Post by DrTemptation "Doc T" on Mar 9, 2008 22:00:06 GMT -5
Greetings,
Yes Ali Ollie Woodson is a gifted vocalist with a gang of soul in his throat, but I don't know what to make of this latest move.
It just seems like the whole Temptations thing is an absolute mess!
Having seen Dennis Edwards Temptations review a number of times, and while a couple of them may have looked like anything BUT Temptations......they put on a good show - a VERY good show.
But I have no great desire to ever see them again..except when Ali was in the group - I never got a chance to see that line up. I would have wanted to see Ollie and Dennis trade vocal licks on some David Ruffin material. THAT'S a soul singer fanatics wet dream.
Now I'll pay money to see them just so I can see Paul Williams Jr. and see if there's anything thjat even remotely resembles his father. I LOVE Paul Williams - a true soul man.
But Dennis has a group of Tempts, Damon Harris has a group of Tempts, Glenn Leonard (!) has a group of Tempts, Richard Street has a group of Tempts, Harry McGilberry before his passing had a group of Tempts - that I think Ray Davies was in, Ali Ollie had a group of Tempts named after the Temptations box set - The Emperors Of Soul, Otis will ALWAYS have a group of Tempts, it's sickening and it totally dilutes the strength of what was once a mighty name. It's like McTemptations - fast food R&B.
It seems that the only ones who bucked the trend was Loius Price (hell of a vocalist, overlooked solo CD on Motown, Temptations lead singer during the Atlantic years), Ricky Owens (three week replacement between Eddie Kendricks and Damon Harris, Theo Peoples (he's got an even better gig with the Four Tops (which makes him a Motown trivia question: Who's the only man that was both a Temptation and a Four Top?), G.C. Cameron (I doubt if he'll stoop that low), the cat named Barrington something who took Theo peoples place and in the video for the last bonafide Tempts hit, "STAY" lip synched Theos part, and maybe there's one other cat I'm missing out on. But it's ridiculous.
All of these guys were already IN the Temptations and for whatever reason couldn't keep the gig. So now you want to run around still singing the same songs? I went to see Richard Streets Tempts and here are these guys talking about, "...right now I'd like to do a little thing that we recorded back in '64...." and he was in this thirties. It insults my intelligence. There's other ways to introduce the material if you MUST do it, but don't try to pass yourself off as an original member.
In my humble opinion the only people who have the right to be out there stepping as Tempts, is Otis with whatever four strangers he wants to employ and the same goes for Dennis. Dennis had more hits with the Tempts than David did and is an integral part of the Temptations story. Otis history with the Tempts is well documented, but the legacy seems almost comical now.
Thank GOD for DVDs. There's a Motown DVD that features Martha Reeves ( the voice is gone bless her heart, it bears NO resemblance whatsoever to what she did before), Mary Wells w/Curtis "Valentino" Womack, David Ruffin and Eddie kendricks.
Eddies voice is gone ("Just My Imagination" is excruciatingly painful) but his joy at being onstage is so evident. He's having a ball, falling in step with the five man back up group they employed. David looks like he'd rather be anywhere else as the ravages of drugs had by this time begun to take it's toll on his appearance. His euyes are dead and he looks like he's singing for that next "hit". But his voice...THAT VOICE..is still there and he twists it and turns it with all the flavor and style that you'd expect from the "Thin Man In Glasses".
At one point during "My Girl" david breaks it down and begins to testify.The background singers are looking on bemused as if to say, "..Oh S#t! David wants to work tonight!.... Davids travails with drugs and showing up on this particular tour were well documented in a book by a former employee. So it seems as if they convinced david that he needed to be there that evening as they were filming.
During Davids testimnony he begins to riff and adlib various Temptations songs over the "MyGirl" breakdown. he goes from "It's Growing" to "Since I Lost My baby" into a vicious verse of "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)" and he runs back towards Eddie and take sit home in pure gospel style.
Eddie grabs him and hugs him and the look on Eddies face will break your heart, because it's a look of pure love and affection as well as pride in what they once shared. But there was also a look of, "....damn David..this is all you had to do back in the day and maybe the group would still be together and we wouldn't be out here scraping by on our past glories..." .
For that moment David turned back the clock and it was like watching Ali fight again.
The rest of their performance yeilds some great surprises as David is totally into it, Eddie even sings a verse of "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" in his natural voice. Great stuff!
The two ghosts along with Dennis Edwards that would show up a year or so later on "Solid Gold" as part of a documentary on the lead singers of the Temptations were a far cry from the inspired performances of both men in this DVD. David passed away during the filming of this particular documentary and the footage of Dennis barreling his way towards the podium at Davids funeral to sing "My Girl" is priceless.
Sorry about the rant but I love the Temptations - in my opinion they were just as great as the Beatles, but America will never let you know about that.
Ego and drugs is what brought us to the mess that we have today known as the Temptations.
Carlton J. Smith
ARTICLE FROM SOUL PATROL
Yes Ali Ollie Woodson is a gifted vocalist with a gang of soul in his throat, but I don't know what to make of this latest move.
