No one can deny that the Temptations were a power group. This was the third of four number ones the group had. (The fourth is coming up in 1972). It was their twenty-seventh Top 40 hit so far. They went go on to have another number one and a total of thirty-eight Top 40 hits.

“Just My Imagination” was written by the team of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. They wrote many hits for the Temps. Strong had his own Top 30 song with “Money (That’s What I Want)” which hit number 23 in 1960. That was the only hit he had as a singer. He was a much better songwriter.

At the time of “Just My Imagination” the group consisted of Otis Williams, Paul Williams (no relation to Otis), Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards. David Ruffin, the former lead singer of the group and a founding member had left in 1968, opening the way for Dennis Edwards to join. Today, Otis Williams (called by his friends, “Big Daddy” is the only person who is still a member of the group. He owns the rights to the Temptations name.

This was the last song that featured two of the original members of the Temptations. Eddie Kendricks left the group during the recording of “Just My Imagination” to pursue a solo career. Two years later, in 1973, he had his own number one song “Keep On Truckin’” which was his only number one song. But he had a fairly successful career as a solo artist. The other original member was Paul Williams, who left the group because of health reasons. He had become something of an alcoholic and was having liver problems, (sickle-cell disease) so he was forced to retire. He never came back to the business, however. On August 17, 1973, just a couple years after retiring, he committed suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot.

During the last days of Paul Williams time with the group, he got to the point where he couldn’t sing. He was dragging an oxygen tank with him everywhere he went (except on stage). They brought in a replacement for him, Richard Street and Street would sit off stage and sing Williams part while Paul lip synced through the music. It was a tough time for him.

Eventually, Williams just couldn’t do it anymore and the Temps were a quartet for a while. Then they hired Richard Street full time and he took Williams place and they were five again. A singer named Damon Harris took Kendricks place when he left and the Temptations continued to record hits.

“Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” was released in January, 1971, hit the pop charts on February 20, 1967 and then went to number one for two weeks.