It's Growing

"It's Growing"
Single by The Temptations
from the album The Temptations Sing Smokey
B-side"What Love Has Joined Together"
ReleasedMarch 18, 1965
RecordedHitsville USA; 1964–1965
Genre
Length3:01
LabelGordy
G 7040
Songwriter(s)Smokey Robinson
Warren "Pete" Moore
Producer(s)Smokey Robinson
The Temptations singles chronology
"My Girl"
(1964)
"It's Growing"
(1965)
"Since I Lost My Baby"
(1965)

"It's Growing" is a 1965 hit single by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. Written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore and produced by Robinson, the song was a top 20 pop single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, on which it peaked at number 18. On Billboard's R&B singles chart, "It's Growing" peaked at number 3.[3]

This single was the follow-up to "My Girl", which was the first to feature David Ruffin as the Temptations new lead singer. Ruffin, as the song's narrator, tells his lover that his love for her keeps on growing each and every day, giving several comparations to illustrate how much it grows. The song starts with a toy piano playing before the drums kick start the song, going into mid-tempo dance number. Motown had hoped to repeat the success of the previous single by giving "It's Growing" a somewhat similar sound but with a bigger orchestration and adding The Andantes for additional backing vocals.

This single, the second from The Temptations Sing Smokey, would be backed by the Eddie Kendricks-led cover of The Miracles' "What Love Has Joined Together." While not as successful as the previous single, it still made the Top 20 in the Pop charts, continuing Robinson's reign as the group's main producer. Cash Box described it as "a slow-shufflin’, pop-r&b rhythmic romancer about a twosome who seem aptly suited to each other."[2]

  1. ^ Marsh, Dave (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Plume. p. 395. ISBN 0-452-26305-0.
  2. ^ a b c "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. April 10, 1965. p. 18. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  3. ^ Williams, Otis and Romanowski, Patricia (1988, updated 2002). Temptations. Lanham, MD: Cooper Square. ISBN 0-8154-1218-5.