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The Temptations
Thanks to their fine-tuned
choreography — and even finer harmonies — the Temptations became the definitive
male vocal group of the 1960s; one of Motown's most elastic acts, they tackled both lush
pop and politically-charged funk with equal flair, and weathered a steady stream of
changes in personnel and consumer tastes with rare dignity and
grace. The Temptations'
initial five-man line-up formed in Detroit in 1961 as a merger of two local vocal groups, the Primes and the Distants.
Baritone Otis
Williams, Elbridge
(a.k.a. El, or Al) Bryant and bass
vocalist Melvin
Franklin were longtime veterans of the Detroit music scene when they joined together
in the Distants,
who in 1959 recorded the single "Come On" for the local Northern label. Around
the same time, the
Primes, a trio comprised of tenor Eddie Kendricks,
Paul Williams (no relation to Otis) and Kell
Osborne, relocated to the Motor City from their native Alabama; they quickly found success
locally, and their manager even put together a girl group counterpart dubbed the Primettes.
(Later, three of the
Primettes — Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard
— formed the
Supremes).
In 1961, the
Primes disbanded, but not before Otis Williams
saw them perform live, where he was impressed both by Kendricks' vocal
prowess and Paul Williams' choreography skills. Soon, Otis Williams,
Paul Williams, Bryant,
Franklin and Kendricks joined
together as the Elgins; after a name change to the Temptations, they signed to the Motown
subsidiary Miracle, where they released a handful of singles over the ensuing months.
In 1966, the Tempts recorded another Robinson hit,
"Get Ready," before forgoing his smooth popcraft for the harder-edged soul of
producers Norman
Whitfield and Brian
Holland. After spotlighting Kendricks on the
smash "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," the group allowed Ruffin to take
control over a string of hits including "Beauty's Only Skin Deep" and "(I
Know) I'm Losing You." Beginning around 1967, Whitfield
assumed full production control, and their records became ever rougher and more muscular,
as typified by the 1968 success "I Wish It Would Rain.
" After Ruffin failed to
appear at a 1968 live performance, the other four Tempts fired him; he was replaced by ex-Contour Dennis Edwards,
whose less polished voice adapted perfectly to the psychedelic-influenced soul period the
group entered following the success of the single "Cloud Nine." As the times
changed, so did the group, and as the 1960s drew to a close, the Temptations' music became
overtly political; in the wake of "Cloud Nine" — its title a thinly-veiled
drug allegory — came records like "Run Away Child, Running Wild,"
"Psychedelic Shack," and "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is
Today)."
After the chart-topping success of the gossamer ballad "Just My Imagination
(Running Away with Me)" in 1971, Kendricks exited
for a solo career. Soon, Paul Williams left the group as well; long plagued by alcoholism
and other personal demons, he was eventually discovered dead from a self-inflected gunshot
on August 17, 1973 at the age of 34. In their stead the remaining trio recruited tenors Damon Harris and
Richard Street;
after the 1971 hit "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)," they
returned in 1972 with the brilliant number one single "Papa Was a Rolling
Stone." While the Tempts hit the charts regularly throughout 1973 with
"Masterpiece," "Let Your Hair Down," and "The Plastic Man,"
their success as a pop act gradually dwindled as the 1970s wore on.
After Harris exited in
1975 (replaced by tenor Glenn Leonard),
the group cut 1976's The Temptations Do the Temptations, their final album for
Motown. With Louis
Price taking over for Dennis Edwards,
they signed to Atlantic, and attempted to reach the disco market with the LPs Bare Back
and Hear to Tempt You.
After Edwards
returned to the fold (resulting in Price's hasty
exit), the Temptations re-entered the Motown stable, and scored a 1980 hit with
"Power."
In 1982, Ruffin and Kendricks
returned for Reunion, which also included all five of the current Tempts; a tour
followed, but problems with Motown, as well as personal differences, cut Ruffin and Kendricks'
tenures short. In the years that followed, the Temptations continued touring and
recording, although by the 1990s they were essentially an oldies act; only Otis Williams,
who published his autobiography in 1988, remained from the original line-up. The
intervening years were marked by tragedy: after touring in the late '80s with Eddie Kendricks
and Dennis
Edwards as a member of the "Tribute to the Temptations" package tour, David Ruffin
died on June 1, 1991 after overdosing on cocaine; he was 50 years old. On October 5, 1992,
Kendricks
died at the age of 52 of lung cancer, and on February 23, 1995, 52-year-old Melvin Franklin
passed away after suffering a brain seizure. In 1998, the Temptations returned with Phoenix
Rising; that same year, their story was also the subject of a well-received NBC
television miniseries. Earresistible followed in the spring of 2000. — Jason Ankeny 
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