Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)
Encyclopedia
"Just My Imagination" is a song by American soul
group The Temptations
. Released on the Gordy (Motown
) label, and produced
by Norman Whitfield
, it features on the group's 1971 album, Sky's the Limit. When released as a single, "Just My Imagination" became the third Temptations song to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100
. The single held the number one position on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart for two weeks in 1971, from March 27 to April 10. "Just My Imagination" also held the number-one spot on the Billboard R&B Singles
chart for three weeks, from February 27 to March 20.
Today, "Just My Imagination" is considered one of the Temptations' signature song
s, and is notable for recalling the sound of the group's 1960s recordings. It is also the final Temptations single to feature founding members Eddie Kendricks
and Paul Williams
. During the process of recording and releasing the single, Kendricks left the group to begin a solo career, while the ailing Williams was forced to retire from the act for health reasons. In 2004, Rolling Stone
magazine listed "Just My Imagination" as number 389 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
l arrangement with strings
and French horns adorning a bluesy rhythm track and guitar line provides the instrumentals. Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine
of allmusic interprets the song as describing the bittersweet story of a man who fantasizes about the woman he loves and imagines a relationship with her. The narrator is canny enough to realize that his daydreams are fiction and not fact, but nevertheless resigns himself to his fantasies. For Erlewine, "the Temptations' performance has a dream-like quality, quietly drifting through the singer's hopes and desires."
The song's first two verses establish the song's theme and explore the narrator's daydreams. In his mind, the narrator and his unrequited love are lovers, prepared to be married, "raise a family", and build "a cozy little home / out in the country / (with) the two children, maybe three". Then, in the bridge, the narrator prays to God that he will never lose the lady's love to another, or he will "surely die". The song's final line, however, reveals that he possesses her love only within the confines of his own imagination: "But in reality / she doesn't even know me."
and lyricist Barrett Strong
crafted a string of "psychedelic soul
" tracks for the Temptations. By 1970, the Temptations had released psychadecially-influenced hits such as "Runaway Child, Running Wild", "Psychedelic Shack
", "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)
", and the Grammy Award
-winning "Cloud Nine
". In a 1991 interview, Eddie Kendricks recalled that many of the Temptations' fans were "screaming bloody murder" after the group delved into psychedelia, and demanded a return to their original soul sound.
"Just My Imagination" was the result of one of the few times that Whitfield relented and produced a ballad as a single for the group. Whitfield and Strong wrote the song in 1969, but with the Temptations' psychedelic soul singles consistently keeping them in the US Top 20, Whitfield and Strong decided to shelve the composition and wait for the right time to record it. In late 1970, the Temptations' single "Ungena Za Ulimwengu (Unite the World)", a psychedelic soul song about world peace, failed to reach the Top 30, and Whitfield decided to record and release "Just My Imagination" as the next single. He approached Barrett Strong, and asked him to pull out "that song we were messing around with a year ago...because I'm going to record it today." Except their late 1960s duets with Diana Ross & the Supremes
, the Temptations had not released a single that was not based in psychedelia since "Please Return Your Love to Me
" from The Temptations Wish It Would Rain
in 1968.
track. Whitfield arranged and recorded the non-orchestral elements of the instrumental with Motown's studio band, The Funk Brothers
, who for this recording included Eddie "Chank" Willis on guitar
, Jack Ashford on marimba
, Jack Brokensha
on timpani
, Andrew Smith on drums
, and Bob Babbitt
on bass
. Jerry Long, an arranger who had previous experience with scoring films in Paris, worked on the orchestral arrangement and conducted several members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in performing the horns and strings for the recording. The Temptations had heard the Funk Brothers' tracks and loved them, but were "totally knocked out", according to Otis Williams, when they heard "the finished record with all the strings."
The Temptations added their vocals at Motown's Hitsville USA headquarters. While all five Temptations usually sang lead on singles during the psychedelic soul era, "Just My Imagination" is primarily a showcase for Eddie Kendricks
, who sang lead on Temptations hits such as "Get Ready", "The Way You Do the Things You Do
", and "You're My Everything
"; in addition, this is the only Temptations hit in which Dennis Edwards
did not have a lead vocal during his tenure with the group. The Temptations remained at Hitsville overnight recording "Just My Imagination", and while the other four members went home at six o'clock in the morning, Kendricks remained in the studio, spending several additional hours recording takes for his lead vocal.
