The Temptations, The #41 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Three

 

(Continued from Part Two)

 

Later in the year, the group released the album The Temptations Christmas Card, which featured a great version of "White Christmas".

Paul Williams became the next casualty of fame and fortune.  He too didn't deal with stress well and became depressed, worsened by Williams succumbing to alcoholism.  Williams also suffered from sickle-cell disease, and had to travel with oxygen tanks, which made touring even more difficult.  The Temps also gave us a great version of "Silent Night".

Richard Street, former member of the Distants, came on board to replace Paul on tours.  Meanwhile, Kendricks had always preferred the ballads the group used to sing and wasn't comfortable with psychedelic soul.  Kendricks and Ruffin had been good friends, and both felt Motown was cheating them out of money.  

Kendricks suggested that the Temptations refuse to do any further work for Motown until Gordy allowed accountants to go over all of the group's finances with the label.  The other members disagreed with this approach, and following an argument after another Copacabana gig in November of 1970, Kendricks left.  


Prior to this incident, the Temptations recorded the album Sky's the Limit.  Kendricks and Paul Williams shared lead vocals on "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)", which became their third #1 hit.

 "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)" (#8 R&B, #18 Popular) also went Gold.

Kendricks began a solo career and enjoyed a 1974 hit with "Keep On Truckin'".  The Temps first hired Ricky Owens, but when he didn't work out, they became a quartet.   

 

Late in the year, the Temptations released their compilation album Greatest Hits, Volume 2, which contained the single  "Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today)", #2 on the R&B chart and #3 overall.

Following a doctor's advice, Paul Williams quit the group shortly after and Street officially replaced him in the lineup.  

Williams continued to assist the group as a choreographer and recorded two songs for a solo release.  But on August 17, 1973, Paul died from a gunshot wound at the age of 34.  The Wayne Country coroner ruled his death a suicide.  

 

"It's Summer" was his final recording with the group.

 

The group hired Damon Harris in 1971 to once again become a quintet.  The next year, they recorded a 12-minute song "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" for their 1972 album All Directions.  An edited version cut to seven minutes became one of the longest hit singles in history.  The Temptations rode the song to #1 and won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, while Whitfield and arranger and conductor Paul Riser shared a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental version and Whitfield and Strong won another Grammy for Best R&B Song.

 

The title song from their album Masterpiece in 1973 reached #1 on the R&B chart and #7 on the Popular chart.  The Temptations won an American Music Award for Favorite R&B Vocal Group.

 

Here's "Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)" with Street singing lead.

Whitfield ended his association with Strong and began writing songs for the group by himself.  Later in the year, the Temptations released the album 1990.

Turning the success of "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" into a formula, Whitfield wrote songs with elaborate instrumental parts rather than utilize the vocal strengths of the group.  Not only did the Temptations not like this, but they also didn't like that single and album sales were falling, and after complaining to Gordy, they were able to get Whitfield reassigned.

But most of the magic was gone.  The group tried several producers and even tried producing their own records, but the albums House Party in 1975 and Wings of Love and The Temptations Do the Temptations in 1976 did not generate attention.  

Jeffrey Bowen stepped in and wrote the material for the Temptations album A Song for You, which won an American Music Award for Favorite R&B Album.  During this time, Harris was fired from the group and was replaced by Glenn Leonard.

Bowen's writing utilized Edwards on lead vocals, but when sales went nowhere, he was fired and Louis Price took his place.  The Temptations decided to shop their talents around and signed with Atlantic Records.  But none of this mattered.  The albums Hear To Tempt You in 1977 and Bare Back didn't do any better than the previous few albums.  In 1980, the Temps were back with Motown.

Price left the group for the Drifters, and Edwards returned to the Temptations.  The group released the album Power.  The group still couldn't come close to their earlier success, and in 1982, Motown planned a reunion of the classic lineup in 1982.

Kendricks and Ruffin both agreed, and the Temptations released the album Reunion.  

The Temptations, which now included Ruffin, Kendricks, Otis Williams, Franklin, Edwards, Street and Leonard, went on tour, but Ruffin was still having drug problems and internal disputes caused Ruffin and Kendricks to again leave.

The Temps released the album Surface Thrills in 1983.  Afterwards, Leonard was fired, replaced by Ron Tyson, who had written several songs for the group while they were with Atlantic.

The group released the album Back to Basics with Tyson on lead later in the year.  Edwards, who had missed rehearsals for the album, was again fired and Ollie Woodson joined.  

 

"Lady Soul" hit #4 on the R&B chart, though it stalled at #47 overall.

Woodson didn't last long either, and he was fired in 1987 for tardiness.  Edwards was accepted back for a third time, and the Temptations released the album Together Again.  

In a soap opera reminiscent of the on-again, off-again hiring of Billy Martin as manager of baseball's New York Yankees, Edward was fired for a third time and Woodson rejoined.  

The group scored 15 Top 10 hits on the R&B chart in the years following "Masterpiece", but success was contained there as they were unable to reach the mass audience that they once did on a regular basis.  They did manage to continue to record several late-career songs that are worthy, as you will hear.

In 1989, the Temps were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with the classic members of the group present. 

In 1991, however, they combined with Rod Stewart for the #10 hit "The Motown Song".

Predictably, Ruffin died from cocaine at the age of 50 on June 1, 1991.  Kendricks battled lung cancer before dying on October 5, 1992.  Franklin's health was going downhill as well, and he died on February 23, 1995 after suffering a brain seizure.  

 

They continued to record and tour with various lineups, releasing the album For Lovers Only. The album included a cover of the Cole Porter song "Nite & Day", remixed for the 2002 movie What Women Want. 

 

The album also included this nice cover--"Some Enchanted Evening", the Rogers and Hammerstein tune from the classic 1949 movie South Pacific.

In 1994, the group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  

In 1998, the Temptations, which now featured Otis, Tyson, Theo Peoples, Harry McGilberry and Terry Weeks, performed at halftime of Super Bowl XXXII.  Later in the year, they released the album Phoenix Rising, their first album to sell one million copies in over 20 years.

 

From that album, here's "This Is My Promise".

The Temptations, one of the greatest singing groups in history, were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.  Ray Davis, formerly the bassist for Parliament-Funkadelic, joined the group only to die on July 5, 2005 after also getting lung cancer.  In 2000, they released the album Ear-Resistible, which won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. 

Continuing to shift their lineup, the Temptations recorded their final Motown album, Legacy, in 2004, before transferring to an affiliated label, New Door Records.  The group released the album Reflections in 2006 and Back to Front, an album of covers, in 2007.  Former member Ollie Woodson died of leukemia on May 30, 2010.

In 2010, the Temptations released the album Still Here.

In 2013, they received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.  Harris died on February 28, 2013 of prostate cancer, and Street died of pulmonary embolism nine days later while writing the book Ball of Confusion:  My Life as a Temptin Temptation.  Co-author Gary Flanigan finished the book for release in 2014.  

The Temptations have won four Grammy Awards.  Three of their biggest--"My Girl", "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" and "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" are featured in the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll exhibit in the Hall of Fame.

The Temps amassed 53 career hits in one of the most competitive times of the Rock Era.  Sixteen of those reached the Top 10 and four went all the way to #1.

The group won five Grammy Awards and two American Music Awards in their career.  "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" and "My Girl" are both in the Grammy Hall of Fame.