A Song for You (The Temptations album)
| A Song for You | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by The Temptations | ||||
| Released | January 16, 1975 | |||
| Recorded | 1974 | |||
| Genre | Soul, funk | |||
| Length | 35:53 | |||
| Label |
Gordy GS 957 | |||
| Producer | Berry Gordy, Jeffrey Bowen | |||
| The Temptations chronology | ||||
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A Song for You is a 1975 album by The Temptations. It features two R&B #1 hits: "Happy People" (originally intended for recording by its authors, The Commodores), and "Shakey Ground", one of the group's final R&B #1 songs.
The album features then-lead singer Dennis Edwards on the title track written by Leon Russell. Also featured are Richard Street and Melvin Franklin on the track "Firefly".
A Song for You features a familiar device of the time used to exhibit the versatility of 1970s soul groups: one side features up-tempo cuts and the other side focuses on ballads. Several songs on side one such as "Glass House" and "Shakey Ground" featured P-Funk-backed dance grooves and even a writing credit for former Funkadelic guitarist Eddie Hazel, while side two had tracks such as "I'm a Bachelor" and "Memories", which showcased a more subdued style of soul.
This album, while it was initially panned by the Rolling Stone Record Guide, proved its worth, going gold (selling over 500,000 copies) and winning the 1976 American Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Album. This was also the final album by Eddie Kendricks's replacement Damon Harris, who was let go after this album. He would rejoin his Young Tempts bandmates as Impact.
| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Track listing
Side one
- "Happy People" - 3:38 (lead singer: Dennis Edwards)
- "Glasshouse" - 3:54 (lead singers: Dennis Edwards, Damon Harris, Richard Street, Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin)
- "Shakey Ground" - 4:03 (lead singer: Dennis Edwards)
- "The Prophet" - 4:28 (lead singer: Melvin Franklin)
- "Happy People" (Instrumental) - 2:57
Side two
- "A Song for You" - 4:40 (lead singer: Dennis Edwards)
- "Memories" - 6:01 (lead singer: Dennis Edwards)
- "I'm a Bachelor" - 4:21 (lead singer: Dennis Edwards)
- "Firefly" - 4:02 (lead singers: Richard Street, Melvin Franklin)
Personnel
- Dennis Edwards: vocals
- Damon Harris: vocals
- Richard Street: vocals
- Melvin Franklin: vocals
- Otis Williams: vocals
- Berry Gordy: producer
- Jeffrey Bowen: producer
- Donald Charles Baldwin: co-songwriter: ("Happy People", "Memories"), piano, clavinet, Moog, soprano saxophone solo on "Shakey Ground"
- The Commodores: tape loop on "Happy People"
- Lionel Richie: co-songwriter: ("Happy People")
- Eddie Hazel: co-songwriter: ("Shakey Ground"), guitar
- Melvin "Wah-Wah" Ragin: guitar
- Ollie Brown, James Gadson, Zachary Frazier: drums
- William "Billy Bass" Nelson: bass guitar
