"Don't Look Back" | ||||||||||
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Single by The Temptations | ||||||||||
from the album The Temptin' Temptations | ||||||||||
A-side | "My Baby" | |||||||||
Released | September 30, 1965 (1st pressing) October 30, 1965 (2nd pressing) |
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Format | 7" single | |||||||||
Recorded | Hitsville USA (Studio A); May 5, May 10 and May 12, 1965 | |||||||||
Genre | Soul, R&B, pop | |||||||||
Length | 2:50 | |||||||||
Label |
Gordy G 7047 |
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Writer(s) |
Smokey Robinson Ronald White |
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Producer(s) | Smokey Robinson | |||||||||
The Temptations singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"(You Gotta Walk And) Don't Look Back" | ||||||||||
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Single by Peter Tosh with Mick Jagger | ||||||||||
from the album Bush Doctor | ||||||||||
B-side | "Soon Come" | |||||||||
Released | 1978 | |||||||||
Format | 7" single | |||||||||
Genre | Reggae | |||||||||
Label | EMI | |||||||||
Writer(s) |
William Robinson Ronald White |
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Peter Tosh with Mick Jagger singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Walk and Don't Look Back" | ||||||||||
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Single by Dirk De Smet | ||||||||||
Released | 2008 | |||||||||
Genre | R&B | |||||||||
Label | Ariola / Sony Music(for distribution) | |||||||||
Writer(s) |
Smokey Robinson Ronald White |
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Dirk De Smet singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Don't Look Back" is a 1965 song recorded by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. The flip side to their Top 20 hit "My Baby", "Don't Look Back" broke out and became a hit among the R&B audience on its own, reaching #14 on the R&B charts.
Considered one of original lead singer Paul Williams' showcases, "Don't Look Back" was regularly employed as the closing number for Temptations live performances. Although the original flip side, "My Baby", was initially more popular with pop audiences at the time, over the decades, "Don't Look Back" has proven to be the far more popular and enduring tune. It was also performed by the group on The Ed Sullivan Show. There are no known cover versions of "My Baby".
The song inspired many cover versions by Al Green, Phil Collins, Bobby Womack, The Persuasions, and Teena Marie. In 1978 Peter Tosh and Mick Jagger covered it as a reggae tune as "(You Gotta Walk And) Don't Look Back". In 2008, Belgian singer Dirk De Smet covered it as "Walk and Don't Look Back".
Written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Ronald White, the authors of the No. 1 Temptations hit "My Girl", "Don't Look Back" is a reassurance to the tentative that finding true love is worth the heartbreak and failed relationships it takes to reach it. As the song's narrator, Paul Williams, promises his lover, in his trademark gritty tone:
Smokey Robinson, the song's producer, specifically assigned Paul Williams to sing lead on the song. Although Williams had been the group's original lead singer during its formative years, his role had by 1965 been eclipsed by David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks, who had both sung lead on Temptations hit singles. As such, Williams was often overlooked for leads, even on album tracks and B-sides, prompting him to complain, "shit, y'know, I can sing too!"