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Post by Jonel on Dec 17, 2002 22:58:10 GMT -5
Soul Tempters -- Founding member brings Temptations to Peoria
PEORIA - A stranger approached Otis Williams in the gate area of Dulles International Airport in Washington last weekend, stuck out his hand and greeted the man like they were lifelong friends. "He shook my hand and said, 'Man, I was in Vietnam back in the '60s and you don't know what your music meant to us. Your music kept us alive out there in the jungles. Y'all pulled us through,''' Williams said in a phone interview from his home in Southern California. "Believe it or not, I hear that kind of thing all the time."
Williams, who turns 61 next week, helped sing the soundtrack to a lot of young people's lives in the 1960s and 1970s. He's the lone survivor of the original Temptations, the Motown hit-making quintet that dominated the pop and rhythm-and-blues charts and left a lasting musical legacy that carried them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
The group - Williams and four newer singers whose Temptations tenures range from four to 20 years - plays Sunday at the Peoria Civic Center. The performance is part of a fundraiser for the Peoria Citizens Committee for Economic Opportunity.
"You could say that I bring Temptations legitimacy to this group, being the sole survivor and all," Williams said. "There have been some break-off groups out there doing Temptations music, but I think fans are looking to me to keep the tradition alive. I've been there since the beginning."
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Post by Jonel on Dec 17, 2002 22:58:25 GMT -5
The Temps' history is interesting enough to have been the subject of a two-part television mini-series, a 1998 television event that reignited interest in the group's familiar body of work. The movie was based on Williams' 1988 autobiography.
The band formed in 1962, when two Detroit-area groups combined to form one under the close supervision of Motown Records legend Berry Gordy. The original five were Williams, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin and Edbridge Bryant. David Ruffin, however, replaced Bryant before the group had its first hit, the Smokey Robinson-penned "The Way You Do the Things You Do."
The Hall of Fame's web site has this to say about the group: "The Temptations were the quintessential Motown vocal group. The quintet offered a rich blend of voices accompanied by stylish, coordinated dance moves. With songs and production from some of Motown's brightest lights - most notably Smokey Robinson ("My Girl") and Norman Whitfield ("Ain't Too Proud to Beg") - the Temptations lived up to their billing as emperors of soul.
"During the gilded age of soul music in general and Motown in particular, the Temptations delivered the intricate harmonies of streetcorner serenaders and the polished choreography of a Sixties soul revue. Moreover, their story is a long, episodic one of perseverance and dedication that extends from their origins in 1961 to the present day."
From 1964 to 1968, the group had nine Number One singles on the Billboard pop charts including "Get Ready," "I'm Losing You" and "I Wish It Would Rain." The group survived its first major personnel change when Ruffin left in 1968 to pursue a solo career and was replaced by Dennis Edwards.
Edwards sang off and on with the group for 20 years, taking the lead on such late '60s and early '70s hits - the group's more socially relevant and psychedelic period - as "Cloud Nine," "Runaway Child, Running Wild," "Masterpiece" and "Papa Was a Rolling Stone."
Edwards left the group, but still tours under the legally- approved name of The Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards. Only Williams owns the rights to "The Temptations."
Kendricks and Ruffin returned for a reunion tour and album in 1982, but problems with Motown and personal differences cut the good vibe short. Ruffin died in 1991 of a cocaine overdose at age 50. Kendricks died of lung cancer at age 52 a year later. Franklin died, also at 52, following a brain seizure.
"There were definitely some huge ups and some huge downs along the way," Williams said. "But the history of the group and the songs have all taken on a life of their own and created something even bigger. It's all a part of the whole Temptations package."
Now the group is poised in that indistinct region populated by lots of groups - even legendary ones - that find themselves forced to defend their music to modern-day record company executives focused on discovering the next-new-thing.
"Record companies are focused on what the kids want," Williams. "They're on the lookout for entertainers so young you can smell the Similac on their breath."
So the Temptations' strategy, circa 2002, is to seek out and record quality songs with quality producers and keep incorporating new music into the group's Hall of Fame-level reservoir of material.
