It doesn’t get much smoother than The Temptations’ 1971 track “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)”. From its slow, easy fade-in to Eddie Kendricks’ sugary sweet vocal delivery, it’s one of the least aggressive, smoothest offerings from the 1970s soul canon. In fact, the only thing that gives the song a remotely harsh edge is the melancholic plot twist that the narrator’s visions of the girl he loves were only in his head.
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“Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” captures such a dreamy, wistful feeling that it’s hard to believe that tensions in the studio were about to reach a boiling point. The Temptations’ group dynamic was certainly volatile, and the recording sessions for Sky’s the Limit were no exception.
“At the time, Eddie Kendricks, the band’s lead singer, and I weren’t getting on,” Otis Williams told The Guardian in 2012. “That’s how it is in the group. You have personality clashes. He wanted to go solo. Take control of his own destiny.” In the same conversation with The Guardian, guitarist Eddie “Chank” Willis recalled Kendricks and Williams having “big disagreements.”
The Recording of “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)”
Perhaps the reason why Eddie Kendricks was able to deliver such a tender, romantic vocal delivery on The Temptations’ 1971 hit, “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” is that he finally had the studio all to himself when he recorded it. After struggling to work with Otis Williams for hours, Kendricks stayed behind after The Temptations left the studio and recorded his lead vocal once Williams was gone. Williams described it as a “wonderful, sweet, tender, sincere performance.”
Adding to this song’s paradoxical history is that, despite sounding airtight as an ensemble, “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” was the last Temptations single to feature Kendricks and Paul Williams. After the tumultuous studio recording session, Kendricks followed through on his desire to quit the group and pursue a solo career.
An Even Deeper Tragedy Followed Two Years Later
Paul Williams, meanwhile, was suffering from sickle-cell anemia and alcohol addiction that significantly deteriorated his voice. This ultimately led to his dismissal from the band. Although he tried to pursue a solo career like Kendrick’s, but it didn’t pan out in Paul’s favor. On August 17, 1973, Williams was found dead inside his car, wearing only swim trunks, from a gunshot wound to the head that police ruled a suicide.
Williams’ loved ones have long speculated that his death was actually a homicide. Police information showed the singer used his right hand to shoot the left side of his head, which would have been awkward. Moreover, two rounds were missing from the gun. Police never found any extra shells or bullet holes, which could suggest he had shot the gun at a different time.
Despite the song’s grim history, it became a signature song for The Temptations. “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts, the Cash Box Top 100 and at No. 8 on the U.K. Singles chart.
Photo by James Kriegsmann/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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