#400 - The Temptations - Anthology (1995)
MUSIC HISTORY WRITTEN BY HEAD WRITER DJ MORTY COYLE:
Released on May 23rd, 1995 on Motown Records this is the third version of the comprehensive compilation collection by the American R&B, Soul, Pop, Funk, Psychedelic, Disco, Vocal, Group.
Like many groups of their era there were a lot of name and personnel changes so we’re going to keep it as simple as possible to catch you up.
Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks sang together in church in Birmingham, Alabama and by the mid-‘50s started a Doo-Wop vocal group with a couple friends called The Cavaliers. By 1957 they were a trio and moved to Detroit, Michigan to pursue a professional musical career. They changed their name to The Primes.
Texan Otis Williams moved to Detroit as a teenager and in 1958 started local vocal groups Otis Williams and the Siberians which became The El Domingoes and then The Distants. Also in the group were Alabama-native Melvin Franklin, his cousin, Detroit-born Richard Street, and Georgian Elbridge “Al” Bryant. After a couple record deals, a few regional hits, and some member changes they were renamed Otis Williams & The Distants and were offered a deal by Berry Gordy to his Motown Records label. But then the group lost Richard Street and another member, leaving Otis, Al, and Melvin in limbo.
Now The Primes and The Distants were friendly rivals on the Detroit scene with The Primes considered the more polished group. They even had a sister group called The Primettes who became The Supremes as you’ll remember from that The 500 episode. However by 1960 The Primes broke up and Eddie and Paul moved back to Alabama.
But when Eddie came back to Detroit to visit family he called Otis who told him The Distants needed two more members for their Motown audition.
Eddie and Paul joined Otis, Melvin, and Al to become The Elgins and were signed, first to Motown subsidiary Miracle Records for a couple singles, and then to the Gordy Records label.
Paul and Eddie split most lead vocals on their singles with all members getting a chance live.
By 1963 the band started working with singer/songwriter/producer Smokey Robinson whose group, The Miracles, were also on Motown but they still couldn’t get a hit.
Now Mississippi-native David Ruffin had moved to Detroit as a teen and put out a few singles in the late ‘50s. He became friends with Berry Gordy’s family and even helped build their studio, Hitsville, USA.
He followed The Temptations around to gigs hoping to become a member and even jumped up onstage with them at a show, impressing them with his singing and dancing.
By the end of ’63 Al Bryant was fed up with their lack of success and after several fights with the band was fired, leaving a space open for David Ruffin.
1964 began the “Classic Five” era of The Temptations.
They already had a cool, sophisticated style and memorably athletic choreography and by April they had their first hit record (“The Way You Do the Things You Do”).
Eddie with his brilliant falsetto sang most leads but Smokey Robinson knew David’s rough and powerful voice just needed the perfect song for them to have a huge hit.
We’ll get to what that was during the show (“My Girl”) but Smokey was right and the group finally broke through and followed it with a bunch of romantic hits.
Just so you know who sang what in their complex harmonies, Melvin Franklin was the low Bass, Otis Williams was the Baritone, Paul Williams sang occasional leads, and David Ruffin with his growling Baritone and Eddie Kendricks with his soaring Tenor split most leads.
A couple years later Motown producer/songwriter Norman Whitfield lobbied Berry Gordy to work with The Temptations and with frequent songwriting partner Barrett Strong they brought the group through the late ‘60s and into the ’70s with songs that reflected the Funk, Psychedelia, and Social Consciousness of their contemporaries.
However after David Ruffin became unreliable and difficult to work with in large part due to his drug use he was successfully replaced by Dennis Edwards.
A few years later Eddie Kendricks left to pursue a solo career and Paul Williams left due to poor health.
They were replaced by Damon Harris and former member Richard Street and had their final number one (“Papa Was a Rollin' Stone”).
They followed with more minor hits for a few years until Dennis Edwards left and their popularity waned.
With continuing membership changes they left Motown for Atlantic Records and then back to Motown without much success until 1982 when they had a comeback hit, album, and tour when David, Eddie, and Dennis all returned for a seven-member reunion version of the group.
But after more of the same old issues Ruffin and Kendricks were out again and The Temptations continued recording and touring with some decent chart successes to this day.
In their nearly 60 year career so far they have fifteen number one singles, three Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, and a Soul Train Music Award.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, into the NAACP Hall of Fame in 1992, and into the R&B Hall of Fame in 2013, the same year they received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
They are the most successful R&B act of all time.
They’ve had twenty-five members but only one surviving founding member and he’s been in every line-up of The Temptations since the beginning.