Release and Reception
Motown released "Just My Imagination" as a single on their Gordy label on January 14, 1971, with the up-tempo psychedelic soul song "You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here on Earth", from the 1970 Psychedelic Shack LP, as the b-side. The Temptations performed "Just My Imagination" and "Get Ready" for their final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, broadcast live on January 31. On-screen, Kendricks stood several feet away from the other Temptations, and made little eye contact with them; Otis Williams later remarked that one could see the group was no longer a complete unit:
But there was such a bittersweet feeling. Eddie had really changed. Paul was on his last legs. Watch the clip of us doing the song on Ed Sullivan we're not together. Eddie is off by himself. There was no more group. Sure enough, when we played the Copa that week, Eddie left between shows. He didn't come back.
On February 7, 1971, "Just My Imagination" entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart at the 71st spot and later number one on both the Hot 100 and the U.S. Billboard R&B Singles charts. It also became the group's first entry on the adult contemporary chart, reaching #33; the group would not return to that chart until 1984.
The single was included along with "Unite the World" on the Temptations' ninth regular studio album, Sky's the Limit, which included the final Temptations recordings to feature Eddie Kendricks. He began working on his solo album All By Myself shortly before officially leaving the group.
The intended follow-up to "Just My Imagination" was "Smiling Faces Sometimes", on which Kendricks sang lead. After his departure, the group re-recorded "It's Summer", the b-side to "Ball of Confusion", as a last-minute replacement single, and Norman Whitfield had "Smiling Faces Sometimes" recorded as a hit for The Undisputed Truth. The Temptations and Norman Whitfield returned to psychedelic soul for their next album, Solid Rock, whose second single, "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)", was written by Whitfield and Barrett Strong as a criticism of both Kendricks and David Ruffin.
Read more about this topic: Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
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