Post by Jonel on Dec 19, 2003 11:20:11 GMT -5
Posted on Fri, Dec. 19, 2003
Band members change, sounds remain golden
By John Silcox
The Journal Gazette
They were the emperors of high-class soul, the greatest vocal harmony group of the Motown era.
They were one of music's most elastic acts, tackling both lush pop and politically charged funk with equal flair.
They were also one of it's most enduring, surviving a steady stream of lineup changes, the whims of consumer tastes, and the changing fortunes of Motown itself.
Even now, 42 years after they formed, the Temptations are still spreading sunshine on a cloudy day.
They'll also spread some holiday cheer and rekindle a few musical memories when they perform a Christmas and Greatest Hits show Sunday at the Scottish Rite Center.
Since the group formed in 1961, 21 different men have been part of the Temptations. But no matter the change in personnel, the group has always maintained the same polish, style and precision associated with its name.
Of course, to many, the classic Temptations lineup will always be Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams and David Ruffin, all of them tall, handsome and equally capable of singing lead.
Together, they forged a bond that was greater than the sum of its parts.
Eventually, drugs, alcohol and egos would sever that bond, but it never destroyed the brotherhood entirely.
Of the original five, only Otis Williams survives.
He's now joined on stage by four like-dressed men: G.C. Cameron the former front man for The Spinners and later a Motown solo artist, bassist Joe Herndon high tenor Ron Tyson and tenor/baritone Terry Weeks.
Weeks, who was all of 1 when "My Girl" was topping the charts, ascribes the group's amazing longevity to the fact that "people can't get enough of this music."
The music, he says, is bigger than any one individual.
And, unlike many other nostalgia acts, the Tempts are still a vital recording unit, winning a Grammy for their 2000 album, "Ear-Resistible."
At the time of this interview, the group had just returned from a 3-week tour of the United Kingdom and was using some downtime between concert dates to begin work on what will be the band's 60th album - the first collection of new material since the group's 2001 effort, "Awesome."
In the beginning
The Temptations formed in Detroit in 1961, when members of two rival Motor City harmony vocal groups joined forces: Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin and Elbridge Bryant of Otis and the Distants and Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams of the Primes.
They were signed to Berry Gordy's Motown label the following year. After five singles with only one marginal hit, Bryant left the group in early 1963.
There was no lightning, however, until Ruffin replaced Bryant and Smokey Robinson took over as the group's chief writer and producer.
Molding doo-wop and gospel harmony with the house-band blues and pop/R&B of Motown's session men, they put together a string of hits in the 60s, including "Get Ready," "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," "You're My Everything" and the incomparable "My Girl."
As the times grew more psychedelic, so, too, did The Temptations' music.
With ex-Contour Edwards replacing Ruffin and Norman Whitfield composing and producing, they scored hits with "I Can't Get Next To You," "Psychedelic Shack" "Ball of Confusion" and the Grammy-winning "Cloud Nine."
But after the chart-topping success of the ballad "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" in 1971, Kendricks exited for a solo career. Soon, Paul Williams left the group as well; long plagued by alcoholism and other personal demons, he was eventually found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot in 1973 at age 34.
Held together by Otis Williams' resolve, the group forged ahead.
After leaving Motown in 1976 for a flirtation with disco, the group returned in 1980. Two years later, Ruffin and Kendricks briefly reunited with the Temptations for a much-heralded tour and album.
In the '90s, the Temptations family was devastated again by the deaths of Ruffin from a drug overdose, Kendricks from lung cancer, and Franklin from a brain seizure.
Now, here it is almost 2004, and the Temptations continue to persevere.
Chance encounter
Weeks was brought into the fold after a chance meeting with Otis Williams in 1989.
Weeks grew up in Birmingham, Ala., the hometown of Kendricks and Paul Williams. He had just gotten out of the Air Force and had gone to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of being a singer.
He had only been in L.A. a few days when he spotted Otis Williams coming out of a Hollywood shoe store. Right there on the street corner, Weeks broke into song.