The song was recorded in the midst of a bitter feud between Eddie Kendricks
and the Temptations' de facto leader, Otis Williams
. Dissatisfied and frustrated with Williams' leadership, Kendricks began to withdraw from the group, and picked several fights with either Williams or his best friend, bass singer Melvin Franklin
. Kendricks told his friend, ex-Temptation David Ruffin
, of his problems in the group, and Ruffin convinced Kendricks that he should begin a solo career. After a final altercation during a November 1970 Copacabana
engagement, both Kendricks and Williams agreed that it would be best for Kendricks to leave the group. By the time "Just My Imagination" was recorded, Williams and Kendricks were no longer on friendly speaking terms. Nevertheless, Otis Williams was impressed by Kendricks' performance on the recording, and in his 1988 Temptations biography referred to "Just My Imagination" as "Eddie's finest moment."
Paul Williams
, the Temptations' original lead singer and Kendricks' lifelong best friend, sings the lead vocal during the first verse of "Just My Imagination's" bridge ("Every night, on my knees, I pray..."). For the last three years, Williams had suffered from health problems caused by both alcoholism
and sickle-cell disease
. By the time of "Just My Imagination's" recording, Paul Williams' contributions to the Temptations' recordings had been reduced, and the group had Otis Williams' old associate Richard Street
lined up as Paul Williams' replacement.
LP, as the b-side. The Temptations performed "Just My Imagination" and "Get Ready" for their final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show
, broadcast live on January 31. On-screen, Kendricks stood several feet away from the other Temptations, and made little eye contact with them; Otis Williams later remarked that one could see the group was no longer a complete unit:
On February 7, 1971, "Just My Imagination" entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart at the 71st spot and later number one on both the Hot 100 and the U.S. Billboard R&B Singles charts. It also became the group's first entry on the adult contemporary
chart, reaching #33; the group would not return to that chart until 1984.
The single was included along with "Unite the World" on the Temptations' ninth regular studio album, Sky's the Limit, which included the final Temptations recordings to feature Eddie Kendricks. He began working on his solo album All By Myself
shortly before officially leaving the group.
The intended follow-up to "Just My Imagination" was "Smiling Faces Sometimes
", on which Kendricks sang lead. After his departure, the group re-recorded "It's Summer", the b-side to "Ball of Confusion", as a last-minute replacement single, and Norman Whitfield had "Smiling Faces Sometimes" recorded as a hit for The Undisputed Truth
. The Temptations and Norman Whitfield returned to psychedelic soul for their next album, Solid Rock, whose second single, "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)
", was written by Whitfield and Barrett Strong as a criticism of both Kendricks and David Ruffin.
, featured on their 1978 album Some Girls
, the 1982 live album Still Life, and the 2008 live album Shine a Light. Unlike the Temptations' original, the Rolling Stones cover has a higher tempo, prominent electric guitars, and replaces the subdued tone of the original with a rougher feel. Other notable covers include a smooth-jazz version by Larry Carlton
, an acoustic cover by Ted Hawkins
, a mid-tempo pop interpretation by Bette Midler
, instrumental versions by both Booker T & the MG's and Donald Byrd
, who included his funk-influenced cover of "Just My Imagination" on his successful 1975 album Places and Spaces and Rose Royce
's version from their 1986 album
Fresh Cut.
Working from the original Motown session tapes, hip hop
producer Easy Mo Bee
produced a remix
of "Just My Imagination" that adds modernized keyboard
lines, bass, and programmed drums
to the original mix. This remix was included on the 2005 compilation Motown Remixed
, along with several other reworked Motown hits. Pete Yorn
covered the song for the 2005 movie Just Like Heaven, and Gwyneth Paltrow
and Babyface performed a cover version for Duets
. Boyz II Men
covered "Just My Imagination" on their 2007 album Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
. Their version reached 83 on the R&B chart in 2008.
In June 2008, Dianne Reeves
covered the song for the JVC Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall
in New York City
; Jon Pareles of The New York Times
considered her version to be "easy-swaying".
A Future Garage remix has since been done by dubstep artist M.I. Loki. In the 1989 movie Going Overboard
, Adam Sandler covers this song.
