[3] It was the first of their singles to feature Dennis Edwards instead of David Ruffin in the lineup, was the first of producer Norman Whitfield's psychedelic soul tracks, and won Motown its first Grammy Award.

"[4] Within a few weeks, however, he had created the backing tracks for the newest Temptations single, a psychedelic-styled number called "Cloud Nine", and stuck primarily to such songs well into the early 1970s.

[4] Featuring all five Temptations trading lead vocals à la The Family Stone,[4] "Cloud Nine" was a marked departure from the standard Tempts sound: wah-wah guitars and a harder, driving beat propelled the record, as opposed to pianos and strings.

Pop chart, and led the way for the Temptations' full-blown venture into psychedelia, with increasingly eclectic and socio-political-themed records, including "Runaway Child, Running Wild", "Psychedelic Shack", and "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)", following within the coming two years.

Mongo Santamaria recorded his own, instrumental version in 1969 for the Stone Soul album; released as a single (Columbia 4-44740), it reached #32 Pop, #33 R&B and #30 Easy Listening.