The Primes
In 1955, Eddie Kendricks, Paul
Williams, Willy Waller, and Kell Osborne, were
singing in local talent shows in their hometown. Realizing they would never
make it if they stayed in
With nothing happening in Cleveland, the two moved to
Detroit, along with new manager Milton Jenkins, uncle of Michigan State
University criminologist Carl Taylor, who remembers The Primes rehearsing in
the basement of his home, singing for as long as his father could stand it,
which was often until midnight. Sometimes the guys would literally "sing
for their supper", performing a capella
at somebody's anniversary party or eight course Sunday dinner, then reaching
for a knife and fork.
When Jenkins (pictured at right) met the Primes, they were
just one of many unknown groups around. Once he saw their show, he was convinced
they had star potential. They were young, good-looking, and talented. He soon
would invest every extra cent into The Primes' new suits and stylish processed
hairstyles. Jenkins, who often wore flashy sharkskin suits, was obsessed with
appearances. He insisted everything about him and his act be
first-class, and he chauffeured The Primes to every gig they played in in his shiny, red 1957 Cadillac.
When future Temptation Otis Williams and his group shared
rehearsal space with The Primes, they couldn’t help but notice Kendricks’ vocal prowess and Paul Williams smooth and
classy choreography.
The group would sometimes engage in vocal battles with other
groups at clubs and house parties, but with no real success so far, the trio
became discouraged, and in 1961, tired of the small club "gigs", Kendricks decided to return home to Birmingham, Kell Osborne moved to California hoping to go solo, and The
Primes disbanded.
The Early Years
We all have our favorite Temptation, and Eddie Kendricks certainly was mine. The sweetest and silkiest of
tenors, quiet and cool, with a voice that made the woman drool. The tall, lean
and handsome tenor from
Eddie arrived in
Naturally, When Otis Williams first
saw The Primes perform he couldn't help but notice the vocal prowess of Kendricks, and the smooth moves of Paul Williams.
The Primes disbanded and all three members separated. When
Eddie came back to
The group continued recording on a regular basis with either
Paul or Eddie leading on all the early songs, but none of the 1962 singles did
much, including the unique "Dream Come True",
and "
In early 1964 David Ruffin joined the group and coincidently
things began to change. Smokey Robinson told the group he'd booked the studio
for them to record a song he'd written with Bobby Rogers, one of the Miracles,
while driving on the
Around the same time, the uniforms the group had become
known for, started getting really wild. Eddie was
ahead of his time in picking the clothes, and at first the guys objected to
some purple suits he had chosen. Otis thought the suits would make them look
like pimps, but in the end they trusted his judgement
and he ordered five purple suits with a white button. He was right, when the
crowd saw them in those suits, they went absolutely wild.
In 1965, Smokey Robinson, who was writing mostly all of
their material, turned his attention away from Eddie momentarily, to hand over
"My Girl" to David Ruffin. The song would hit number one and stay
there for eight weeks. It was the groups big
breakthrough.
Over the next few years, many of the songs would be cut on
David, but Eddie would not be left behind either. In 1966, Smokey would hand
Eddie the song "Get Ready", but it didn't do
as well as the song Norman Whitfield had written with David in mind, which was
"Ain't Too Proud To Beg." Norman's song did
much better on the charts, and shortly thereafter, Norman Whitfield would begin
writing and producing almost exclusively for the group. David would get most of
the leads, but Eddie would still have his share.
Up until this time, the guys were tight and always hung out
together at one another's houses. Sometimes Melvin would cook up a pot of beans
and cornbread. Eddie loved cornbread so much the guys playfully nicknamed him
"cornbread".
When David Ruffin was dismissed in 1968, Eddie changed,
upset with the attitudes of some of the group members, he formed an alliance
with David outside the group. In the late 1960's, times would change and so
would
At the Copa in 1970, Eddie walked
out after the first show, and it was decided, mutually, that it was time for
him to leave the group. And so he did, leaving them with one
of their alltime biggest hits.
