The Temptations

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Jumpin' John, and in this podcast episode I will review the highlights of one of Motown's most successful vocal groups:  The Temptations!

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott.  The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John.  It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then. 
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Transcript

Thank you for that introduction, and welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Jumpin' John, and in this podcast episode I will review the highlights of one of Motown's most successful vocal groups:  The Temptations!

In 1955 Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams formed a doo-wop quartet in Birmingham, Alabama with Kell Osborne and Wiley Waller, naming themselves The Cavaliers.  After Waller left the group in 1957, the remaining trio left Birmingham and settled in Detroit, Michigan.  There they changed their name to The Primes under the direction of Milton Jenkins.  As I previously mentioned in Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast episode #156, Milton Jenkins later created a sister group, The Primettes, who would eventually become The Supremes.

The Primes decided to merge with members of another popular Detroit area vocal harmony band, the Distants.  The newly merged quintet called themselves the Elgins.  The group's founding members were Otis Williams, Elbridge "Al" Bryant, and Melvin Franklin of The Distants, and Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams of The Primes.  Under that name, The Elgins, the group auditioned for Motown Records in March 1961.  Already impressed with some of the members after hearing session work, Berry Gordy agreed to sign the group to his Motown label Miracle Records.  However, before signing, Gordy discovered another group was using the name of "Elgins".  So the group settled on "The Temptations" as their new name.

The Temptations' first two singles, "Oh Mother of Mine" and "Check Yourself", with Paul Williams on lead, were released on Miracle.  Then Berry Gordy closed the label down and reassigned the band to his latest imprint, Gordy Records.  On Gordy Records, Eddie Kendricks sang lead on The Temptations' first charted single, "(You're My) Dream Come True".  That tune peaked at #22 on the R&B chart in May 1962.  Later that year, The Temptations began touring as part of the Motortown Revue.  Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks split the leads during this early period, with Al Bryant, Otis Williams, and Melvin Franklin occasionally singing lead.  The group would issue eight recordings between 1961 and 1963, however, they had little chart success.

Then in 1963 The Temptations began working with Smokey Robinson as writer and producer.  Robinson's first work with the group was the Paul Williams-led "I Want a Love I Can See".  While the song failed to chart, it did eventually become a popular live performance spot for the group and particularly for Paul Williams.  During this time, David Ruffin began following the group around, hoping that he could join them.  During a local Detroit performance, Ruffin actually joined the group onstage and impressed the group with his vocal talent and dancing skills. 

Al Bryant had grown frustrated with the group's lack of success and became restless and uncooperative.  After an altercation onstage with a fellow band member at a Christmas 1963 performance, Bryant was fired from the group.  As a result, David Ruffin was brought in as his replacement in January 1964.  

The new version of The Temptations then consisted of Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, and David Ruffin.  The success that followed this quintet from 1964 through 1968 resulted in what would, in later years, be frequently referred to as the "Classic Five" lineup.  The new version of The Temptations was distinguished by the breadth and balance of their singing talent.  Besides their hit soul songs, The Temptations would also be associated with their stylish dress and their signature dance moves.  With ongoing support from Motown’s Artist Development team and dancer Cholly Atkins, The Temptations excelled at live performance.

In January 1964, Smokey Robinson and his Miracles bandmate Bobby Rogers co-wrote and produced "The Way You Do the Things You Do".  Eddie Kendricks sang lead and the single became The Temptations' first Top 20 hit that April, reaching #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Cash Box R&B charts.  

Here is an excerpt from The Temptations 1964 version of “The Way You Do The Things You Do”:

Shortly afterward, "The Way You Do The Things You Do" and several pre-David Ruffin singles were compiled into the group's first album, Meet the Temptations, released in early 1964.  The next two Temptations singles in 1964, "Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)" along with "I'll Be in Trouble" backed with "The Girl's Alright with Me", all mainly featured Kendricks on lead.

