Temptin’: SoulMusic Reissues The Temptations’ Atlantic Albums On One CD

When The Temptations departed Berry Gordy’s historic Motown label in 1977, the Motown roster was in the midst of dramatic change.  The Tempts followed in the footsteps of their onetime labelmates like The Four Tops, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Spinners and even The Jackson 5, all of whom had departed Motown.  The Tempts – Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Richard Street, Glenn Leonard and newest recruit Louis Price – signed to R&B powerhouse label Atlantic, where they remained for two albums collected on one CD from Cherry Red’s SoulMusic Records imprint – Hear to Tempt You (1977) and Bare Back (1978).

Hear to Tempt You should have been a match made in soul Heaven, for it paired the great vocal group with three of the hottest musician-producers out of Philadelphia – Ronnie Baker, Norman Harris and Earl Young.  B-H-Y had helped shape The Sound of Philadelphia for Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International label before defecting to Salsoul and creating some of the greatest, most soulful disco records of all time.  At Atlantic, B-H-Y graced records by Blue Magic and The Trampps (of which drummer/vocalist Earl Young was a member), among others.  For The Temptations, B-H-Y provided nine original songs, working with their frequent collaborators T.G. Conway, Allan Felder and (future Temptation) Ron Tyson.  Tracks were laid down at Philly’s Sigma Sound with the A-team including Harris, Bobby Eli and T.J. Tindall on guitar, Ron Kersey on keyboards, Michael “Sugar Bear” Foreman on bass, Young and Keith Benson on drums, Larry Washington on congas and Don Renaldo with his Horns and Strings.  The vocals for Hear to Tempt You were laid down in Atlantic’s New York studios,  which might have been a sign; Glenn Leonard tells Kevin Goins in his exceptional essay that “It was clear that Atlantic really didn’t know what to with us once we were signed…the chemistry just wasn’t there with [B-H-Y].”  Despite showcasing those familiar Temptations harmonies on sweet, lush soul grooves – both uptempo dancers (“Think for Yourself,” “Read Between the Lines”) and inimitable Philly ballads (“Let’s Live in Peace,” “I Could Never Stop Loving You” – that compared favorably to B-H-Y’s other hit production work of the era, the LP only reached a peak of No. 38 on the R&B Top 40 Albums Chart, and No. 113 on the Top 200.

We have more after the jump including the complete track listing and order links!