THE TEMPTATIONS
Spanning over five decades of seminal recordings and exhaustive touring, The Temptations are heralded as one of the most commercially successful and influential acts of all time.
Formed in 1961, the band’s classic lineup—Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, Paul Williams, Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin—cranked out an electrifying assembly line of sublime hit after hit, all stone cold classics numbering such quintessential soul smashes as “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” “Just My Imagination,” “The Way You Do The Things You Do” and more.
What set The Temptations apart from Motown’s other successful male groups, The Four Tops and The Miracles, was their forward-thinking vision and singularly distinctive gritty sound, which drew heartily from the boiling cauldron of gospel, R&B, funk, blues and soul.
Under the tutelage of producer/songwriter Norman Whitfield, The Temptations really hit their artistic stride, continually pushing the musical envelope with a parade of ambitious and challenging material. Unlike many of their Hitsville contemporaries, (i.e., The Supremes and The Four Tops) they never once fell prey to second-rate imitations of past chart glories. Timeless psych-soul jewels like “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone,” “Cloud Nine,” “Psychedelic Shack” and “Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)” kept the band cutting-edge and in the process garnered them newfound credibility among the rock audience. Like fellow Motown mavericks, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, The Temptations were true musical trailblazers, their songs informed by astute, socially conscious lyrics and arresting messages.
Through countless personnel changes and the tragic deaths of key founding members, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin and Melvin Franklin, The Temptations continue to endure. The following is an interview with the Temptations lone surviving member, Otis Williams, for a colorful journey through the group’s storied musical career.
GM: Do you recall when you realized The Temptations had first made it?
Otis Williams: There were a lot of moments. We were like 22, 24 when we had our first big hit with “The Way You Do The Things You Do.” We thought it was great when we finally got a hit. But then it started happening with “My Girl,” which was our first No. 1 record, which sold over a million copies. Then we started having the hits with Norman Whitfield: “I Can’t Get Next To You,” “Cloud Nine,” “Runaway Child, Running Wild”... I think that’s when we started feeling we had something goin’ because we were getting hits on such a regular basis and working to the ninth power. We kind of figured at that point we were doing something kind of monumental.
GM: But recording great songs wasn’t enough for Motown, you had to look great and be great stage performers, too.
We were told and taught about being in show business, not just for the glory of having a hit record. That we could make show business our vocation rather than our avocation and do it because this is what we love to do and continue to work
