a former bandmate of Otis Williams in The Distants and current lead singer of Motown's The Monitors, was proposed as a replacement for Paul Williams. Eddie Kendricks also began to withdraw from the group; he regularly quarreled with either Otis Williams or his best friend Melvin Franklin, and the fights often became violent. Kendricks began spending more time with his friend David Ruffin, former lead singer of the Temptations. Ruffin had been fired from the act in June 1968 because of unprofessional behavior and perceived ego problems, and Kendricks was the only member who continued an alliance with Ruffin. In fact, Kendricks suggested more than once that Ruffin should be invited back into the group, an idea which the other members strongly objected to. By the fall of 1970, Kendricks decided that he should leave the group and go solo. During a November 1970 engagement at the Copacabana nightclub in New York City, tensions came to a head. Otis Williams' mother had just died, and his voice cracked onstage during a performance, drawing Kendricks' ire. Attempting to avoid yet another fight, Williams and Melvin Franklin left the Copa immediately after the show, infuriating Kendricks to the point that he left as well and didn't return for the next show. The rift became irreparable at that point, and it was mutually agreed by all parties involved that Kendricks would be leaving The Temptations. "Smiling Faces Sometimes" was planned as the third single from Sky's the Limit, but when Eddie Kendricks, the song's lead singer, quit the group in late winter of 1971, Whitfield had to shift plans. "Smiling Faces" was given to The Undisputed Truth, whose recording of the song became a Top 5 pop hit, while the Temptations, reduced to a quartet while searching for a Kendricks replacement, re-recorded "It's Summer", from the Psychedelic Shack album, as a single. "I'm the Exception to the Rule" from Sky's the Limit was issued as "It's Summer's" b-side. Kendricks arranged a solo deal with Motown's Tamla label, and would go on to have hits such as "Keep on Truckin'" (1973) and "Boogie Down" (1974), while Paul Williams retired from the stage and assisted the Temptations with choreography until committing suicide in 1973. Track listing All selections written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, except for "Throw a Farewell Kiss", written by Whitfield and Edward Holland, Jr. All selections produced by Whitfield. Side A