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Post by Jonel on Dec 31, 2002 12:34:47 GMT -5
 The Temptations by Eric Olsen The group with "five lead singers" - David Ruffin (replaced by Dennis Edwards in 1968), Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin - the temptin' Temptations was the male vocal group of the ‘60s and the early-'70s. Mellifluous harmonies, dynamic dance steps, and killer material provided primarily by Smokey Robinson and Norman Whitfield (with co-writers Eddie Holland and Barrett Strong) yielded 43 Top Ten hits over 25 years, 36 of which are included on the spectacular new double-CD collection My Girl: The Very Best of the Temptations. After recording a series of unsuccessful singles with Motown beginning in 1962, the Tempt's hooked up with Smokey Robinson for their first smash "The Way You Do the Things You Do" in 1964. Smokey and the group then cranked out hit after hit, including their signature tune, "My Girl." The intro is instantly-recognizable genius: the three-note bass line repeated, the ascending guitar line that feels like home, the swanky finger snaps, the drum break. Then David Ruffin enters with his greatest vocal - a gospel-tinged reverie of private sunshine, warmth and honeyed music, hovering above a cushion of Temptin' harmonies where "Under the Boardwalk" meets "I Only Have Eyes For You." Robinson ended his run with the Temptations with the aggressive, even menacing "Get Ready" in '66: chattering sax, a charging beat and Eddie Kendricks' falsetto soaring through a great chorus give his lover fair warning that wildness awaits her upon his arrival. Then Norman Whitfield entered the picture. Whitfield stands as the most adventuresome and funky of the giant Motown songwriter/producers; his greatest work, including seven years of hits with the Temptations, ranks among the finest pop music of the last fifty years. Whitfield was born in Harlem in 1943 where he developed twin interests in music and billiards. Whitfield's family fortuitously ended up in Detroit when his father's car broke down on the way back to New York from an aunt's funeral in California. By the age of 18, Whitfield had already written and produced local hits for the Distants and the Synetics. The persistent, observant youth could be found loitering about the Motown office, "always staring at something," Berry Gordy told Nelson George in Where Did Our Love Go? Tall, thin and quiet, Whitfield somewhat creepily watched for a year before he was hired in 1962 by Gordy at $15 per week to listen to demos and rate them for future release as part of Motown's mysterious Quality Control department. Following two long years of rating and waiting, Whitfield finally wrote and produced his first songs for Motown: the Velvelettes' "Needle In a Haystack," and the Marvelettes' "Too Many Fish In the Sea." |
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Post by Jonel on Dec 31, 2002 12:35:14 GMT -5
The mild success of these songs led a call up to the majors: The Temptations. Whitfield came into his own with the classic "Ain't Too Proud to Beg." Benny Benjamin's crisp drum intro commands the listeners' attention as David Ruffin's abject first line is wrenched from his soul: "I know you want to leave me, but I refuse to let you go." The songs bounces along jauntily behind the fabulous Funk Brothers, the Motown house band, with the Tempt's twirling and gesturing as Ruffin pleads for his relationship, and perhaps, his life. His friends lend concerned support on the chorus, but Ruffin's regret strained voice tells us that he is ultimately alone - so, so alone: the other side of the universe from the satisfied pop of "My Girl."
"Beauty Is Only Skin Deep," and the passionate "(I Know) I'm Losing You" and "I Wish It Would Rain" also featured Ruffin on lead as the hits continued.
In the mid-to-late-'60s Sly Stone psychedelicized black music by combining peace, love and social conscience with gospel melodies, funky beats and rock 'n' roll. Whitfield wanted to follow him onto the new vibe with the Temptations. When David Ruffin, always suspect as a team player, blew off a 1968 live performance, he was fired and replaced by ex-Contour Dennis Edwards, whose gutbucket shout was perfect for Whitfield's trip into uncharted waters. Whitfield began to write and use the studio differently as his hair sprouted into a militant afro, and the old Funk Brothers house band began to break up.
Uriel Jones replaced the ailing Benny Benjamin on drums. Bob Babbitt replaced James Jamerson on bass, while Dennis Coffey and Wah-Wah Watson came in on guitar. Jones told Nelson George that "Cloud Nine"
began as a beat on the cymbal...He'd have you sit and play that two or three minutes by itself, and he'd tell you to add a certain beat on the foot. Actually, what he's doing is just listening to see what he wants to add to it...A lot of times we'd just sit and play and just rap on the tune until somebody just opens up and does something. We'd have as many as twelve or thirteen guys in there just grooving on the rhythm.
"Cloud Nine" experiments with structure, rough social commentary and vocal trade-offs in the context of a lyric that accepts, or at least sympathizes with drug use. Many were stunned. The adrenaline rush, the funk, the freaky instrumentation and the social realism that Whitfield and the Temptations strung out on "Cloud Nine," "Psychedelic Shack," "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)," and especially "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" directly influenced Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Gamble and Huff, Barry White and many others, and eventually led to the extended grooves and shameless hedonism of disco.
