Join the Temptations / Together [Import, Original recording remastered]

Temptations, Supremes, Diana Ross | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 9, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Universal UK
• ASIN: B00004WZ5Q
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #317,740 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Try It Baby

2. I Second That Emotion

3. Ain't No Mountain High Enough

4. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me

5. This Guy's in Love With You

6. Funky Broadway

7. I'll Try Something New

8. A Place in the Sun

9. Sweet Inspiration

10. Then

11. The Impossible Dream

12. Stubborn Kind of Fellow

13. I'll Be Doggone

14. The Weight

15. Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing

16. Uptight (Everything's Alright)

17. Sing a Simple Song

18. My Guy, My Girl

19. For Better or Worse

20. Can't Take My Eyes Off You

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A super groups collaboration that works, April 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Join the Temptations / Together (Audio CD)

In the late 60s, Motown's idea of getting two of its hottest acts together in the studios was a commercial stroke of genius. It spawned the two albums on this twofer and a taped-for-TV live recording for Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations.

Their first studio collaboration - "Diana Ross & The Supremes Join The Temptations", which opens this twofer, is by far the better album. It kicks off on a sizzling note with "Try It Baby", a jazzy showbizzy number which somehow captures the magic of the ensemble. Neither group was trying to dominate the other and that's part of the reason for its success. The other familiar Motown covers - "I Second That Emotion" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - aren't too many streets away from the originals but they still sound fresh and viable. Dee Dee Warwick and Madeline Bell had minor hits with "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" but it was a little known song until the Supremes and the Temptations made their smash version. Truly an awesome performance and without doubt the high point of the album. "I'll Try Something New" was another example of how getting Diana & Eddie to trade leads was a winning formula with the public as it gave them a follow-up hit. But for me, their nitty gritty super soulful take of "Funky Broadway" rivals Wilson Pickett's original and is the one cut on the album that really impresses. Elsewhere, the energy level sags and the magic dissipates whenever they're lumbered with karoake singalongs like "A Place In The Sun" or supperclub standards like "This Guy's In Love With You" and "The Impossible Dream". "Sweet Inspiration" is sadly less than inspired, while "Then" isn't better than the Supremes' own version.

"Together", their second collaboration, is obviously an attempt to repeat a successful formula and here, the formula wears a little thin. There's an indifferent paint-by-numbers feel about the arrangements. Opening with a pair of gritty but so so Marvin Gaye covers, they prove the "don't fix it if it ain't broke" adage. Not that they do bad jobs of them, only pointless ones. "The Weight" has Diana singing too high and sounding shrill. The other covers - "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing", "Uptight" and "Sing A Simple Song" - are fine but unexceptional. The one bum track that should not have made the cut is the embarrassing "My Guy, My Girl", a dreadful medley of two Motown classics. Thankfully, the album picks up once past the three-quarter mark. Mary Wilson's solo spot on "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a winner, showing the difference her smoky sultry tones makes to the sound of the Supremes. But Motown has left the best for the last. "Why Must We Fall In Love", the closing number, is easily the best cut and the one track on "Together" that really works, recalling the verve of the two groups' earlier collaboration.

Fans of the Supremes and the Temptations have the UK branch of Motown to thank for making this twofer available. Though hardly classics, they recall the groups at their prime and are charming and nostalgic to listen to. Essential for fans.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Together..again!, November 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Join the Temptations / Together (Audio CD)

An interesting thing Motown did back in the 60's... they reunited two acts that began their careers singing together on the streets of Detroit. On these two classic albums combined on one disc you'll hear the Supremes exchange melodies with the Tempts on classic songs like I'LL TRY SOMETHING NEW and I'M GONNA MAKE YOU LOVE ME. An even more poignant moment occurs when the two super groups perform THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM...something they had dared to do...and at this point in their careers they had certainly come to the realization (except for poor Florence Ballard) that some dreams do come true.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Joined Together, May 15, 2008

By 

Laurence Upton (Wilts, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Join the Temptations / Together (Audio CD)

Before buying this, check out Joined Together: The Complete Studio Duets, which contains everything here, plus bonus tracks