After almost ten years of publishing Weekly Music Commentary, I finally made a decision to do something that would be a first for the music blog. For the first time Weekly Music Commentary would feature historical black artists for the entire month of February. This is a special moment because one of the unwritten rules of the blog when created was not to be guided by musical genres, or other social dividing events and customs. There has always been a conscious effort to feature artists of all races or geographical locations. Therefore, what you are starting to read this week is quite special. Will it be the last time Weekly Music Commentary devotes and entire month to a particular type of artist or music? No. There will be more to come. This February 2020 is a good place to begin for this event. There are many artists to choose from however, I think this month will provide music fans of all ages four recognizable music acts. First, we start with a music group that is still active after sixty years together. This week we feature Motown legends, The Temptations.
Like so many groups who have continued to exist for a long time, The Temptations have experienced a lot of changes in personnel. Even though we could easily examine all of the accomplishments of The Temptations overall, we will look closely into the history of the group. As I said numerous times, every story has a beginning, therefore let us start at that point.
Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams started singing together in church as children. By their teenage years, they formed a doo-wop quartet in 1955 with Kell Osborne and Wiley Waller, naming themselves the Cavaliers. After Waller left the group in 1957, the remaining trio left Birmingham to break into the music business. The group settled in Detroit where they changed their name to the Primes under the direction of Milton Jenkins. The Primes soon became well known around the Detroit area for their meticulous performances. Kendricks was already seen as a “matinee idol” in the Detroit area while Williams was well received for his baritone vocals. Teenager Otis Williams moved from Texas to Detroit as a youngster to be with his mother.
At this time, Williams was the leader of a vocal group named Otis Williams and the Siberians. The group included Elbridge “Al” Bryant, James “Pee-Wee” Crawford, Vernard Plain and Arthur Walton. Melvin Franklin replaced Arthur Walton as bass vocalist and Detroit-born Richard Street replaced Vernard Plain as lead singer. Signing with Johnnie Mae Matthews’ Northern Records, the group had their name changed again to The Distants.
Both The Distants and The Primes were part of a much larger picture of male singing groups in Detroit at the time. In fact, these two groups as well as others were greatly influenced by The Miracles, The Drifters and Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers. If you ever watched the movie The Five Heartbeats, you saw a little of what life was like at the time with many groups striving and competing for the big goal of stardom. The movie even dealt with the hardships that plagued members of the group. The Temptations would certainly feel the sting of life problems. However, at this point the group was still two groups. They were not yet The Temptations.
After receiving an offer from Berry Gordy to sign with Motown Records, the Distants got out of their contract with Northern Records. However, Mooch Harrell and Richard Street shortly departed from the group and the remaining members lost use of the Distants name. Richard Street later formed another Distants group who recorded for the Thelma label in the early 1960s.
Members of the Distants were acquainted with the Primes as both groups participated in the same talent shows and performed at the same public venues. Friendly rivals, the Primes were considered to be the more polished and vocally stronger group of the two. The Primes disbanded in 1960 after Kell Osborne moved to California. Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams returned to Alabama following the band’s dissolution. While visiting relatives in Detroit, Kendricks called Otis Williams, who desperately needed two more members for an audition for Gordy’s label and offered Kendricks a lead singer place in his new group. Kendricks agreed on the condition he bring Paul Williams with him. Otis Williams happily agreed and Kendricks and Paul Williams moved back to Detroit to join the new group.
The original name for the new lineup of Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Elbridge “Al” Bryant, Eddie Kendricks, and Paul Williams was the Elgins. Under that name, the group auditioned for Motown in March 1961. Already impressed with some of the members after hearing session work, Berry Gordy agreed to sign the group to the Motown imprint, Miracle. However, before signing, Gordy discovered another group was using the name of Elgins. The group began tossing about ideas for a new name on the steps of the Hitsville U.S.A. studio. On a suggestion from Miracle Records employee Billy Mitchell, songwriter Mickey Stevenson, and group members Otis Williams and Paul Williams, the Temptations became the group’s new name.
The Temptations started recording right away and had some success. However, Berry Gordy closed the label down and reassigned the band to his latest imprint, Gordy Records. On the Gordy imprint, Eddie Kendricks sang lead on the Temptations’ first charted single, “(You’re My) Dream Come True”, which peaked at number 22 on the R&B chart in 1962. Later that year, the Temptations began touring as part of the Motortown Revue.
In 1963, the Temptations began working with Smokey Robinson as producer and writer. Robinson’s first work with the group was the Paul Williams-led “I Want a Love I Can See”. While the song failed to chart, it did eventually become a popular live performance spot for the group and particularly for Paul Williams in general. Some called the group “The Hitless Temptations” due to their lack of hits. All of that would change very soon.
David Ruffin was brought in to replace disgruntled and restless Al Bryant in January 1964. The Temptations would now consist of Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, and David Ruffin; the success that would follow the group would result in what would, in later years, be frequently referred to as the “Classic Five” lineup. In January 1964, Smokey Robinson and Miracles bandmate Bobby Rogers co-wrote and produced “The Way You Do the Things You Do” with Eddie Kendricks on lead and the single became the Temptations’ first Top 20 hit that April.
Of course, the hits would come frequently with the new lineup and with Smokey Robinson at the board as producer and writer. Some of the hits that came at this time were: “The Way You Do The Things You Do”, “My Girl”, Get Ready, Ain’t to Proud To Beg, I Wish It Would Rain, and many, many more. However, personality conflicts, alcohol and drug additions and even eventual death would make changes in the lineup of Temptations necessary. The show must go on, and it did.
In fact, The Temptations are still performing and recording, releasing the album All The Time in 2018. Otis Williams is the only original member still with the group as the demand continues even today. The Temptations music is still playing on radio stations worldwide. The group is iconic as it would be impossible to find someone who could not identify their music. I think that’s why the title of this post is appropriate. Temptations Forever! Indeed.