"Don't Look Back" | ||||
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Single by The Temptations | ||||
from the album The Temptin' Temptations | ||||
A-side | "My Baby" | |||
Released | September 30, 1965 (1st pressing) October 30, 1965 (2nd pressing) | |||
Recorded | Hitsville USA (Studio A); May 5, May 10 and May 12, 1965 | |||
Genre | Soul | |||
Length | 2:50 | |||
Label | Gordy G 7047 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Smokey Robinson Ronald White | |||
Producer(s) | Smokey Robinson | |||
The Temptations singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Don't Look Back" on YouTube |
"Don't Look Back" is a 1965 song recorded by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. The flip side to their Top 20 hit "My Baby", "Don't Look Back" broke out and became a hit among the R&B audience on its own, reaching #14 on the R&B charts.
Considered one of original lead singer Paul Williams' showcases, "Don't Look Back" was regularly employed as the closing number for Temptations live performances. Although the original flip side, "My Baby", was initially more popular with pop audiences at the time, over the decades, "Don't Look Back" has proven to be the far more popular and enduring tune. It was also performed by the group on The Ed Sullivan Show. There are no known cover versions of "My Baby".
Written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Ronald White, (who also co-wrote the group's #1 Pop smash, "My Girl") the previous year, "Don't Look Back" is a reassurance to the tentative that finding true love is worth the heartbreak and failed relationships it takes to reach it. As the song's narrator, Paul Williams, promises his lover, in his trademark gritty tone:
Smokey Robinson, the song's producer, specifically assigned Paul Williams to sing lead on the song. Although Williams had been the group's original lead singer during its formative years, his role had by 1965 been eclipsed by David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks, who had both sung lead on Temptations hit singles. As such, Williams was often overlooked for leads, even on album tracks and B-sides, prompting him to complain, "shit, y'know, I can sing too!"[ citation needed ]
"Don't Look Back" was originally this single's A-side, but was passed over by the nation's DJs in favor of the Ruffin-led "My Baby", which had a much bigger pop success than this song, and placed on the B-side. [1] The song nevertheless was promoted as if it were an A-side and would be the only B-side to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 for the group (but missed the Top 40 as it peaked at #83).
Although the song's relatively modest initial chart success prevented Paul Williams from getting any more leads on Temptations singles releases, the fact is that "Don't Look Back" became a huge belated hit, because his dynamic performance of the song on the Temptations Live! LP received huge airplay by R&B DeeJays nationwide, and propelled sales of the album into the Top 10 of the Billboard pop album chart.[ citation needed ] Both sides of the single would receive a second pressing and the tracks remixed, with the following statements added on: "Taken from the album #G 914 The Temptin' Temptations ." With the second printing, the sides were reversed, making "My Baby" the A-side, while "Don't Look Back", the original A-side, was relegated to B-side status. [2]
Cash Box described the song as a "catchy, rhythmic ode about a twosome who seem aptly suited to each other." [3]
"Don't Look Back" was more often performed at Temptations live shows than "My Baby".[ citation needed ] On the 1967 Temptations Live! album, the women in the audience can be heard demanding that the group perform the song, which they proceeded to do. Paul Williams, who developed many of The Temptations' dance steps, developed a routine for the live shows that had him following the song's advice to "keep on walkin'" and performing a strut across the stage, to the delight of the audience. As befitting an intended "A" side, "Don't Look Back" was conceived by Motown Records as an elaborate and dynamic closing number for the Temptations.[ citation needed ]
As Paul Williams' specialty number, "Don't Look Back" was retired from The Temptations' repertoire after Williams, suffering from complications of sickle-cell disease and alcoholism, left the group in 1971. The group performed the song at their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a tribute to Williams, along with Daryl Hall and John Oates, who announced the induction. [4]
Chart (1965) | Peak position |
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U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart | 83 |
U.S. Billboard R&B Singles | 14 |
"(You Gotta Walk And) Don't Look Back" | |
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Single by Peter Tosh with Mick Jagger | |
from the album Bush Doctor | |
B-side | "Soon Come" |
Released | 1978 |
Genre | Reggae |
Label | EMI |
Songwriter(s) | William Robinson Ronald White |
Music video | |
"(You Gotta Walk And) Don't Look Back" on YouTube |
Peter Tosh scored a hit in 1978 with a reggae version of the song, sharing vocals with Mick Jagger. That version bore the modified title "(You Gotta Walk And) Don't Look Back". [5] The song hit #1 in the Netherlands, #2 in Belgium, [6] #20 in Australia, [7] and #81 in the US. [8] The song was also featured on the 2007 album Putumayo Presents World Hits starring Jagger and Tosh. This album also contains songs like E'mma from Touré Kunda, 7 Seconds from Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry, "Watermelon Man" from Mongo Santamaría, Oye Como Va From Santana, etc.
