Monday 30 October 2023

Otis Williams born 30 October 1941

Otis Williams (October 30, 1941) is an American tenor/baritone singer. He is occasionally also a songwriter and a record producer. Williams is the founder and last surviving original member of the Motown vocal group The Temptations, a group in which he continues to perform; he also owns the rights to the Temptations name.

Williams was born Otis Miles Jr. in Texarkana, Texas, to Otis Miles and Hazel Louise Williams. The couple separated shortly after their son's birth. While he was still a toddler, his mother married and moved to Detroit, Michigan, leaving the younger Otis Miles to be raised by both of his grandmothers in Texarkana. Hazel Williams moved her son to Detroit when he was ten years old, where he lived with his mother and his stepfather.

The Distants

Becoming interested in music as a teenager, Otis Miles Jr. adopted his mother's maiden name for his stage name, and as Otis Williams put together a number of singing groups. These groups included Otis Williams and the Siberians, the El Domingoes, and the Distants. In 1959, The Distants scored a local hit, co-written by Williams and their manager/producer Johnnie Mae Matthews, called "Come On", with lead vocals by Richard Street. Later Distants recordings were not as successful, and after an offer from Berry Gordy of Motown Records, Williams and his bandmates Elbridge "Al" Bryant and Richard Street quit the Distants. Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams from The Primes later joined Williams, Bryant, and Franklin to create the Elgins, who signed to Motown in March 1961 as "The Temptations", after being told another group was already using that name.

Temptations '64. Otis (bottom right)

The Temptations became one of the most successful acts in soul music over the course of nearly five decades, during which singers such as David Ruffin, Dennis Edwards, former Distant Richard Street, Damon Harris, Ron Tyson, Ali-Ollie Woodson, Theo Peoples, Ray Davis and former Spinners singer G. C. Cameron have all been members. As a member of the Temptations, Williams sings both Tenor and Baritone vocals. The Temptations biggest selling tracks include: My Girl, and (I Know) I'm Losing You, among many others. The groups have won four Grammy Awards, and have been nominated for nine.

                                   

Although he has served the longest tenure in the Temptations, Williams rarely sings lead, focusing instead on his role as the group's leader and organizer, and as the background "baritone in the middle". Some examples are, The Smokey Robinson and Eddie Kendricks written track "Don't Send Me Away" from the LP The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul (1967) and The intro on the early group song "Check Yourself" (1961)

Most notably, rare showcases for Williams singing lead are: "This Guy's in Love with You" from the 1968 albums Live at London's Talk of the Town and Diana Ross & The Supremes Join the Temptations and The Norman Whitfield-penned tune "I Ain't Got Nothing" from 1972's All Directions.

Williams has provided non-singing (spoken word) contributions to some Temptation songs, including: "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" (1968, a hit duet with Diana Ross and Eddie Kendricks sharing the lead vocals), "I'm the Exception to the Rule", from the album Sky's the Limit (The Temptations album) (1971) which features leads from both Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards, During the opening verse of "Masterpiece" (1973), and "For Your Love", which is done in a medley with "You Send Me" (led by Ali-Ollie Woodson) on the For Lovers Only album (1995).

The Temptations lineup changes were so frequent, stressful and troublesome that Williams and Melvin Franklin promised each other they would never quit the group.  Franklin would remain in the group until 1994, when he became physically incapable of continuing. Franklin died on February 23, 1995, leaving Otis Williams, then 53, as the last surviving original member of the quintet.

Williams married Josephine Rogers in 1961, the couple's son, Otis Lamont Miles, was born the same year. He and Josephine divorced in 1964.   He was also engaged to Patti LaBelle, but she ended the engagement when he asked her to quit music and become a housewife. Williams was married to Ann Cain from 1967 to 1973.  Cain was Ike Turner and Tina Turner's housekeeper. He married his third wife, Arleata "Goldie" Williams (née Carter), in 1983.

Williams is the co-author, with Patricia Romanowski, of Temptations, a 1988 book that served as both his autobiography and a history of the group. Ten years later, the book was adapted into an NBC television miniseries The Temptations.  In 1989, Otis Williams was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Temptations. He received an honorary doctorate from Stillman College in May 2006. 

Williams still remains in the Temptations as of 2023, has performed on every release by the band, including their most recent studio album, Temptations 60, released on January 28, 2022, which also included a collaboration with Motown artist Smokey Robinson.  (Edited from Wikipedia)

 

7 comments:

boppinbob said...

