Al vs Eddie

[Cadeho]

I bet Al never knew he'd be interesting to people and the center of controversy.

[janebse]

Better than not being remembered at all.

THe first question is whether you want to actually hear Al's voice yourself or whether you are willing to accept one of his peers' comments as valid. Once you decide that, you can then decide on the course of action.

The second question is how to find either a recording which might be regarded as a primary source of information or a secondary source of information.

1. Al's parents may still be alive and it is possible they have some kind of recording of him singing. Parents being what they are this is all very likely.

2. I understand that Al's wife and family still live in Detroit. Apparently Al went to Florida. He might have been divorced. He died of cirrhosis of the liver and is buried in Georgia which may be the family's state of origin. His wife and/or children may have a recording.

3. These may not be studio recordings but home recordings of Al singing alone.

4. His voice is on a number of Temptation recordings, and one of these family members might very easily pick it out for you.

It is not hard to find these people. Go to a National Archives or a genealogical library or your own public library. Look through City Directories, telephone books for certain years. They will tell you his wife's name, his street address, his place of employment. Start off with the years 1961, 1962, 1963. Look through U.S. Censuses.

Sometimes in old record stores, thrift stores, etc., you can find old records. You might find one of the Tempts first recordings, even the one under the name Pirates. Al was on these recordings. Look for the Distant recordings made for the Northern Label. The Distants were popular in the Detroit area and around that region. Al and Richard were both on these records. You might be surprised how good they all sounded.

[Elbridge]

Wow, thanks for all the information, Janet. I'm gonna follow up with these ideas. I've been quite curious about Al since I first saw the movie. There's a webpage about him that shows his gravesite and the like but I'm very curious about what he really sounds like. A-hunting I will go!

Thanks again, Janet!..

Ed

[janebse]

One more note about Al's voice. In all the references which mentioned his voice being like Ted Taylor's, there was one reference which immediately demanded the red inked VA above a pronoun. Remember the English teacher's habit of identifying "vague antecedent" with a red inked VA above a pronoun. And that particular reference was worded poorly in the sense that there was a vague antecedent and one wasn't sure whether the speaker was referring to Pee Wee Crawford or Al Bryant.

I mention that particular reference because in going back over Otis' book on The Temptations, I found this paragraph describing Al's voice:

"...Al left us before our big hits, so his singing is not as familiar to the public as it deserves to be. He was a floating tenor, which meant his voice could roam all around up there, then blend back in on the harmony. It was something to hear him. When he'd comoe in with one of those parts onstage, it drove people nuts."

Since we always think of Eddie as a "roaming tenor," I wonder whether they both did it at various times or whether Eddie began to do it more after Al left.

I think the best bet to actually hearing Al's voice would be in finding a Distant record made under the Northern label.

[janebse]

One more note on Al's voice from comments made by people who have researched the Temptations and the Distants.

There are no released records with Al on the lead. I'll have to do some checking to see who sang lead on the Distants' records.

However, some people think there is the vague possibility of an Al Bryant semi-lead on the Live version of 'Dream Come True' on the second Motortown Revue album. In the extended middle section, there is a second voice which is not Paul, and doesn't sound exactly like Eddie. Some like to believe it may be Al....

I do not have that album, but if anyone does perhaps they could check it out and see what they think.

[Ivory Fair]

I think the best bet to actually hearing Al's voice would be in finding a Distant record made under the Northern label.

Like "Come On" for example.

[janebse]

I did some research and discovered Albert Harrell, Richard Street and Otis Williams did the leads on Distant records. The guy who did the keening wail on "Come On" was an Albert Williams who was from one of Johnnie Mae's other acts.

So there are no released records with Al Bryant on lead.

If anyone can check out the LIVE version of the second Motown Revue album, perhaps...

The other possibility is having someone who knew Al's voice and could identify on a record which "ooh" and "ah" is Al. Or having a home taped recording. Of if Motown has a track with the early Tempts on it, just the vocal track, which might make picking out Al's voice easier.

[MikeNYC]

janebse said:

Just for obvious starters. Besides Otis, Richard Street knew Al Bryant and sang with him on The Distants. James "Pee Wee" Crawford sang with Al on both Distants and Premiers. Crawford still lives in Detroit. Rose Franklin was still alive last year and still lives in Detroit, and she knew them all. Vernard Main also sang with Richard, Otis, Al and "Pee Wee" and was still alive a few years ago. And he still lived in Detroit.

Al died almost 30 years ago, and the question is will these people remember what his voice sounded like. But so many posters on this board claim to remember every note any and all Temptations sang, I am sure these people who were part of the singer's life also remember.

In addition to these people, there are members of the Gordy family living in Detroit and running the new Motown Museum and Hitsville and all sorts of things connected with Motown. There are also musicians who worked with the Temptations who did not move to L.A. when Motown moved.

