The eleventh studio album by American soul quintet The Temptations for the Motown label, Puzzle People was released in 1969. Produced entirely by Norman Whitfield, it expanded on the psychedelic soul sound of Cloud Nine. Although a few soul ballads are present, the album is primarily composed of Sly & the Family Stone/James Brown-derived proto-funk tracks, such as the number-one Billboard Pop hit “I Can't Get Next to You.” The album peaked into the Top 5 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, and spent fifteen weeks at number one on the R&B Albums chart. According to AllMusic reviewer Mark Deming, this is “the work of a great vocal group firing on all cylinders and getting inspired support in the studio, one of the group's strongest late-60's efforts.”
Tracklist:
SIDE 1
- I CAN’T GET NEXT TO YOU (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) 2:52
- HEY JUDE (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) 3:30
- DON’T LET THE JONESES GET YOU DOWN (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) 4:43
- MESSAGE FROM A BLACK MAN (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) 5:50
- IT’S YOUR THING (Ronald Isley, O'Kelly Isley, Rudolph Isley)
SIDE 2
- LITTLE GREEN APPLES (Bobby Russell) 3:40
- YOU DON’T LOVE ME NO MORE (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) 2:35
- SINCE I’VE LOST YOU (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) 2:43
- RUNNING AWAY (AIN’T GONNA HELP YOU) (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) 2:46
- THAT’S THE WAY LOVE IS (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) 3:10
- SLAVE (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) 7:20
Personnel:
The Temptations
DENNIS EDWARDS, EDDIE KENDRICKS, PAUL WILLIAMS, MELVIN FRANKLIN, OTIS WILLIAMS – vocals
The Funk Brothers – instrumentation
Produced by NORMAN WHITFIELD
