Background
Norman Whitfield took the Temptations into psychedelic territory after a suggestion from the group's de facto leader, Otis Williams. Williams had been discussing Sly & the Family Stone's music, and the changes it brought to the soul music industry, with his friend, producer Kenneth Gamble. Gamble agreed with Williams that Sly Stone's funkier production style and multi-lead vocals was here to stay and that it was time to learn to adapt to it.
While Williams, Whitfield, and Williams' then-wife Ann Cain were standing outside of the Casino Royale nightclub in Motown's home city of Detroit during the summer of 1968, Williams suggested that Whitfield might try to produce something like Sly & the Family Stone's "Dance to the Music" for their next single. The Temptations had been successful with romantic ballads such as "My Girl" and mid-tempo numbers such as "(I Know) I'm Losing You", but Williams, taking Gamble's advice, felt that it was time to update the group's sound. "Man, I don't want to be bothered with that shit," remarked Whitfield, who regarded the Family Stone sound as a "passing fancy".
Overview
Regardless of his original opinion of Sly Stone's work, by the fall of 1968, Whitfield had the Temptations recording "Cloud Nine", which featured all five members (Otis Williams, the newly drafted Dennis Edwards, and founding members Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, and Melvin Franklin) trading lead vocals over a Family Stone-like instrumental track. Although Otis Williams denies the connection, "Cloud Nine's" lyrics have frequently been cited as empathizing with drug use. [5]
The album's second single, "Run Away Child, Running Wild", delved further into unusual territory for the Temptations, turning a story about a lost runaway into a nine-minute epic of doo-wop vocals, droning organ lines, and hard-hitting drums similar to those typically heard in Sly & the Family Stone and James Brown records. Halfway through its running time, "Run Away Child" segues into an instrumental jam session (the single mix only includes the vocal half of the song). Future Temptations songs produced by Norman Whitfield, such as "Hum Along and Dance", "Smiling Faces Sometimes", and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", would further emphasize extended instrumental passages, often allowing said passages to overshadow the songs' vocals and as a result, The Temptations had him replaced by Jeffrey Bowen after the 1990 album. [6]
Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic assessed the title track: "Heavily influenced by Sly Stone, the funky rhythms -- driven by a fabulous bed of drums, conga, and wah-wah electric guitar -- all coalesce to create a truly atmospheric funk record. As well, the band's trade-off gospel-inspired vocals take the song into the stratosphere. Lyrically, the song certainly seemed to have drug connotations, yet was apparently only about a 'state of mind.'" [7]
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