It so impressed Williams that he signed Weeks to his production company.
Weeks worked as a writer and producer for the Temptations while recording an album with two other singers. After his group broke up, he started working as a solo artist.
For extra money, he'd accompany the Temptations on the road, helping with wardrobe and security.
Then, when one member had to suddenly leave the group mid-tour, Weeks was recruited to fill in.
It was only supposed to last 3 weeks, but it turned into 9 months.
Afterwards, Weeks was invited to be a full-fledged Temptation.
"I said, 'Are you serious?' " Weeks recalls telling Otis Williams when he was offered the gig. "He said, 'If you can dance, I'm serious.' I said, 'Well, sure, I can dance.' "
Weeks says initially he was concerned he didn't fit the mold of the Temptations. He's not only the youngest Tempt at 40, but the only one shorter than 6 feet.
But he quickly realized it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from guys "who've been in the business forever."
"I never imagined being in the Temptations," he says. "I didn't think I had enough talent to do that.
"I was a big fan. I would have been happy being a fan for life. No way I ever saw myself on stage with them."
Even now, seven years later, he says, "I find myself referring to the Temptations, not including myself. I've been a fan for so long. I can't bring myself to say I'm one of them."
Weeks says being in the Temptations is more like being part of a fraternity. And as such, there is a lot of pressure to live up to the legacy.
Every new Tempt is required to learn the songs and routines just as they were originally performed.
Until recently, they were even put through their paces by legendary choreographer Cholly Atkins, who worked them just as hard as he worked the group in the 1960s.
There was a special magic to the original lineup that can never be recreated, of course.
But audiences are so delighted to hear these old tunes again that it really doesn't matter who is on stage, Weeks says.
He's reminded of that every time he looks out into the audience and sees three generations of fans singing along to "My Girl."
"As long as people want to see it, we've got to give it to them to the best of our ability," Weeks says.
"This music is bigger than any individual," he says. "It will outlive us all."
Courtesy of The Journal Gazette
Fort Wayne, Indiana
www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/7530290.htm
Band members change, sounds remain golden
By John Silcox
The Journal Gazette
They were the emperors of high-class soul, the greatest vocal harmony group of the Motown era.
They were one of music's most elastic acts, tackling both lush pop and politically charged funk with equal flair.
They were also one of it's most enduring, surviving a steady stream of lineup changes, the whims of consumer tastes, and the changing fortunes of Motown itself.
Even now, 42 years after they formed, the Temptations are still spreading sunshine on a cloudy day.
They'll also spread some holiday cheer and rekindle a few musical memories when they perform a Christmas and Greatest Hits show Sunday at the Scottish Rite Center.
Since the group formed in 1961, 21 different men have been part of the Temptations. But no matter the change in personnel, the group has always maintained the same polish, style and precision associated with its name.
Of course, to many, the classic Temptations lineup will always be Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams and David Ruffin, all of them tall, handsome and equally capable of singing lead.
Together, they forged a bond that was greater than the sum of its parts.
Eventually, drugs, alcohol and egos would sever that bond, but it never destroyed the brotherhood entirely.
Of the original five, only Otis Williams survives.
He's now joined on stage by four like-dressed men: G.C. Cameron the former front man for The Spinners and later a Motown solo artist, bassist Joe Herndon high tenor Ron Tyson and tenor/baritone Terry Weeks.
Weeks, who was all of 1 when "My Girl" was topping the charts, ascribes the group's amazing longevity to the fact that "people can't get enough of this music."
The music, he says, is bigger than any one individual.
And, unlike many other nostalgia acts, the Tempts are still a vital recording unit, winning a Grammy for their 2000 album, "Ear-Resistible."
At the time of this interview, the group had just returned from a 3-week tour of the United Kingdom and was using some downtime between concert dates to begin work on what will be the band's 60th album - the first collection of new material since the group's 2001 effort, "Awesome."
