Temptations are stronger than ever

[Jonel]

Solid Gold: It's not just your imagination: Temptations are stronger than ever


By Neil Baron
Reno Gazette-Journal

When the Temptations broke onto the top 40 charts in 1964 with “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” America was a country in turmoil.

With the first of its more than 40 top 40 hits, the Temptations provided relief to a grieving nation.

“We found this to be very true and evident during the Vietnam War,” said Temptations founder Otis Williams by phone from his home in Woodland Hills, Calif. “People were coming to our show because they didn’t want to just constantly sit at home, watch TV and be reminded how our forces were getting killed and fighting over there in the jungles of Vietnam.”

Now, after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, Williams said the Temptations and other entertainers are more important than ever.

“People need a kind of escapism,” he said. “They need to be able to get away and be reminded that life is to be lived.”

Williams, who turned 62 on Oct. 30, also notices a big difference in how the Vietnam War was perceived in comparison to the current battle situation.

“There’s definitely a big change,” he said. “It’s one thing to look at the television and see our fighting forces over there in Vietnam. It’s a whole other things now since Sept. 11. That happened to us in our own backyard. It gave us a sense of reality that we never thought would or could happen here. It was definitely a rude awakening. Things will never be the same as they were before Sept. 11.”

And just as people need entertainment to escape the insanity of war, entertainers need an escape, too. Williams said he finds that each and every time he steps on stage.

“When we are on stage and see the (fans’) faces and how they’re truly enjoying what we’re doing, we feed off of that. It makes us feel good that we make them feel good. That we can help them forget for a time what we’re going through. They can leave the show and go home, play our records and try to get back to some sort of normalcy of life and realize that life must go on and we cannot be intimidated to where we have to start living our lives very scared,” he said.

The Tempts, as the all-male, vocal-harmony group is fondly called by its fans, is moving on. Like many of its peers from the 1960s and 1970s, the Temptations continue to perform regularly. Williams said the band averages about 200 shows a year.

But unlike most of its peers, the Temptations remain a viable source of new music. In March, the group won its fourth Grammy Award for its album, “Irresistible.” Three years ago, the group’s album, “Phoenix Rising” sold nearly 2 million units.

Of course, the Temptations don’t need to record new music. It can’t even play all of its hits at a concert because there isn’t enough time. And now, the band is set to release “Awesome” Nov. 20 on Motown Records.

So why does the band continue to go into the studio and record?

“We still enjoy it,” Williams said. “When you have albums go over like (the last two), it gives you encouraging signs to continue. And when your company still wants you to record ... we have a lot of peers we know of our genre and age that catch hell. They can’t get a deal. No label will sign them. So we don’t take it lightly or for granted. We go in with the eye of the tiger like we’ve never had any success record-wise.”

The Temptations, who receive radio airplay on adult contemporary stations, already have received positive reviews on the first single, “Four Days.”

[Jonel]

Williams, who is the only remaining original member, said “Awesome” would fit in nicely with the group’s older work from the 1960s and 1970s.

“I think it would have fit real well back then. No problem, because all of our albums are pretty much in the same order. We have ballads and social commentary message songs. This album is kind of ballad-heavy. Although there are a few up-tempo songs, it’s one of those albums that women would really like to have and listen to. I think it’s a very good album, though I find it hard to be objective.”

However, fans shouldn’t expect to hear more than one song off the new album at the Temptations’ live show.

“We learned something a long time ago and that is you don’t do anything off a new album until it’s out for the people to hear. We did that once before and they were cordial (Williams claps slowly and politely in the background), but it was like, ‘Yea, Tempts. That was nice, but we don’t know it.’ Naturally, we’ll do whatever the single is, but we won’t get into doing the other songs.

“We already have people from time to time in the audience calling out for us to do songs that we have long since stopped doing. With the repertoire of material we have, we could be on stage half the night trying to sing all of them. It’s almost like a blessed curse to have so many (hits), but only be able to do fraction of them in a short amount of time.”