"Phoenix Rising," released in 1999, sold more than a million copies. The followup, "Ear Resistable," won the group a Grammy Award. "Awesome," released last year, is still selling well. A new album - featuring the band remaking some of its classics with guest artists - is scheduled to be recorded next year.
On top of that, the group performs around the world, 40 weeks out of the year. The wait at the gate in Washington last weekend was for a plane to take them to Atlanta, where they performed a medley of Temps hits at halftime of the Atlanta Falcons game.
"The more we change, the more we stay true to ourselves," says Ron Tyson in the group's promotional material. "We're about singing straight-up soul. It's a style that will live on forever."
(Copyright 2002) Published on October 24, 2002, Peoria Journal Star, The (IL)
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Post by Ivory Fair on Dec 17, 2002 23:36:41 GMT -5
Yay! We have news articles again! Thanks Jonel!!!!
That figure of nine top 10 songs in four years is interesting. I wonder how that compares to other groups. I'm sure the Beatles had more, but let's say, compare them to the "boy bands" of today. Have the Backstreet Boys had that many top tunes in such a short period of time? I'd be surprised to hear that they have.
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Post by Jonel on Dec 18, 2002 23:09:28 GMT -5
Don't you think that The Jackson Five beat that?
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Post by Aba21 on Dec 18, 2002 23:23:06 GMT -5
Ooooooooooooooooooooooh Jonel........not the J-5!!! ;D
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Post by MikeNYC on Dec 18, 2002 23:49:25 GMT -5
NOPE !
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Post by Jonel on Dec 19, 2002 13:14:13 GMT -5
Yep...you guys were right (of course). The Jackson 5 had only 4 number 1 hits that I could document. Ahh....but my OTHER favorite group, The Bee Gees.......they had NINE, but not in a period of 4 years. www.top40db.net/ |
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Post by Aba21 on Dec 19, 2002 17:27:29 GMT -5
STILL THE GREATEST MALE VOCAL GROUP OF ALL TIMES..............THE TALL TALENTED TEMPTING TEMPATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D
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Post by janebse on Dec 19, 2002 20:13:57 GMT -5
STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN has been named the #1 documentary of 2002.
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Post by Ivory Fair on Dec 19, 2002 23:25:29 GMT -5
Well hey there Jane! We were wondering what happened to you! I had sent out a search party and everything. Did you get my email?
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Post by kalisa2 on Dec 20, 2002 12:40:26 GMT -5
Jonel...Thanks for that great link to the Top40db...a GREAT resource!! (even though they have some of the words to "I wish it would rain" wrong LOL!)
Jane...Thanks for the news about SITSOM! I wonder if it will be up for Academy Award this year? Time will tell...it is a VERY worthwhile movie!!
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Post by janebse on Dec 20, 2002 13:41:43 GMT -5
It was a very prestigious group that named SITSOM the #1 documentary of 2002, one whose choices you associate with predicting the Oscar winner. And a group whose choice is always considered the worthiest, even if it doesn't get the Oscar.
Wouldn't it be wonderful IF the Temptations, as Motown's Flagship vocal group plus being a vocal group whose hits were enhanced by the Funk Brothers, were chosen to perform on the Oscar program. Another contributing factor is that the introductory notes of "My Girl" are the introductory notes of SITSOM.
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Post by Aba21 on Dec 20, 2002 14:09:22 GMT -5
they could sing it and the funk bros. could play it!!!
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Post by janebse on Dec 20, 2002 14:19:00 GMT -5
Just read where SITSOM has been chosen by a second group as the #1 non-fiction documentary or whatever the format is.
SITSOM is spreading and spreading. Maybe it will come close to me. Right now, if they stay put, they'll be within 600 miles of me in January. But the producers are getting excited too at the reception people are giving the film.
I understand that in many cities, musicians come up and perform with the remaining Funk Brothers.
Problem is they have some singers in film and may want to use those singers (some are good, some are mediocre) on any show. That cannot be. It is The Temptations who were part of the Funk Brothers past.
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Post by MikeNYC on Dec 24, 2002 7:20:44 GMT -5
Just think...if The Funk Bros.and The Review are in the same town at the same time! True Hall Of Fame Sound !   |
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