Post by DrTemptation "Doc T" on Oct 29, 2007 9:54:32 GMT -5
Temptations steped away from Motown
With last year's "Reflections," the Temptations brought their vocal magic to the music of their Motown peers.
With the newly released "Back to Front," they've turned their attention to the songs of competing labels, like Stax and Philly International.
The "Reflections" album was their first for New Door Records. It did so well, the group's Otis Williams says, that "the company said, 'Hey, well, let's do it again.''
So they did, tackling classics such as Barry White's "Never Gonna Give You Up," Sam and Dave's "Hold on I'm Comin'' and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' Teddy Pendergrass-era nugget, "Wake Up Everybody." They also ventured into pop, putting their unique five-part vocal stamp on the Doobie Brothers' "Minute by Minute" and the Bee Gees' lilting "How Deep Is Your Love," the CD's first single.
Despite a legacy that goes back nearly five decades, Williams, the group's lone surviving original member, said it was a challenge to step out of the Motown comfort zone and interpret such widely known songs.
"All the songs on 'Back to Front' have taken on such a life for themselves. (I thought) if we are going to do them, we have to do them just as good if not better or leave them alone or leave ourselves up to super criticism," says the big man, who turns 66 on Tuesday. "We knew there was a balance, a character that had to be kept. We didn't want to get too fancy and have (people) say, 'Oh my God, they've mutilated these iconic songs.'"
The group's 48th and newest album, released this week, marks another change: the departure of longtime member G.C. Cameron and the addition of newcomer Bruce Williamson.
Cameron, the former Spinners lead singer, was with the Tempts from 2003 to last June, when a troublesome back forced his departure. "His doctors told him to maybe come off the road and let his back try and heal," Detroit native Williams noted by phone from his adopted home of Los Angeles. "We were in Vegas and the group's doctor had to give him something. He could hardly move."
Cameron, who performed with the group last January at The Whiting, stayed on board until a replacement could be found. Williams first noticed that replacement, Williamson, in a group hired to perform at the Motown Cafe in Las Vegas.
"Bruce has been trying to get in the group the past 10 years," Williams said of the new guy, who sings lead on "Never Gonna Give You Up" from the new album. "I guess it was his time. Fans who've been seeing him since Bruce has been with the Tempts are just bowled over to see a young man who's 300 pounds moving around like he's 175. And he's that great a singer, like a David Ruffin."
Williams doesn't take lightly a group legacy that has included revered singers such as Eddie Kendricks and Ruffin from its classic '60s lineup. That's a big reason why the Tempts - which includes newer members Terry Weeks and Joe Herndon and longtimer Ron Tyson - continue making albums at a time when so many of their peers have stopped trying. He says the lessons he learned early in his career are constantly being applied in the group's 46th year.
"I don't take anything for granted. Show business can be very fickle. It's feast or famine," Williams said.
"Our music has taken on such another kind of meaning to people. There's stuff people have come to love and appreciate and draw from. It's a thing of people saying, 'I remember when "My Girl" was out,'" he says proudly.
It's a legacy of which he is reminded wherever he goes.
"I got a call from a young lady who said, 'Man, listen to this. I was watching the Weather Channel and they were playing 'Papa Was a Rolling Stone,'" Williams said with some incredulity.
"I got on an elevator and they were playing 'Just My Imagination.' You can't escape it. I don't try."
With last year's "Reflections," the Temptations brought their vocal magic to the music of their Motown peers.
With the newly released "Back to Front," they've turned their attention to the songs of competing labels, like Stax and Philly International.
The "Reflections" album was their first for New Door Records. It did so well, the group's Otis Williams says, that "the company said, 'Hey, well, let's do it again.''
So they did, tackling classics such as Barry White's "Never Gonna Give You Up," Sam and Dave's "Hold on I'm Comin'' and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' Teddy Pendergrass-era nugget, "Wake Up Everybody." They also ventured into pop, putting their unique five-part vocal stamp on the Doobie Brothers' "Minute by Minute" and the Bee Gees' lilting "How Deep Is Your Love," the CD's first single.
Despite a legacy that goes back nearly five decades, Williams, the group's lone surviving original member, said it was a challenge to step out of the Motown comfort zone and interpret such widely known songs.
"All the songs on 'Back to Front' have taken on such a life for themselves. (I thought) if we are going to do them, we have to do them just as good if not better or leave them alone or leave ourselves up to super criticism," says the big man, who turns 66 on Tuesday. "We knew there was a balance, a character that had to be kept. We didn't want to get too fancy and have (people) say, 'Oh my God, they've mutilated these iconic songs.'"
The group's 48th and newest album, released this week, marks another change: the departure of longtime member G.C. Cameron and the addition of newcomer Bruce Williamson.
Cameron, the former Spinners lead singer, was with the Tempts from 2003 to last June, when a troublesome back forced his departure. "His doctors told him to maybe come off the road and let his back try and heal," Detroit native Williams noted by phone from his adopted home of Los Angeles. "We were in Vegas and the group's doctor had to give him something. He could hardly move."
Cameron, who performed with the group last January at The Whiting, stayed on board until a replacement could be found. Williams first noticed that replacement, Williamson, in a group hired to perform at the Motown Cafe in Las Vegas.
"Bruce has been trying to get in the group the past 10 years," Williams said of the new guy, who sings lead on "Never Gonna Give You Up" from the new album. "I guess it was his time. Fans who've been seeing him since Bruce has been with the Tempts are just bowled over to see a young man who's 300 pounds moving around like he's 175. And he's that great a singer, like a David Ruffin."
Williams doesn't take lightly a group legacy that has included revered singers such as Eddie Kendricks and Ruffin from its classic '60s lineup. That's a big reason why the Tempts - which includes newer members Terry Weeks and Joe Herndon and longtimer Ron Tyson - continue making albums at a time when so many of their peers have stopped trying. He says the lessons he learned early in his career are constantly being applied in the group's 46th year.
"I don't take anything for granted. Show business can be very fickle. It's feast or famine," Williams said.
"Our music has taken on such another kind of meaning to people. There's stuff people have come to love and appreciate and draw from. It's a thing of people saying, 'I remember when "My Girl" was out,'" he says proudly.
It's a legacy of which he is reminded wherever he goes.
"I got a call from a young lady who said, 'Man, listen to this. I was watching the Weather Channel and they were playing 'Papa Was a Rolling Stone,'" Williams said with some incredulity.
"I got on an elevator and they were playing 'Just My Imagination.' You can't escape it. I don't try."