Another instrumental version is by saxophonist Euge Groove
from one of his most popular albums, Just Feels Right. Well-known guitarist Peter White
recorded the cover from the 2001 album Glow.
Also the Glee-actor, singer and producer Mark Salling performed this song at the Motown celebration at the White House in 2011. He performed it for an exclusive audience including the president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama.
contains excerpts from
On her 1993 World Tour Girlie Show, Madonna
the song Rain
contained excerpts from that song.
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
group The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
. Released on the Gordy (Motown
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
) label, and produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Norman Whitfield
Norman Whitfield
Norman Jesse Whitfield was an American songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Berry Gordy's Motown label during the 1960s...
, it features on the group's 1971 album, Sky's the Limit. When released as a single, "Just My Imagination" became the third Temptations song to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. The single held the number one position on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart for two weeks in 1971, from March 27 to April 10. "Just My Imagination" also held the number-one spot on the Billboard R&B Singles
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart for three weeks, from February 27 to March 20.
Today, "Just My Imagination" is considered one of the Temptations' signature song
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
s, and is notable for recalling the sound of the group's 1960s recordings. It is also the final Temptations single to feature founding members Eddie Kendricks
Eddie Kendricks
Eddie Kendricks was an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group The Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1960 until 1971. His was the lead voice on such famous songs as "The Way You Do The Things...
and Paul Williams
Paul Williams (The Temptations)
Paul Williams was an American baritone singer and choreographer. Williams is noted for being one of the founding members and original lead singer of the Motown group The Temptations...
. During the process of recording and releasing the single, Kendricks left the group to begin a solo career, while the ailing Williams was forced to retire from the act for health reasons. In 2004, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine listed "Just My Imagination" as number 389 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Composition and lyrics
A full orchestraOrchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l arrangement with strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
and French horns adorning a bluesy rhythm track and guitar line provides the instrumentals. Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
of allmusic interprets the song as describing the bittersweet story of a man who fantasizes about the woman he loves and imagines a relationship with her. The narrator is canny enough to realize that his daydreams are fiction and not fact, but nevertheless resigns himself to his fantasies. For Erlewine, "the Temptations' performance has a dream-like quality, quietly drifting through the singer's hopes and desires."
The song's first two verses establish the song's theme and explore the narrator's daydreams. In his mind, the narrator and his unrequited love are lovers, prepared to be married, "raise a family", and build "a cozy little home / out in the country / (with) the two children, maybe three". Then, in the bridge, the narrator prays to God that he will never lose the lady's love to another, or he will "surely die". The song's final line, however, reveals that he possesses her love only within the confines of his own imagination: "But in reality / she doesn't even know me."
Origins
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, producer/composer Norman WhitfieldNorman Whitfield
Norman Jesse Whitfield was an American songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Berry Gordy's Motown label during the 1960s...
and lyricist Barrett Strong
Barrett Strong
Barrett Strong is an American singer and songwriter. Strong was the first artist to record a hit for Motown, although he is best remembered for his work as a songwriter, particularly in association with producer Norman Whitfield.-His career:Strong was among the first artists signed to Berry...
crafted a string of "psychedelic soul
Psychedelic soul
Psychedelic soul, sometimes called black rock, is a sub-genre of soul music, which mixes the characteristics of soul with psychedelic rock...
" tracks for the Temptations. By 1970, the Temptations had released psychadecially-influenced hits such as "Runaway Child, Running Wild", "Psychedelic Shack
Psychedelic Shack (song)
"Psychedelic Shack" is a 1969 single for the Motown label performed by The Temptations and produced by Norman Whitfield. It became a hit single in 1970....
", "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)
Ball of Confusion (That's What the World is Today)
"Ball of Confusion " is a 1970 hit single for The Temptations. It was released on the Gordy label, and produced by Norman Whitfield....
", and the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning "Cloud Nine
Cloud Nine (The Temptations song)
"Cloud Nine" is a 1968 hit single recorded by The Temptations for the Motown label. It was the first of their singles to feature Dennis Edwards instead of David Ruffin in the lineup, was the first of producer Norman Whitfield's psychedelic soul tracks, and won Motown its first Grammy Award...
". In a 1991 interview, Eddie Kendricks recalled that many of the Temptations' fans were "screaming bloody murder" after the group delved into psychedelia, and demanded a return to their original soul sound.
