BIOGRAPHY
"The Way You Do The Things You Do"..."The Girl's Alright With Me"..."Get Ready"..."You've Got To Earn It"..."Born To Love You"..."Please Return Your Love To Me"..."Just My Imagination"...when you hear these songs, you automatically know who the group is. None other than the legendary Temptations, who were hands down the most successful male R&B act EVER. In their heyday, they were unstoppable...the definition of cool black masculinity, like five modern day Nat King Coles. Hit after hit after hit, they weren't dubbed the "MIGHTY" Temptations for nothing.
During the Tempts' most successful period, the lineup included Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, David Ruffin, and a tall, svelte, soft-spoken and strikingly handsome young man who went by the name Eddie Kendricks. Eddie was the vocalist who had the lady-killing tenor/falsetto behind those hits mentioned above, influencing a generation of male singers who would follow in his footsteps. There's not a falsetto out there that's worth his salt that can claim not to be influenced by the thin man from Birmingham. Later Eddie struck out on his own to enjoy a successful solo career. I'm sure Eddie had no inkling of the kind of icon he would become, after all, he once said his only motivation for getting in the music business was to purchase a home for his parents. But as we see, he did that and so much more. This is his story...
PART 1: LET'S GO BACK TO DAY ONE
From choirboy to Temptation
Eddie James Kendrick was born in Union Springs, Alabama, on December 17, 1939, the second of five children that would be born to Johnny Kendrick and his wife, Lee Bell. In 1947, the family moved to Birmingham, where a seven year old Eddie met and formed a life-long friendship with another boy his age, Birmingham native Paul Williams. It was not an instant alliance, though. They became friends only after the two of them slugged it out when Paul began calling Eddie names one day and threw a bucket of dirty mop water on him as he passed Paul's house. As fate would have it, though, the two boys became the best of friends after this incident and were inseparable. They attended the same school and sang in the same church choir. It was in that popular gospel choir that they both discovered that they shared the same love...singing. Rock and roll and doo-wop was becoming popular in the early 1950s, and it seemed like every kid who could carry a tune wanted to be part of a singing group. Eddie and Paul were no different. Influenced by groups like the successful New York City doo-wop kid quintet Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Billy Ward and the Dominos, The Drifters and Clyde McPhatter, the boys formed their own little vocal trio with another friend, Kell Osborne, and perfected their harmonies at one another's houses and on street corners, like most kids did back in the day. When they decided to get serious about their singing, they began to work up an act. Eddie's voice was very supple and he was able to sing in a crisp, angelic falsetto equally as well as he sang in his natural tenor. He also had an excellent ear for harmony, so he was the one who handled most of their background arrangements. Paul was a strong baritone whose vocals carried great emotive qualities and he handled most of the leads. He was also a dynamic dancer (undoubtedly the best that the Temptations would ever have) who got a lot of tips from old school dancers. He choreographed the showstopping routines for the group. In addition to his amazing skills in choreography, Paul also had a keen eye for staging and presentation. Kell completed their sound with his strong, second tenor.
The Primes, circa 1958. L to R: Eddie Kendrick, Kell (Cal) Osbourne, Paul Williams.
Eventually the three of them decided to leave segregated Alabama, because there wasn't anything happening down there, not like the music scene is today. They understood that location, like timing, meant everything. Much to the dismay of their parents, the boys dropped out of Western-Olin High School (now known as Jackson-Olin High School) in Birmingham. They then got a little money together, climbed on a bus, and left the South. They ended up in Cleveland, Ohio around 1956, where they had relatives, intent on making a career in the entertainment industry. There they christened themselves "The Cavaliers". While in Cleveland, they really struggled ~ there were times they had to literally sing for their supper. They slept in bathtubs, on floors, and did odd jobs for people...anything just to get by. Then one day, they met a man named Milton Jenkins, who had seen their act and was very impressed. He suggested to the boys that they go up to Detroit, that their chances of success would be better there. Eddie, Paul and Kell took him up on his offer, and headed to Michigan. They changed their name to "The Primes" ~ indicative of being the very best at what they did ~ and with Jenkins managing and grooming them, they became very popular in the area. They were clearly different from most of the other doo wop groups out there. In addition to their always elegant manner of dress onstage and off, they also had impeccable, sophisticated harmonies and slick and sexy choreography.
