Post by erik on Jul 30, 2022 13:19:36 GMT -5
One of the Temptations' hits from their "psychedelic soul" period is in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight.
DON’T LET THE JONESES GET YOU DOWN (The Temptations; Gordy; 1969)— One of the many great groups to emerge from Berry Gordy’s Motown label during the 1960’s, The Temptations, like such contemporaries as The Supremes and The Miracles, were known for both romantic R&B ballads and full-blown Motor City dance numbers. Songs like “My Girl”, “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg”, and “I Wish It Would Rain” were not only #1 R&B hits, but also huge Top Ten hits on the Hot 100. But by late 1968, with the more harder-edged R&B sounds of James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone becoming nearly as popular in that turbulent world as Motown had been, the group, under the aegis of their producer Norman Whitfield, followed suit and went in what might very well be called a “psychedelic soul” direction, sometimes with rock guitar dynamics. The beginning of this trend was with their hit “Cloud Nine”, which was a big Top Ten R&B and pop hit in January 1969. One of their lesser-known but still readily identifiable hits of this era, which, like so many was written by Whitfield to fit into the psychedelic soul format, was the funky “Don’t Let The Joneses Get You Down”. As with so many of their hits from this period, this song was a somewhat polarizing one with fans of the group, who wanted them back into the pre-1968 romantic ballad mood (which they would return to with their #1 hit “Just My Imagination” in April 1971); and even with the fans of the “newer” sound, it remains a bit obscure, given that it only managed to reach #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the end of June 1969, though it did get up to #2 on the R&B chart. Nevertheless, Whitfield and his cohort Barrett Strong continued to steer the group in this direction to significant success for the rest of 1969 and on into 1970, most notably with “I Can’t Get Next To You” (which hit #1 in October 1969); “Psychedelic Shack” (#7 pop/#2 R&B, February 1970) and the searing “Ball Of Confusion” (#3 pop/#2 &B, July 1970).
DON’T LET THE JONESES GET YOU DOWN (The Temptations; Gordy; 1969)— One of the many great groups to emerge from Berry Gordy’s Motown label during the 1960’s, The Temptations, like such contemporaries as The Supremes and The Miracles, were known for both romantic R&B ballads and full-blown Motor City dance numbers. Songs like “My Girl”, “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg”, and “I Wish It Would Rain” were not only #1 R&B hits, but also huge Top Ten hits on the Hot 100. But by late 1968, with the more harder-edged R&B sounds of James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone becoming nearly as popular in that turbulent world as Motown had been, the group, under the aegis of their producer Norman Whitfield, followed suit and went in what might very well be called a “psychedelic soul” direction, sometimes with rock guitar dynamics. The beginning of this trend was with their hit “Cloud Nine”, which was a big Top Ten R&B and pop hit in January 1969. One of their lesser-known but still readily identifiable hits of this era, which, like so many was written by Whitfield to fit into the psychedelic soul format, was the funky “Don’t Let The Joneses Get You Down”. As with so many of their hits from this period, this song was a somewhat polarizing one with fans of the group, who wanted them back into the pre-1968 romantic ballad mood (which they would return to with their #1 hit “Just My Imagination” in April 1971); and even with the fans of the “newer” sound, it remains a bit obscure, given that it only managed to reach #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the end of June 1969, though it did get up to #2 on the R&B chart. Nevertheless, Whitfield and his cohort Barrett Strong continued to steer the group in this direction to significant success for the rest of 1969 and on into 1970, most notably with “I Can’t Get Next To You” (which hit #1 in October 1969); “Psychedelic Shack” (#7 pop/#2 R&B, February 1970) and the searing “Ball Of Confusion” (#3 pop/#2 &B, July 1970).