"Just My Imagination" was the result of one of the few times that Whitfield relented and produced a ballad as a single for the group. Whitfield and Strong wrote the song in 1969, but with the Temptations' psychedelic soul singles consistently keeping them in the US Top 20, Whitfield and Strong decided to shelve the composition and wait for the right time to record it. In late 1970, the Temptations' single "Ungena Za Ulimwengu (Unite the World)", a psychedelic soul song about world peace, failed to reach the Top 30, and Whitfield decided to record and release "Just My Imagination" as the next single. He approached Barrett Strong, and asked him to pull out "that song we were messing around with a year ago...because I'm going to record it today." Except their late 1960s duets with Diana Ross & the Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
, the Temptations had not released a single that was not based in psychedelia since "Please Return Your Love to Me
Please Return Your Love To Me
"Please Return Your Love to Me" is a 1968 hit single by The Temptations for the Gordy label. Produced by Norman Whitfield, who co-written the song with Barrett Strong, it is the last single to feature David Ruffin in the lineup...
" from The Temptations Wish It Would Rain
The Temptations Wish It Would Rain
The Temptations Wish It Would Rain is a 1968 album by The Temptations for the Gordy label. It was the final release from the group's "Classic-5" era, during which David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams constituted the Temptations' lineup.Wish It Would...
in 1968.
Recording
Norman Whitfield began the recording of "Just My Imagination" by preparing the song's instrumentalInstrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
track. Whitfield arranged and recorded the non-orchestral elements of the instrumental with Motown's studio band, The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
, who for this recording included Eddie "Chank" Willis on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Jack Ashford on marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
, Jack Brokensha
Jack Brokensha
John Joseph "Jack" Brokensha was an Australian-born American jazz vibraphonist.Brokensha was born in Nailsworth, Adelaide, South Australia. He studied percussion under his father, and played xylophone in vaudeville shows and on radio...
on timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, Andrew Smith on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, and Bob Babbitt
Bob Babbitt
Bob Babbitt is an American bassist, most famous for his work as a member of Motown Records' studio band, the Funk Brothers, from 1966–1972, as well as his tenure as part of MFSB for Philadelphia International Records afterwards. Also in 1968-1970, with Mike Campbell, Ray Monette and Andrew Smith...
on bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
. Jerry Long, an arranger who had previous experience with scoring films in Paris, worked on the orchestral arrangement and conducted several members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in performing the horns and strings for the recording. The Temptations had heard the Funk Brothers' tracks and loved them, but were "totally knocked out", according to Otis Williams, when they heard "the finished record with all the strings."
The Temptations added their vocals at Motown's Hitsville USA headquarters. While all five Temptations usually sang lead on singles during the psychedelic soul era, "Just My Imagination" is primarily a showcase for Eddie Kendricks
Eddie Kendricks
Eddie Kendricks was an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group The Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1960 until 1971. His was the lead voice on such famous songs as "The Way You Do The Things...
, who sang lead on Temptations hits such as "Get Ready", "The Way You Do the Things You Do
The Way You Do the Things You Do
"The Way You Do the Things You Do" was covered in 1989 by the band UB40. It was the sixth single from their 1989 album Labour of Love II. The song was released in 1989 in the major of the European countries .-Track listings:7"-Single...
", and "You're My Everything
You're My Everything (The Temptations song)
"You're My Everything" is a 1967 hit single recorded by The Temptations for the Gordy label. It is the first of three singles to be co-written for the group by Motown songwriter Roger Penzabene. It reached number three on the U.S. R&B chart and number six on the U.S. Pop chart...
"; in addition, this is the only Temptations hit in which Dennis Edwards
Dennis Edwards
Dennis Edwards is a soul and R&B singer, most noted for being one of Motown act The Temptations' lead singers replacing David Ruffin. He is the father of Issa Pointer, whose mother is Ruth Pointer of The Pointer Sisters.-Career:...
did not have a lead vocal during his tenure with the group. The Temptations remained at Hitsville overnight recording "Just My Imagination", and while the other four members went home at six o'clock in the morning, Kendricks remained in the studio, spending several additional hours recording takes for his lead vocal.
