‘JIMMY RUFFIN SINGS TOP TEN.’ If there was ever a “greatest hits” album Motown came close having produced for Jimmy Ruffin, this LP was it. By the time of its release in early-1967, it produced 4 singles, three songs having made the Billboard Hot 100. The first single off the album, “As Long As There Is L-O-V-E Love,” was initially released in 1965, but failed to crack the singles chart. “What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted,” was released during the summer of 1966, and it would be Ruffin’s biggest. The single broke top ten (#7 Pop; #6 R&B) and stayed 17 weeks riding the chart. A follow-up, “I’ve Passed This Way Before” (Pop #17), was released later that year. The fourth single off this album, “Gonna Give Her All The Love I Got” (Pop #29; R&B #14) made Billboard in February 1967. It was also Ruffin’s last Top 40 single with Motown. JIMMY RUFFIN 1936 – 2014
RECORDED LATE -1972, ‘NEITHER ONE OF US‘ would become the last album Gladys Knight and the Pips would record for Motown. By March 1973, when this LP was released, the group by that time had signed to record with Buddah Records in February. Their 1973 single, “Daddy Could Swear I Declare,” would become the second single taken off the album by the group, having made the top 20 (pop #19; R&B #2) after it’s release in April. The first single from the LP, “Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye),” would become the last single prior Gladys Knight & The Pips departure from Motown. But it would become one of their biggest. The single peaked at #2 (2 weeks) on Billboard, April 4, 1973. The single (Soul S 35098) was released on December 26, 1972.GLADYS KNIGHTGLADYS KNIGHT and the PIPS
IN JANUARY 1964, MOTOWN RECORDS released The Temptations first album, aptly titled, ‘Meet The Temptations.’ This album would also be a first for a new entry member of the group, David Ruffin. Ruffin had replaced member Al Bryant, who was released by Berry Gordy in December 1963. This album features, as main lead, Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks, who divided the twelve songs listed on the album. A track off the album, “The Way You Do The Things You Do,” written bySmokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers, became a Top 20 chart-topper (lead singer: Eddie Kendricks) as it was their first single. It would reach #11 on the Billboard pop chart on April 11, 1964. The album would be released by the Gordy label in monaural sound only. THE TEMPTATIONScirca 1964
AUGUST 1967. MOTOWN’S SUBSIDIARYTamla Recordsreleased Stevie Wonder’s 7th album, titled, ‘I Was Made To Love Her.’ The album debuted (#133) on the Billboard LP chart, week ending September 23-30. The album would produce one single. Fifteen weeks on the pop chart, “I Was Made To Love Her“ peaked (2 weeks) at #2, July 29, 1967. At nine weeks on the Billboard Top LP chart, the album peaked #45 (2 weeks) on November 25, 1967.A 16-YEAR OLD STEVIE WONDER, London, England. February, 1966.
