Eddie Kendricks born 17 December 1939

Eddie Kendricks (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992), better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American tenor singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1960 until 1971. He was the lead voice on such famous songs as "The Way You Do the Things You Do", "Get Ready", and "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)". As a solo artist, Kendricks recorded several hits of his own during the 1970s, including the number-one single "Keep On Truckin'". 

Edward James Kendrick was born and grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. With his childhood friend Paul Williams, they left the city in 1956, when they were both 17 and intended to be stars like their idols Clyde McPhatter and Little Willie John. Their money only took them as far as Cleveland, where they both had relatives. There a music business hustler called Milton Jenkins heard them harmonising at a party and invited them to Detroit. 

Progress in the Motor City, however, was painfully slow and Kendricks went back to Birmingham, until Williams persuaded him to return. Together in 1959 they formed the Primes, who would take part in organising group vocal battles at clubs and house parties. As well as being renowned for their vocal strengths the Primes also gained a reputation for their spirited dance-steps. They caught the attention of a Motor City group known as the Distants, whose members included Temptations-to-be Otis Williams, Elbridge Bryant, and Melvin Franklin. The Primes broke up after being together only a few years, and the Temptations (originally known as the Elgins) were formed when, in 1961, members of the Primes and the Distants came together. 

The Primes -Kendricks, Williams & Osborne

In 1960 the Primes met Berry Gordy, who recorded them for a Motown affiliate, Miracle Records, after changing their name to the Temptations. They didn't become successful right away, but by the mid-'60s, they had become huge thanks to such smashes as the Kendricks-led "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "My Girl." The group enjoyed one mega-hit after another in the mid- to late '60s, including "The Girl's Alright with Me" and "Get Ready." Kendricks also did a little songwriting and created many of the group's vocal arrangements. 

                                   

It had been a long haul to get their first hit but the stature of the five-piece grew in almost transcendent leaps as they rigorously weathered and adapted to such storms of fashion as psychedelia and Afro-consciousness. By the end of the decade it became clear that there was no one to rival the Temptations as the finest black American vocal group. Their five-part harmonies seemed divinely inspired: sexy, vibrating with energy, the coolest dancers, the Temptations were so ironic that they made otherwise impressive stable-mates like the Four Tops seem mere pop acts. 

From Top Clockwise - David Ruffin, Melvin Franklin,
Otis Williams, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams

By the time the Temptations scored their 11th number one R&B hit with "Just My Imagination," Kendricks had left to pursue a solo a career. Many fans questioned the wisdom of his leaving such a successful group, but he proved to be quite viable as a solo act thanks to early-'70s singles like "Keep on Truckin,'" a number one R&B hit, and "Boogie Down," which went to number two on the R&B chart. Other noteworthy solo hits followed, including "Shoeshine Boy," "Get the Cream Off the Top," "Happy" in 1975," and "He's a Friend" in 1976. Most of his solo albums came out on Motown where his later work began to display the sound of another city, Philadelphia's Philly label, particularly on songs like 'He's a Friend'. 

Kendricks with Diana Ross

After leaving Motown in 1978, Kendricks recorded for Arista and Atlantic during the late '70s and early '80s. In 1982 Kendricks rejoined the Temptations for a 'Reunion' tour; after their Live at the Apollo album, he and David Ruffin worked together again, under the auspices of the pop duo Hall and Oates. By that time, however, his popularity had decreased considerably. In the early 1980's, Eddie would do mostly benefits and some free concerts, with Mary Wells and Martha Reeves, and play clubs and nostalgia shows. He participate in the 1987 Artists United Against Apartheid's Sun City project and recorded Live at the Apollo with Daryl Hall, John Oates, and Temptation partner David Ruffin. 

In 1989, Kendricks, Ruffin, and their Temptations band-mates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There, Kendrick and Ruffin made plans with fellow former Temptation Dennis Edwards to tour and record as "Ruffin/Kendricks/Edwards, Former Leads of the Temptations". The project was cut short in 1991, when Kendrick was diagnosed with lung cancer and David Ruffin died of a drug overdose. 

