Otis Williams talks about The Temptations
Otis Williams
Real name is Otis Miles
Born October 30, 1941 Texarkana, Texas
Formed Otis Williams and The Siberians with Elbridge "Al" Bryant, James "Pee Wee" Crawford, Arthur Walton, and Vernard Plain. Plain was the lead singer.
Changed name to The Distants. The group consisted of Williams, Plain, Crawford, Bryant, and Melvin Franklin. Plain quit and Franklin brought in Richard Street as a replacement.
Formed a brother-like relationship with Melvin Franklin
He was the organizer and enforcer of the group.
Nickname was "O"
>
TMZ.com has reported that Otis Williams, the sole surviving original member of the Temptations, and who is still the leader of the group, is suing former Tempts Ali Woodson, Glenn Leonard and Bo Henderson, for using variations on the Temptations name in knock off groups or performances around the US. Woodson is now a member of The Temptations Revue feat. Dennis Edwards (who is apparently not being sued), but has also appeared in his own Emperors of Soul group as well as Legendary Lead Singers of the Temptations.
With a history of two dozen legitimate Temptations over the past 40+ years of performing, spinoff groups have been a regular issue that has bothered Williams. At one point in the 70s, members Eddie Kendrick and David Ruffin teamed with Edwards to form a sort of parallel universe version of the group that had its three most notable singers in it.
The suit comes as the current version of the original Temptations releases its newest disc, Back to Front, an album of remakes of classic soul songs.
Williams claims this is copyright infringement and that they are hurting his reputation by
accepting lesser billing and lesser fees.
I ran across this interview Otis did with Rinocast. That must be connected with the oldies label Rino Records. The interview totals about 1 hour and 5 mins. I`ve broken it down into more manageable segments. As you will see, Otis loves to talk about the Tempts. He gives interesting insights on the evolution and the inner workings of the group and their relationship with each other as well as Motown.
The last interview is one that David Ruffin did when he, along with Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards were touring Europe. On the US leg of that tour, they recorded "Eddie, David & Dennis In Las Vegas" .
Eddie Kendrick(s) Died Oct.5th, 1992. On Their Last Live CD Together, "Live In Las Vegas", March 2nd, 1991, David Sea Was Also Performing With Eddie, David & Dennis. Ali Woodson Is Now Performing With Dennis Edwards & The Review!
One review of that CD......
An historic night
author: Andrew Claps
To be honest, I really wasn’t expecting much from this set, as I’ve heard from a couple of people that, by this time, Eddie’s and David’s voices were shot. Well, this album gives lie to that assertion, as both sound terrific—amazing given that Eddie was dying of cancer and David was decades deep into cocaine addiction and would be dead within months of this show—and Dennis Edwards more than holds his own and proves that he definitely belongs on the Mount Olympus of Tempts singers. If you’re a Tempts fan, you absolutely can’t miss this one. A VERY pleasant surprise.
Thank you Edie for your help with my first blog.
Now on to the interviews.
Otis 1.mp3
Otis 2.mp3
Otis 3.mp3
Otis 4.mp3
Otis 5.mp3
Otis 6.mp3
David Ruffin - Live Interview Part One.mp3
FROM THE CD EDDIE, DAVID AND DENNIS IN LAS VEGAS
Eddie David Dennis - Keep On Truckin.mp3
Eddie David Dennis - My Girl.mp3
Eddie David Dennis - Ain`t Too Proud To Beg.mp3
Eddie David Dennis - A Song For You.mp3
Comment
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Comment by Edie Antoinette on April 7, 2009 at 4:46pm
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I'm in awe of this man Gene talking about this is his first blog. Superb job! And that's right, you're from Detroit, Bob! So many greats (including you) came from there. My goodness. Good to see you.
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Comment by rbc716 on April 7, 2009 at 4:40pm
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Thanks Gene and Edie, this is a great trip down memory lane.
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"David's glasses was all cocked to the side..." ---Otis
ROFLMBO
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Told you it was the bomb!!! Heyyyy, is that my Ronnilicious that I see down there? I miss you man!