However, some songs will never be taken off the Temptations’ play list, Williams said. Those songs include “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” which Williams said is one of his favorite Tempts’ songs.

When Williams was asked how many times he think he has sung “My Girl,” he laughs.
“I was just thinking about that the other day,” he said. “I have no idea. A lot.”

However, he said the group resists any temptation to change the arrangement of a song to keep it fresh for the singers.

“Oh no, one of the worst things an artist can do is to try and change a song that the world has come to identify and love in its original form. So we don’t mess around with it and try to be slick and stay up-to-date,” he said. “That’d be just like messing around and trying to turn ‘My Girl’ into rap because rap is so popular today. People would be cussing us out, booing us and be very disappointed.

“Instead, what we do to keep the enthusiasm is we feed off the public. When we start singing all the hits we do, you can see the people just really light up and show their appreciation and love for that song. That’s what we feed off of.”

Williams, who has had about 20 people come and go from the group, said he gives thanks to God and the audiences that continue to support the group’s music. After all, he said, the group was supposed to be finished a long time ago.

And when he was asked to compare the group’s current lineup to the one from the 1960s and 1970s, he didn’t hesitate to answer.

“This is a very strong lineup,” he said. “I won’t say it’s the strongest because the original Temptations were just a phenomenon. I don’t do a comparative thing because that wouldn’t be fair. The original Temptations, all truth be told — in fact, I even tell the guys with me now — had some kind of magic. I could feel it on stage. It was like we were a piece of hard, forged steel on stage that could not be stopped. But this is a very good lineup of guys that I have.”

Neil Baron is a free-lance writer.

[MikeNYC]

[janebse]

Really liked that interview, Jonel. From personal experience I know the impact of the Temptations' sijnging, past and present.

I think they are stronger than ever because we need their music today. Underlying every song, even the most tragic, is hope. Eddie sings "We Wish You Love" and states nevermore will he and his love be together, and then the music swings upward (and I do mean swing), and you find yourself filled with unconscious hope and joy and singing along. I say "unconscious" because you are aware of the words of the song.

Rap and hip-hop are more poems with beats that are shouted than music. They are intensely personal (note the language) and have little impact on most people...unless they are filled with hate.

I think it's time for Sukka to come in with his "Love beats hate" soul message.

[MikeNYC]

What about positive rap ? That's the way they used to talk about Rock & Roll !

[janebse]

Will Smith has a sense of humor and can laugh at himself. And I think his raps reflect his intelligence and humor. But raps are personal. And the whole situation out of which rap arose is a personal situation. They're testing situations.

Can't say, always liked rock-and-roll. Always liked jazz and always liked classical music. But that does not mean I like every single song in those categories or every single artist.

[MikeNYC]

No ,you are correct,but we can't just put evetything in one catagory either. You talk about Jazz,and I can relate to that because my father was in the business. Do you remember the time when Jazz was changing from Louis Armstrong to Dizzy Gillespie? They called it "BE BOP"! At first it was not accepted,major differences between the followers of the music. Just like today . I don't like some of the things that rap portrays,but the Record Companies are to blame,not the artisis. To get a rap record out ,you have to have the outlook that you and I hate (yes we see eye to eye on this one ). When rap first started it was about parties,good things in life. Then it went to talking about issues that concern the young. Not all negative. Tupac had a POSITIVE rap song about deadbeat dads .It got a lot of airplay,but when he died,that song was not discussed,just the negative songs. I watched Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve,and saw a group who I guess were trying to follow in the footsteps of The Temptations,I can't remember their names, I remember that they had their pants hanging off their butts. They weren't singing anything negative . That's what scares me because if I were just glancing,I might have got the wrong impression. This is what they are telling these young artists that they have to do this to be a success! Just like Gordy told the Tempts that they had to dress the way that they did to make it ! It's sad ,don't you think ? I do !

[janebse]

Something is terribly wrong if we are agreeing, Mike.