I am hoping to go to Michigan this summer to do all sorts of research, but a little research in your local library or on the internet might get you their telephone number.

That's all well & good,but these people may also remember who Kel Osbourne is and what HE sounds like. Most of these "people" just started mentioning the DISTANTS in recent years. The story was always THE PRIMES. As Ed Sullivan told it.

[MikeNYC]

janebse said:

Better than not being remembered at all.

THe first question is whether you want to actually hear Al's voice yourself or whether you are willing to accept one of his peers' comments as valid. Once you decide that, you can then decide on the course of action.

The second question is how to find either a recording which might be regarded as a primary source of information or a secondary source of information.

1. Al's parents may still be alive and it is possible they have some kind of recording of him singing. Parents being what they are this is all very likely.

2. I understand that Al's wife and family still live in Detroit. Apparently Al went to Florida. He might have been divorced. He died of cirrhosis of the liver and is buried in Georgia which may be the family's state of origin. His wife and/or children may have a recording.

3. These may not be studio recordings but home recordings of Al singing alone.

4. His voice is on a number of Temptation recordings, and one of these family members might very easily pick it out for you.

It is not hard to find these people. Go to a National Archives or a genealogical library or your own public library. Look through City Directories, telephone books for certain years. They will tell you his wife's name, his street address, his place of employment. Start off with the years 1961, 1962, 1963. Look through U.S. Censuses.

Sometimes in old record stores, thrift stores, etc., you can find old records. You might find one of the Tempts first recordings, even the one under the name Pirates. Al was on these recordings. Look for the Distant recordings made for the Northern Label. The Distants were popular in the Detroit area and around that region. Al and Richard were both on these records. You might be surprised how good they all sounded.

Just like finding old SOUL articles? That's another story. Who are his peers? The Distants are not the Temptations. They didn't sound good enough to get signed to Motown. I guess we can ask the fifth Beatle what Al sounds like.

[Nupeman88]

Isn't Al Bryant's voice on all the tracks on the "Meet The Temptations" album, except for "The Way You Do The Things You Do"? I hear a high tenor on some of the tracks that are distinct from Eddie's voice. I always assumed that it was Elbridge Bryant's voice.

[Ughan Ali]

why do people think "al" was a high tenor? that makes no sense eddie was in the group, and that is eddie on isn't she pretty, remember his voice was not as refined then as it would later be, from what i have read "al" was a tenor, but not a high tenor he was a second tenor. it makes no sense for the tempts to have two high tenors! thats one reason why david (second tenor) could replace "al" (second tenor).

[MikeNYC]

UganAli said:

why do people think "al" was a high tenor? that makes no sense eddie was in the group, and that is eddie on isn't she pretty, remember his voice was not as refined then as it would later be, from what i have read "al" was a tenor, but not a high tenor he was a second tenor. it makes no sense for the tempts to have two high tenors! thats one reason why david (second tenor) could replace "al" (second tenor).

Thank You ! They don't know what Al sounds like.

[Elbridge]

Otis' book tells us that Al was a "floating tenor".

Ed

[janebse]

Some people are getting off-track of the thread. The original question concerned whether Al's voice could be identified on any of the records. This was never a debate as to who was the best tenor or the highest tenor or the lowest tenor.

Several of us were curious as to what Al's voice sounded like. And to do so a way has to be found to identify Al's voice. As far as most Motown historians know, Al was recorded on some Temptation records and the Otis Williams and the Distants records.

Since Al did not sing lead of any of the recorded music that we know he sung on, we have been looking at the various ways we might find to identify which "phrase" or "ooh" or "ah" that is audible on a record might be his.

What in the world this has to do with Kell Osborne and/or the Primes is beyond me. However, if someone is interested in researching Kell, it sounds like a viable topic to me. But it would be a different topic. Would you like me to tell you how to go about doing research on Kell? I'd be glad to do so.

[Nupeman88]

Ughan said:

why do people think "al" was a high tenor? that makes no sense eddie was in the group, and that is eddie on isn't she pretty, remember his voice was not as refined then as it would later be, from what i have read "al" was a tenor, but not a high tenor he was a second tenor. it makes no sense for the tempts to have two high tenors! thats one reason why david (second tenor) could replace "al" (second tenor).

It would not make sense technically, however, Al certainly sang some high tenor parts. That might be one reason that he was dispensible. Eddie's high tenor was superior to Al's high tenor. Case and point, many groups have had more than one high tenor; Boyz 2 Men, The Deele, and others. Many groups don't follow musical theory, and don't understand how music is supposed to be structured. There are a lot of groups, for instance the "boy band" groups that have singers that sing in the same vocal range; having no true bass, baritone, tenor, or falsetto tenor voices in the mix. That does not mean that they can't make a pleasing sound. They just make use of the voices that they happen to have.