“My Girl” (The Temptations)

Today’s classic Motown song of the day is perhaps the most well-known and most fondly remembered of them all, “My Girl” by the Temptations. Released on Motown’s Gordy label in late December of 1964, it rose all the way to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles charts.

“My Girl” was arguably the biggest hit for both songwriter Smokey Robinson (with co-writer Ronald White) and the Temptations. It’s a song that everybody of a certain age, and maybe past that, knows by heart. We also know the famous Temptations choreography, which is perfect for the song.

Smokey Robinson wrote “My Girl” as a response to “My Guy,” a song he previously wrote for Mary Wells. “My Guy” came out in the spring of 1964 and also hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. But that wasn’t the sole inspiration.

According to Smokey, he wrote “My Girl” with singer David Ruffin in mind. Instead of giving the song to his own group, the Miracles, Smokey let Ruffin sing “My Girl” as his first lead vocal with the Temps. In Smokey’s words:

“I wrote ‘My Girl’ for David Ruffin’s voice. The Temptations were so creative in making up the background vocals… All the stuff that they’re singing on ‘My Girl,’ they made that up themselves.”

Does he regret not keeping “My Girl” for himself and the Miracles?

“No, I don’t wish I would have kept it for myself. [The Temptations are] the ones who brought it out of me!”

Prior to Mr. Ruffin taking lead vocal duties for the Temptations, either Eddie Kendricks or Paul Williams tended to take the lead. The other Temps on the recording were Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams. The Funk Brothers who supplied the soulful instrumental backing included Earl Van Dyke on piano, Robert White on guitar, James Jamerson on bass, and Benny Benjamin on drums leading with his classic Motown fill. Paul Riser did the horn and string arrangements which were performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

As to the various instrumental hooks, the signature bass line was supplied by James Jamerson and that famous opening guitar lick, which is just a little bit country, was Robert White’s doing. The “hey hey heys” and echoing “my girls” came from the Temptations themselves. It all combined for a perfect recording of a perfect song.

Then there are Smokey’s extremely clever lyrics, which I have to include in their entirety:

I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day
When it’s cold outside
I’ve got the month of May
I guess you’d say
What can make me feel this way

My girl, my girl, my girl
Talkin’ ’bout my girl

I’ve got so much honey
The bees envy me
I’ve got a sweeter song
Than the birds in the trees
Well, I guess you’d say
What can make me feel this way

My girl, my girl, my girl
Talkin’ ’bout my girl

I don’t need no money, fortune, or fame
I’ve got all the riches baby one man can claim
Well I guess you’d say
What can make me feel this way

My girl, my girl, my girl
Talkin’ ’bout my girl

“Sunshine on a cloudy day…” Is there any better expression of first love out there? I think not.

“My Girl” was just one of dozens of hits by the Temptations, with a lot of the early ones written by Smokey Robinson, a bunch in the middle written by Holland-Dozier-Holland, and most of the later ones provided by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. Their list of songs that hit the top twenty include:

• “The Way You Do the Things You Do” (#11, 1964)
• “My Girl” (#1, 1964/1965)
• “It’s Growing” (#18, 1965)
• “Since I Lost My Baby” (#17, 1965)
• “My Baby” (#13, 1965)
• “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” (#13, 1966)
• “Beauty is Only Skin Deep” (#3, 1966)
• “(I Know) I’m Losing You” (#8, 1966)
• “All I Need” (#8, 1967)
• “You’re My Everything” (#6, 1967)
• “(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It’s You That I Need” (#14, 1967)
• “I Wish It Would Rain” (#4, 1968)
• “I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)” (#13, 1968)
• “Cloud Nine” (#6, 1968)
• “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” (with Diana Ross and the Supremes) (#2, 1969)
• “Runaway Child, Running Wild” (#6, 1969)
• “Don’t Let the Joneses Get You Down” (#20, 1969)
• “I Can’t Get Next to You” (#1, 1969)
• “Psychedelic Shack” (#7, 1970)
• “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today)” (#3, 1970)
• “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” (#1, 1971)
• “Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)” (#18, 1971)
• “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” (#1, 1972)
• “Masterpiece” (#7, 1972)

“My Girl” was their first and one of only four #1 singles, the others being “I Can’t Get Next to You,” “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me),” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.” Still, that’s a really powerful run on the charts.

The group’s sound evolved over the years, from Smokey Robinson’s sweet soul ballads of the mid-60s to producer Norman Whitfield’s harder-edged psychedelic soul of the late ’60s/early ’70s. The group’s roster also changed a bit over the years, with David Ruffin leaving in 1968 (replaced by Dennis Edwards) and Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams leaving in 1971. Of the original Temptations, only Otis Williams is still alive today (and still performing with a bevy of replacement Temps); Paul Williams died in 1973 (aged 34, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound), David Ruffin died in 1991, Eddie Kendricks passed in 1992, and Melvin Franklin died in 1995, all much too young.

The legacy of “My Girl” is immense. Billboard ranked it as the #10 song for the entire year of 1965. It was certified Platinum with more than a million copies sold. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and, in 2017, was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or artistically significant.” All those accolades are well deserved. Is there anybody out there who doesn’t love this song?

Oh, and as to that famous Temptations choreography, check out this (lip synched) performance (with real live dancing) from Shivaree in 1965. What moves!