Don't make me come find you with my strap...oh that's right, you like that kinna stuff. LOL
I do miss you though♥
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Comment by Ronn Nichols on April 7, 2009 at 4:00pm
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Incredible! THANKS FOR SHAING THIS!!!!
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You put your foot all up in this Gene! Excellent! I'm listening to the whole thang! Wait till Sole sees/hears this!
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The history of the Butlers/Raw Soul is dense, but for all of us music nerds, that's normal. It is not totally clear what year the Butlers actually formed but they released their first single in 1963 on Liberty Records. That single was "She Tried To Kiss Me" and another single followed on Guyden entitled "Lovable Girl." After the Guyden single the Butlers took a break not recording another record until the single "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" was released on the Phila label in 1966. The group also backed Charles Earland and Jean Wells on one Phila single ("I Know She Loves Me").
As you might be noticing, the Butlers were doing a fair amount of recording but not achieving much success. The group's recordings sold regionally but never had the promotion to make an impact on the national scene. After the single with Phila, the Butlers moved to the Fairmount label (part of the Cameo-Parkway family) and released a handful of singles, some being reissued singles of the past. The Butlers were with Fairmount for 1966-67 and then moved to Sassy Records. Sassy released the group's greatest single (in my opinion) "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" b/w "If That's What You Wanted." A copy of that 45 sold for just under $500 last summer on eBay. Even though that isn't that much in the world of record collecting--it's still a hefty sum. The Butlers released another single on Sassy ("She's Gone" b/w "Love Is Good") that appears to be even
harder to come by then the "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" single.
The true history become a bit blurred here as the AMG biography states that the Butlers last record was released on C.R.S. in 1974 (". However, between 1971 and that single, Frankie Beverly formed a group called Raw Soul and released a number of singles. Some of the songs recorded by Beverly during this period are "While I'm Alone," "Open Up Your Heart," (both on the Gregor label) and "Color Blind." "Color Blind" was released by the Eldorado label and rerecorded by Maze. Beverly's big break came when Marvin Gaye asked Raw Soul to back him on a tour. Gaye helped Beverly/Raw Soul get a contract at Capitol. Beverly decided to take the group in a different direction, a name change occurred, and Maze was created.
The above isn't the most complete history of Beverly but hopefully someone will know a way to get in touch with the man or his management because a comprehensive pre-Maze history needs to be done on Frankie Beverly (his real name is Howard, by the way). Below you'll find every Frankie Beverly (pre-Maze) song available to me right now ("Color Blind" will be up soon).
If you have a song that is not included below, shoot it over to funkinsoulman (at) yahoo.com and it will go up in the next Frankie Beverly post (later this week--highlighting Maze). Also, if you have any more information please share your knowledge. The Butlers material has been comp-ed sporadically (usually imports) but the entire Maze catalog has been reissued and is available.
Enjoy. "She Kissed Me" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967)
"I Want To Feel I'm Wanted" (not sure which label or year)
"Laugh, Laugh, Laugh"
(Phila, 1966)
"Because Of My Heart" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967)
"Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" (Sassy, 1967)
"If That's What You Wanted" (Sassy, 1967)
Frankie Beverly is one of those cats that has lasting power. He started in the music business doing a tour with doo wop group the Silhouettes and then formed his own group called the Blenders. The Blenders never recorded a single, Beverly wouldn't appear on wax until forming the Butlers a few years later. Along with Beverly, the Butlers included Jack "Sonny" Nicholson, Joe Collins, John Fitch, and Talmadge Conway.
Beverly would later enjoy great success fronting Maze and Conway would become a
well-known penning Double Exposure's
"Ten Percent" and the Intruders' "Memories Are Here To Stay."
While Maze is a phenomenal group, Beverly's work before that group will always stand out as his best (imo).
The Butlers produced tunes that most Northern Soul fans would kill for and Raw Soul gave the funksters something to pursue. The Butlers recorded their first single in 1960 titled "Loveable Girl". Left to right John Fitch, T Conway, Frankie Beverly, Sonny Nicholson and Joe Collins.
Frankie Beverly12/6/46 - 9/10/24
Power...Through Simplicity ♪♫♪
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