All I Need (The Temptations song)

"All I Need" is a 1967 hit single recorded by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. It is the group's first single to be produced by Norman Whitfield's protégé Frank Wilson. Written by Wilson, Edward Holland, Jr. and R. Dean Taylor, the single was a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 8; it was also a number-two hit on the Billboard R&B singles chart.[1][2]

"All I Need"
Single by The Temptations
from the album The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul
B-side"Sorry is a Sorry Word"
ReleasedApril 13, 1967
RecordedHitsville USA (Studio A)
Hitsville USA (Studio B/Golden World); 1967
GenreSoul, Pop
Length3:19
LabelGordy
G 7061
Songwriter(s)Frank Wilson
Eddie Holland
R. Dean Taylor
Producer(s)Frank Wilson
The Temptations singles chronology
"(I Know) I'm Losing You"
(1966)		 "All I Need" / "Sorry is a Sorry Word"
(1967)		 "You're My Everything"
(1967)
The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul track listing
  1. "(I Know) I'm Losing You"
  2. "Ain't No Sun Since You've Been Gone"
  3. "All I Need"
  4. "(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need"
  5. "No More Water in the Well"
  6. "Save My Love For a Rainy Day"
  7. "Just One Last Look"
  8. "Sorry Is a Sorry Word"
  9. "You're My Everything"
  10. "Now That You've Won Me"
  11. "Two Sides to Love"
  12. "Don't Send Me Away"

David Ruffin, the Temptations main lead singer, serves as the songs narrator. In it he's begging his lover to forgive his unfaithfulness and mistreatment of her, telling her how guilty he feels about it and that he'll make it up to her. The recording's beat is very similar to the songs written and produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland, Motown's main songwriting team (of which Holland was a part of).

The single is the first not to be produced by the group's main producer Norman Whitfield since "Get Ready", and Whitfield produced all of their single releases starting with the following single. Due to Whitfield maintaining an iron grip on his creative control over The Temptations' released material, it would also be their last single not produced by Whitfield until their duets with Diana Ross and the Supremes in 1968.

Backed with the Ivy Jo Hunter production "Sorry is a Sorry Word" (co-written by Holland with Hunter), the single would be their second one from the group's 1967 album The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul. The Temptations performed the song live on the CBS variety show The Ed Sullivan Show on May 28, 1967,[3] and the flip side was also performed, as part of a documentary, in 1967.

Fellow Motown group Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers recorded the song in 1968 but it remained unreleased until Bobby Taylor's Motown Anthology album came out in 2006. The Supremes recorded a slower version of the song (in 1971) with Jean Terrell on lead vocals. Their cover first appeared on the Motown Sings Motown Treasures album in 2005.

Chart performance

Personnel

Notes
  1. Williams, Otis and Romanowski, Patricia (1988, updated 2002). Temptations. Lanham, MD: Cooper Square. ISBN 0-8154-1218-5.
  2. The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 7: 1967 [CD liner notes]. New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records
  3. "The Ed Sullivan Show Episode 918: May 28, 1967: The Temptations, Robert Goulet, Jane Morgan, Pickle Brothers". Archived from the original on 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
  4. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2016-11-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
  7. "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 23, 1967". Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
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