The song was recorded in the midst of a bitter feud between Eddie Kendricks
Eddie Kendricks
Eddie Kendricks was an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group The Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1960 until 1971. His was the lead voice on such famous songs as "The Way You Do The Things...
and the Temptations' de facto leader, Otis Williams
Otis Williams
Otis Williams is an American baritone singer. Nicknamed "Big Daddy", he has also acted as a sporadic songwriter and record producer. Williams co-founded the Motown vocal group The Temptations in early 1960 as The Elgins, a group in which he continues to perform...
. Dissatisfied and frustrated with Williams' leadership, Kendricks began to withdraw from the group, and picked several fights with either Williams or his best friend, bass singer Melvin Franklin
Melvin Franklin
David Melvin English better known by the stage name Melvin Franklin, was an American bass singer. Franklin is best known for his role as a member of Motown singing group The Temptations from 1960 to 1994....
. Kendricks told his friend, ex-Temptation David Ruffin
David Ruffin
Davis Eli "David" Ruffin was an American soul singer and musician most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations from 1964 to 1968...
, of his problems in the group, and Ruffin convinced Kendricks that he should begin a solo career. After a final altercation during a November 1970 Copacabana
Copacabana (nightclub)
The Copacabana is a famous New York City nightclub. Many entertainers, among them Danny Thomas, Pat Cooper and the comedy team of Martin and Lewis, made their debuts at the Copacabana. The 1978 Barry Manilow song "Copacabana" is named after, and is about the nightclub. Part of the 2003 Yerba...
engagement, both Kendricks and Williams agreed that it would be best for Kendricks to leave the group. By the time "Just My Imagination" was recorded, Williams and Kendricks were no longer on friendly speaking terms. Nevertheless, Otis Williams was impressed by Kendricks' performance on the recording, and in his 1988 Temptations biography referred to "Just My Imagination" as "Eddie's finest moment."
Paul Williams
Paul Williams (The Temptations)
Paul Williams was an American baritone singer and choreographer. Williams is noted for being one of the founding members and original lead singer of the Motown group The Temptations...
, the Temptations' original lead singer and Kendricks' lifelong best friend, sings the lead vocal during the first verse of "Just My Imagination's" bridge ("Every night, on my knees, I pray..."). For the last three years, Williams had suffered from health problems caused by both alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and sickle-cell disease
Sickle-cell disease
Sickle-cell disease , or sickle-cell anaemia or drepanocytosis, is an autosomal recessive genetic blood disorder with overdominance, characterized by red blood cells that assume an abnormal, rigid, sickle shape. Sickling decreases the cells' flexibility and results in a risk of various...
. By the time of "Just My Imagination's" recording, Paul Williams' contributions to the Temptations' recordings had been reduced, and the group had Otis Williams' old associate Richard Street
Richard Street
Richard Allen Street is an American soul and R&B singer, most notable as a member of The Temptations from 1971 to 1993...
lined up as Paul Williams' replacement.
Release and reception
Motown released "Just My Imagination" as a single on their Gordy label on January 14, 1971, with the up-tempo psychedelic soul song "You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here on Earth", from the 1970 Psychedelic ShackPsychedelic Shack (album)
Psychedelic Shack is a 1970 album by The Temptations for the Gordy label, which represents the Temptations' full-blown submergence into psychedelia...
LP, as the b-side. The Temptations performed "Just My Imagination" and "Get Ready" for their final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
, broadcast live on January 31. On-screen, Kendricks stood several feet away from the other Temptations, and made little eye contact with them; Otis Williams later remarked that one could see the group was no longer a complete unit:
But there was such a bittersweet feeling. Eddie had really changed. Paul was on his last legs. Watch the clip of us doing the song on Ed Sullivan we're not together. Eddie is off by himself. There was no more group. Sure enough, when we played the Copa that week, Eddie left between shows. He didn't come back.
On February 7, 1971, "Just My Imagination" entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart at the 71st spot and later number one on both the Hot 100 and the U.S. Billboard R&B Singles charts. It also became the group's first entry on the adult contemporary
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
chart, reaching #33; the group would not return to that chart until 1984.
The single was included along with "Unite the World" on the Temptations' ninth regular studio album, Sky's the Limit, which included the final Temptations recordings to feature Eddie Kendricks. He began working on his solo album All By Myself
All by Myself (Eddie Kendricks album)
-Track listing:#Let's Go Back To Day One - 3:30 #This Used To Be The Home Of Johnnie Mae - 5:40 #I Did It All For You - 2:58...
shortly before officially leaving the group.
