Al Bryant

[temptsman39]

I Know this is probably impossible, but has anyone ever seen any clips of The Temptations when Al was in. Th Original 5?

[smooth]

I believe there is footage of them.At the apollo in 1963 when they sung back up for Mary Wells.The Tempts performed at that same show singing I Want A Love I Can See and Dream Come True,but for some strange reason that footage wasnt included on the 1963 Apollo/TeenTown DVD.

[AnnaK]

Jan 6, 2009 9:59:21 GMT -5 smooth said:

I believe there is footage of them.At the apollo in 1963 when they sung back up for Mary Wells.The Tempts performed at that same show singing I Want A Love I Can See and Dream Come True,but for some strange reason that footage wasnt included on the 1963 Apollo/TeenTown DVD.

Yes, there is a clip on youtube with them singing backup for Mary Wells.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_x4fh4PUAA

Enjoy!

[smooth]

I think he means any footage with Al?thanks for posting though

[AnnaK]

Oooops! Wrong clip ... Sorry.

[smooth]

Jan 6, 2009 16:48:22 GMT -5 AnnaK said:

Oooops! Wrong clip ... Sorry.

lol

[Cadeho]

There were only 4 Tempts backing Mary Wells and Al was not one of them. I'm not sure if the show where they sang "Dream Come True" and "I Want a Love I Can See" was the same show or if the two songs are from the exact same day. Those songs were supposedly recorded December 30, 1963. Al was out of the group at that time and David was in but I am not sure if David performed with them. Listening to songs recorded at the middle and end of December 1963, Al was quickly replaced by David and David can be heard on "Lonely, Lonely Man Am I" recorded just before Christmas 1963.

[smooth]

Jan 7, 2009 17:35:31 GMT -5 Cadeho said:

There were only 4 Tempts backing Mary Wells and Al was not one of them. I'm not sure if the show where they sang "Dream Come True" and "I Want a Love I Can See" was the same show or if the two songs are from the exact same day. Those songs were supposedly recorded December 30, 1963. Al was out of the group at that time and David was in but I am not sure if David performed with them. Listening to songs recorded at the middle and end of December 1963, Al was quickly replaced by David and David can be heard on "Lonely, Lonely Man Am I" recorded just before Christmas 1963.

So there's probably no footage of AL,but maybe if they have footage of the Tempts recording,there was footage with Eddie,Otis,Paul standing around Norman while he was at the piano,so there might be studio footage,but that's probably it,if there even is any.

Dream Come True and I Want A Love I Can See were recorded while Al
was in the group.Dream Come True was recorded January 17, 1962 and I Want A Love I Can See was recorded January 30 and February 1st of 1963. Apollo show was from Jan 1,1963.I guess the one where they sang Dream Come True and I Want A Love I Can See is from 1964.I believe Lonely,Lonely Man Am I was recorded in 1966,I think its a cover song,a female group sang it first but they changed the words around for The Tempts if I'm not mistaken

[Cadeho]

The studio versions were recorded while Al was with the group, the dates you listed. The Motortown Revue Vol 2 was released in 1964. The latest song on the album was Martha & The Vandella's "Quicksand" released in November 1963. The concert did not take place at the Apollo but the Fox Theater in Detroit where the Tempts sang "Dream Come True, "I Want a Love I Can See," and possibly some other songs cut from the album December 31st, 1963.

The Apollo show was from April. Al was with the group but I don't know why he was not in the show backing Mary. Stevie did "Fingertips" oddly... it wasn't released until May but the hit live version was recorded in March. The Marvelettes' "Locking Up My Heart" was brand new in April being released that month.

"Lonely Lonely Man Am I" was first recorded December 27, 1963, first assigned to the Temptations who at that time were still recording with the Funk Brothers. It is highly likely their version is the oldest and one of David's first songs with the group ("Positively Absolutely Right" recorded December 20, 1963, could possibly be David's debut with the group... it's hard to tell as the group sings in unison against Melvin... what is certain, the sound Al's voice gave the group is absent). The song was recorded by Jimmy Ruffin in 1964 and the Velvelettes recorded their version "Lonely Lonely Girl Am I" last in 1965 with a new track.

The Tempts were busy by the time Gettin' Ready was gathered using some new tracks but also some older tracks such as "Lonely Lonely..." and "Not Now I'll Tell You Later." "The Man Who Don't Believe in Love" and "Give It Up" were recorded between "Farewell My Love" and "Baby, Baby I Need You" in that order, all including Al. As stated in the notes for the CD rerelease they were considered for inclusion. The last song Al can be heard singing is "Just Let Me Know" recorded December 17, 1963. If David is singing on "Positively Absolutely Right," it took 3 days to replace Al!

[smooth]

Thanks for clearing that up,as you can see I was in the dark.lol
peace

[Cadeho]

No problem, but hey, I wasn't there. I could still be wrong. I'm only going by what has been noted on various collections and research done by people in the vault recording their info on Don't Forget the Motor City which is a great Motown Encyclopedia. It's not complete either as they're still working. They could still make mistakes. It's a lot to learn and I really geeked it up according to some people. I love your passion for the Tempts and you being a year younger than I, I am glad I'm not the only one my age who knows about the Temptations beyond the hits.

[janebse]

Just a curious note about the non-appearance of Al Bryant in the backup to Mary Wells. We know he had an alcohol problem, among other problems. which led to his being fired; perhaps he was indisposed and not able to appear on stage. I cannot remember the exact date of the Wells and Temptations performance at the Apollo in 1963,