It just seems like the whole Temptations thing is an absolute mess!
Having seen Dennis Edwards Temptations review a number of times, and while a couple of them may have looked like anything BUT Temptations......they put on a good show - a VERY good show.
But I have no great desire to ever see them again..except when Ali was in the group - I never got a chance to see that line up. I would have wanted to see Ollie and Dennis trade vocal licks on some David Ruffin material. THAT'S a soul singer fanatics wet dream.
Now I'll pay money to see them just so I can see Paul Williams Jr. and see if there's anything thjat even remotely resembles his father. I LOVE Paul Williams - a true soul man.
But Dennis has a group of Tempts, Damon Harris has a group of Tempts, Glenn Leonard (!) has a group of Tempts, Richard Street has a group of Tempts, Harry McGilberry before his passing had a group of Tempts - that I think Ray Davies was in, Ali Ollie had a group of Tempts named after the Temptations box set - The Emperors Of Soul, Otis will ALWAYS have a group of Tempts, it's sickening and it totally dilutes the strength of what was once a mighty name. It's like McTemptations - fast food R&B.
It seems that the only ones who bucked the trend was Loius Price (hell of a vocalist, overlooked solo CD on Motown, Temptations lead singer during the Atlantic years), Ricky Owens (three week replacement between Eddie Kendricks and Damon Harris, Theo Peoples (he's got an even better gig with the Four Tops (which makes him a Motown trivia question: Who's the only man that was both a Temptation and a Four Top?), G.C. Cameron (I doubt if he'll stoop that low), the cat named Barrington something who took Theo peoples place and in the video for the last bonafide Tempts hit, "STAY" lip synched Theos part, and maybe there's one other cat I'm missing out on. But it's ridiculous.
All of these guys were already IN the Temptations and for whatever reason couldn't keep the gig. So now you want to run around still singing the same songs? I went to see Richard Streets Tempts and here are these guys talking about, "...right now I'd like to do a little thing that we recorded back in '64...." and he was in this thirties. It insults my intelligence. There's other ways to introduce the material if you MUST do it, but don't try to pass yourself off as an original member.
In my humble opinion the only people who have the right to be out there stepping as Tempts, is Otis with whatever four strangers he wants to employ and the same goes for Dennis. Dennis had more hits with the Tempts than David did and is an integral part of the Temptations story. Otis history with the Tempts is well documented, but the legacy seems almost comical now.
Thank GOD for DVDs. There's a Motown DVD that features Martha Reeves ( the voice is gone bless her heart, it bears NO resemblance whatsoever to what she did before), Mary Wells w/Curtis "Valentino" Womack, David Ruffin and Eddie kendricks.
Eddies voice is gone ("Just My Imagination" is excruciatingly painful) but his joy at being onstage is so evident. He's having a ball, falling in step with the five man back up group they employed. David looks like he'd rather be anywhere else as the ravages of drugs had by this time begun to take it's toll on his appearance. His euyes are dead and he looks like he's singing for that next "hit". But his voice...THAT VOICE..is still there and he twists it and turns it with all the flavor and style that you'd expect from the "Thin Man In Glasses".
At one point during "My Girl" david breaks it down and begins to testify.The background singers are looking on bemused as if to say, "..Oh S#t! David wants to work tonight!.... Davids travails with drugs and showing up on this particular tour were well documented in a book by a former employee. So it seems as if they convinced david that he needed to be there that evening as they were filming.
During Davids testimnony he begins to riff and adlib various Temptations songs over the "MyGirl" breakdown. he goes from "It's Growing" to "Since I Lost My baby" into a vicious verse of "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)" and he runs back towards Eddie and take sit home in pure gospel style.
Eddie grabs him and hugs him and the look on Eddies face will break your heart, because it's a look of pure love and affection as well as pride in what they once shared. But there was also a look of, "....damn David..this is all you had to do back in the day and maybe the group would still be together and we wouldn't be out here scraping by on our past glories..." .
For that moment David turned back the clock and it was like watching Ali fight again.
The rest of their performance yeilds some great surprises as David is totally into it, Eddie even sings a verse of "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" in his natural voice. Great stuff!
The two ghosts along with Dennis Edwards that would show up a year or so later on "Solid Gold" as part of a documentary on the lead singers of the Temptations were a far cry from the inspired performances of both men in this DVD. David passed away during the filming of this particular documentary and the footage of Dennis barreling his way towards the podium at Davids funeral to sing "My Girl" is priceless.
Sorry about the rant but I love the Temptations - in my opinion they were just as great as the Beatles, but America will never let you know about that.
Ego and drugs is what brought us to the mess that we have today known as the Temptations.
Carlton J. Smith
ARTICLE FROM SOUL PATROL
STILL TODAY I LISTEN TO THE CLASSIC 5 WHEN I AM IN THE TEMPS ZONE. (LOL)
Let go, decided to leave or what? This is news to me. Please elaborate!