As they work their way back to Monterey, The Temptations are loved more than ever.

Otis Williams felt fame hit in February 1965, after he received a telegram from The Beatles congratulating The Temptations on their first No. 1 record, the My Girl 45.

“From that point on, it just snowballed,” says the group’s only remaining original member. “I have to pinch myself when people tell me stories about how our music affected them; I never would have imagined that when we started singing in 1960.”

Motown’s greatest male vocal group ever unleashed dozens of mega-hits, including “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “Get Ready” and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” They racked up an astonishing 37 Top Ten hits, more than U2 (34) and 10 more than Elton John.

“My Girl” is Williams’ all-time personal favorite. “That’s our bread and butter,” says the 73-year-old baritone.

“Just My Imagination” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” join “My Girl” in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Unlike other members of the Motown family at the time, the Temps didn’t settle on a specific formula, even when the hits began piling up. By 1968, they had grown tired of the “square” suits, bubblegum harmonies and lemondrop themes; like the Beatles before them, they wanted to challenge themselves and take creative risks. Inspired directly by Sly and the Family Stone, the group’s musical focus shifted from clean-cut vocal harmonies to fuzz-heavy guitars, funky rhythms and politically conscious lyrics.

The Temptations transitioned into an era of psychedelic soul, which yielded three killer records: Cloud Nine, Puzzle People and Psychedelic Shack.

The period represents some of the Temps’ most dynamic music, including hits like “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” “Psychedelic Shack” and the soulful, multi-layered harmonies of “Cloud Nine.”

“It wasn’t a challenge of departing from what we were known for before we went to the psychedelic era, the lush ballads,” Williams told The Chicago Tribune earlier this year. “We caught our fan base off guard because it was such a departure. As fate would have it, our fan base was able to digest that.” Sure enough, Cloud Nine earned The Temptations their first Grammy, a Motown first. They went on to pick up four more, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.

“In January, it’ll be 55 years and the fans still come out to see the Temps,” Williams says. “That’s incentive enough to keep going.”

THE TEMPTATIONS 8pm Friday, Nov. 21. Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey. $45-$56. 649-1070, www.goldenstatetheatre.com