While traveling as part of Motown's 1964 Motortown Revue, Smokey Robinson and fellow Miracles member Ronnie White wrote "My Girl".  The Temptations recorded it in the fall of 1964 with David Ruffin singing his first lead vocal for the group.  Released as a single on December 21st, 1964, "My Girl" shot up the charts and in March 1965 it became The Temptations' first #1 pop hit.  One of Motown's best-known and most successful singles, it is considered to be The Temptations signature song.  "My Girl" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.  In 2017, the song was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Here is The Temptations version of “My Girl”:

After the success of "My Girl", Ruffin sang lead on the next three singles: "It's Growing", "Since I Lost My Baby", and "My Baby", which all made it to the Top 20 in 1965.  "My Baby's" B-side, the Paul Williams-led "Don’t Look Back", was a minor hit in its own right, becoming a top 20 R&B hit and serving for several years as the Temptations' live-show closing number.

[intro to "Get Ready"]

"Get Ready" would be the last song Smokey Robinson wrote and produced for the Temptations.  The single, with Kendricks singing lead falsetto, was released on February 7th, 1966.  Despite hitting #1 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart, "Get Ready" only reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Berry Gordy had made a deal with songwriter Norman Whitfield that, if "Get Ready" did not meet with the expected degree of success, then Whitfield's song, "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", would get the next Temptations release.  Consequently, Whitfield replaced Robinson as the group's producer.

On May 3rd, 1966 Berry Gordy issued the Whitfield-produced "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", with David Ruffin on lead, as the next single.  "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" peaked at #13 on the Billboard Pop chart, and was a #1 hit on the Billboard R&B charts for eight non-consecutive weeks.

Here is an excerpt from The Temptations version of "Ain't Too Proud to Beg":

Norman Whitfield began pulling the group away from ballad-based productions toward a harder-edged and brass-heavy soul sound.  The Temptations would hit their popular peak under Whitfield's tutelage.  Unlike the songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, Whitfield had a flair for spacious rhythmic arrangements.  Nearly all singles Whitfield produced prior to 1968 would feature David Ruffin on lead.

On August 4th, 1966 the single "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" was released.  The song was a #3 pop hit and a #1 R&B hit in the United States.  Outside the US, it was also a hit in the United Kingdom, making it to #18 on the UK Singles Chart in late 1966.  Then on November 2nd, 1966 Gordy released the single "(I Know) I'm Losing You".  It was a #1 hit on the Billboard R&B singles chart.  "(I Know) I'm Losing You" also reached #8 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, #21 in Canada, and #19 in the UK.  

The Temptations would release several hit singles in 1967.  The April 1967 release of "All I Need" reached #2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart and #8 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.  June 1967's release of "You're My Everything", with Ruffin and Kendricks swapping leads, reached #3 on the Billboard R&B chart and #6 on the Billboard Pop chart.  The September 1967 release of "(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need", had all of the group members singing lead on the last verse.  The song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at #14 and the Billboard R&B chart at #3.  Then on December 21st, Gordy would release  "I Wish It Would Rain".  That single peaked for three weeks in February and March 1968 at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart and at the #1 position on the Billboard R&B singles chart.  On April 18th, 1968 Gordy released "I Could Never Love Another".  It peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached the #1 position on the Billboard R&B Singles chart.

Studio albums during the "Classic Five" period, apart from 1964's Meet the Temptations, included 1965's The Temptations Sing Smokey, 1965's The Temptin' Temptations, 1966's Gettin' Ready, 1967's The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul, and 1968's The Temptations Wish It Would Rain.

By 1967, David Ruffin had begun demanding special treatment as lead singer.  Ruffin also had begun using cocaine regularly, building further tension within the group and causing him to miss a number of group meetings, rehearsals, and concerts.  There was a consensus among the rest of the group that Ruffin needed to be replaced, and Ruffin was officially fired on June 27th, 1968.  The next day, Dennis Edwards was hired to take Ruffin's place.  Not only had Ruffin been the lead voice on such famous songs as "My Girl" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", but he later scored two top 10 singles as a solo artist, "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)" and "Walk Away from Love".  Known for his unique raspy and anguished vocals, Ruffin would be ranked as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2008 and again in 2023.  

