The Temptations - Live at the Copa & With a Lot O' Soul (2000) Lossless

With a Lot o' Soul: The Four Tops's Levi Stubbs wasn't the only singer in a Motown group who could convince listeners that everything--love, the future, life itself--rode on the truth of a single song. There was also the Temptations' David Ruffin. With a Lot o' Soul begins with his crowning moment of desperation, "(I Know) I'm Losing You". The house band crashing majestically, Ruffin shouts to his straying lover as if to blow the walls themselves apart. "Loooosin' you!" Eddie Kendricks and the rest of Ruffin's fellows answer. While the cut provides the most dramatic piece of this 1967 album, it's hardly the only one of similar qualities: Ruffin's angst and the Sound of Young America's rhythmic maturation also make for perfect personal expression on "All I Need" and "(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need". "Save My Love for a Rainy Day" provides a much-needed respite from the, er, storm. --Rickey Wright