Released: September 1969
After the huge success of their psychedelic soul singles from Cloud Nine (C), you better believe the Temptations would delve deeper into the genre thanks to producer Norman Whitfield. Even the “normal” R&B songs on Puzzle People brimmed with the sounds of psychedelica.
All good for the Temptations as they scored yet another monster #1 R&B album. Puzzle People stood atop the chart for an incredible 15 weeks. White folks bought the shit too as it rose to #5 on the pop side of things.
This success was no doubt thanks to “I Can't Get Next To You”. It was their ninth R&B chart-topping single and their second pop #1 after “My Girl” four years earlier.
The great thing about “I Can't Get Next To You” is that it definitely has psychedelic soul touches, but it’s a stone-cold R&B song that coulda been made in almost any era because the lyrics are timeless and creative. The list of things they can do except get next to you is extraordinary.
make the seasons change just by waving their hand
change anything from old to new
fly like a bird in the sky
turn a river into a raging fire
make a ship sail on dry land
The vocal arrangement is also impeccable. All five group members just float in and out of their spots effortlessly as they each describe all that they can do… except get next to you.
Also, chicka boom chicka boom, chicka boom boom boom never sounded so cool.
So this song may be timeless, but there’s a reason why ain’t nobody really tried to fuck with it since… wasn’t nobody topping the Temptations’ version. You needed five dynamite vocalists to carry this song and no other group could do that. Well, maybe the Dramatics, who had an excellent knock-off version of this song with “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get”.
(NOTE: Al Green totally re-imagined “I Can’t Get Next To You” as a slow-as-molasses blues jam instead of trying to redo the group vocal perfection the Temptations achieved.)
The other single from this album was “Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down” which was much more rooted in fiery psychedelic funk and soul. The song is also a bit heavy-handed even if its message is a good one: measure success and happiness by your own desires, not by trying to hopelessly keep up with others’ material gains. As the album’s lead single, it only rose to #20 pop, but did hit #2 R&B.
Sandwiched between the hits in the first part of this LP is “Hey Jude”, the worst Temptations song in years. Obviously a cover of the Beatles hit, I’m not much of a fan of the original. But at least it was original. This cover has all the annoying catchiness of the original, but without actually being catchy.
Which means it’s just annoying.
Another bad song is “Message From A Black Man”. Okay, not bad bad. Just mediocre. I won’t complain too much about it except to note that it throws one too many cliches at you: “say it loud, I’m Black and I’m proud”, “we’re rollin’ on”, “no matter how hard you try, you can’t stop me now”.
Screw it, I’ll keep complaining… the song is 6:02 but basically made its point halfway through. The final three minutes are just invocations of the cliches without any significant jammin’ or soloing from the band to justify the extra three minutes.
Finally moving on, normally I would complain about a vocalist in a group getting a completely solo tune, but when its Paul Williams in the Temptations, I won’t gripe. In the big scheme of things, his raspy sincere tenor was underutilized over the years, so he earned the right to sing the silly “Little Green Apples” all on his own.
Paul Williams also shines on the pleasantly mellow and understated “Running Away (Ain't Gonna Help You)”.
If you want to hear a dress rehearsal for the Jackson 5’s slew of monster hits in 1970, look no further than “You Don't Love Me No More”. An effective piece of sugar funk, that one. Written by the tragic Rodger Penzabene, too. More sugar funk can be found in their cover of the Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing” and “That's The Way Love Is”.
The album concludes with another psychedelic message tune: “Slave”. This is far better than “Message From A Black Man” and mostly justifies it’s 7:30 runtime with some interesting, albeit not breathtaking, guitar work.
ALBUM GRADE: B-
This album is better than the sum of its parts since “Hey Jude” is the only truly offensive thing here made all the more offensive since it ruins the energetic opening of “I Can’t Get Next to You”. The rest of album flows forth with a great pacing to the point where you can even forgive the mediocre “Message From A Black Man”.
Song Scores
I Can't Get Next To You: 10/10
Hey Jude: 2/10
Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down: 7/10
Message From A Black Man: 4/10
It's Your Thing: 6.5/10
Little Green Apples: 7/10
You Don't Love Me No More: 7/10
Since I've Lost You: 6.5/10
Running Away (Ain't Gonna Help You): 7.5/10
That's The Way Love Is: 6.5/10
Slave: 7/10