Post by tempfan on May 25, 2007 16:28:53 GMT -5
ORIGINAL TEMPTATIONS MEMBER WILLIAMS AND CURRENT CREW TO SHARE SYMPHONY STAGE
By Christopher Blank
Memphis Commercial Appeal
May 25, 2007
Otis Williams is once again in a hotel room on the road. Next to his bed, he's got the lyrics to a couple of new songs he's been working on. They were inspired by women. Come to think of it, nearly all of his songs -- the ones he's written and the ones he covers when he sings -- were inspired by women.
If there's one thing that hasn't changed about being a member of The Temptations -- one of Motown's greatest singing groups -- it's love for the ladies. "It's easy to continue to do this," said Williams, 67, on the phone from Atlanta. "I had a young lady come up to me saying I needed to write more songs about loving women as time goes on. You know, women (who) don't have that perfect figure anymore. They don't have that booty that bounces like a basketball. We're all getting older. We need to talk about the generation we're in."
Williams takes up the lyrics of his new song and reads: "Time takes care of all pretty, but inner beauty goes untouched." He lets it sink in for a minute.
Will his new lyric stack up to "I've got so much honey, the bees envy me" (from "My Girl")? Or, "I've heard a cryin' man, Is half a man, with no sense of pride./ But if I have to cry to keep you, I don't mind weepin', if it'll keep you by my side" (from "Ain't Too Proud to Beg")? Or, "You got a smile so bright, you know you could have been a candle/ I'm holding you so tight, you know you could have been a handle" (from "The Way You Do the Things You Do").
He thinks so, which is one reason he keeps performing more than 45 years after the original Temptations were created in Detroit.
Though various tragedies befell the other members of the group over the decades, Williams continues touring and recording with four consistent replacement singers, Terry Weeks, G. C. Cameron, Ron Tyson and Joe Herndon. A few have been with Williams for more than a decade.
The Temptations will perform Saturday evening with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra at the Memphis in May International Festival's finale, the annual Sunset Symphony in Tom Lee Park. The concert, a favorite for families and picnickers, follows an air show by the Commemorative Air Force and concludes with a fireworks display over the Mississippi River.
Williams believes tunes such as "I Can't Get Next to You" and "Just My Imagination" have longevity partly because they speak to more innocent times, even though, paradoxically, the 1960s were hardly innocent times.
"The '60s was the most tumultuous decade of the last 100 years," he said. "You had J.F.K., M.L.K., R.F.K. riots, and so much change happening. I listen to rap music nowadays and it's always funny to me that they say 'Well, we're trying to say how it is in the hood.' That kills me because, hey, we came from the hood. We came from a section of Detroit called Black Bottom, and yet our thing was always to treat women with respect."
Williams says that many of the Temptations' beloved songs have underlying stories -- stories of life, pain, heartache and frustration. On the 2006 DVD "Get Ready: Definitive Performances 1965-1972," Williams provides the narration for some of the clips from the vaults, which show the quintet at its best -- nattily dressed and dancing in perfect synch.
He tells the story behind the song "I Wish It Would Rain." Songwriter Robert Penzabene was so distressed over his woman's cheating ways that soon after The Temptations recorded the tune, he committed suicide.
"A guy came up to me after seeing the DVD and said 'I'll never listen to "Rain" the same way again,'" Williams said. "I could write a book about all these songs."
Williams says that part of being able to write a good tune, however, is the life experience that inspires a lyric. "To be a good songwriter, you've got to get out and live life, experience different kinds of emotions," he said. "If it's a sad song, you want to think: 'That brother's been through pain!' I've lived life on such a grand scale that I've got a lot to work with."
That article is from the Memphis Playbook, a "mini-newspaper" with things going on in Memphis. 
I'll allow her to sing along, but that's about it. I don't want her to be escorted out of the concert. ;D
I had good seats though. I had one woman that was sitting beside me that kept on looking at me in awe. I was singing along to the songs like I was actually there in concert in the sixties. The fireworks show was great, too. The theme for Memphis in May this year was Spain, so some of the FWs were in the shape of chili peppers. I had a wonderful time, and I hope to see the Tempts again in concert!!! 