Product Review

The incandescent talent of David Ruffin was too big for even the Temptations to hold. As Smokey Robinson observed, The only way David could survive at Motown was as a solo artist. And so Ruffin left the Temptations in 1969 to strike out on his own with a series of releases that further established him as one of Motown s great voices. These two records, released in 1973 and 1974, respectively, did not spawn any hit singles but instead reflected Ruffin s growth as an artist away from the Motown formula and towards a life spent in the fast lane. David Ruffin, produced by Bobby Miller, whose writing credit appears on eight out of the 10 tracks, is a psychedelic soul masterpiece, and features the definitive version of Gamble and Huff s I Miss You (Part 1). Me N Rock N Roll Are Here to Stay, meanwhile, marked the fiery collision of Ruffin with the brilliant producer Norman Whitfield, with the creative sparks to prove it. Both records appear here on CD for the first time outside of a long out of print, limited edition set, with notes by Gene Sculatti.