Post by Jonel on Oct 14, 2003 8:20:23 GMT -5
BLUE NOTES
By Buddy Blue
FOR THE UNION-TRIBUNE
July 10, 2003
An American tradition that defies the cycle of life
As everyone knows, the Temptations are dead. Or are they? While the singers that made the original lineup of the Tempts the most commercially and artistically successful vocal group in the history of R&B have all passed away, sole survivor Otis Williams has, against all conceivable odds, continued to lead the group on a still remarkably viable career.
Consider that the Tempts' last album, "Awesome," hit No. 27 on the R&B charts and its predecessor, "Ear-Resistible," rose to No. 16; a minor miracle, really. Williams, meanwhile never took a lead vocal in his life; his real talent has been as a pillar of strength and perspective as bandleader. Through innumerable personnel changes, he's always managed to find sound-alike singers to replace the broken parts in the Tempts' conveyor belt.
Stand-ins for the late David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams and Melvin Franklin have coupled with Williams' steadfast adherence to a successful sonic formula to make the Tempts sound (really the model for the Motown sound, through all its permutations) an American tradition, no matter who's rendering it. Is this group as great as it was when the sweet falsetto keen of Kendricks, the gospel-fueled fury of Ruffin and subterranean basso profundo of Franklin were stoking the fire? Of course not. However, today's Temptations are something more than a bad imitation of the real deal.
The marvel of consummately blended human voices and ridiculous interpretive choreography remain a joy to experience, and you can't help cheering on a guy as stubbornly unsentimental as Williams, who, shortly after the last Temptation croakage (Franklin, in 1995), told me, "Life is about change, and we have to make adjustments. Dying is a part of living."
OK, so the man is, at least on the surface, so devoid of emotion that it gives one the heebie-jeebies. But without Williams' steel, the Tempts would be nothing more than a fond memory. I, for one, am glad the group continues to serve as the Freddie Kreuger of R&B. Williams and Whoever the Hell He's Singing With These Days play Humphrey's on Tuesday night. Let them resurrect your soul.
Co-featured Tuesday night will be the Four Tops, who played Joe Frazier to the Tempts' Muhammad Ali. Like Frazier, the Tops were also great'uns, albeit in a rougher, more ungainly manner than the Tempts/Ali icons that defined their era. Wonderful as they were, the Tops never quite managed to rise to the heights of their masters, for all the lumpy-faced resolve they proffered. Those lumps were served up by lead singer Levi Stubbs, perhaps the greasiest entity ever served up by the Motown stable, a man whose maniacal muse would have seemed more at home on the Stax label than the pop-infused machine that Berry Gordy built.
The Tops have fared better than the Tempts on the mortality scale, though; only Lawrence Payton has gone the way of all flesh, having been subsequently replaced by former Temptation Theo Peoples. Hardhearted as it may sound, this didn't make a whit of difference, though. While the Tempts were always a group effort in the truest sense of the term, the Other Three Tops never really did more than serve as window dressing/commercial sweetener for the fire-and-brimstone-radiating Stubbs. Bonus: Fellow Motown vet Diana Ross, a thoroughly hateful person and pygmy talent, will be nowhere in the vicinity of Humphrey's on this night.
Other Concerts of Note
Two of my three favorite contemporary country performers are in town this week, as Lyle Lovett plays Humphrey's tonight and Dwight Yoakam twangs up Viejas tomorrow night. Junior Brown would have made it a hillbilly hat-trick.
Venerable old Harry Belafonte plays Humphrey's on Monday night. I commend this man not only for his sweet calypso croon and estimable humanitarian efforts, but also for having the courage to speak his political piece in this positively terrifying era of censorship and repression of free speech. Give 'em hell, Harry!