For “The Temptations - Emperors Of Soul (1994 Motown)” go here:

https://www.imagenetz.de/jtnLJ

DISC 1:
01 Come On (By Otis Williams & the Distants)
02 Oh, Mother of Mine
03 Romance Without Finance
04 Check Yourself
05 Dream Come True
06 Mind Over Matter (I'm Gonna Make You Mine) (By the Pirates)
07 I'll Love You 'til I Die (By the Pirates)
08 Paradise
09 Slow Down Heart
10 I Couldn't Cry If I Wanted To
11 Witchcraft (For Your Love)
12 I Want a Love I Can See
13 The Further You Look, the Less You See
14 Farewell My Love
15 A Tear From a Woman's Eyes
16 The Way You Do the Things You Do
17 I'll Be in Trouble
18 The Girl's Alright With Me
19 Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)
20 Baby, Baby I Need You
21 My Girl
22 (Talking 'bout) Nobody but My Baby
23 It's Growing
24 You'll Lose a Precious Love
25 Since I Lost My Baby
26 You've Got to Earn It
27 My Baby
28 Don't Look Back

DISC 2:
01 Get Ready
02 Fading Away
03 Ain't Too Proud to Beg
04 Too Busy Thinking About My Baby
05 Who You Gonna Run To
06 Beauty Is Only Skin Deep
07 I Got Heaven Right Here on Earth
08 (I Know) I'm Losing You
09 All I Need
10 Sorry Is a Sorry Word
11 I'm Doing It All
12 No More Water in the Well
13 You're My Everything
14 Just One Last Look
15 Angel Doll
16 (Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need
17 Don't Send Me Away
18 Hello Young Lovers
19 Ol' Man River
20 I Wish It Would Rain
21 I Truly, Truly Believe
22 I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)
23 Please Return Your Love to Me
24 How Can I Forget
25 For Once in My Life (live)
26 My Girl (vocal track only)

DISC 3:
01 Cloud Nine
02 Why Did She Have to Leave Me (Why Did She Have to Go)
03 I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
04 I'll Try Something New
05 Runaway Child, Running Wild
06 Don't Let the Joneses Get You Down
07 I Can't Get Next to You
08 Message From A Black Man
09 War
10 Psychedelic Shack
11 Hum Along and Dance
12 Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)
13 Ungena za Ulimwengu (Unite the World)
14 Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
15 Take a Look Around
16 It's Summer
17 Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)
18 I Ain't Got Nothin'
19 Mother Nature
20 Papa Was a Rollin' Stone

DISC 4:
01 Masterpiece (single edit)
02 Plastic Man
03 Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)
04 Law of the Land (Alt mix)
05 Let Your Hair Down
06 Heavenly
07 You've Got My Soul on Fire
08 Happy People
09 Shaky Ground
10 Glasshouse
11 Song for You
12 Memories
13 Keep Holding On
14 Darling Stand by Me (Song for My Woman)
15 Who Are You
16 In a Lifetime
17 Power
18 Isn't the Night Fantastic
19 Aiming at Your Heart

DISC 5:
01 Stand on the Top, Part 1
02 Sail Away
03 Treat Her Like a Lady
04 My Love Is True (Truly for You)
05 Do You Really Love Your Baby
06 Magic
07 Lady Soul
08 I Wonder Who She's Seeing Now
09 Look What You Started
10 Soul to Soul
11 Special
12 My Kind of Woman
13 Hoops of Fire
14 Error of Our Ways
15 Givin' U the Best
16 Elevator Eyes
17 Blueprint for Love

At the time of release this was The Definitive Collection with 110 Digitally Remastered Tracks, Every Hit, Rare & Unreleased Songs and 4 New Recordings.

Bob Mac said...

Welcome back Bob, and thanks for this.

mel said...

Welcome back, Bob - I take it that you had a very pleasant and enjoyable break.
- mel

T.G. said...

Welcome back and I'm thanking you a lot of!

rev.b said...

Thx BB!

krobigraubart said...

Welcome back, Bob, and thanks a lot for this!

Complete artwork of the Emperors Of Soul CD:
https://workupload.com/file/ngGt3hTDTTB

More Temptations:
https://workupload.com/archive/zGt5qhgMH7

boppinbob said...

Hello krobigraubart, and thanks for the artwork and plethora of The Temptations. Marvelous!