Post by Ivory Fair on Apr 22, 2002 12:51:15 GMT -5
THE TEMPTATIONS
As many of you know, THE TEMPTATIONS finally achieved a significant milestone in their career last year when their "Phoenix Rising" album went platinum, the group's first in an amazing 39 years of recording. Even with all the personnel changes the group has been through in the last few years, The Temps remain a musical institution. Their latest album, "Ear Resistible" is one of their best ever, truly contemporary and yet firmly rooted in their time-honoured tradition of vocal mastery. Standouts include "Elevator Eyes," "I'm Here," "A Little Bit A Lonely" and "Error Of Our Ways" and the group worked with Gerald Levert, Joe, Narada Michael Walden and a number of producers who are part of original member Otis Williams' "Honey Of An O" production company. We caught up with Otis and Terry Weeks a few weeks prior to the May release of the album…
"Always foremost in our minds in preparing a new album is trying to find real good songs rather than seeing how 'slick' we can get," says Otis. "When people put down their hard-earned money, we want to make sure they get good product. We knew that the buying public would wonder what we were going to do behind "Phoenix Rising" but the only pressure was within ourselves. We just knew we had to do the same thing we did with that album…which is to come up with good song content."
Terry, who has been with the group since 1997 says the team were "absolutely surprised" at the response garnered by "Phoenix Rising" and the hit single "Stay" (which used samples from the Temps' classic "My Girl"). "Even with different faces in the group, the public seems to be pretty accepting for what we have been doing. We knew "Stay" had the potential to be a big record for us and people don't seem to have gotten enough of the last album - it's still being played on the radio. Now we're pretty eager to see how the public will react to the new record…"
The response to "Phoenix Rising" has been such, Otis and Terry agree, that they're hopeful that other legendary groups will benefit: "We hope record companies have taken note," says Terry. "There's not a lot of the kind of music we do out there and yet so many of the groups of the '60s and '70s are still active as performers. We run into these guys all the time on the road and they tell us that our success with the last album has really helped them…" Adds Otis, "We're happy to think that we might be inspiring our peers like The O'Jays and The Spinners and we hope our success will spread to the point where other companies will give other groups a shot…"
Asked why he thinks The Temptations have survived through forty years, Otis says, "It's a very good question and one I've asked myself. It's something intangible but I think part of it is that even with losing key, heavyweight members, we have never rested on our laurels. It's like if you can withstand losing a Paul Williams, an Eddie Kendricks, a David Ruffin, a Dennis Edwards and are still selling records, you must be doing something right! Look, people said we should have been through when David Ruffin left in 1968!"
For Terry, being a part of a legendary group is "an absolute honour. I grew up listening to The Temptations and I had no idea I would be a part of the group one day. I recognise that we can't reinvent the original line-up but what we can do is blend the old and the new." He smiles when recalling that Otis had only one concern when inviting him to join the Temps after a stint with For Lovers Only (a group Otis had discovered and brought to Motown a few years ago): "I knew the material but I wasn't six foot tall like the rest of the guys! Fortunately, the public has been responsive to me…but like I told Otis, 'put me in some platform shoes and I can look six foot!' All I can say is that I'm still overwhelmed and thankful to be part of something that will outlive all of us. Our toughest challenge now is taking on a legacy that's been over forty years in the making and taking it to 2000 and beyond…"
As many of you know, THE TEMPTATIONS finally achieved a significant milestone in their career last year when their "Phoenix Rising" album went platinum, the group's first in an amazing 39 years of recording. Even with all the personnel changes the group has been through in the last few years, The Temps remain a musical institution. Their latest album, "Ear Resistible" is one of their best ever, truly contemporary and yet firmly rooted in their time-honoured tradition of vocal mastery. Standouts include "Elevator Eyes," "I'm Here," "A Little Bit A Lonely" and "Error Of Our Ways" and the group worked with Gerald Levert, Joe, Narada Michael Walden and a number of producers who are part of original member Otis Williams' "Honey Of An O" production company. We caught up with Otis and Terry Weeks a few weeks prior to the May release of the album…
"Always foremost in our minds in preparing a new album is trying to find real good songs rather than seeing how 'slick' we can get," says Otis. "When people put down their hard-earned money, we want to make sure they get good product. We knew that the buying public would wonder what we were going to do behind "Phoenix Rising" but the only pressure was within ourselves. We just knew we had to do the same thing we did with that album…which is to come up with good song content."
Terry, who has been with the group since 1997 says the team were "absolutely surprised" at the response garnered by "Phoenix Rising" and the hit single "Stay" (which used samples from the Temps' classic "My Girl"). "Even with different faces in the group, the public seems to be pretty accepting for what we have been doing. We knew "Stay" had the potential to be a big record for us and people don't seem to have gotten enough of the last album - it's still being played on the radio. Now we're pretty eager to see how the public will react to the new record…"
The response to "Phoenix Rising" has been such, Otis and Terry agree, that they're hopeful that other legendary groups will benefit: "We hope record companies have taken note," says Terry. "There's not a lot of the kind of music we do out there and yet so many of the groups of the '60s and '70s are still active as performers. We run into these guys all the time on the road and they tell us that our success with the last album has really helped them…" Adds Otis, "We're happy to think that we might be inspiring our peers like The O'Jays and The Spinners and we hope our success will spread to the point where other companies will give other groups a shot…"
Asked why he thinks The Temptations have survived through forty years, Otis says, "It's a very good question and one I've asked myself. It's something intangible but I think part of it is that even with losing key, heavyweight members, we have never rested on our laurels. It's like if you can withstand losing a Paul Williams, an Eddie Kendricks, a David Ruffin, a Dennis Edwards and are still selling records, you must be doing something right! Look, people said we should have been through when David Ruffin left in 1968!"
For Terry, being a part of a legendary group is "an absolute honour. I grew up listening to The Temptations and I had no idea I would be a part of the group one day. I recognise that we can't reinvent the original line-up but what we can do is blend the old and the new." He smiles when recalling that Otis had only one concern when inviting him to join the Temps after a stint with For Lovers Only (a group Otis had discovered and brought to Motown a few years ago): "I knew the material but I wasn't six foot tall like the rest of the guys! Fortunately, the public has been responsive to me…but like I told Otis, 'put me in some platform shoes and I can look six foot!' All I can say is that I'm still overwhelmed and thankful to be part of something that will outlive all of us. Our toughest challenge now is taking on a legacy that's been over forty years in the making and taking it to 2000 and beyond…"