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The Temptations in a Mellow Mood

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The Temptations in a Mellow Mood is a 1967 album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. Comprised primarily of pop standards such as "Ol' Man River" and "For Once in My Life", and similar songs written by Holland-Dozier-Holland and other Motown staff songwriters, the Mellow Mood album was part of Motown chief Berry Gordy's crossover plans for the group. Gordy wanted the Temptations, already the most popular male group among black audiences, to attract a large white fanbase and be able to secure playdates at supper clubs like the Copacabana, where the group had first performed in the summer of 1967.

The Temptations themselves, and Paul Williams in particular, where worried about appearing as sell-outs to their black fans and the radio DJs who had made them popular in the first place. However, both pop and soul fans responded to the Mellow Mood album, and the Temptations reached Gordy's desired goal of crossing over to white audiences. "Ol' Man River" was already present in the Temptations' performance repertoire as bass Melvin Franklin's solo spot, and "For Once in My Life" soon became a solo showcase for Paul Williams, who performed a particularly acclaimed version of the song for the TCB television special in late 1968.

Track listing

Superscripts denote main lead singers for each track: (a) David Ruffin, (b) Eddie Kendricks, (c) Paul Williams, (d) Melvin Franklin, (e) Otis Williams, (f) Temptations ensemble.


  1. "Hello Young Lovers" (Hammerstein, Rodgers) f
  2. "A Taste of Honey" (Marlow, Scott) b
  3. "For Once in My Life" (Miller, Murden) c (outro: e)
  4. "Somewhere" (Bernstein, Sondheim) a
  5. "Ol' Man River" (Hammerstein, Kern) d (intro: f)
  6. "I'm Ready for Love" (Dozier, Holland, Holland) a
  7. "Try to Remember" (Dozier, Holland, Jones, Schmidt) b
  8. "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" (Bricusse, Newley) c
  9. "What Now My Love?" (Bécaud, Delanoe, Sigman) a, d
  10. "That's Life" (Gordon, Kay) c
  11. "With These Hands" (Davis, Silver) b
  12. "The Impossible Dream" (Darion, Leigh) a

Personnel

See also

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