"I'll Be in Trouble" is a

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

hit single by

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

for the Gordy (

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

) label and written by

Miracles A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

lead singer

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

Background

This single was the follow-up to "

The Way You Do the Things You Do "The Way You Do the Things You Do" is a 1964 hit single by the Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. Written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers, the single was the Temptations' first charting single on the ''Billboard'' Ho ...

", with

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...

Eddie Kendricks Edward James Kendrick (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992), better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temptation ...

as the main lead, the group's bass singer, Melvin Franklin, also has got a lead part on the bridge. As the song's narrator, Kendricks asks his lover to always stay with him, telling her "no matter what you do or say, I know I'm gonna love you anyway", and if she leaves anyway "I'll Be in Trouble." Known for creating repetitive follow-ups, Motown at this time was relying on a formula to create songs with a similar sound that would be present in records by their various recording artists. Sure enough this song does have a similar sound as the previous single, and the label hope it would repeat (and surpass) the success of "The Way You Do the Things You Do". The single was issued with " The Girl's Alright with Me", also led by Kendricks, as its

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. As such it is one of the handful of singles by The Temptations where both sides charted (it peaked at 2 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' ''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

'' charts). However, as it was only a Top 40 Pop hit, it did not meet with the expected degree of success, and producer/songwriter

Norman Whitfield Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators of the Mo ...

would be given the next single (the Kendricks led " Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)"). When it also failed to hit the desired placing on the Pop charts, Robinson would return as The Temptations producer beginning with " My Girl". Both sides of this single would later appear on the group's 1965 album ''

The Temptin' Temptations ''The Temptin' Temptations'' is the third studio album by The Temptations for the Gordy ( Motown) label released in 1965. The album includes several of the group's hits from 1965, and also includes a handful of singles that were not included on ...

''. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' described it as a "rhythmic" song and as "contagious handclapping rock stuff."

Personnel

* Lead vocals by

and Melvin Franklin * Background vocals by Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams,

David Ruffin David Eli Ruffin (born Davis Eli Ruffin;Ribowsky, p. 88 January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991) was an American soul singer and musician most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations (1964–68) during the group's "Clas ...

, and Otis Williams * Instrumentation by

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

Chart history

"I'll Be in Trouble" was a Top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 33.Williams, Otis and Romanowski, Patricia (1988, updated 2002). Temptations. Lanham, MD: Cooper Square. .

Notes

1964 singles The Temptations songs The Marvelettes songs Songs written by Smokey Robinson Song recordings produced by Smokey Robinson 1964 songs Gordy Records singles {{1960s-R&B-song-stub