The track appears also on Peter Tosh 1978 album Bush Doctor with credited Mick Jagger vocals. The pair played the song together that year on an episode of Saturday Night Live and a couple of times during Tosh's opening performance on the Rolling Stones US Tour 1978. The Rolling Stones rehearsed it for that tour and played it once in Chicago 2002.
Tosh had previously recorded the song with The Wailers in ska style in 1966.
"Walk and Don't Look Back" | |
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Single by Dirk De Smet | |
Released | 2008 |
Genre | R&B |
Label | Ariola / Sony Music(for distribution) |
Songwriter(s) | Smokey Robinson Ronald White |
Music video | |
"Walk and Don't Look Back" on YouTube |
Dirk De Smet, the winner of the second series of the Belgian edition of X Factor musical competition made a remake of the song under the title "Walk and Don't Look Back" being his debut release after the win. It reached #4 on the Flemish Ultratop Belgian Singles Chart in 2008. [9]
Don't Look Back has also been covered by Johnny Nash, The Persuasions, Bobby Womack, Teena Marie, Al Green and many others.
The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s to early 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top 10 hit single "Cloud Nine" in October 1968, pioneered psychedelic soul, and was significant in the evolution of R&B and soul music. The band members are known for their choreography, distinct harmonies, and dress style. Having sold tens of millions of albums, the Temptations are among the most successful groups in popular music.
Paul Williams was an American baritone singer. He was noted for being one of the founding members and original lead singer of the Motown group the Temptations. Along with Elbridge "Al" Bryant, Otis Williams, and fellow Alabamians Eddie Kendricks and Melvin Franklin, Williams was a member of the Temptations.
Dennis Edwards Jr. was an American soul and R&B singer who was best known as the frontman in The Temptations for Motown Records. Edwards joined the Temptations in 1968, replacing David Ruffin and sang with the group from 1968 to 1976, 1980 to 1984, and 1987 to 1989. In the mid-1980s, he launched a solo career, recording the 1984 hit single "Don't Look Any Further". Until his death, Edwards was the lead singer of The Temptations Review, a Temptations splinter group.
"My Girl" is a soul music song recorded by the Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) record label. Written and produced by the Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Ronald White, it became the Temptations' first U.S. number 1 single, and is currently their signature song. Robinson's inspiration for writing "My Girl" was his wife, Miracles member Claudette Rogers Robinson. The song was included on the Temptations 1965 album The Temptations Sing Smokey. In 2017, the song was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".
"Ain't Too Proud to Beg" is a 1966 song and hit single by The Temptations for Motown Records' Gordy label, produced by Norman Whitfield and written by Whitfield and Edward Holland Jr. The song peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Pop Chart, and was a number-one hit on the Billboard R&B charts for eight non-consecutive weeks. The song's success, in the wake of the relative underperformance of the previous Temptations' single, "Get Ready", resulted in Norman Whitfield replacing Smokey Robinson, producer of "Get Ready", as The Temptations' main producer. In 2004 it finished number 94 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs poll thanks to its inclusion in The Big Chill soundtrack.
The Temptations is a four-hour television miniseries broadcast in two-hour halves on NBC, based upon the history of one of Motown's longest-lived acts, The Temptations. Executive produced by former Motown executive Suzanne de Passe, produced by Otis Williams and Temptations manager Shelley Berger, and based upon Williams’ Temptations autobiography, the miniseries was originally broadcast on November 1 and November 2, 1998. It was filmed on location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the spring of 1998. Allan Arkush directed the miniseries.
TCB is a 1968 television special produced by Motown Productions and George Schlatter–Ed Friendly Productions of Laugh-In fame. The special is a musical revue starring Motown's two most popular groups at the time, Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations. Containing a combination of showtunes, specially prepared numbers, and popular Motown hits, the special was taped before a live studio audience in September 1968 and originally broadcast December 9, 1968 on NBC, sponsored by the Timex watch corporation. The title of the program uses a then-popular acronym, "TCB", which stands for "Taking Care of Business".
"Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" is a Motown song written by Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, and Janie Bradford. The song was first recorded by The Temptations as a track on their 1966 album Gettin' Ready. Eddie Kendricks sings lead on the recording, which was produced by Whitfield. Jimmy Ruffin also recorded a version with The Temptations providing background vocals in 1966. It remained unreleased until 1997.
