\n\tWhen it comes to quintessential covers of traditional holiday songs, arguably one of the best \u2014 and definitely most soulful \u2014 is The Temptations\u2019 1980 reinterpretation of the classic \u201cSilent Night.\u201d But during another holiday season 60 years ago, Motown Records released another classic that set the mold for the quintet\u2019s legendary career: \u201cMy Girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWritten and produced by fellow Motown legends and Miracles founding members Smokey Robinson and Ronnie White, \u201cMy Girl\u201d was released through Motown subsidiary Gordy on Dec. 21, 1964. Three months later, in March 1965, the song had ascended to the top of Billboard\u2019<\/em>s pop and R&B charts, giving the Temptations their first No. 1 hit. \u201cMy Girl\u201d also marked another milestone: the first Temptations single with David Ruffin as lead singer. Succeeding former original member Elbridge \u201cAl\u201d Bryant, Ruffin rounded out what became the group\u2019s storied lineup alongside Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Otis Williams and Paul Williams.<\/p>\n \n\tNow co-founder and last original member Otis Williams and The Temptations are celebrating the 60th anniversary of their mega-hit, which has now crossed the 1 billion streams mark on Spotify.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI don\u2019t think it gets any greater than that,\u201d Williams tells Billboard<\/em> on the eve of an anniversary run that kicked off with a performance of \u201cMy Girl\u201d on the Today<\/em> show Monday (Dec. 16) and includes visits to The View<\/em> Tuesday (Dec. 17), Sherri<\/em> and ABC News\u2019 Nightline<\/em> Wednesday (Dec. 18). Back in October during Game 5 of the National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, the group performed the hit, which New York shortstop Francisco Lindor had adopted as his walk-up music. The ensuing stadium-wide singalong at Citi Field is what happens every time The Temptations perform their signature song that\u2019s known worldwide.<\/p>\n \n\tAnd there\u2019s no wiggle room when it comes to not performing \u201cMy Girl.\u201d Willams remembers a concert that happened years ago when the group, for whatever reason, didn\u2019t sing the song. \u201cThey called us almost every name except child of God,\u201d recalls Williams with a laugh. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018Paul, that\u2019s one song we can never ever take out of our lineup.\u2019 Here it is 2024 and when we perform it, the audience stands up like it\u2019s the national anthem.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSo what is it about \u201cMy Girl\u201d that resonates so strongly 60 years after its release? People invariably mention the love ode\u2019s instantly recognizable opening bass notes and romantic sentiments expressed in the lyrics (\u201cI don\u2019t need no money, fortune, or fame\/ I\u2019ve got all the riches, baby, one man can claim\u201d) brought to life by Ruffin\u2019s indelible vocals and The Temptations\u2019 sweet harmonies.<\/p>\n \n\tFor those who may not know, \u201cMy Girl\u201d was the follow-up to another Robinson-written and produced hit that\u2019s also celebrating its own 60th anniversary: Mary Wells\u2019 \u201cMy Guy.\u201d Reminiscing about \u201cMy Girl\u201d during an episode of his SiriusXM show, Motown\u2019s longtime poet laureate said he was inspired to write the song because of the Temptations.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI wanted to write something sweet for David Ruffin to sing,\u201d recalled Robinson. \u201cDavid had that great voice. I used to tell him that he demanded the girls to love him because he had that oh, come on, baby kind of voice. But I want him to sing something \u2026 that the girls could just swoon over. So I wrote \u2018My Girl\u2019 for his voice and for The Temptations to sing. And it has done what I set out to do when I wrote the song or what I set out to do anytime I write a song: it has stood the test of time.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn the years since its release, \u201cMy Girl\u201d was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. Then the Library of Congress chose it for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2017, calling the song \u201cculturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tDuring NBC\u2019s holiday special A Motown Christmas<\/em>, which aired Dec. 11, Williams and The Temptations \u2014 whose current lineup also features Ron Tyson, Terry Weeks, Tony Grant and Jawan M. Jackson \u2014 performed a three-song set of hits that included \u201cAin\u2019t Too Proud to Beg,\u201d \u201cGet Ready\u201d and, of course, \u201cMy Girl.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhen we finished putting the vocals down on the song, I said to Smokey in the control room, \u2018Man, I don\u2019t know how big a record this is going to be. But this is going to be a <\/em>record,\u201d remarks Williams, whose own career accolades include an honorary doctorate from Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Ala. \u201cI still can\u2019t believe that here we are, some 60 years later and we\u2019re still going strong. Most groups don\u2019t get that kind of break. It was God\u2019s timing for Motown to start when it did. And here we are a part of something that will outlive all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/the-temptations-press-1965-billboard-1240.jpg?w=833\")
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/the-temptations-press-2024-billboard-1548.jpg?w=1024\")