My Girl

So I’ve pretty much given up on clever titles and have instead resorted to just naming each post after the song featured in it. It makes sense to me and it’s easier than being clever all the time.

Today it’s going to be the Temptations versus Otis Redding, and the song is My Girl. Even though they are both good versions, to me this one is a no contest. One version is clearly better. I won’t say which just yet though.

My girl was written in 1964 by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White of the Miracles. It became a number 1 hit in 1965 and was the Temptations first number 1 single. The song was actually going to be a Miracles single, but Smokey was persuaded by members of the Temptations to let them record it instead.

Otis Redding covered My Girl on his 1965 album Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul. The song wasn’t released as a single in the US, but Atlantic UK released it as one in England. It reached number 11 on the UK charts. The album Otis Blue was quite successful. It reached number 6 on the UK album charts and number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. It was critically acclaimed, and has been included on several best album lists. It was number 74 on Rolling Stone’s top 500 albums, and NME (New Music Express) ranked it number 35 on their list the greatest albums of all time.

The Temptations:

Otis Redding:

See, I told you it was an easy decision. Don’t get me wrong, the Temptations’ version is good. But Otis Killed it. He had an all star band, including: Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Al Jackson Jr., Isaac Hayes, and a horn section consisting of members of the Mar-Keys and the Memphis Horns. The band, the amazing arrangement, and the way Otis changes up the words all add up to take a really good song, and turn it into a perfect song.