"Since I Lost My Baby" is a 1965 hit single recorded by The Temptations for the Motown Records' Gordy label. Written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore and produced by Robinson, the song was a top 20 pop single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, on which it peaked at number 17. On Billboard's R&B singles chart, "Since I Lost My Baby" peaked at number four.
"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.
"Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)" is a 1971 hit single for the Gordy (Motown) label, recorded by The Temptations and produced by Norman Whitfield. Something of an early ancestor to the "diss songs" prevalent in hip hop music towards the end of the 20th century, "Superstar" is an attack at two former Temptations members, David Ruffin (who had been fired back in 1968) and Eddie Kendricks (who quit the act in early 1971 and negotiated a Motown solo deal). The song appears on the 1972 album Solid Rock.
Meet the Temptations is the debut studio album by the Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label released in 1964. It includes most of the group's early singles, excluding only the first, "Oh Mother of Mine", and its b-side, "Romance Without Finance" ; as well as the single "Mind Over Matter", in which the group is credited as The Pirates. The album consists entirely of previously released singles, including the group's first hit single, "The Way You Do the Things You Do".
Cloud Nine is the ninth studio album by American musical group The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label released in 1969.
The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul is the fifth studio album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label released in 1967. Featuring four hit singles, With a Lot o' Soul is the most successful Temptations album from their "classic 5" era, during which David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams constituted the Temptations' lineup.
Temptations Live! is the first live album to be released by The Temptations. The album was recorded on October 3, 1966, at the Roostertail in Detroit, Michigan. The album cover photograph was taken in March 1966 at The 20 Grand, 14th and Warren in Detroit, Michigan, and the album was released on Gordy (Motown) Records in 1967. The album features David Ruffin, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams performing their regular live repertoire for a highly receptive crowd mostly consisting of young women. Included in the set are Temptations hits such as "My Girl", "My Baby", "Get Ready", "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", "Don't Look Back", and the group's then-current single, "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep". Out of the several live albums the group recorded during their career, this is the only one to feature David Ruffin. The album remained on the Billboard pop albums chart for 51 weeks, peaking at number 10.
The Temptin' Temptations is the third studio album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label released in 1965. The album includes several of the group's hits from 1965, and also includes a handful of singles that were not included on the Temptations' first 1965 album, The Temptations Sing Smokey. Among these are the 1964 singles "Girl " and "I'll Be in Trouble"; and the 1965 singles "Since I Lost My Baby", and "My Baby". Seven of the album's 12 tracks had previously been released as singles and their B-sides, though "My Baby" preceded the album only by a month.
The Temptations Sing Smokey is the second studio album by the Temptations for the Motown label, released on the Gordy Records subsidiary in 1965. As its name implies, it is composed entirely of songs written and produced by Smokey Robinson, and several other members of the Miracles as well.
"You've Got to Earn It" is a 1964 song recorded by the Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. It was released as the B-side to their 1965 Top 40 hit "Since I Lost My Baby", and was also able to chart on its own, peaking at number 23 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Pop Charts. On Billboard's R&B singles chart, "You've Got to Earn It" peaked at number 22. It was written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson, who also was the song’s producer, and the group’s main guitarist, Cornelius Grant. Grant did not play guitar on the song as he was out on tour during the recording session.
"I've Been Good to You" is a 1961 R&B song by The Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla label. It was released as the B-side of their Billboard Top 40 hit, "What's So Good About Goodbye", and was included on their album I'll Try Something New the following year. This sad, melancholy ballad charted #103 on the Billboard Pop chart. Despite its relatively modest chart placing, this song has been hugely influential, and is noted as Beatle John Lennon's favorite Miracles tune, and was the inspiration for The Beatles' songs "This Boy" and "Sexy Sadie". Written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson, the song begins with the lyric, "Look what you've done...You've made a fool out of someone..." which Lennon later paraphrased in Sexy Sadie song as, "What have you done...You've made a fool of everyone."
"Farewell My Love" is a 1963 single by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. It was the last single that was written and produced by Motown president Berry Gordy for well over a decade, and the last released during the period of the "Original 5" lineup. It is also noted as the group's last single to miss the Billboard pop chart's Top 40 until 1971's "It's Summer". Up until now the group was jokingly referred to at this time as the "Hitless Temptations" by the Motown staff, much like their "sister" group, The Supremes, were called the "no-hit Supremes". However, their next single, the Smokey Robinson-produced "The Way You Do the Things You Do", would reach the Top 20 of the U.S. pop chart, breaking the group's streak of being "hitless".