In late 1991 Kendricks, by now living in his native Birmingham, Alabama, underwent surgery to have one of his lungs removed in the hope of preventing the spread of cancer. He believed the disease was caused by his 30 years of smoking. He continued to tour through the summer of 1992, when he fell ill again and was hospitalized. Kendricks died of lung cancer at Baptist Medical Center-Princeton in Birmingham on October 5, 1992, at age 52. He was buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Birmingham. 

(Edited from Independent obit by Chris Salewicz & Wikipedia) 

 

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)

 

David Ruffin born 18 January 1941

Davis Eli "David" Ruffin (January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991) was an American soul singer and musician most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of The Temptations (1964–68) during the group's "Classic Five" period as it was later known. He was the lead voice on such famous songs as "My Girl" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg".

The man most of us know by his unmistakable, calming yet disturbed raspy voice was born Davis Eli Ruffin on January 18, 1941, in Whynot, Mississippi. His father, Eli Ruffin, was a Baptist minister. Only months after his birth his mother Ophelia Ruffin died, and his father later remarried, to a schoolteacher.

David began singing and touring at a very young age with his father and siblings in a gospel group. Leaving home at 13 to pursue the ministry, it was David's select showmanship that caught the eyes of some in the secular music industry. He then moved to Detroit, Michigan, and was signed to Anna Records in 1960 and then Check-Mate Records in 1961. David didn't have hits with either label, but they were good showcases for his vocal ability and talent. In 1964 he joined The Temptations, who had yet to chart a hit, at Motown Records.

 

The "Tempts"' hitless status changed in March of 1965 with the classic "My Girl", on which David sang lead. The song stayed at #1 for eight weeks, and paved the way for such majestic follow-ups as "Since I Lost My Baby" (1965), "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" (1966), "All I Need" (1967), and "I Wish It Would Rain" (1968).

The same showmanship that brought David into the R&B industry caught the attention of fans around the world. His stage performance was dynamic. His dramatic hand gestures and slipping out of chorus to fall to his knees wasn't all this tall, slender man wearing black-framed glasses could do. His voice proved to be powerful, as he went on to sing lead on Temptations hits that brought joy and happiness in the turbulent times of the 1960s. These times also proved to be turbulent for the group, however. Tensions arose when David asked for billing before the group, a practice common among vocal groups of the time. Not only did David not get his name above the group's, but he was dismissed from the group in 1968.

He was Still under contract at Motown, though, and his solo career got off to a promising start with the ballad "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me"). Subsequent releases failed, however, as did duets with his brother Jimmy Ruffin. Few of the songs charted and he blamed Motown for not properly promoting his music. In 1979 he left the label and went to Warner Brothers, where his career unfortunately went into a complete decline.

He later re-joined The Temptations for a reunion tour, but after that he fell obscurity, and his personal life also took a downward spiral when it came to light that he was suffering from substance abuse and depression. He eventually reunited with former Temptations colleague Eddie Kendricks (who was now also a solo artist) in 1986, and they began touring and performing with 'Artists Against Apartheid', Live-Aid, and Hall & Oates. In 1989 Otis Williams was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and David and Eddie begin touring with ex-Temptation Dennis Edwards. Weeks after the tour ended, David was dropped off at a Philadelphia hospital and an hour later the man who sang the biographical tune "Statue Of a Fool" from every bit of his heart and soul was pronounced dead.

While the official cause of death was ruled a cocaine overdose, his family has come to believe that foul play was involved. When the world lost David Ruffin, it lost a life too short-lived, a heavenly voice, and a whimsical, charismatic man. He had one of the most recognizable voices in music. The joy and sadness in his songs can be felt by all. David's voice will continue to bridge the generation gap just as it crossed the colour lines in the sixties and seventies. To many other music artists, David Ruffin's music influence is everlasting.   (Info mainly IMDB)