Gradually Whitfield's experimentation with the Tempt's yielded diminishing returns and he turned his attention elsewhere. The Temptations hooked up with various other writer/producers and scored several more hits including "Shakey Ground," "Power" and "Treat Her Like a Lady." They continue to this day as a viable unit: the final song on My Girl, "Lady," was released just last year. My Girl is an astonishing testament to the Temptations' unprecedented run.
Eric Olsen's Cool Tunes is both a weekly Web column via http://tres_producers.blogspot.com and a Saturday night radio show (10pm EST) on WAPS, "The Summit," in Akron, Ohio. The radio program is among the widest-ranging two hours in the country: modern rock, punk, electronica, jazz, reggae and ska, roots rock, Americana, blues, world, funk, hip-hop, avant garde, etc. The column highlights an artist featured on the radio show.
May 2002
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Post by janebse on Jan 1, 2003 11:16:06 GMT -5
One could say that Norman just ran out of creative juices.
One could say that Smokey just ran out of creative juices.
Or one could say that it was the Temptations' singing that turned their music into magic.
When I listened to Smokey singing his Temptations' hits by himself or with the Miracles, I thought how wise he was to give those tunes to the Tempts.
And I think of the music critic who described the Temptations' singing as "unbelivable talent." Or the Motown worker who said, "You got religion just listening to them sing."
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Post by MikeNYC on Jan 1, 2003 20:35:46 GMT -5
David Ruffin once said that if you take out the "baby's"'the "honey's,etc you have a spiritual song. Do you agree,Jane ? Iagree with you on the songwriters to a point ! True Smokey's songs sounds better done by the Temptations than he did. True that Norman's greatest songs came from the Temptations. But Smokey,and Norman has too many hits on other people to say that the Tempts turned their music into magic,don't you think ?  |
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Post by janebse on Jan 1, 2003 21:08:08 GMT -5
I've always wondered about the preponderance of "babies" and whether it was merely a lack of creativity on the part of the lyricist.
I just don't think Smokey or Norman had that many GREAT hits on other artists. And certainly not the long reign that they had with the Temptations.
I was reading about James Jamerson and Smokey and Norman. Most producers learned to rely on Jamerson to get the right sound. And Jamerson would do so almost immediately, rarely requiring more than a couple of takes. Well, Smokey and Norman wanted lots of takes so they could have more to choose from. Here's the quote:
"On 'Tears of a Clown," we did 44 or 45 takes. At least 40 of them were great, but Smokey was a perfectionist (think they called Norman a control freak) and there was someothing that he was looking for.
"Jamerson wasn't quite as philosophical about it. He hated doing a lot of takes. Usually afther the 26th or 30th time, Jamerson would say, 'Rigor Mortis is setting in on this groove," and sometimes he would refuse to play any more because 'rig' had set in."
Since almost every take was great, and Jamerson never played anything the same way twice, it must have been interesting.
When I saw a Smokey Robinson performance, he paid tribute to the Temptations (the only artists he mentioned) and sang some of the great songs he wrote for them. I think that was a regular part of his act.
I just don't find people remembering or playing or singing those other "hits" by Robinson or Whitfield the way they do the Temptations hit. My goodness, I was astonished to see and hear an 85 year old break out and sing "My Girl" when I mentioned the Temptations, just mentioned them. She knew every word. And the tune.
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Post by MikeNYC on Jan 1, 2003 21:52:06 GMT -5
"I Heard It Thru The Grapevine ? My Guy ? War ?You Beat Me To The Punch? I'll Be Doggone? Still Water? Not to mention the Miracles collection. Think about it ! |
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Post by SoulStirrer on Jan 3, 2003 15:44:11 GMT -5
Smokey and Whitfield had hits on other artists besides the Tempts.
Whitfield scored the movie "Car Wash".
Smokey had the Miracles catalog, as Mike said.
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Post by earthangel on Jan 3, 2003 23:16:38 GMT -5
Hmm... I never knew Whitfield was into movies too.
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Post by SoulStirrer on Jan 4, 2003 1:03:41 GMT -5
Norman produced Rose Royce and did the soundtrack for Car Wash as well as the title song for Richard Pryor's Which Way Is Up.
Smokey did the soundtrack for Big Time, which starred Jayne Kennedy.
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Post by Cadeho on Jan 4, 2003 12:27:56 GMT -5
The Miracles' version of "Who's Lovin' You" is plain awful! The Supremes, Tempts, and J5 did much better jobs!
85 year old? Who's that?
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Post by SoulStirrer on Jan 4, 2003 15:13:38 GMT -5
That is the original version...  |
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Post by Cadeho on Jan 4, 2003 20:32:37 GMT -5
I know! Other songs he wrote and other groups made hits off them sounded way better than his unless it was a hit the Miracles already had made.
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Post by earthangel on Jan 5, 2003 2:37:37 GMT -5
I know! how come he didn't use "My Girl" for his own group? Maybe he didn't know it was gonna be such a great hit. Or maybe he just felt a little generous
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Post by AKA THE FUF on Jan 5, 2003 3:06:50 GMT -5
For some reason, Smokey just had David in mind to sing My Girl. Why, who knows? All I know is, the world should be glad too.  |
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Post by earthangel on Jan 5, 2003 3:08:16 GMT -5
Oh believe me, I am ;D He knew no one could do this song like David would  |
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