The Solo Years
In
March of 1971, on the wings of his swan song, the gossamer ballad "Just My
Imagination," Eddie Kendricks quit The
Temptations. The song hung at number one of a couple of weeks, but by that
time, Eddie had already gone. Thanks largely to the writing/producing team of
Frank Wilson/Leonard Caston, Eddie would quickly develop a sound of his own.
His first solo album All By
Myself featured testimonials on the back cover from Otis, Melvin, Dennis,
and Paul, stating that there were no hard feelings regarding his departure from
the group. The debut album contained the significantly titled "It's So Hard For Me To Say Goodbye", and "This Used To
Be The Home Of Johnnie Mae", a great ballad that showcases the strength of
his natural tenor, that he rarely used within the confines of The Temptations.
Can't forget the oh so sexy "Can I", from
the same album, apparantly, Eddie added the sexy
spoken segments pretty much right on the spot, according to producer Frank
Wilson.
The second album, People...Hold On was also well
received. The cover picture had Eddie sitting on a
African throne, draped in a tux, and holding a spear. It contained the funky
"If You Let Me", the beautiful ballad "Just Memories", and
"Someday We'll Have A Better World", a
social statement to African Americans.
In 1973, the self titled Eddie Kendricks
showed that Kendricks had the perfect voice to
accompany the disco track "Keep On Truckin",
and he could still serve up a #1 hit for Motown. Most of the tracks on that
album were the love songs that Eddie preferred, including his version of
"Any Day Now", a song done by Chuck Jackson in 1963 and a country hit
by Ronnie Milsap in 1982. Eddie's version was
superior, I think. Also included is "Each Day I Cry A Little" with an extensive spoken segments, that Eddie could do so
well.
Next up, the album Boogie Down containing
the disco hit of the same name. Similar
to "Keep On Truckin",
but didn't fare as well, especially on the pop charts. It did, however make a
good showing on the R&B charts. Much of the album has a disco beat, with
some of the lyrics obviously written about himself, such as "The Thin
Man", and "Son of Sagittarius", which was, of course, Eddie's
astrological sign. Aside from the disco songs, "Trust Your Heart" is
a pretty, Temptation-like song, and when you hear "Tell Her Love Has Felt The Need", you know that Eddie wasn't leaving the love
songs behind.
Eddie would continue through the 1970's with good to
moderate success. The 1974 album For You is a great one including the
hit "Shoeshine Boy", and the creamy love songs, "Please Don't Go
Away" and "Deep And Quiet Love", as well as his tender rendition
of the Jim Croce song, "Time In A Bottle". Again, another good album
in 1975, The Hit Man, included the moderate hit "Skippin' Work Today", inspired by the songwriter who
was doing just that everyday. He was in the park across the street from the Hitsville West studio, playing tennis instead of working.
For the 1976 He's A Friend,
Frank Wilson would turn over production to Norman Harris. This album and the
next one Goin Up In
Smoke would have spiritual tones. Religion would become important to Eddie
around this time and is evidenced in the title song "He's A Friend"
where he speaks of God as his friend. Also on that album, is a number called
"It's Not What You Got", where he tells us that although he only
weighs 145lbs., he's well put together thanks to God, and that he knows how to
use what he's got. In the next album, "Goin Up In
Smoke" he takes us back to religion with songs like "Born
Again", "Don't You Want Light", and the title song "Goin Up In Smoke". On that same album is "The
Music Man", where he tells us that he sings about love, he sings about
disco, and he sings about God. He pretty well sums it up in those lyrics.
Eddie wrapped up the 1970's with Slick. This one is
my favorite because it contains the sweet and fragile "Baby". I love
this song, and there's no doubt he still had the goods, right down to the
lovely vibratto in his voice.
In the 1980's Eddie switched over to
In the early 1980's, Eddie would do mostly benefits and some
free concerts, with Mary Wells and Martha Reeves, and play clubs and nostalgia
shows. In 1985, Kendricks was onstage at the