About Tupac. I watched (twice) a program where he was talking, and I was most impressed by his intelligence and what he was concerned about. But somehow his life went in the wrong direction. And the interviewer had quoted someone or interviewed someone who mentioned that they (whoever) were concerned about what would happen to Tupac with his energy and intelligence. They were afraid he would pick the wrong path.

And, yes, I too remember when Dizzy Gillespie went in a different direction and how people reacted. I think that may be one reason why people love Motown music. Jazz had gone away from swing. And I have some recent Wynton Marsalis Jazz albums, and jazz is still evolving, and I miss the rhythmic jazz of the past. And I agree with Ellington, "If it ain't got that swing, it don't mean a thing." And classical music changes too with exactly the same reactions. But I still think we have the right and the need to say, "I do not like this." We listen and we choose.

Not all classical music is good. Not all jazz is good. Not all country music is good. Not all anything is good. Only time will tell, and it's the music which we love after years that becomes classic, in every field. That's why I say the Tempts are classic. And it's the people who determine this. The literature which becomes classic and great is all chosen by the people. It's not the teachers; it's not the literary critics. It's just the plain ordinary people who keep reading it and loving it, finding meaning in their lives.

And that's why I love the Temptations. And why people loved and still love the Beatles ($40 million a year must mean love). People love their music because it provides comfort, meaning and hope to them.

[MikeNYC]

I think that we realize that we both have something to say and we both deserve to listen to each other !If you have some Hampton, Armstrong,or Duke,you might hear my dad playing trumpet. If you e-mail me I will tell you. Do you like EVERY TEMPTATION SONG ?

[janebse]

No Hampton, but I do have Armstrong and Ellington. What's not to like there?

What do jazz musicians do today? In the town in which I live (which is no example of culture), there was an article despairing of no support of jazz. The jazz organization wanted money and couldn't get any from the town, the people or whoever. They had formed an organization but things were looking gloomy. Of course, the temperament of this town is not conducive to much culture.

[MikeNYC]

That's a good question . When my father was alive,there was a musician's union,I don't know if that exists today.

[Ivory Fair]

Something is terribly wrong if we are agreeing, Mike.


Ha ha ha ha haaaa!!!

I don't know Jane, I think I'm am about as hate-less as they come and LOVE me some hip-hop, yep, even the raunchy, foul-mouthed stuff. I always have ever since I saw LL Cool J on American Bandstand back in the day. Something about it just speaks to my soul. And as for whether or not it will be beloved years from now, it already is. Don't know if you saw the tribute done by various artists to Jam Master Jay on the ..... oh.... what award show was it, some award show, anyway, several of the big names in hip hop today dressed up RunDMC style and took turns doing some of the group's biggest hits. Now I realize fifteen years doesn't compare to forty, but I bet if you ask people of my generation about the group thirty years from now, we'll still get the same little happy smiles on our faces when we hear the words, "I met this little girly, her hair was kinda curly," that we did when we first heard the song.

[sukkafu]

if the raunchy foul mouthed stuff speaks to you, i hope you turn a deaf ear on it. i have quite a collection of hip hop and rap, even from the kurtis blow sugar hill gang days.
much of it is interesting-but public enemy /chuck d had some good stuff,and some unacceptable stuff. i liked digital underground, but never was a big tupac fan. i didn't like his style. my cousin ron in berkeley worked for humpty and the underground for 2 yrs and he had a lot of fun. i never liked nwa or ice t, but i like ice t's acting. ice cube is fair. i ja rule's voice. ludakris has some songs i like -cadillac grills...

i have all the llcoolj stuff, but i dislike his ual later stuff. i like his 1985-1987 stuff, and boomin system an mam said knock you out and the boys to men duet with the michael jackson song-hey lover.

i think my all time favorites were a tribe called quest.they were cool.

[Ivory Fair]

Well, LL was a much better rapper when he wasn't a good little family man. His stuff now is just zzzzzzzzzz....

I always said rappers shouldn't do love songs, leave that to the experts....

[sukkafu]

yep!

i like that photo of the classic 5!