‘My Girl’ Temptations Classic Celebrates Its Sweet 60th at Motown Museum
Inside its legendary Studio A recording space, the Motown Museum celebrated the 60th anniversary of The Temptations classic “My Girl” with a special gathering on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. A group of two dozen visitors reminisced during the museum’s sold-out “My Girl” tours that commemorated the Dec. 21, 1964, release of “My Girl,” a song that climbed to No. 1 on the U.S. charts by March 1965.
The tour featured a presentation by Paul Riser, the Motown arranger who composed the orchestral score for “My Girl” when he only 21 years old. Riser talked about how he spent three hours creating the orchestral charts by ear, attributing his classical music training and background in church music as the inspiration for a moment in history when “it all came together,” according to a Detroit Free Press report.
Along with the immersive tour of Studio A, the museum also released a vinyl edition of “My Girl,” newly remixed from the original multitrack recording tapes. Visitors also received vouchers for a free copy of the limited-edition 45 of “My Girl,” which will be produced at Jack White’s Third Man Pressing in Midtown Detroit. The single is also available for purchase on the museum’s website.
The museum’s vinyl record of the new mix, which will be available for public distribution in 2025, will feature an interview audio with legendary musical artists Otis Williams and Smokey Robinson, along with Riser, telling the tale of how “My Girl” came to be.
Eugene Brown of Flint, Michigan, who was on hand for the “My Girl” birthday celebration, described to the Detroit Free Press what it was like to hear the new mix. “I’ve heard a lot of different mixes of that song, but not as clearly as that. You could pick everything out. It was almost surreal.”
