On Track Listing, Credit Errors, and How to Actually Find the Right Version
If you've landed here after a search engine combined a Temptations song title with a biographer's name, you're not alone. This happens constantly with Motown-related queries. Mark Ribowsky wrote mob biographies and a book about Berry Gordy, not about "Ain't Too Proud to Beg." The song itself was written by Holland–Dozier–Holland and first recorded by The Temptations in 1966. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in September of that year and became one of the defining tracks of the Motown sound. The reason these terms get tangled together is the same reason half the music databases on the internet are a mess. People upload ripped files with sloppy metadata, search engines index the worst matches, and suddenly a query for a Temptations song pulls up results about a historian who wrote about organized crime. I've spent more time than I care to admit untangling these knots. Here's how to actually get the right material without going down a three-hour rabbit hole. First, verify your source before you download anything. The most common version people end up with is the 1998 CD reissue from Capitol Records, which bundles the original single with alternate takes and B-sides. If you're looking for the definitive studio version, it's on the album Cloud Nine, released later in 1968, though the single mix is slightly different from the album version. The single ran 2:47. The album version runs 3:12. They're not the same mastering.
I once spent two hours tracking down a clean stereo version because every marketplace listing claimed to have the "original 1966 mono mix" but was actually a compressed MP3 ripped from a 2004 remaster. The workaround was straightforward: I pulled the matrix numbers off the label side of a physical CD I owned and cross-referenced them with Discogs entries. The matrix code for the original Gordy pressing is GNY-201. Anything without that code or a legitimate reissue stamp is probably not what the seller says it is. For legit downloads or purchases, the reliable routes are the Motown official store, the Capitol Music Store, or the Warner Music catalog, since Motown's masters now sit with Warner. Spotify and Apple Music carry it, but if you're building a personal library and care about audio quality, look for the 24-bit remasters that came out around 2020–2021. The earlier CD remasters from the late 90s are fine but they're not remastered from the original multi-track tapes in every case. A few things nobody tells you about collecting Motown singles. The stereo mixes from the 1960s were often afterthoughts. Motown prioritized mono. If you want to hear what the producers actually intended, the mono mix is usually the reference. Second, the Temptations' vocal arrangements on this track are tighter than most people realize. Paul Williams handled the lead on the original single, and his delivery is notably more aggressive than David Ruffin's later re recordings. Third, if you see a listing that claims to include the full session with the Funk Brothers, check whether it's actually the single or the album cut. The horn stabs and the bass line are slightly rearranged between the two.
One edge case that trips people up: the Temptations re-recorded this song for their 1972 album Special. The production is completely different. It's slower, more soulchest-oriented, and features Eddie Kendricks on lead. If you're comparing versions, make sure you're actually comparing the right ones. I once bought a "rare Temptations bootleg" that turned out to be the 1972 re-record dressed up with fake liner notes. The tell was the tape hiss pattern, which matched a 2003 Capitol release, not a 1972 session master. There's no single authoritative "Ain't Too Proud to Beg Mark Ribowsky" document or file. It's a search error. The song exists. The biographer exists. They occupy completely different genres. If you want Ribowsky's work on Motown, his book One Million Ways to Win covers the business side of the label. If you want the song, stream or buy the Temptations recording. Don't let a bad query send you chasing something that doesn't exist.
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