| "I Can't Get Next to You" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Temptations | ||||
| from the album Puzzle People | ||||
| B-side | "Running Away (Ain't Gonna Help You)" | |||
| Released | July 30, 1969 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Recorded | Hitsville USA (Studio A); June 23, June 24, June 27, June 30, July 2, and July 3, 1969 | |||
| Genre | Psychedelic soul | |||
| Length | 2:51 | |||
| Label | Gordy G 7093 |
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| Writer(s) | Norman Whitfield Barrett Strong |
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| Producer |
Norman Whitfield Platinum (RIAA) |
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| The Temptations singles chronology | ||||
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| "I Can't Get Next to You" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Al Green | ||||
| from the album Al Green Gets Next to You | ||||
| Released | 1970 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Recorded | Memphis, Tennessee; 1970 | |||
| Genre | Soul | |||
| Length | 3:48 | |||
| Label | Hi 2182 |
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| Producer | Willie Mitchell | |||
| Al Green singles chronology | ||||
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"I Can't Get Next to You" is a 1969 number-one single recorded by The Temptations and produced by Norman Whitfield for the Gordy (Motown) label. The song was the number-one single on the Billboard Top Pop Singles chart for two weeks in 1969, from October 11 to October 25, replacing "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies and replaced by "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley. The single was also a number-one hit on the Billboard Top R&B Singles for five weeks,.[1] from October 4 to November 1, replacing "Oh, What a Night" by The Dells, and replaced by another Motown song, "Baby I'm For Real" by The Originals.
The single was the second of the Temptations' four number-one hits on the United States pop charts, and was also one of the best-selling singles the group released.
ABC, a song released in the following year by fellow Motown act The Jackson Five, uses the same bridge section, featuring identifiable use of the stated "ya!" as well as the percussion.
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Building on the foundation set by their previous "psychedelic soul" records from the Cloud Nine album, "I Can't Get Next to You" is a marked departure from with the Temptations' David Ruffin-led hits. Although it is in essence a love song like those earlier Smokey Robinson-crafted singles, "I Can't Get Next to You's" backing track features a high tempo, and a focus on piano, electric guitar, and drums that gives the song the feel of a Sly & the Family Stone recording.
"I Can't Get Next to You" features all five Temptations trading verses about how having all the powers in the world means nothing if a man cannot impress the woman he loves—very similar to the lyrics of Ira Gershwin's 1935 standard "I Can't Get Started With You". Each member of the group sings a separate line of the song's verses; for example, the first verse begins:
Each verse continues in this fashion, with Edwards or Kendricks delivering the pre-chorus and all five members singing the chorus of "I can't get next to you, babe/I can't get next to you." When performing the song live, the Temptations would perform the number with a stiff-legged dance routine that Kendricks devised from similar dance moves his children did around the house.
The single opens with the sound of applause, similar to a lively party. Dennis Edwards then interrupts the proceedings ("Hold on, everybody, hold it, hold on...listen!"), and the song proper begins. After a bluesy piano solo from Earl Van Dyke, the rest of the Funk Brothers studio band joins in and the first verse begins. "I Can't Get Next to You's" intro was sampled for the album version of the next major Temptations hit, "Psychedelic Shack", one of the earliest uses of such a technique.
"I Can't Get Next to You" was the second single from the 1969 Temptations LP Puzzle People, with "Running Away (Ain't Gonna Help You)", a slow ballad led by Paul Williams, as the b-side. The single was a number-one hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Billboard Top R&B Singles charts. The song has been frequently covered, with the most notable cover being a 1970 version by Al Green, which strips the composition of its fast pace and multi-lead vocals, and instead renders it as a slow-burning plea for love. Green's cover, the title track of his 1971 LP Al Green Gets Next to You, reached number sixty on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, and number eleven on the R&B chart.
In 1970, The Osmonds (with newly added youngest brother Donny) covered the song on their eponymous MGM debut album as the finale of a medley of Motown hits.
In 1971 the British group Savoy Brown included a much slower and bluesier version in their album Street Corner Talking.
In 1993 the brazilian blues band Big Allanbik, covered this song on their first release "Blues Special Reserve", with a tinged Savoy Brown influence.
In 1995, Annie Lennox covered the song on her Medusa album, with a slight lyrical alteration to reflect her gender.
In 2000, Westlife used the song for the medley part of their Where the Dreams Come True Tour.
In 2002, Toto covered the song on their album Through the Looking Glass.
In 2006, San Francisco band Thee More Shallows covered the song on their EP Monkey vs. Shark.
In 2008, Lil' Wayne sampled parts of the song for his song "I Can't Get Next to You" for his mixtape "Da Drought is Over 5" altering the chorus of the song in similar fashion.
| Preceded by "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (The Temptations version) October 18, 1969 (two weeks) |
Succeeded by "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley |
| Preceded by "Oh, What a Night" by The Dells |
Billboard's Best Selling Soul Singles number one single October 4 - November 1, 1969 |
Succeeded by "Baby, I'm for Real" by The Originals |
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