THE Temptations are a soul singing group formed in Detroit in 1960 (they were originally called The Elgins).

By Andy Welch

THE band has changed its line-up numerous times over the years but founding member, Otis Williams, has remained a constant throughout. The Temptations, whose most famous hits include My Girl, Ain't Too Proud To Beg and Just My Imagination, have sold more than 25 million records and are widely regarded as the best and most influential soul group.

Classic Soul Hits consists of original Temptations songs alongside cover versions of their favourite soul songs, including This Old Heart Of Mine, Never Can Say Goodbye and How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).

We catch up with Otis while he's relaxing in LA.

HOW DID THE IDEA FOR THE ALBUM COME ABOUT?

The company we're with wanted us to do another compilation, so we sat down, listened to some songs and did it. My manager and I sat down and chose the songs. Then, when we had the list, we went into the studio with two wonderful producers.

The list was so long of songs we liked, we just picked the ones we thought we could do best. Every song that's on there is a favourite but there were plenty more we could have done.

IF THE ALBUM'S A SUCCESS, WOULD YOU DO A SECOND VOLUME?

You can never tell, can you? We're between companies at the moment, so we'll be looking at options and deciding what we can do next, really. To be honest, though, if we go in the studio again, I don't think it will be to do covers, we'll do original songs.

WHICH OF THE SONGS DO YOU WISH YOU'D WRITTEN?

Every one of them! That's why we put them on there, because when I heard the original versions years ago, it was clear straight away what great songs they were.

DID YOU HAVE ANY NERVES ABOUT TACKLING ANY OF THE SONGS? THE BARRY WHITE COVER, FOR EXAMPLE. HE HAD SUCH A DISTINCTIVE VOICE.

When you do any of the songs that we had the pleasure of recording, you can only do the very best you can. You can only emulate to a point because the songs are always going to be remembered for the original versions and what they sounded like then.

We tried to keep the integrity of the songs and that was part of the challenge, to see if we could do them justice. The young man that sings the Barry White song did a great job. He was eerily like him.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE TEMPTATIONS SONG?

I'm a big Temptations fan myself. Naturally, My Girl is probably my favourite but I love Ain't Too Proud To Beg, Treat Her Like A Lady, Stay. I could list quite a few that I like! We're going to put Psychedelic Shack back in the set too.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO RECORD?

Three weeks. We don't believe it should take too long to record an album. Some artists take months but not us. Go in, do a great job, get it over with and get the record out there. We try to be perfectionists but not so much that it means being in the studio for months on end.