abstract
| - %22My Baby%22 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.An extension of the theme from the group's #1 hit %22My Girl%22, which had been released the previous December, %22My Baby%22 features The Temptations, with David Ruffin on lead, bragging about the qualities of a special lady. Ruffin praises his woman's hairstyles (%22hair soft like a baby lamb/and I love to run my fingers through it%22) and personality (%22the gold in her personality/could set Fort Knox to shame%22), and hopes that %22she digs me the way I am/but if I have to change/you know I'm gona do it for my baby%22.%22My Baby%22 was a notable attempt to create an uptempo danceable number for the Temptations; all of their previous Top 20 hits to this point had been either ballads or mid-tempo numbers. The single immediately following %22My Baby%22, %22Get Ready%22, followed the same plan, and was produced with an even faster tempo and a brassier arrangement.Unusually for Temptations singles, %22My Baby's%22 B-side, the Paul Williams-led %22Don’t Look Back%22, was a minor hit in its own right, becoming a top 20 R&B hit and serving for several years as the Temptations' live-show closing number.%22Don't Look Back%22 was actually the original %22A%22 side of Gordy 7047, but was passed over by the nation's DJ's in favor of the Ruffin-led %22My Baby%22,which relegated %22Don't Look Back%22 to %22B%22-side status. Both sides of the single would be remixed for its 2nd pressing, adding on the following statements: %22Taken from the album #G 914 The Temptin' Temptations.%22
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