I proceeded to write a new song for them, and I was very happy to because it’s been a long time. Smokey adds, “When Otis called me and said, ‘Hey man, we’re doing a new album and we’d like you to do a song, that got me excited about working together again. I never imagined we would have the opportunity to get back in the studio and do it all again.” Smokey Robinson

Now, 60 years later, as I turn 80, Smoke and I have come full circle. We had chart hit after chart hit and, soon after, our music was heard around the world. “And our success together didn’t stop there. When The Tempts first met Smoke we were teenagers, young Black men in Detroit who had no clue that our partnership at Motown would produce ‘My Girl,’ one of the greatest hits of all time,” says Williams. Otis WilliamsĪnd in all the years Robinson has delivered such timeless Temptations classics as “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “My Girl,” “Since I Lost My Baby,” “Get Ready” and more, the duet marks the only time he and the Temptations have sung lead together, except for a recording of “The Christmas Song” in 1989. Robinson brought in stellar studio musicians to play on the ballad, including his longtime associate Dave Garfield on keyboards, bassist Freddie Washington and drummer Steve Ferrone. The single and taster of their 2022 album, Executive Produced by Temptations’ founding and sole surviving original member Dr. The song, also written and produced by Smokey, is a preview of the upcoming TEMPTATIONS 60 album. The Temptations in 2021: (l-r) Otis Williams, Ron Tyson, Mario Corbino, Willie Greene, Jr., and Terry Weeks (Photo: Jay Gilbert)Īnd last week, they released their brand-new single, “Is it Gonna Be Yes or No,” a duet between the group and the equally legendary Smokey Robinson, the man who delivered their first hits.

This year marks the 60th Anniversary celebration of The Temptations, the legendary, Grammy Award-winning group known as the “No.

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