The intended follow-up to "Just My Imagination" was "Smiling Faces Sometimes
Smiling Faces Sometimes
"Smiling Faces Sometimes" is a soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label. The song was originally recorded by the Temptations in 1971. Producer Norman Whitfield had the song re-recorded by the Undisputed Truth the same year, resulting in a number-three Billboard...
", on which Kendricks sang lead. After his departure, the group re-recorded "It's Summer", the b-side to "Ball of Confusion", as a last-minute replacement single, and Norman Whitfield had "Smiling Faces Sometimes" recorded as a hit for The Undisputed Truth
The Undisputed Truth
The Undisputed Truth was a 1970s Motown recording act, assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield as a means for being able to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques...
. The Temptations and Norman Whitfield returned to psychedelic soul for their next album, Solid Rock, whose second single, "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)
Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)
"Superstar " is a 1971 hit single for the Gordy label, recorded by The Temptations and produced by Norman Whitfield...
", was written by Whitfield and Barrett Strong as a criticism of both Kendricks and David Ruffin.
Cover versions
A number of artists have since covered "Just My Imagination", often in different styles from the original. Among the most notable covers is a version by The Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, featured on their 1978 album Some Girls
Some Girls
Some Girls is the 14th British and 16th American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1978 on Rolling Stones Records, catalogue COC 39108...
, the 1982 live album Still Life, and the 2008 live album Shine a Light. Unlike the Temptations' original, the Rolling Stones cover has a higher tempo, prominent electric guitars, and replaces the subdued tone of the original with a rougher feel. Other notable covers include a smooth-jazz version by Larry Carlton
Larry Carlton
Larry Carlton is an American jazz, smooth jazz, jazz fusion, pop, and rock guitarist and singer. He has divided his recording time between solo recordings and session appearances with various well-known bands...
, an acoustic cover by Ted Hawkins
Ted Hawkins
Ted Hawkins was an American singer-songwriter. He was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, United States.Hawkins was an enigmatic figure through most of his career; he split his time between his adopted hometown of Venice Beach, California where he was a mostly anonymous street performer, and Europe,...
, a mid-tempo pop interpretation by Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
, instrumental versions by both Booker T & the MG's and Donald Byrd
Donald Byrd
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a...
, who included his funk-influenced cover of "Just My Imagination" on his successful 1975 album Places and Spaces and Rose Royce
Rose Royce
Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B band. The group is best known for several hit singles including "Car Wash," "I Wanna Get Next to You," "Wishing on a Star", "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" and "I'm Going Down".-Career:...
's version from their 1986 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Fresh Cut.
Working from the original Motown session tapes, hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
producer Easy Mo Bee
Easy Mo Bee
Osten Harvey, Jr., better known by his stage name Easy Mo Bee, is a hip hop/R&B record producer, known for production work for late 80's artists such as Big Daddy Kane, but most notable for his affiliation with Bad Boy Records in its early years and his heavy production involvement in The Notorious...
produced a remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
of "Just My Imagination" that adds modernized keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
lines, bass, and programmed drums
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
to the original mix. This remix was included on the 2005 compilation Motown Remixed
Motown Remixed
Motown Remixed is a 2005 compilation album containing remixed versions of Motown hits, released on May 24, 2005 by Motown/Universal Records....
, along with several other reworked Motown hits. Pete Yorn
Pete Yorn
Peter Joseph Yorn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who first gained international recognition after his debut record, Musicforthemorningafter, was released to critical acclaim in 2001.-Early history:Yorn's father is a dentist and his mother is a former concert pianist who worked as a...
covered the song for the 2005 movie Just Like Heaven, and Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
and Babyface performed a cover version for Duets
Duets
An original motion picture soundtrack CD was released on September 12, 2000 by Hollywood Records. The CD contained twelve tracks including the original music composed for the film by David Newman....
. Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
covered "Just My Imagination" on their 2007 album Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA is a Grammy nominated album by Boyz II Men that was released on November 13, 2007 by Decca Records. The album was produced by American Idols Randy Jackson and Boyz II Men. David Simone and Winston Simone were Executive Producers for the album...
