The Temptations

The Temptations were one of Motown's leading acts, at the forefront of R&B/soul through the '60s and beyond. The group's roots go back to the late '50s and two rival vocal groups, the Distants and the Primes (the latter had a sister group, the Primettes, who became the Supremes). By 1960 the frontmen of those groups had joined forces, and in 1961 they signed to Motown, whose leader Berry Gordy changed the new group's name from the Elgins to the Temptations. Though there had already been personnel changes, the classic lineup was now in place with David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Otis Williams, and Melvin Franklin. Between them the five had a few trademarks: Franklin's booming bass voice, Kendricks' sweet tenor and Ruffin's manly lead voice. Kendricks got the lead on January 1964's Smokey Robinson-written "The Way You Do the Things You Do," the Temptations' seventh single and their first hit. The record's polished sound and smooth romantic tone was matched by their onstage showmanship and dancing. After a few unsuccessful followups, Robinson set out to write a song that would put Ruffin's voice in the spotlight, the result "My Girl" was a Number One at Christmastime 1964, and is now regularly named as one of the greatest of all soul singles. The run of classic hits continued with "Get Ready", "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" and "I Wish It Would Rain"-the latter two significantly had Norman Whitfield taking over from Robinson as writer/producer. Ruffin left the group in 1968 and was replaced by Dennis Edwards, a grittier gospel-styled vocalist who'd been in the Contours. His Temptations debut was on the ballad "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" but Whitfield then steered the new lineup to a new style of psychedelic soul. This was introduced on fall 1968's "Cloud Nine," a groundbreaking record with its wah-wah guitar intro and urgent vocal trade-offs. The lyric seemed to be about drugs as an escape, though Whitfield insisted it was about a state of mind. This launched another run of hits with the topical "Ball of Confusion," "Can't Get Next to You," and the 12-minute epic "Papa Was a Rolling Stone." The run of hits ended with another production epic, "Masterpiece" in spring 1973. Behind the scenes there were numerous shakeups and a few tragedies. Paul Williams shot himself in 1973 after having to leave the group for medical reasons; and Ruffin's cocaine addiction derailed his solo career. By 1976 only two originals, Franklin and Otis Williams, remained in the group. Still, there would always be a Temptations. Ruffin and Kendricks briefly rejoined the group in 1982 and sang on a comeback hit, "Standing on the Top," with rising Motown star Rick James. The pair then teamed with Hall & Oates and hit with a medley of Temptations oldies in 1985. Ruffin died in 1991, Kendricks in 1992 and Edwards in 2018.