Customer Reviews

Cloud Nine / Puzzle People

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One should be aware that this disc does not contain the original album (Cloud Nine). Runaway Child here is the radio edit, the four minute version as opposed to the nine minute version that appeared on the original album. The editing of songs seems to be a common practice in these Temptation two-fer's. So if you want the entire album as originally issued they should be shyed away from.

In their lengthy and varied career the Temptations had many lead vocalists and many producers but perhaps found their own individual niche most successfully with the producer Norman Whitfield. They had worked with him as early as 1964 as the co-writer of Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue) and then on some of their other hit singles, and he logically became their sole producer from mid-1967 (although he continued to produce for other Motown acts).

However, it was through his work with the Temptations that he pioneered the concept of psychedelic soul, taking his lead from the rock fraternity's musical experimentations following in the wake of the Summer Of Love; from student campuses and parks where black and white students were developing a new revolutionary culture; and from peers like Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone. In the process he became the most audacious auteur producer since Phil Spector, as he concocted ever more complex and ambitious sounds and mould-breaking arrangements. Coupled with Barrett Strong's socially aware lyrics and the Temptations harmonies, featuring new recruit Dennis Edwards' distinctive lead vocals, a new blueprint was forged for soul throughout the 1970s, beginning in 1969 with the single Cloud Nine, targeting the subject of drug abuse, and possibly the first Motown record with a wah-wah guitar.

It was also the first track on the LP Cloud Nine, although the centrepiece was a nine-and-a-half minute acid-drenched epic, Run Away Child, Running Wild (also a single in a severely edited form). 

Norman Whitfield was on a huge roll and Puzzle People followed just five months later, in February 1970, leading with I Can't Get Next To You, on which each of the group take turns to sing lead, and tackling consumer values (Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down) and black issues among its themes. Side one ended with Message From A Black Man, and side two with Slave, sending out clear signals of black consciousness, though the album also contains covers of Hey Jude and, curiously, Little Green Apples (a live album recorded at the Talk Of The Town came out shortly afterwards and was full of standards like The Impossible Dream and Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet, so the Temptations were straddling a very strange fence).

All though one could argue with the logic behind some of the album couplings in this series, and wish for more extensive notes, these are good value for money re-issues presented in well mastered stereo

I just wanted to know how fast I could get the Cloud Nine Puzzle People CD I grew up on the Temptations. When they say there is music you never forget like Beethoven or Mozart even Sinatra that is how the Temptation music is it will never die even the young ones hear it once and appreciate it and hold on to it even be able to sing it. When you see music you feel you may never be able to get again out there for sale grab it before someone else does it is rare bring back those memories real good memories. I purchase my music through Amazon.com never had a problem

The members of the Temptations in 1969 were Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin and Dennis Edwards. The first album here, Cloud nine, was released in February 1969. It made the top five of the American pop album charts and also made the lower reaches of the UK album charts. Two tracks (the title track and Runaway child) were released as singles. Both peaked at six in the American pop singles but only the title track charted in Britain, where it made the top twenty. In the American R+B chart, the title track peaked at two but Runaway child made it to number one.

This album also features the group's version of the Motown classic I heard it through the grapevine. Apparently, four different versions were recorded of this song before Motown chose to release the one by Gladys Knight and the Pips as a single. It was very successful, but a year later, another of the four original versions, that by Marvin Gaye, was released as a single and it became an international number one hit. Still, the version here, also one of those four original versions, is an excellent version in its own right, though I can't deny that Marvin's version is the best one. The other version making up the quartet was by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, their version appearing on their 1968 album, Special occasion.

The second album here, Puzzle people, was released in September 1969 and made the top five of the American pop album charts and the top twenty in the British album charts. The first single, Don't let the Joneses get you down, just made the top twenty in the American pop charts, while peaking at two in the R+B charts, but failed to chart in Britain. The follow-up, I can't get next to you, fared much better, going to number one in both of those American charts and comfortably making the top twenty in Britain. Two covers are also featured here, these being Hey Jude (the Beatles classic) and Little green apples, a Bobby Russell song made famous by Roger Miller.

There is a lot to like about these two Temptations albums, recorded during their peak period. Serious Temptations fans need both of these wonderful albums.

THIS IS A GREAT CD FROM THE TEMPTATIONS YOU SOULD GO AND GET THIS ONE

This CD features two Temptations albums from the late '60s. They are typical of Motown albums from the '60s, which usually featured one or two hits, and a lot of filler. In the case of Cloud Nine, the hits are "Cloud Nine" and "Runaway Child, Running Wild". The hits from Puzzle People are "I Can't Get Next To You" and "Don't Let the Jones Get You Down". These are great songs, but most of the rest of the songs aren't that interesting (although the cover version of "Hey Jude" has it's moments). This CD is for hardcore Motown fans only.