Music history has a funny way of burying gems under the weight of massive, chart-topping hits that everyone and their mother knows by heart. You mention The Temptations and people immediately start humming "My Girl" or "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." It’s inevitable. But if you really dig into the Motown vaults—specifically that gritty, experimental transition period in the late sixties and early seventies—you hit a different kind of pay dirt. That’s where the 1969 album Cloud Nine lives, and tucked away on Side B is the track that arguably defined their psychedelic soul pivot. Honestly, when you listen to Let It Rain Temptations fans usually point to as the turning point, you realize it wasn't just a song; it was a total sonic overhaul.
It was 1969. The world was messy.
The Temptations were moving away from the "Classic Five" era. David Ruffin was out. Dennis Edwards was in. And let me tell you, that shift changed everything about their grit. Norman Whitfield, the legendary producer who was basically the mad scientist of the Motown basement, wanted to compete with the heavy, distorted sounds of Sly and the Family Stone. He didn't want polished suits anymore. He wanted funk. He wanted sweat. He wanted something that felt like the streets of Detroit.
The Raw Sound of Let It Rain
Most people think of Motown as this "Assembly Line" of hits, which it was, but Let It Rain is proof that the line could get weird when it wanted to. The track isn't a ballad. It isn't a straightforward love song. It’s this hypnotic, swirling blend of percussion and those signature vocal harmonies that somehow stay tight even when the instrumentation is trying to tear the roof off.
You’ve got Dennis Edwards leading the charge with that raspy, soulful growl that David Ruffin just didn't have. Ruffin was elegance; Edwards was fire. When the group sings about the rain, they aren't talking about a light drizzle. It’s metaphorical. It’s heavy.
Whitfield used a lot of wah-wah pedal on the guitars here. It was a risky move at the time because Berry Gordy, the big boss at Motown, famously hated anything that sounded "too rock" or "too white." He wanted crossover appeal. But the fans? They were ready for it. The song captures a specific mood of longing and catharsis. You can almost feel the humidity in the studio recording.
Why the 1969 Era Was Make or Break
If you look at the tracklist of the Cloud Nine album, Let It Rain serves as the emotional anchor. While the title track "Cloud Nine" dealt with the harsh realities of drug use and poverty—which was super controversial back then—this track brought it back to the human element.
It’s interesting.
Some critics at the time felt The Temptations were losing their identity by following the psychedelic trend. They called it "copycatting." But looking back from 2026, it’s clear they weren't following; they were evolving. They took the blueprint of vocal group harmony and stretched it until it nearly snapped. The vocal arrangement on Let It Rain is incredibly complex. Paul Williams, Otis Williams, Eddie Kendricks, and Melvin Franklin—these guys were athletes of the voice. They weren't just singing backup; they were creating a wall of sound that felt three-dimensional.
Eddie Kendricks' falsetto in the background of this track is particularly haunting. It acts as a counterpoint to the heavy bassline. It’s that contrast—the high and the low, the light and the dark—that makes the song stick in your brain for days.
The Production Magic of Norman Whitfield
We have to talk about Whitfield. He was the one who pushed them. He’d make them record dozens of takes just to get that specific "tired" quality in their voices. He didn't want them sounding fresh; he wanted them sounding like they’d lived through the lyrics.
On Let It Rain, the percussion is the secret sauce. It’s not just a standard drum kit. There’s a layered approach to the rhythm section that feels almost tribal. This was the "Psychedelic Soul" movement in its purest form. If you listen closely to the stereo mix, the voices move across the speakers in a way that was pretty revolutionary for the late sixties.
- It broke the "Pop" mold.
- It gave Dennis Edwards a platform to prove he belonged.
- It bridged the gap between R&B and the emerging Funk scene.
The Legacy Nobody Talks About
A lot of younger listeners discover this track through sampling. Hip-hop producers have been mining the Cloud Nine era for decades because the breaks are so clean and the vibe is so moody. But there’s a difference between hearing a four-bar loop and sitting through the full five-minute experience of the original.
Kinda makes you wonder why this isn't on every "Best Of" compilation.
Part of the reason is that it’s "album track" territory. It wasn't the lead single. It didn't have the massive promotional push of "I Can't Get Next To You." But for the die-hards, it’s a Top 10 Temptations song, hands down. It represents the moment they stopped being a "boy band" and started being a serious, socially-conscious musical force.
There’s a common misconception that Motown was all sunshine and daisies until Marvin Gaye released What's Going On in 1971. That’s just not true. The Temptations were laying the groundwork for that transition two years earlier. Let It Rain is part of that DNA. It’s moody, it’s slightly psychedelic, and it’s deeply soul-stirring.
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Actionable Insights for Music Lovers
If you want to truly appreciate this era of music, don't just stream the hits. You have to go deeper.
Listen to the full Cloud Nine album on vinyl if you can. Digital compression kills the nuance of Whitfield's production. You need to hear the "air" around the instruments. The way the bass interacts with the floor toms on Let It Rain needs that analog warmth to really land.
Compare the versions. If you find live recordings from 1969 or 1970, notice how the group handles the choreography versus the vocal delivery. They were still doing the "Temptation Walk," but their faces were showing the intensity of the new sound.
Track the influence. Listen to "Let It Rain" and then go listen to early Funkadelic or even some of the heavier tracks by The Undisputed Truth. You can see the breadcrumbs. You can see how the Motown sound branched out into the forest of experimental Black music that defined the seventies.
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Stop thinking of The Temptations as just a legacy act with matching suits. They were rebels. They were innovators. And when you let it rain through your speakers, you’re hearing the sound of a group finding its soul all over again.