. Their version reached 83 on the R&B chart in 2008.
In June 2008, Dianne Reeves
Dianne Reeves
Dianne Reeves is an American jazz singer. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado.-Early life:Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan to a very musical family. Her father, who died when she was two years old, was also a singer. Her mother, Vada Swanson, played trumpet. A cousin, George Duke, is a...
covered the song for the JVC Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
; Jon Pareles of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
considered her version to be "easy-swaying".
A Future Garage remix has since been done by dubstep artist M.I. Loki. In the 1989 movie Going Overboard
Going Overboard
Going Overboard is a 1989 American comedy film released on May 11, 1989. It was Adam Sandler's first starring role, It features Burt Young, Allen Covert, Billy Zane, Terry Moore, Milton Berle, and a small role by Billy Bob Thornton. The movie frequently ranks very "high" on the top 100 worst...
, Adam Sandler covers this song.
Another instrumental version is by saxophonist Euge Groove
Euge Groove
Steven Eugene Grove , better known as Euge Groove, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist with a strong Top-40 background....
from one of his most popular albums, Just Feels Right. Well-known guitarist Peter White
Peter White (musician)
Peter White is a smooth jazz and jazz fusion guitarist. He also plays the accordion and the piano. His brother, Danny White, was one of the original members who formed the UK based band Matt Bianco.-Career:...
recorded the cover from the 2001 album Glow.
Also the Glee-actor, singer and producer Mark Salling performed this song at the Motown celebration at the White House in 2011. He performed it for an exclusive audience including the president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama.
contains excerpts from
On her 1993 World Tour Girlie Show, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
the song Rain
Rain
Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...
contained excerpts from that song.
Personnel
- Lead vocals by Eddie KendricksEddie KendricksEddie Kendricks was an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group The Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1960 until 1971. His was the lead voice on such famous songs as "The Way You Do The Things...
and Paul WilliamsPaul Williams (The Temptations)Paul Williams was an American baritone singer and choreographer. Williams is noted for being one of the founding members and original lead singer of the Motown group The Temptations... - Background vocals by Dennis EdwardsDennis EdwardsDennis Edwards is a soul and R&B singer, most noted for being one of Motown act The Temptations' lead singers replacing David Ruffin. He is the father of Issa Pointer, whose mother is Ruth Pointer of The Pointer Sisters.-Career:...
, Melvin FranklinMelvin FranklinDavid Melvin English better known by the stage name Melvin Franklin, was an American bass singer. Franklin is best known for his role as a member of Motown singing group The Temptations from 1960 to 1994....
, Paul Williams, and Otis WilliamsOtis WilliamsOtis Williams is an American baritone singer. Nicknamed "Big Daddy", he has also acted as a sporadic songwriter and record producer. Williams co-founded the Motown vocal group The Temptations in early 1960 as The Elgins, a group in which he continues to perform... - Written by Norman WhitfieldNorman WhitfieldNorman Jesse Whitfield was an American songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Berry Gordy's Motown label during the 1960s...
and Barrett StrongBarrett StrongBarrett Strong is an American singer and songwriter. Strong was the first artist to record a hit for Motown, although he is best remembered for his work as a songwriter, particularly in association with producer Norman Whitfield.-His career:Strong was among the first artists signed to Berry... - Produced by Norman Whitfield
- Orchestra arranged and directed by Jerry Long
- Instrumentation by The Funk BrothersThe Funk BrothersThe Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
, including Eddie Willis (guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
), Bob BabbittBob BabbittBob Babbitt is an American bassist, most famous for his work as a member of Motown Records' studio band, the Funk Brothers, from 1966–1972, as well as his tenure as part of MFSB for Philadelphia International Records afterwards. Also in 1968-1970, with Mike Campbell, Ray Monette and Andrew Smith...
(bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), Jack Ashford (marimbaMarimbaThe marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
), Jack BrokenshaJack BrokenshaJohn Joseph "Jack" Brokensha was an Australian-born American jazz vibraphonist.Brokensha was born in Nailsworth, Adelaide, South Australia. He studied percussion under his father, and played xylophone in vaudeville shows and on radio...
(timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
), and Andrew Smith (drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
) - Strings and horns by members of the Detroit Symphony OrchestraDetroit Symphony OrchestraThe Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...