This import series of Temptations 2-fers is notorious for editing the tracks to make two albums fit on one CD. In this case, they have been a little trickier, and the edits are not so obvious, but to me it matters! What they have done is to fade each track from "Wish It Would Rain" 5 seconds early, which shaves 60 seconds off the album. Ridiculous!

I didn't bother to evaluate "In a Mellow Mood," since it is available as a domestic CD.

Why are so many of the great Temptations' albums out of print? They are the most popular, most famous group of their type, and yet there have been huge holes in their catalog for many, many years now. I bought this series of import CDs to help correct that, and I have been bitterly disappointed, due to the shameless editing of the albums.

According to the liner notes, the Temptations line-up for both these albums was David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks and Otis Williams (tenor vocals), Paul Williams (baritone vocal) and Melvin Franklin (bass vocal), but by the time The Temptations Wish It Would Rain had come out in August 1968, David Ruffin had left the group and gone solo to Motown the month before. Dennis Edwards had already taken his place on stage and may be present on some of the more recent of these recordings. Mostly produced by Norman Whitfield, the album was to yield four singles in the US, the UK or both, including the memorable I Wish It Would Rain, the first Motown single to include sound effects and a US Top Five hit. It came out in December 1967, preceding the album by nine months, and appears here at a four-second foreshortened 2.42.

Like its follow up, I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You), also with one of David Ruffin's most heartfelt vocals, the lyric to I Wish It Would Rain was written by Roger Penzabene, who was vividly experiencing the emotions he wrote about in his songs for the Temptations and Gladys Knight and the Pips (End Of Our Road) from this time, and who was to commit suicide before he could benefit from their success.

Former regular producer Smokey Robinson contributes two songs; Cindy, which could easily have been a single had Norman Whitfield allowed it, and the cheerier up-tempo Fan The Flame. Gonna Give Her All The Love I've Got is their version of the song Norman Whitfield had already given Jimmy Ruffin a hit with. He Who Picks A Rose was later covered by the Carstairs and Rare Earth, and by Edwin Starr on the B-side of his hit War. The Henry Cosby-produced I Truly Truly Believe was led by Melvin Franklyn and was an R&B hit in its own right after appearing as the B-side of I Wish It Would Rain. The album closer had a classic Motown sound and groove. No Man Can Love Her Like A Do had a rare composer credit for Eddie Kendricks and was co-written with Norman Whitfield and Motown-mainstay Eddie Holland.

This was to be the last album in the classic Temptations style as the next release debuted their new acid soul sound. This was even more startling given that the album that had preceded this one was a selection of Broadway standards.

Berry Gordy, the label boss, always had one business foot in the more sophisticated (i.e. square) adult (particularly white adult) mainstream market, and a number of his acts found themselves recording live albums at the Talk Of The Town or the Copa, or in the studio for a glitzy collection of jazzed-up standards, and the Temptations were no exception.

In A Mellow Mood is an odd coupling as it was full of show tunes like Hello, Young Lovers (from The King and I), Somewhere (from West Side Story), Try to Remember (from The Fantasticks) (perhaps inspiring Gladys Knight), Who Can I Turn To (from The Roar Of The Greasepaint, The Roar Of The Crowd) and Ol' Man River (from Showboat).

On Ol' Man River, for which Melvin Franklyn sings a bass lead, they wisely use the less racist lyric revision by Paul Robeson, who originally sang it. The Frank Sinatra song book is raided for That's Life, For Once in My Life and The Impossible Dream (the latter from Man Of La Mancha), and Gilbert Bécaud's popular What Now My Love? is aired along with several others.

The oddest track is a reworking of the Holland-Dozier-Holland tune I'm Ready For Love, a hit for Martha and the Vandellas the year before. It retains its traditional bass line and tempo but a jazz element has been added. This sits uncomfortably at first both with memories of the original and with the rest of this album, but becomes addictive after a couple of listens and then seems far too short. The Motown house band does an absolutely fantastic job throughout, showing they can be play in any style with ease, whilst the Temptations show that they are equally adept in the harmony department, though one does wonder what these outings did for their credibility and positioning as spokesmen for the hip radical left

There is no contrast in quality between the two albums featured in this twofer, but there is plenty of contrast in the choice of material. The first album here, Wish it would rain, was originally released in 1968 and contained a selection of songs written by Motown songwriters. That doesn't necessarily mean they were all originals, because Motown acts sometimes covered each other's songs, but in this case I don't recognize any of the songs as being covers. Three singles were released from the album. The first was the title track, which was a top five American pop hit that made number one on the R+B charts. It also became a minor UK hit. The B-side, I truly truly believe, became a minor R+B hit in its own right and is also included in the album. The follow-up single, I could never love another after loving you, also topped the R+B charts but was less successful in the American pop charts although it comfortably made the top twenty. It also became a minor UK hit. The B side, Gonna give her all the love I've got, is also from this album. For the third single, Britain and America released different A sides although they both chose the same B side, How can I forget, which isn't part of this album. In America, Please return your love to me became a top five R+B hit and a minor pop hit. In Britain, Why did you leave me darling failed to chart. All those tracks and the others not mentioned make for a great album and just what you would expect from the Temptations.

The second album here, In a mellow mood, pre-dates its companion here, being released in 1967. No singles were released from it, but the album sold well enough in America to comfortably make the top twenty in the album charts. The album is made up entirely of covers, of which For once in my life (Stevie Wonder) and I'm ready for love (Martha Reeves and the Vandellas) are of Motown songs. That's where any similarity in song selection with the companion album ends. The remaining covers are of classic songs from Hollywood and elsewhere, well away from the group's normal repertoire. Nevertheless, the Temptations showed themselves to be well capable of delivering top quality versions of these songs, including Somewhere (from West side story), Hello young lovers, Ol' man river, Try to remember, What now my love and The impossible dream. Surely Motown could have released one of these masterpieces as a single? Yes, this is a wonderful album that provides a nice contrast with the other Temptations albums.

Some Temptations fans may have mixed feelings about this twofer, not liking the deviation from the normal repertoire in the second album here, but I love it and this may be my favorite among the various Temptations twofers in the series.

I always thought the "I Wish It Would Rain" album was one of the Tempts' best work.Every song on the album was strong as steel.My favorites were; Cindy, I Could Never Love Another, Please Return Your Love To Me,and He Who Picks A Rose(that's darn near all of the album!).That's my point.The album is solid from beginning to end! "In A Mellow Mood",while a decent effort from the Tempts,was more a commercial album that attempted to capitalize on their crossover appeal.The Tempts do a lot of covers on this one.One of the notable efforts is "Old Man River",with Melvin's resonant bass spearheading the tune.A great addition to any Tempts' fan's collection.