Post by Ivory Fair on Apr 22, 2002 17:23:25 GMT -5
Unable to resist The Temptations
By Tony Green
Times-Union music writer
After more than 30 years in the music business, original Temptation Otis Williams has seen a lot. Anyone who saw last year's television docudrama on the famous soul group knows that his life experiences render him hard to surprise.
One thing, however, did cause Williams' eyes to widen a bit: the success of the group's most recent album, 1998's Phoenix Rising. Bolstered by two hit singles, Stay and This is My Promise, the album went gold, the group's first gold album in more than 20 years. (An album goes gold when it sells 500,000 copies.)
''They tell me it's scheduled to go platinum this summer,'' said Williams, who will perform with the rest of the group Sunday at Metropolitan Park. ''As artists, we always go in believing that we have done the best that we can do. But getting the kind of response we got was another ball of wax. For us to come back and make a statement like we did says that no one can ever say what can and cannot be done.''
In making that statement, the Temptations had a lot of history to live up to. The group gave the world pop jewels like My Girl, Just My Imagination, The Way You Do the Things You Do and Papa Was a Rolling Stone. And Williams is the last surviving original member of a group that included some of soul's most noted voices: David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, basso profundo Melvin Franklin.
''I have a lot to be thankful for,'' Williams said. ''For being around as long as I have [he's 57]. That is a blessing from God.''
No success in the music business happens in a vacuum. The album benefited from the NBC miniseries The Temptations, and Williams is the first to admit that a lot of the album's success wouldn't have been possible without the necessary help from folks at the top.
''George Jackson, who was the president of Motown at the time [he has since left], was the one who backed us up and greenlighted everything we wanted to do,'' Williams said. ''George made a significant commitment to this album.''
The Temptations, by the same token, have made significant contributions to pop culture. And to individual people's lives.
''When we travel, people come up to us, congratulating us,'' Williams said. ''They always thank us for staying around, for keeping the Temptations spirit around, with all the music around now, with the men and women cussing and all and people with their pants halfway down their butts. They tell us that they need this kind of music to keep them alive.''
By Tony Green
Times-Union music writer
After more than 30 years in the music business, original Temptation Otis Williams has seen a lot. Anyone who saw last year's television docudrama on the famous soul group knows that his life experiences render him hard to surprise.
One thing, however, did cause Williams' eyes to widen a bit: the success of the group's most recent album, 1998's Phoenix Rising. Bolstered by two hit singles, Stay and This is My Promise, the album went gold, the group's first gold album in more than 20 years. (An album goes gold when it sells 500,000 copies.)
''They tell me it's scheduled to go platinum this summer,'' said Williams, who will perform with the rest of the group Sunday at Metropolitan Park. ''As artists, we always go in believing that we have done the best that we can do. But getting the kind of response we got was another ball of wax. For us to come back and make a statement like we did says that no one can ever say what can and cannot be done.''
In making that statement, the Temptations had a lot of history to live up to. The group gave the world pop jewels like My Girl, Just My Imagination, The Way You Do the Things You Do and Papa Was a Rolling Stone. And Williams is the last surviving original member of a group that included some of soul's most noted voices: David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, basso profundo Melvin Franklin.
''I have a lot to be thankful for,'' Williams said. ''For being around as long as I have [he's 57]. That is a blessing from God.''
No success in the music business happens in a vacuum. The album benefited from the NBC miniseries The Temptations, and Williams is the first to admit that a lot of the album's success wouldn't have been possible without the necessary help from folks at the top.
''George Jackson, who was the president of Motown at the time [he has since left], was the one who backed us up and greenlighted everything we wanted to do,'' Williams said. ''George made a significant commitment to this album.''
The Temptations, by the same token, have made significant contributions to pop culture. And to individual people's lives.
''When we travel, people come up to us, congratulating us,'' Williams said. ''They always thank us for staying around, for keeping the Temptations spirit around, with all the music around now, with the men and women cussing and all and people with their pants halfway down their butts. They tell us that they need this kind of music to keep them alive.''