While I am certain that I'd heard this week's featured tune numerous times in the past, it was its inclusion in a Motown documentary (Hitsville: The Making of Motown--well worth the watch) that my youngest son and I watched on Showtime at the height of the pandemic shutdown that made me cock my head and think, "How the hell did I never notice how great this song was?" As the saying goes, better late than never....
I wrote about The Temptations in Jukebox, Vol. CCCXVIII and as nothing new has happened to the band in the last three and a half years, I'll let that bio stand--other than to note that founding member Otis Williams (the only surviving original member) still takes The Temptations out for a dance move or two on the oldies circuit.
"Get Ready" was the first single released from their 1966 LP, the rather elongated entitled Gettin' Ready. The single would reach #29 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 (#1 on the R & B singles chart), while the album would peak at #12 on the Billboard 200.
Fun Fact: The band Rare Earth recorded a twenty-one-minute cover version of "Get Ready" which was edited down to 2:46 for a single released in 1970. Their version would climb to #4 on the Billboard singles chart--if I had a guess as to why it charted higher than The Temptations version, my guess would be that at the time, rock and roll was still king....
A man is in love, and he's absolutely, positively going to make the girl of his dreams love him, too. Written and produced by Smokey Robinson, "Get Ready" packs as much into two and a half minutes as a music fan could ask for. From Eddie Kendricks wondrous falsetto to the rest of the band's empowering backing vocals, from the horn section (listen for a wicked, wailing short trumpet solo) to the playful nature of the lyrics, Robinson and the Temptations make musical magic, Motown style. Another in a long line of songs that makes me go, "Yup, this is why I devoted so much of my life to music." Just a compelling and stunning effort.
Lyric Sheet: "So, fee-fi-fo-fum/Look out, baby, 'cause here I come..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
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