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

 

(Continued from Part One)

Featuring amazing vocals and first-rate choreography, the group was now one of the heavyweights in the music business.  They appeared regularly on The Ed Sullivan Show and American Bandstand.  Ruffin, however, began using cocaine.  As is common with the drug, his ego took control and he started to demand a special private limousine to travel to shows rather than ride with the other members.  With their sister act the Supremes now being billed as Diana Ross & the Supremes, Ruffin wanted to rename the group David Ruffin & the Temptations.  Ruffin increasingly missed meetings, practices and concerts.

The group released the album Temptations Live!, a #10 album.

The group released The Temptations in a Mellow Mood later in the year, which did not score any big hits, so they began work on another album.

 

The album The Temptations Wish It Would Rain fared much better.  However, it carries with it a tragic tale.  Staff lyricist Roger Penzabene wrote the words to this great song after his wife committed adultery.  Penzabene turned to paper and wrote the song but then committed suicide about a week after the song was released as a single.  The single, "I Wish It Would Rain", another #1 R&B smash, also climbed to #4 on the Popular chart.

Penzabene also wrote "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You") for the group before his death.  It was the final song with Ruffin on lead.

"Gonna Give Her All the Love I've Got" is a song originally recorded by Jimmy Ruffin from his 1967 solo album Jimmy Ruffin Sings Top Ten. The Temptations recorded it the following year with Paul Williams on lead.

After missing a date on June 27, 1968, the group fired Ruffin and replaced him with Dennis Edwards, formerly with the Contours.  But Ruffin began appearing at Temptations concerts, jumping onstage, yanking the microphone from Edwards to sing "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" uninvited.  Despite added security, Ruffin continued to do this throughout the next month.

Finally, Ruffin relented and after legal disputes with Motown, stayed with the label as a solo artist.  

 

Using influences such as Sly & the Family Stone, Whitfield began writing and producing psychedelic material for the group.  Unlike the Ruffin era, in which he dominated the lead vocals, the group members, each ultra talented in their own right, often shared them.  In 1968, the Temps debuted their new sound with the album Cloud Nine.  The title song peaked at #6 overall, #2 R&B, and won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Group Performance. 

The Temptations recorded Live at the Copa, recorded at a New York City nightclub where the group had performed before.  They also recorded with their longtime sister act on the album Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations. 

 

"I'm Gonna' Make You Love Me", with fellow Motown supergroup the Supremes, was a big hit at #2 and sold over two million singles.  Diana Ross and Kendricks shared lead vocals, with Otis alternating with Diana on the spoken parts.

  

The Temptations released the single "Runaway Child, Running Wild", one of the best songs ever about runaways.  The five members alternate verses to build the song to a climax in the first five minutes before giving way to the instrumental passage led by Dennis Coffey's distorted wah-wah pedal guitar, guitar from Joe Messina and Earl Van Dyke on the Hammond organ.  Otis Williams says that many people have come up to him and said that the song's terrifying story of a runaway child kept them from running away.  The song was another #1 on the R&B chart that reached #6 overall.

The Temps and Supremes joined forces again for the album Together.  This collaboration also featured joint appearances on the NBC television specials TCB and G.I.T. on Broadway.

 

In 1969, the Temptations continued their winning ways with the albums Puzzle People in 1969 and Psychedelic Shack in 1970.  The former gave us this great groove featuring those amazing vocals--"Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down"!

The Temps again turned to the team of Barrett Strong and Whitfield, who also wrote "Cloud Nine" for them.  Featuring alternating leads from all five members, the group scored one of their biggest career hits with the #1 smash "I Can't Get Next To You".

Whitfield and Strong also wrote "Psychedelic Shack", which peaked at #7 but hit #2 on the R&B chart.  The lyrics, which urged accepting everyone as they are, fit into a time when getting along was expected before the Selfish Era began about 40 years ago.

 

The Temps covered "Friendship Train" the year after Gladys Knight & the Pips recorded it.

Join us for Part Three of the Temptations!