Buddy Blue is a San Diego musician, writer and all-around curmudgeon. His Blue Notes column runs weekly in Night&Day.
entertainment.signonsandiego.com/profile/268397
By Buddy Blue
FOR THE UNION-TRIBUNE
July 10, 2003
An American tradition that defies the cycle of life
As everyone knows, the Temptations are dead. Or are they? While the singers that made the original lineup of the Tempts the most commercially and artistically successful vocal group in the history of R&B have all passed away, sole survivor Otis Williams has, against all conceivable odds, continued to lead the group on a still remarkably viable career.
Consider that the Tempts' last album, "Awesome," hit No. 27 on the R&B charts and its predecessor, "Ear-Resistible," rose to No. 16; a minor miracle, really. Williams, meanwhile never took a lead vocal in his life; his real talent has been as a pillar of strength and perspective as bandleader. Through innumerable personnel changes, he's always managed to find sound-alike singers to replace the broken parts in the Tempts' conveyor belt.
Stand-ins for the late David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams and Melvin Franklin have coupled with Williams' steadfast adherence to a successful sonic formula to make the Tempts sound (really the model for the Motown sound, through all its permutations) an American tradition, no matter who's rendering it. Is this group as great as it was when the sweet falsetto keen of Kendricks, the gospel-fueled fury of Ruffin and subterranean basso profundo of Franklin were stoking the fire? Of course not. However, today's Temptations are something more than a bad imitation of the real deal.
The marvel of consummately blended human voices and ridiculous interpretive choreography remain a joy to experience, and you can't help cheering on a guy as stubbornly unsentimental as Williams, who, shortly after the last Temptation croakage (Franklin, in 1995), told me, "Life is about change, and we have to make adjustments. Dying is a part of living."
OK, so the man is, at least on the surface, so devoid of emotion that it gives one the heebie-jeebies. But without Williams' steel, the Tempts would be nothing more than a fond memory. I, for one, am glad the group continues to serve as the Freddie Kreuger of R&B. Williams and Whoever the Hell He's Singing With These Days play Humphrey's on Tuesday night. Let them resurrect your soul.
Co-featured Tuesday night will be the Four Tops, who played Joe Frazier to the Tempts' Muhammad Ali. Like Frazier, the Tops were also great'uns, albeit in a rougher, more ungainly manner than the Tempts/Ali icons that defined their era. Wonderful as they were, the Tops never quite managed to rise to the heights of their masters, for all the lumpy-faced resolve they proffered. Those lumps were served up by lead singer Levi Stubbs, perhaps the greasiest entity ever served up by the Motown stable, a man whose maniacal muse would have seemed more at home on the Stax label than the pop-infused machine that Berry Gordy built.
The Tops have fared better than the Tempts on the mortality scale, though; only Lawrence Payton has gone the way of all flesh, having been subsequently replaced by former Temptation Theo Peoples. Hardhearted as it may sound, this didn't make a whit of difference, though. While the Tempts were always a group effort in the truest sense of the term, the Other Three Tops never really did more than serve as window dressing/commercial sweetener for the fire-and-brimstone-radiating Stubbs. Bonus: Fellow Motown vet Diana Ross, a thoroughly hateful person and pygmy talent, will be nowhere in the vicinity of Humphrey's on this night.
Other Concerts of Note
Two of my three favorite contemporary country performers are in town this week, as Lyle Lovett plays Humphrey's tonight and Dwight Yoakam twangs up Viejas tomorrow night. Junior Brown would have made it a hillbilly hat-trick.
Venerable old Harry Belafonte plays Humphrey's on Monday night. I commend this man not only for his sweet calypso croon and estimable humanitarian efforts, but also for having the courage to speak his political piece in this positively terrifying era of censorship and repression of free speech. Give 'em hell, Harry!
Buddy Blue is a San Diego musician, writer and all-around curmudgeon. His Blue Notes column runs weekly in Night&Day.
entertainment.signonsandiego.com/profile/268397
Ok, those of you who don't like the fact that O used the Tempts' name, how is that for an alternative! 