Meet the Temptations

Meet the Temptations
Studio album by The Temptations
Released	April 13, 1964[1]
Recorded	Spring 1961 – January 1964
Genre	Soul, doo-wop
Length	31:33
Label	Gordy GS 911
Producer	Berry Gordy, Andre Williams, William "Mickey" Stevenson, Smokey Robinson, and Norman Whitfield
The Temptations chronology
Meet the Temptations (1964) The Temptations Sing Smokey (1965)
Singles from Meet the Temptations
"Check Yourself" Released: November 7, 1961 "Dream Come True" Released: March 16, 1962 "Paradise" Released: September 26, 1962 "I Want a Love I Can See" Released: March 18, 1963 "Farewell My Love" Released: June 25, 1963 "The Way You Do the Things You Do" Released: January 23, 1964

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Record Mirror	[3]

Meet the Temptations is the debut studio album by the Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label released in 1964. It includes most of the group's early singles, excluding only the first, "Oh Mother of Mine", and its b-side, "Romance Without Finance" (later included on a CD reissue of the LP); as well as the single "Mind Over Matter" (and its b-side "I'll Love You Till I Die"), in which the group is credited as The Pirates. The album consists entirely of previously released singles, including the group's first hit single, "The Way You Do the Things You Do".

The lineup on the cover features Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, Otis Williams, and newest Temptation Davis (later David) Ruffin. Ruffin had just joined the act three months before this album was released, and actually only appears on "The Way You Do The Things You Do". The other tracks all feature original Temptation Elbridge "Al" Bryant, who was fired from the group in December 1963.

Again, excepting the hit single, these tracks all date from the Temptations' slow-selling starting period (during which some Motown staffers referred to them as the "hitless Temptations"). Despite local success in Detroit and the midwest, the Temptations released six singles that missed the Top 100 Pop & R&B charts, and one, "Dream Come True", which made it to #22 on the R&B singles chart. Most of these songs feature Paul Williams as (main) lead, while Kendricks, Bryant, Franklin, and Otis Williams were given plenty of lead lines, ad-libs and harmony vocals heard throughout the album. Kendricks was also given a small handful of songs to lead as well, including the two charting singles.

The album was originally issued only in monaural sound. A stereo remix of the album was issued along with the original mono version in 1966. The bonus tracks were added to the album in 1999.