Nothing lasts like songs by the Temps

The Baltimore Sun

Ah, what a difference one word makes!

I got the word on the grapevine that the Temptations are scheduled to appear at the African-American Heritage Festival tomorrow night, and I figured Camden Yards is exactly where I'll be around 6:30 p.m. Then I read the schedule in The Sun and looked closely at the words.

"The Temptations Revue featuring Dennis Edwards and Ali Woodson."

Temptations Revue? Revue? You mean I won't be getting the Temps?

OK, so Edwards and Woodson technically are Temps. According to the Web site www.thetemptations.com, Woodson was with the group from 1983 through 1986, and again from 1988 until 1996. He was the lead singer on the Temps' hit "Treat Her Like A Lady."

Edwards was a Temp for 13 years. He joined the group in 1968, left in 1977, returned for a three-year stint from 1980 to 1983 and did his final year from 1987 to 1988. Still, when I hear that the Temptations will be in town, I automatically assume that I'll be going to hear the group with at least one original member left.

That would be Otis Williams. Along with Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams and Elbridge Bryant, Williams formed the Temptations in 1961. Three years later, Bryant was out and David Ruffin was in. Franklin, Kendricks, Paul Williams, Bryant and Ruffin have all died. But Otis Williams continues to hang in there.

So phrases like "the Temptations Revue featuring Dennis Edwards and Ollie Woodson" confuse me. This is not a nice thing to do to a guy who still hasn't recovered from Ruffin leaving the Temps in 1968. It's especially cruel since the guy who replaced Ruffin - as if anybody can replace Ruffin - was Edwards.

True, Edwards was a Temp for over three times as long as Ruffin was. And Edwards sang or shared the lead on a string of hits by the Temps, including "Cloud Nine," "Papa Was A Rolling Stone," "I Can't Get Next to You," "Runaway Child Running Wild," "Ball of Confusion" and "Psychedelic Shack."

I've got to admit, that was quite a run for Edwards. But compare that to Ruffin's four-year run, in which he sang the lead on the following songs.

1. "My Girl"

2. "It's Growing"

3. "Since I Lost My Baby"

4. "My Baby"

5. "Ain't Too Proud To Beg"

6. "You'll Lose A Precious Love"

7. "Beauty's Only Skin Deep"

8. "(I Know) I'm Losing You"

9. "All I Need"

10. "(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need"

11. "I Wish It Would Rain"

12. "I Could Never Love Another"

Temps' fans whose favorite lineup is Ruffin-Kendricks-Franklin-Paul Williams-Otis Williams like to call that "David's Dozen." We rest our case.

Still, I guess I'll begrudgingly concede to Edwards his Temp bona fides. And lately I've been wondering if fans of the Temptations, when Ruffin and Kendricks sang most of the leads, have been too hard on Edwards over the years.

The Temps' first song after Ruffin left the group was "Cloud Nine." That was a do-or-die record for the Temps. If fans rejected the song - which started off with Edwards singing the lead and then switched to the other four members singing the lead - the Temps probably would have been finished.

Instead, "Cloud Nine" was a Grammy-winning hit. In a do-or-die situation the Temps - and Edwards - did. And they did big.

Three years later, to my utter dismay, Kendricks and Paul Williams left the Temptations. ("Why is this happening to my favorite group?" I wailed to anyone who would listen.) "Just My Imagination," the last hit featuring Kendricks singing the lead with a little help from Paul Williams, remains one of my favorite Temps' tunes precisely because of Eddie's and Paul's vocals.

Richard Street replaced Paul Williams. Some guy named Ricky Owens, followed by some guy named Damon Harris, replaced Kendricks. It didn't matter. I figured that without Ruffin, Kendricks and Paul Williams, the Temps were now surely dead.

In another do-or-die scenario for the group, they cranked out the chart-topper "Papa Was A Rolling Stone," again with Edwards starting off the lead vocals. The Temps kept sailing along and putting out albums after Edwards left. According to the group's Web site, there have been some 21 members of the Temptations. It's not who's doing the singing that's the key to the Temptations longevity. It's how good those singers are.

"Great singing," Otis Williams says in a group biography on the Web site, "will always prevail."

Edwards did quite a bit of good singing on quite a few Temptations tunes. So I just might head down to Camden Yards around 6:30 tomorrow evening after all. Not to hear the Temptations or the Temptations Revue featuring Dennis Edwards and Ollie Woodson.

But to hear some good singing.

greg.kane@baltsun.com

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