"Cloud Nine"
Single by The Temptations
from the album Cloud Nine
B-side"Why Did She Have to Leave Me (Why Did She Have to Go)"
ReleasedOctober 25, 1968
RecordedHitsville USA (Studio B/Golden World);
October 1, 1968
Genre
Length3:37
LabelGordy
G 7081
Songwriter(s)Norman Whitfield
Barrett Strong
Producer(s)Norman Whitfield
The Temptations singles chronology
"Please Return Your Love To Me"
(1968)		 "Cloud Nine"
(1968)		 "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"
(1968)

"Cloud Nine" is a 1968 hit single recorded by The Temptations for the Motown label.[3] It was the first of their singles to feature Dennis Edwards instead of David Ruffin in the lineup, was the first of producer Norman Whitfield's psychedelic soul tracks, and won Motown its first Grammy Award. The song was written by Whitfield and former Motown artist Barrett Strong.

Background

In 1968, Sly & the Family Stone had a hit with their single "Dance to the Music", and Temptations member Otis Williams introduced Norman Whitfield to the band's music. At first, Whitfield did not want to produce anything with such a radically different sound. "I don't want to get into all that crazy shit," he said. "That ain't nothing but a little passing fancy."[4] Within a few weeks, however, he had created the backing tracks for the newest Temptations single, a psychedelic-styled number called "Cloud Nine", and stuck primarily to such songs well into the early 1970s.[4]

Recording

Featuring all five Temptations trading lead vocals à la The Family Stone,[4] "Cloud Nine" was a marked departure from the standard Tempts sound: wah-wah guitars and a harder, driving beat propelled the record, as opposed to pianos and strings. The song also features the Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria on conga drums. Edwards, Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams swap leads on the verses, bridges and choruses, such as this example from the first bridge:

Paul Williams: "You can be what you wanna be..."
Dennis Edwards: "You ain't got no responsibility..."
Eddie Kendricks: "And every man, every man is free..."
Dennis Edwards: "And you're a million miles from reality..."

Otis Williams has some brief lead lines on the last half of the song (i.e.: he repeats "Reality…"), and Melvin Franklin also gets a line near the end ("There's no difference between day and night…"). The lyrics for the song were about the struggles and pains of living poor, as opposed to being about relationship and love troubles. The broke, unemployed, and despondent main character in the song proclaims that he gets over all of his problems by "riding high on 'cloud nine'". This has been interpreted by many (including Motown head Berry Gordy) as a reference to drug abuse, although Whitfield, Strong, and The Temptations deny that "Cloud Nine" is about drugs.[4]

Cash Box called it "near revolutionary," praising the "touches of progressive pop in the track, elevated lyric message and the solid performance."[5] Record World said that "the kids will be on cloud nine when they hear it."[6]

"Cloud Nine" won Motown its first Grammy Award in 1969 for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal or Instrumental, reached #2 in the U.S. R&B chart and #6 in the U.S. Pop chart, and led the way for the Temptations' full-blown venture into psychedelia, with increasingly eclectic and socio-political-themed records, including "Runaway Child, Running Wild", "Psychedelic Shack", and "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)", following within the coming two years.

Personnel

Other recordings

This song has been covered by Bob Marley and the Wailers under the name Rebel Hop. Rod Stewart sings lead vocals on a version retitled "Doin' Fine" on the 1972 LP In a Broken Dream by Australian rock band Python Lee Jackson. Mongo Santamaria recorded his own, instrumental version in 1969 for the Stone Soul album; released as a single (Columbia 4-44740), it reached #32 Pop, #33 R&B and #30 Easy Listening.[7]

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[8] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Lynskey, Dorian (21 May 2014). "Psychedelic soul: 10 of the best". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  2. ↑ Lundy, Zeth (2007). Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life. 33 1/3. p. 44.
  3. ↑ Show 50 - The Soul Reformation: Phase three, soul music at the summit. [Part 6] : UNT Digital Library
  4. 1 2 3 4 Williams, Otis and Romanowski, Patricia (1988, updated 2002). Temptations. Lanham, MD: Cooper Square. ISBN 0-8154-1218-5. pp. 138–140.
  5. ↑ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. November 9, 1968. p. 24. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  6. ↑ "Single Picks of the Week" (PDF). Record World. November 16, 1968. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  7. ↑ "Cloud Nine (song by Mongo Santamaria)". MusicVF.com. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  8. ↑ "American single certifications – The Temptations – Cloud Nine". Recording Industry Association of America.
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