The Originals: The Temptations

The songs are imprinted in music fans' memories like a brand on cattle. It isn't hard to call them up at all. "My Girl," "Ain't Too Proud To Beg," "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)," "The Way You Do The Things You Do," the list goes on and on, much like the Temptations themselves, 47 years after the group first formed. And every group since, from Boyz II Men, All 4 One, and, yes, even the boy bands of the 90's, owe their sound more to these Originals than anyone else.

Starting out on the road to legendary status isn't easy for anyone, and the Temps are no exception. Looking at their birth certificate, the parents of the Temptations are two Detroit groups known as the Primes and the Distants, who themselves were once known, respectively, as the Cavaliers and the Siberians. Both groups eventually fell into shambles, but the seed that became the Temps was planted by Otis Williams of the Distants and Eddie Kendricks of the Primes.

Kendricks was back in Detroit, visiting relatives after moving back home to Birmingham, Alabama, and he called up Otis. Otis asked him to join up with the remaining Distants at a audition they had with Berry Gordy, the world-famous founder of Motown Records. Kendricks agreed, on the condition that Paul Williams, another former Prime, could come along also. So the March 1961 original lineup was set as Otis Williams, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, and Elbridge "Al" Bryant.

All that was left was to name them. Gordy originally intended for them to be called the Elgins, and was all set to sign them to Motown's Miracle imprint, but right before he did, he found out there already was a group named the Elgins. So, on the steps of Hitsville USA, the renowned studios of Motown, the quintet had a meeting to pick a new name. Otis, along with Miracle employee Billy Mitchell, came up with the Temptations. A legend was born.

However, the road was rocky, to say the least. Seven Temps singles between 1961 and 1963 didn't chart on Billboard's "Hot 100," 1962's "Dream Come True" only hitting number 22 on the R&B charts. One good thing came out of this period, though. See, there was this guy who produced a song called "I Want A Love I Can See," with Paul Williams singing the lead. He proved to have a great rapport with the group. He would be the man to get the group to the top as their lead producer, and he wedged this in around his other job as a lead singer.

For the Miracles.

By the name of Smokey Robinson.

One more step that had to be taken was to get rid of a disgruntled milkman. That would be Mr. Bryant, who became uncooperative and restless, and preferred his day job to being with the Temps. At the 1963 Motown Christmas party, they gave him his wish, firing him, and replacing him with a guy that would help give them the sound that would be their hallmark, Meridian, Mississippi's David Ruffin, who impressed the group when joining them on stage in Detroit earlier in the year.

January 1964 brought not only a new year, but the beginning of an era. Robinson and Miracles mate Bobby Rogers co-wrote and produced "The Way You Do The Things You Do," and it became the group's first Top 20 single. On the "Motortown Revue" tour later that year, Smokey and another of his bandmates, Ronnie White, wrote another little ditty, this one intended for Ruffin to take the lead on. It would be recorded in fall 1964, was released on Christmas Eve of that year, and would become the group's first number-one pop hit in March 1965. That song was "My Girl," a song many believe is the song that is the group's signature piece.

The group, between 1964 and 1968, became international stars, appearing on the top television shows of the day, like "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "American Bandstand," made appearances at world famous supper clubs like the Copacabana in New York City, and had doors open to them that other African-American acts didn't have. All of this went to Ruffin's head, and the formerly even-keeled lead singer became a monster, demanding that the group be renamed "David Ruffin and The Temptations" (like Motown did for Diana Ross and the Supremes), riding with new girlfriend Tammi Terrell in his own mink-lined limo apart from the rest of the Temps in their limo, and irked Gordy by demanding an accounting of the group's earnings. He was fired by legally-documented group agreement, and, after trying to steal the spotlight from new lead Dennis Edwards at road shows, extra security hired in response, and a lawsuit, he was signed to a solo deal as a settlement.

He was just the first thread coming loose as the seams began to come apart. Paul Williams began to struggle with depression, sickle-cell disease, and alcoholism to the point where oxygen had to be kept and former Distant Richard Street had to sing his group parts from off-stage while he lip-synched. Eddie Kendrick began picking fights with Otis Williams and Franklin over leadership, and hated the psychadelic soul stylings that producer Norman Whitfield was pushing the group towards, preferring Smokey's ballad-based style. He and Paul sung lead together on "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)." It was basically both of their last hurrahs with the group, as Kendricks' friend David Ruffin persuaded him to go solo, and he negotiated his release from the group soon after the January 1971 recording, and Paul, unfortunately, lost to his demons and committed suicide on August 17, 1973. He was only 34.

From there, through numerous personnel changes, turmoil, and other factors, the group didn't seriously chart again (save for 1975's "Glasshouse," off of the LP "A Song For You", their last Top-40 hit), and flirted with becoming totally irrelevant, even leaving Motown for Atlantic in 1977, blaming them for their lack of success, but went back in 1979 after having no more success with them. Motown had one more bullet left in the gun for the Temps, though: A reunion tour and album.

Rick James, Melvin Franklin's cousin, used the Temps as his backup on "Super Freak," and wrote, produced and guested on the first single off of "Reunion," called "Standing on the Top." The concept brought together the seven remaining Temptations: David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Dennis Edwards, Richard Street, and Glenn Leonard. It also brought financial success for the first time in years for a Temps project.

What it also brought was a lot of stress. Kendricks' voice was weak due to his chain smoking. Ruffin was in the grip of drugs and missed shows, just like he did when he was dismissed nearly 20 years before. They were both fired right after the tour, and toured and recorded as a duet right after. In 1989, the Temptations were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and even then, Ruffin and Kendricks weren't done stirring the pot, getting Dennis Edwards to join up for a tour and album called "Ruffin/Kendricks/Edwards: Former Leads of the Temptations," another thumb of the nose at Otis Williams and Motown. The recording was halted by tragic circumstances, though, as Ruffin died of an overdose on June 1, 1991, at age 50. Kendricks followed soon after, on October 5, 1992, at 52, due to lung cancer. Two legends, cut down young by their addictions.

After Melvin Franklin passed away on February 13, 1995 from a brain seizure, the only remaining living original Temptation is Otis Williams, who still tours with the newly formed Temps. A new album is coming October 23, called "Back to Front."

Three Grammys, one as recent as 2001 for "Ear-Resistible." Nearly 30 million in sales. Three songs ("Ain't Too Proud To Beg," "My Girl," "Papa Was A Rolling Stone") listed among the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll" according to its Hall of Fame. And a legion of acts and singers that have been influenced by their great sound, harmony, and dancing. The Temptations have to be included in any discussion of the greatest of all time, and there's no "Ball of Confusion" about that.