Post by Ivory Fair on Apr 22, 2002 17:17:59 GMT -5
The tempestuous times of the Temptations
Folks who hear the Temptations Review on Sunday will be listening to one of many groups that have acrimoniously split off from the sensational Temptations, whose reputation for infighting almost matched their fame.
By LOGAN NEILL
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 16, 1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After 26 years as vocalist with the legendary R&B supergroup the Temptations, Richard Street says he is interested only in claiming what is rightfully his -- his identity.
"I don't want to be imitating somebody, because I would only be imitating myself," Street offers by phone from Los Angeles. But you can sense that there is much more to it than that.
He speaks of a deep artistic rift between himself and longtime partner Otis Williams, which forced him to leave the group four years ago. And he tells of animosity for former managers who cheated him and other members of the band out of earnings. And he tells of his struggle to keep his new group going in the face of legal squabbles which could make it impossible even to associate his name with his former ensemble.
There are truths yet untold, he says, ones he plans to tell in an upcoming book about his life and times with the Temptations. But for now, Street, 57, wants only to tell his story through his music. He has put together a tribute group called the Temptations Review, a quintet he says captures the spirit of the original group more closely than the one that still performs under the name Temptations.
"There is a history of excellence in the music that people just don't get when they see (the Temptations) today," he says. "I mean, they sound okay, if all people want to hear is the songs, but there's something missing, something deeper. And that's what we're trying to do."
Street's passion for the Temptations goes back to its origins in 1955. A member of the Detroit doo-wop group the Distants, which included Williams as well as his cousin Melvin Franklin, Street left in 1959 to help form the Monitors. The other members eventually went on to record for the newly formed Motown label in 1962 as the Temptations.
But Street always kept a hand in the band. Motown president Berry Gordy hired him as a sort of quality control producer, asking him to listen to recordings and occasionally lend his tenor to sweeten the vocal track.
By 1969, the Temptations' silky, soulful harmonies made it the top R&B vocal group, with a string of pop chart toppers such as My Girl, I'm Losing You, Ain't Too Proud To Beg and Beauty Is Only Skin Deep. But by then, the wheels were beginning to work loose.
(continued)
Folks who hear the Temptations Review on Sunday will be listening to one of many groups that have acrimoniously split off from the sensational Temptations, whose reputation for infighting almost matched their fame.
By LOGAN NEILL
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 16, 1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After 26 years as vocalist with the legendary R&B supergroup the Temptations, Richard Street says he is interested only in claiming what is rightfully his -- his identity.
"I don't want to be imitating somebody, because I would only be imitating myself," Street offers by phone from Los Angeles. But you can sense that there is much more to it than that.
He speaks of a deep artistic rift between himself and longtime partner Otis Williams, which forced him to leave the group four years ago. And he tells of animosity for former managers who cheated him and other members of the band out of earnings. And he tells of his struggle to keep his new group going in the face of legal squabbles which could make it impossible even to associate his name with his former ensemble.
There are truths yet untold, he says, ones he plans to tell in an upcoming book about his life and times with the Temptations. But for now, Street, 57, wants only to tell his story through his music. He has put together a tribute group called the Temptations Review, a quintet he says captures the spirit of the original group more closely than the one that still performs under the name Temptations.
"There is a history of excellence in the music that people just don't get when they see (the Temptations) today," he says. "I mean, they sound okay, if all people want to hear is the songs, but there's something missing, something deeper. And that's what we're trying to do."
Street's passion for the Temptations goes back to its origins in 1955. A member of the Detroit doo-wop group the Distants, which included Williams as well as his cousin Melvin Franklin, Street left in 1959 to help form the Monitors. The other members eventually went on to record for the newly formed Motown label in 1962 as the Temptations.
But Street always kept a hand in the band. Motown president Berry Gordy hired him as a sort of quality control producer, asking him to listen to recordings and occasionally lend his tenor to sweeten the vocal track.
By 1969, the Temptations' silky, soulful harmonies made it the top R&B vocal group, with a string of pop chart toppers such as My Girl, I'm Losing You, Ain't Too Proud To Beg and Beauty Is Only Skin Deep. But by then, the wheels were beginning to work loose.
(continued)