Mongo Santamaria recorded his own, instrumental version in 1969 for the Stone Soul album released as a single ( Columbia 4-44740), it reached #32 Pop, #33 R&B and #30 Easy Listening. Rod Stewart sings lead vocals on a version retitled 'Doin' Fine' on the 1972 LP In a Broken Dream by Australian rock band Python Lee Jackson. This song has been covered by Bob Marley and the Wailers under the name Rebel Hop.

Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers, featuring:.

Lead and background vocals by Dennis Edwards (verses choruses bridge ad-libs), Eddie Kendricks (verses choruses bridge ad-libs), Paul Williams (verses choruses bridge ad-libs), Melvin Franklin (last verse ad-libs), and Otis Williams (last verse bridge outro ad-libs).

Pop chart, and led the way for the Temptations' full-blown venture into psychedelia, with increasingly eclectic and socio-political-themed records, including ' Runaway Child, Running Wild', ' Psychedelic Shack', and ' Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)', following within the coming two years. 'Cloud Nine' won Motown its first Grammy Award in 1969 for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal or Instrumental, reached #2 in the U.S. Ĭash Box called it 'near revolutionary,' praising the 'touches of progressive pop in the track, elevated lyric message and the solid performance.' This has been interpreted by many (including Motown head Berry Gordy) as a reference to drug abuse, although Whitfield, Strong, and The Temptations deny that 'Cloud Nine' is about drugs. The broke, unemployed, and despondent main character in the song proclaims that he gets over all of his problems by 'riding high on 'cloud nine ''. The lyrics for the song were about the struggles and pains of living poor, as opposed to being about relationship and love troubles. Otis Williams has some brief lead lines on the last half of the song (i.e.: he repeats 'Reality…'), and Melvin Franklin also gets a line near the end ('There's no difference between day and night…'). Paul Williams: 'You can be what you wanna be.'ĭennis Edwards: 'You ain't got no responsibility.'Įddie Kendricks: 'And every man, every man is free.'ĭennis Edwards: 'And you're a million miles from reality.'

Edwards, Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams swap leads on the verses, bridges and choruses, such as this example from the first bridge: The song also features the Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria on conga drums. Recording įeaturing all five Temptations trading lead vocals à la The Family Stone, 'Cloud Nine' was a marked departure from the standard Tempts sound: wah-wah guitars and a harder, driving beat propelled the record, as opposed to pianos and strings. 'That ain't nothing but a little passing fancy.' Within a few weeks, however, he had created the backing tracks for the newest Temptations single, a psychedelic-styled number called 'Cloud Nine', and stuck primarily to such songs well into the early 1970s. 'I don't want to get into all that crazy shit,' he said.

At first, Whitfield did not want to produce anything with such a radically different sound.

In 1968, Sly & the Family Stone had a hit with their single ' Dance to the Music', and Temptations member Otis Williams introduced Norman Whitfield to the band's music.

Cloud nine meaning idiom