[intro to "Cloud Nine"]

Otis Williams had introduced Norman Whitfield to the music of Sly & the Family Stone.  Whitefield saw the new direction of fusing rock and R&B, and he created some psychedelic backing tracks.  The result was the song "Cloud Nine", the first of the group's singles to feature Dennis Edwards instead of David Ruffin in the lineup.  Dennis Edwards' rough, tough vocal style is showcased in “Cloud Nine”, which was released on October 25th, 1968.  It reached #2 on the Billboard R&B chart and #6 on the Billboard Pop chart.  "Cloud Nine" won Motown its first Grammy Award in 1969 for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal or instrumental.  The song led the way for The Temptations' full-blown venture into psychedelia, with increasingly eclectic and socio-political-themed records.  Within the coming two years they released songs like "Runaway Child, Running Wild", "Psychedelic Shack", and "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)".

Simultaneously, on November 21st, 1968 The Temptations released a joint single with Diana Ross & the Supremes for the Motown label.  "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" peaked for two weeks at #2 on the Hot 100 in the US, selling 900,000 copies in its first two weeks, and peaked at #3 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1969.  The two Motown vocal groups also went on a joint tour and had two NBC television specials together.

On July 30th, 1969 "I Can't Get Next to You" was released as a single.  It shot up to #1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart for two weeks in October 1969. The single was also a #1 hit on the Billboard Top R&B Singles for five weeks.  "I Can't Get Next to You" was the second of the Temptations' four #1 hits on the US pop charts, and was also one of the best-selling singles the group released.  Billboard ranked it as the #3 song for 1969.  

On January 14th, 1971 "Just My Imagination" was released, and it became the third Temptations single to reach #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.  "Just My Imagination" held the #1 position on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart for two weeks in 1971, from March 28th to April 10th.  

Here is an excerpt from The Temptations version of "Just My Imagination":

"Just My Imagination" also held the #1 spot on the Billboard R&B Singles chart for three weeks, from February 27th to March 20th of that year.  The song was the final Temptations single to feature founding members Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams.  During the process of recording and releasing the single, Kendricks left the group to begin a solo career, while Williams was forced to retire from the act for health reasons.  In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine listed "Just My Imagination" at #399 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

[intro to "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"] 

"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1971. The Temptations recorded a 12-minute track of the song that was included on their 1972 album All Directions.  All Directions would end up being their second best selling LP, only surpassed in sales by their TCB album.  An edited 7-inch single release of this Temptations track was issued in September 1972, and this version was a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and won three Grammy Awards in 1973. 

[chorus from "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"] 

The full-length album version of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" was ranked #169 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, one of the group's three songs on the list.   "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" would be the Temptations' last #1 hit.

Beginning in the mid-1970's, the Temptations began changing personnel frequently.  Otis Williams was the only constant in the band's lineup, however, in 1982 Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin reunited temporarily with the group for an album and tour.  1984's single release of "Treat Her Like a Lady" was The Temptations' biggest success on the R&B chart since 1975, reaching #2 on that R&B chart.  In 1998 the group’s story was dramatized in the TV miniseries called The Temptations, which was nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards.  In 2019 Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, a musical adaptation of Otis Williams’s autobiography, debuted on Broadway.  It garnered 12 Tony Award nominations, including best musical, and won for best choreography.  Amazingly, in the year 2026 Otis Williams and the current version of The Temptations are still lighting up concert stages around the world!

Over the course of their career, The Temptations have been known for their smooth harmonies and intricate choreography.  Recording primarily for Motown Records, they were among the most popular performers of soul music in the 1960's and 1970's.  The Temptations released 4 Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles and 14 R&B #1 singles.  The group was the first Motown act to win a Grammy Award and to win a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which they received in 2013.  Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, Otis Williams, and Paul Williams were inducted, as The Temptations, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.  Three Temptations songs, "My Girl", "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)", and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", are included among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.  In 2010 The Temptations were ranked #68 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".  In 2013 the group was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy.  In 2023, the group was ranked #1 by Billboard magazine on its list of the "100 Greatest R&B/Hip-Hop Artists Of All Time".

Thank you for listening to this episode of Rock and Roll Flashback where I discussed the career of The Temptations!  I will close out this podcast episode with The Temptations' single "I Can't Get Next to You".  So, fellow travelers, may your path be smooth and your music always be rockin'!  And until next time...Rock On!