Ali and the Emperors of Soul at the Mohegan Sun

[Ivory Fair]

Found this in my inbox this morning....

IN THE BASEMENT SOUL MAGAZINE - FEATURING

Ali "OLLIE" WOODSON & The EMPERORS OF SOUL
Mohegan Sun Resorts Hotel & Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut - 8/25/02

An eight-piece, awesome and soulful band, warmly heated up the "Wolf Den"
open lounge with an introductory medley of Temptations' recordings. Without
further ado, Ali "Ollie" Woodson and his back-up singing group, The Emperors Of
Soul, expressively stepped out on stage kicking-out with "The Way You Do
The Things You Do". Their harmony was tight and their choreography very
polish indeed when one made a step, their all made a step.
The tenor-singing lead character sounded good on "Just My Imagination" and
"Get Ready", while Woodson performed "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" and "Ball Of
Confusion".
When he began to sing his own Temptations' recordings, people started
swarming-up and packing the place like bees. They stopped gambling and
gathered around the lounge, giving Ollie their undivided attention and
natural respect, as he entertained them with his marathon of "Treat Her
Like A Lady" and my favorite by him, "Lady Soul".
By now he could no wrong. On one side of the lounge, folks formed a long
line doing the "Temptation Walk" dance. The crowd was really feeling it and
so were the performers and band up on stage.
I got caught up in the emotions when Ollie sang "Since I Lost My Baby". He
even sang a little of "I Could Never Love Another", "My Baby" and "My
Girl". These, and so many others, really uplifted this audience and a
well-deserved encore was demanded. I personally found the show way beyond
my expectations and well worth the very long trip there and back.

[Jonel]

;D That's cool! Wish I had been in that "Temptation Walk" line dance........ ;D

[MikeNYC]

"There's A Place In The Sun"

[Aba21]

Now am I to understand the man who was tired of singing the old songs and wanted to sing the new material sang that many Temptation songs at his performance? And he had a Group that did all the steps and everything? Well glory be! The funk's on me!

Once a Temp always Temp! No I don't mean temporary.

[Ivory Fair]

Yep, apparently singing the classic songs is the thing to do.

I'm waiting to hear Mike's take on this one.............

[AKA THE FUF]

I would have loved to have been there, just to hear how they sound. Everybody knows Ali has a great Temptation voice, so he can't help but sing the old stuff as well as his own. Sounded like a good show. That's a very nice casino Mohegan Sun.

[janebse]

Exactly how does the Temptation Line Dance go when they are performing? Just assume I've seen it and don't know what I've seen.

So tell me when and where I've seen it. I am referring to videos. When they are performing, that is when I've seen them perform, there never seems enough time or space to perform a Temptation Line Dance. Is that what they did on "Losing You" on TCB?

There is something very touching about the "Temptations Forever." I am sure when the Tempts first repeated that slogan, they had no idea it would really be the truth. Once a Temptation, always a Temptation. It's really rather eerie.

I know you can say, "Well, that's what it takes to make a living." But it's much more than that. I am sure many of them thought they could be great successes as solo artists. But when I saw Theo, he just exuded "Temptation." I had never seen Theo perform as a Temptation and only heard him on CD's and seen his picture on a CD. SO I had no expectations at all as to what Theo would be like. But the minute he walked on stage his whole body and mannerisms said, "Temptation in the middle of Tops."

Psychologically it's very interesting and puzzling. I am not sure Theo even knows this. I do know he knows theTemptation connection is valuable.

Who trained the group Ali has with him? Who trained the others? Does anyone know? By that I am referring to dance steps. I know the Temptations still use Cholly Atkins or that he supervises. But do the other groups?

[Ivory Fair]

Jane, I think what they meant was the line of people that was formed when the crowd got up to do the "Temptations Walk" with Ali's group. I don't think there is an acutal line dance.

[janebse]

I had to chuckle at ABA's comment because he reported Ali's performing at a night club (solo) when he was supposed to be performing with the Temptations and other of Ali's comments which all suggest Ali wanted to go beyond being a Temptation and be a solo singer.\

And then discovered there was no "beyond." He had been at the top and hadn't known it.

It's really very interesting in a psychological way. And then I'd like to carry the thought further and apply it to people in general.

[janebse]

I still think ABA asked the pertinent question. Who trained the guys to dance?

[MikeNYC]

Wait no more!!! Ali-Ollie can't make a show out of two songs (Treat Her Like A Lady,Lady Soul). He has to sing "Classics",how well he sings them is a different story. His Strength would be to sing his own songs and leave the classics alone!"Temptation Forever" is a movie-made slogan,no more than that! As far as making a living,Woodson ain't doin' nothin' that Otis ain't doin' "O" has to make a living too. Dennis taught the review the steps and the harmony.He knows the routine just as good,if not better than Otis.Once again Theo is with a world class group in the Four Tops,and was brought in to fill Lawrence Payton's spot,not Levi Stubbs! There is no tempt connection,since the majority of the people who come to see the Tops perform don't reconize Theo as a former Tempt! Hs is NOT that well known for his Temptation work. A lot of pepple don't realize that the current group is not the group that sings "Stay". Question,If the tempts had won a grammy for Stay,would Theo get a grammy? Do you think he should? Or would Woodson try to claim it like the HOF induction? Maybe Ollie felt that he wasn't being used right in the Tempts,with his writing skills and all. At least when The Review goes "Classic",they sound closer to the real thing than anyone else out there,including Otis's group,especially the "Message songs" Ya know what I mean? ;D

[Ivory Fair]

Question,If the tempts had won a grammy for Stay,would Theo get a grammy? Do you think he should?

I may be wrong on this one because it was a long time ago, but I believe that when they went to the Grammy's when they (the Tempts) were nominated for Phoenix Rising (the album that Stay was on) that Theo went with them. Had they won, I believe he would have been given an award as well.

At least when The Review goes "Classic",they sound closer to the real thing than anyone else out there,including Otis's group,

But I thought you hadn't heard the Tempts ("O's group") in concert?

[Aba21]

I don't know how they do it in music but if you win a championship and you aren't on the team when they get their rings, you still get yours at a later date. Even if you're traded mid season, you still get your ring.

As far as ALi is concerned, he said he wanted to sing new stuff but the group wanted to sing the classic stuff. I don't know about Ali sometimes because he was all for singing My Girl when they took it from Richard. And I know he has a great Temptation voice. But Melvin's opinion of his singing was that he used electronics more than most to enhance hi voice and when he held that note on Special doing it live it was electronics. Melvin said Dennis would never do that.

[MikeNYC]

I have seen them perform "live" on tv,that's as close as I got,and judging from what I saw on TV I stand by what I said ! And going by Aba's logic that't the way the Wakl Of Fame should have been handled !

[Ivory Fair]

Huh? When Ali held that high note during live performances it was done electronically? How does that work?