Today’s classic song of the day is an early ’70s Motown classic, “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” by the Temptations. It was the last Temptations single to include Eddie Kendricks, who left to pursue a solo career, and Paul Williams, who left for health reasons. Released in January of 1971, the single went all the way to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, as well as Billboard’s R&B chart.
“Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, and produced by Whitfield. Backing instrumentals were provided by Motown’s Funk Brothers, including Eddie Willis and Dennis Coffey on guitars, Bob Babbitt on bass, Andrew Smith on drums, and the ubiquitous Jack Ashford on marimba. Jerry Long provided the arrangement and conducted members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on strings and horns. Eddie Kendricks sang lead.
This single was unique for its time. During the late ’60s/early ’70s, Whitfield and Strong were leading the Temptations into what many dubbed psychedelic soul, as exemplified by “Ball of Confusion,” “Cloud Nine,” “Psychedelic Shack,” and similar tracks. Fans, however, were clamoring for a return to the Temptations’ mellower mid-1960s ballad sound, so Whitfield and Strong relented for this one single—which went all the way to number one.
“Just My Imagination” became one of the Temptations’ signature songs, despite being a bit anachronistic for the group. It’s certainly one of my favorite Temptations tunes, but then I’ve always been a sucker for their more melodic, pop-flavored work. This one could have been released during their mid-60s heyday and been just as successful then.
Which leads us to today’s bonus video of the day, the Temptations performing “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” on the January 31, 1971, episode of The Ed Sullivan Show. By this point Eddie Kendricks had pretty much broken his ties to the group, and you can see it in the song’s staging and the group’s performance. As Temptation Otis Williams remembered:
“But there was such a bittersweet feeling. Eddie had really changed. Paul was on his last legs. Watch the clip of us doing the song on Ed Sullivan, we’re not together. Eddie is off by himself. There was no more group. Sure enough, when we played the Copa that week, Eddie left between shows. He didn’t come back.”