By 1960 the Primes, talented as they were, had not found that big break, so they parted ways. Kell quit the group and headed out to California to try his luck as a solo act. Paul decided to stay in Detroit, while a disillusioned Eddie had gone back down south for a while, perhaps to re-evaluate just what he was going to do with his life. Eventually he would come back, at Paul's urging. Meanwhile, another male singing group in town was experiencing the same hardships as the Primes were. This group was named The Distants, which was headed up by a teenager named Otis Williams. The Distants were a quintet which included Otis, Melvin Franklin (aka David English), Richard Street, Elbridge (Al) Bryant and Albert (Mooch) Harrell, but by 1960 Richard and Mooch had dropped out. This put Otis in a bind, since he had received a recent invitation from a record company to audition his group, but he was minus two singers. Otis had become acquainted with Eddie and Paul from seeing them at several local talent shows prior to their respective groups splitting up, and was totally blown away what he saw and heard. The Primes were destined for something far beyond neighborhood talent shows and the like, and Otis recognized this. When the Distants broke up, Otis immediately thought of the Primes....but it seemed as if they disappeared from the Detroit music scene, and Otis didn't know how to contact them because they hadn't stayed in touch. Out of the blue Eddie happened to call Otis one day just to chat, and after discussing their individual situations, they all decided to hook up, and "The Elgins" were born. Their voices ranged from Eddie's sweet, high falsetto and tenor, which he switched back and forth between with no problem, to Melvin's rich, deep, bottomless bass. In the middle there was Paul's husky and sensual baritone, and Al and Otis rounded their sound out, singing second tenor, although Otis could also handle some notes of a baritone. Eddie and Paul worked hard with the three former Distants, teaching them intricate harmonies and dance steps to incorporate into their stage act. After perfecting their vocal harmonies and choreography to the letter, they were ready to take a shot at stardom.
The Elgins' audition was for a hot new Detroit-based label named Motown in 1961, which was founded by ex-boxer/former record store owner/former Ford automobile plant employee, and now songwriter and record producer Berry Gordy, Jr. in the late 1950s. Gordy already had great success writing and producing early hits for Jackie Wilson ("Reet Petite", "That's Why I Love You So", "Lonely Teardrops", "To Be Loved") and now he had a label of his own. He was doing quite well with the acts he signed: The Miracles, Smokey Robinson's group; The Marvelettes; Mary Wells, Barrett Strong to name a few ~ all acquaintances of the members of The Elgins. The quintet aced the audition, but were advised to change their name. After coming up with several different monikers, they decided upon "The Temptations", and Eddie and Paul handled the majority of the leads, even though they prided themselves on being a group who had "five lead singers". It was also during this time that Eddie added an "s" to his last name ~ who knows why ~ and now he was known as Eddie Kendricks. (In the mid-1980s, he dropped the "s" and went back to using his actual family surname.)
The first Temptations lineup, 1961. Clockwise, Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, Elbridge (Al) Bryant, Otis Williams, Paul Williams.
Success was slow in coming for the young men. Their first single, "Oh Mother of Mine" went nowhere, and the other songs they made followed suit. The Temptations had been on Motown for three years (first the Motown subsidiary label Miracle, later discontinued ~ then the Gordy label, created for them) but couldn't come up with a hit for anything, with the exception of one song that was an obscure R&B hit in 1962, "Dream Come True", an Eddie-led ballad. Even with Gordy himself writing and producing most of their earliest tunes, not much was happening. The songs were good but for some reason, they just didn't catch on. They didn't have any hits to call their own just yet, but at least they always looked sharp: Eddie was responsible for that. He himself had a very refined, meticulous taste in clothing, and in addition to his great ear for harmony, he brought his sense of fashion and style to the group, choosing most of their onstage outfits.
By the end of 1963, Al Bryant departed from the group after an altercation with Paul Williams. The two of them got into a heated argument after a show, Al struck Paul, and a huge fight ensued. He had never really gotten along with neither Paul or Eddie anyway and he had a bad temper, so it was just something that was waiting to happen. Al was not optimistic about the group's future, and he also complained a lot. On top of that, he had a drinking problem, so he couldn't be depended on. David Ruffin, an exciting performer in his own right who was signed to Motown as a solo artist and wore thick horn-rimmed glasses, was invited by the other Tempts to take Bryant's place, although they had first considered David's older brother Jimmy. David was good luck for the Temptations. Right after he joined in early 1964, the group cut "The Way You Do The Things You Do" (#11 Pop)*, an upbeat song that Gordy protege Smokey Robinson co-wrote and produced, featuring Eddie's soaring falsetto out in front, and the record caught on. After the years of struggling, finally the payoff came. It was the first of many hits that the group would have over the years.
The legendary lineup, 1965. L to R: Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Otis Williams, Paul Williams, David Ruffin.
*From 11/30/63 to 1/23/65, there was no Billboard R&B Chart.
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