Wings of Love is an album released on March 10, 1976 by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. The album was an unsuccessful release, both commercially and critically. Wings of Love's only single, "Up the Creek (Without a Paddle)" was co-written by Sly Stone, the inspiration for many of the Temptations' late 1960s/early 1970s "psychedelic soul" records; because of tax reasons, he could not take a publishing credit on the song. Stone and other members of the Family Stone appear on "Up the Creek", as well as "Sweet Gypsy Jane" and "China Doll" Producer Jeffrey Bowen preferred Dennis Edwards to the rest of the group, and wanted to produce an Edwards solo album instead of a group album. As a result, Bowen de-emphasized the rest of the group's vocals and placed them at levels far below Edwards' leads, prompting his dismissal as the Temptations' producer after this album's release. Unsurprisingly, Edwards sings lead on all but one of the songs on the album, leaving "China Doll" in the capable hands of Richard Street. The upshot of Bowen's obsession with Edwards is that fans will enjoy hearing Edwards exercise a greater vocal range than normal, particularly on the album's ballad-heavy second side. Side one 1 "Sweet Gypsy Jane" - 0:00 2 "Sweetness In The Dark" - 4:29 3 "Up The Creek (Without A Paddle)" - 7:55 4 "China Doll" - 11:03 Side two 1 "Mary Ann" - 14:30 2 "Dream World (Wings Of Love)" - 22:12 3 "Paradise" - 27:51 (album end, I made the image go on for too long) - 31:19

• published: 10 Nov 2013
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