In the beginning
The Temptations formed in Detroit in 1961, when members of two rival Motor City harmony vocal groups joined forces: Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin and Elbridge Bryant of Otis and the Distants and Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams of the Primes.
They were signed to Berry Gordy's Motown label the following year. After five singles with only one marginal hit, Bryant left the group in early 1963.
There was no lightning, however, until Ruffin replaced Bryant and Smokey Robinson took over as the group's chief writer and producer.
Molding doo-wop and gospel harmony with the house-band blues and pop/R&B of Motown's session men, they put together a string of hits in the 60s, including "Get Ready," "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," "You're My Everything" and the incomparable "My Girl."
As the times grew more psychedelic, so, too, did The Temptations' music.
With ex-Contour Edwards replacing Ruffin and Norman Whitfield composing and producing, they scored hits with "I Can't Get Next To You," "Psychedelic Shack" "Ball of Confusion" and the Grammy-winning "Cloud Nine."
But after the chart-topping success of the ballad "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" in 1971, Kendricks exited for a solo career. Soon, Paul Williams left the group as well; long plagued by alcoholism and other personal demons, he was eventually found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot in 1973 at age 34.
Held together by Otis Williams' resolve, the group forged ahead.
After leaving Motown in 1976 for a flirtation with disco, the group returned in 1980. Two years later, Ruffin and Kendricks briefly reunited with the Temptations for a much-heralded tour and album.
In the '90s, the Temptations family was devastated again by the deaths of Ruffin from a drug overdose, Kendricks from lung cancer, and Franklin from a brain seizure.
Now, here it is almost 2004, and the Temptations continue to persevere.
Chance encounter
Weeks was brought into the fold after a chance meeting with Otis Williams in 1989.
Weeks grew up in Birmingham, Ala., the hometown of Kendricks and Paul Williams. He had just gotten out of the Air Force and had gone to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of being a singer.
He had only been in L.A. a few days when he spotted Otis Williams coming out of a Hollywood shoe store. Right there on the street corner, Weeks broke into song.
It so impressed Williams that he signed Weeks to his production company.
Weeks worked as a writer and producer for the Temptations while recording an album with two other singers. After his group broke up, he started working as a solo artist.
For extra money, he'd accompany the Temptations on the road, helping with wardrobe and security.
Then, when one member had to suddenly leave the group mid-tour, Weeks was recruited to fill in.
It was only supposed to last 3 weeks, but it turned into 9 months.
Afterwards, Weeks was invited to be a full-fledged Temptation.
"I said, 'Are you serious?' " Weeks recalls telling Otis Williams when he was offered the gig. "He said, 'If you can dance, I'm serious.' I said, 'Well, sure, I can dance.' "
Weeks says initially he was concerned he didn't fit the mold of the Temptations. He's not only the youngest Tempt at 40, but the only one shorter than 6 feet.
But he quickly realized it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from guys "who've been in the business forever."
"I never imagined being in the Temptations," he says. "I didn't think I had enough talent to do that.
"I was a big fan. I would have been happy being a fan for life. No way I ever saw myself on stage with them."
Even now, seven years later, he says, "I find myself referring to the Temptations, not including myself. I've been a fan for so long. I can't bring myself to say I'm one of them."
Weeks says being in the Temptations is more like being part of a fraternity. And as such, there is a lot of pressure to live up to the legacy.
Every new Tempt is required to learn the songs and routines just as they were originally performed.
Until recently, they were even put through their paces by legendary choreographer Cholly Atkins, who worked them just as hard as he worked the group in the 1960s.
There was a special magic to the original lineup that can never be recreated, of course.
But audiences are so delighted to hear these old tunes again that it really doesn't matter who is on stage, Weeks says.
He's reminded of that every time he looks out into the audience and sees three generations of fans singing along to "My Girl."
"As long as people want to see it, we've got to give it to them to the best of our ability," Weeks says.
"This music is bigger than any individual," he says. "It will outlive us all."
Courtesy of The Journal Gazette
Fort Wayne, Indiana
www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/7530290.htm
