinson. The song was featured on the Temptations album The Temptations Sing Smokey.

Contents

[edit] Recording and release

The recorded version of "My Girl" was the first Temptations single to feature David Ruffin on lead vocals. Previously, Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams had performed most of the group's lead vocals, and Ruffin had joined the group as a replacement for former Temptation Elbridge "Al" Bryant. While on tour as part of the Motortown Revue, a collective tour for most of the Motown roster, Smokey Robinson caught the Temptations' part of the show. The group had included a medley of soul standards in the show, one of which, The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk", was a solo spot for Ruffin. Impressed, Robinson decided to produce a single with Ruffin singing lead. Robinson saw Ruffin as a "sleeping giant" in the group with a unique voice that was "mellow" yet "gruff".[1]. Robinson thought that if he could write just the perfect song for Ruffin's voice, then he could have a smash hit.[1] The song was to be something that Ruffin could "belt out" yet something that was also "melodic and sweet".[1] After some persuasion from Ruffin's bandmates, Robinson had the Temptations record "My Girl" instead of The Miracles, and recruited Ruffin to sing the lead vocals.

"My Girl" was later sampled for "Stay", a single from the Temptations' 1998 album Phoenix Rising.

The single was re-released in 1992. It did not reach the Billboard charts, but did reach #2 in the UK Singles Chart.

[edit] Reception

"My Girl" climbed to the top of the U.S. pop charts after its Christmas time 1964 release, making it the Temptations' first number-one hit. The single was also the first number-one hit on the reinstated Billboard R&B Singles chart, which had gone on an fifteen-month hiatus from 1963 to 1965.[2]. The success of this single launched a series of Ruffin-led hits, including "It's Growing" (1965), "Since I Lost My Baby" (1965), "My Baby" (1965), "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (1966), "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" (1966), "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (1966), "All I Need" (1967), "(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need" (1967), "I Wish It Would Rain" (1967), and "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)" (1968). The former background figure quickly became the group's main (and, excepting irregular leads by Kendricks and Williams, only) lead singer by the end of 1965. After many Ruffin-led hits, he started to develop a large ego. He was later fired from the group (see the Temptations main article for more details).

In 2004, "My Girl" was ranked number 88 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.[3]

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Covers

In 1965, Otis Redding brought more of a traditional blues flavor to the song in his cover of "My Girl". This version, produced by Steve Cropper, was featured on Redding's critically acclaimed album Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul, and was also on John Lennon's jukebox. Redding's version wasn't released as a single in the United States, but Atlantic UK released it in England to capitalize on the relative lack of success by the Temptations' original version, and Redding's cover eventually peaked at #11.

A cover version was included on The Rolling Stones Flowers in 1967. It was recorded two years earlier. The Mamas & the Papas featured this song on the third album Deliver (1967), and released it as a single that reached 15 on the U.S. pop charts. Al Green included a cover version on his 1969 album Green Is Blues. It has also been a hit for Jamaican ska rocksteady legend, Prince Buster. In 1977, Dolly Parton included a country version of the song on her album New Harvest - First Gathering. In 1988, Suave had a Top 40 Pop hit & Top 10 R&B hit with the song.

"My Girl" has been covered frequently since the 1960s, including versions by other Motown stars such as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.

[edit] Movies

"My Girl" has been featured in a number of films, including the 1991 My Girl, which was also named after the tune. A music video to promote the film combined footage from an archived 1965 television performance, clips from the film, and new footage of the 1991 Temptations lineup - original members Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin alongside newer members Richard Street, Ron Tyson, and (wearing glasses to look like David Ruffin) Ali-Ollie Woodson - performing a cover of the tune alongside My Girl's co-stars Anna Chlumsky and Macaulay Culkin. The first half of the music video used the original soundtrack. The video was directed by Dominic Orlando.

  • The song appears in the 1989 film Born on the Fourth of July.
  • In the 1991 movie, Father of the Bride, George Banks (Steve Martin) and his daughter Annie (Kimberly Williams) played a game of one-on-one basketball as George was trying to come to grips with the fact that his daughter was to be married; "My Girl" played throughout their game.
  • The song appears in the Korean movie My Sassy Girl.
  • In Hollywood Homicide, the song was used as Harrison Ford's ringtone, a running gag, as well as in the closing credits.
  • My Girl is briefly played in the movie Munich after the first target is assassinated.

[edit] Television


Preceded by
"This Diamond Ring" by Gary Lewis & the Playboys		 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
March 6, 1965		 Succeeded by
"Eight Days a Week" by The Beatles
Preceded by
"Sugar Shack" by Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs		 Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles number-one single
January 30, 1965 – March 6, 1965		 Succeeded by
"Shotgun" by Junior Walker & the All Stars

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c Blair, Elizabeth. "My Girl". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1074993. Retrieved on 2009-06-24. 
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 803. 
  3. ^ "The Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs. Retrieved on 2007-03-07. 
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Girl_(The_Temptations_song)"
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