Free Republic

The Temptations -- Papa Was A Rolling Stone

Richard Street, for nearly three decades a member of The Temptations, has died. He is the second former member of the fabled Motown group to pass away in two weeks; last week former Tempations tenor Damon Harris died. Both singers can be heard on the 1972 hit "Papa Was A Rolling Stone." Street and Harris joined the band at the tail end of its heyday. Harris was only with the group for four years. Street was being treated for blood clots at Saint Rose Dominican Hospital in Las Vegas, where he died Wednesday morning. He was 70 years old.

Damon Harris, who sang with the Temptations on many of their hits of the 1970s, died here on Feb. 18. He was 62. The cause was prostate cancer, said Chuck Woodson, his cousin and a family spokesman. Mr. Harris was a decade younger than anyone else in the Temptations when he joined in 1971, replacing Eddie Kendricks. He was the lead singer on “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” the group’s last No. 1 single, and was also heard on “Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are),” “Masterpiece” and other hits. He left in 1975.

Bruce Williamson Jr., the lead singer of the Temptations, has died from the coronavirus. He was 49. The soul singer died Sunday night at his home in Las Vegas, TMZ reported. Williamson, who was not an original member, joined the Temptations in 2006 and sang with the group until 2015.

There is a wonderful musical, Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, on stage in Los Angeles. It is a superb theatrical production. For those of us of a certain age, the music of the Temptations was the soundtrack of our youth. From "My Girl" of 1964 to "Papa was a Rolling Stone" in 1972, the Temptations made their indelible musical mark on the 1960s. There were countless hits in between and many later. The Temptations differed from the surf and car songs of the Beach Boys and of course sounded nothing like the Beatles. They were...

A train pulls into the station roughly 3/4s of the way through video but leaves in time for the nice finish.

The Grammy-winning song is a revered example of the group’s fruitful relationship with producer Norman Whitfield and his co-writer Barrett StrongThe Temptations’ soulful staple, “Cloud Nine,” released on October 25, 1968, is much celebrated as the first Motown song to win a Grammy. It’s also a revered exemplar of the group’s fruitful relationship with producer Norman Whitfield and his co-writer Barrett Strong. Recorded with a new-look Funk Brothers band featuring the wah-wah guitar of Dennis Coffey, it was also the marker of the taut, tense new sound the combined talents would create together from that point on. But as...

The powerful song was the second single from the group’s ‘Puzzle People’ album.It’s October 18, 1969. The Russian Soyuz 8 spacecraft returns to Earth with cosmonauts Shatalov and Yeliseyev. Jefferson Airplane’s Paul Kantner is arrested for marijuana possession. Wyclef Jean and golfer Ernie Els are each one day old; Led Zeppelin are preparing to release their second album. Gas costs 35c a gallon in America and 6s 2d (31p) in Britain. And America’s new favorite pop single is “I Can’t Get Next To You” by the Temptations. Another triumph in the ongoing collaboration between the vocal group, producer Norman...

The 1964 Motown classic joins an elite group of megahits on Spotify.“My Girl,” the 1964 hit from The Temptations, has just crossed a major streaming milestone. Today, the track hit one billion listens on Spotify. By far the group’s most-streamed song, “My Girl” joins the elite group of less than 1,000 high-streamers, and becomes one of the oldest songs on the list. “My Girl” was the first number-one hit from The Temptations, though many more would follow throughout the 1960s and 70s. Written by Smokey Robinson, a beloved artist in his own right, and singer Ronnie White, “My Girl” was...

The beloved singer was 88 years old.‘Duke’ Fakir, the last original member of Motown greats The Four Tops, has passed away. The Four Tops were quintessential figureheads of the golden era of Motown’s first decade-plus, winning induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. They went on to record with distinction at ABC/Dunhill and Casablanca Records before returning to Motown in 1983, and then moving on to Arista. They epitomized the undervalued principle that the group was bigger than any individual member, never recording in their own names despite the Tops’ millions of record sales and singing...

Full of artistry and soul, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ is a pinnacle of pop music that cannot be surpassed.It was one of the most glorious achievements in 60s music, rising from a delicate opening to a shattering climax. If the 60s gave us the love generation, here was an anthem full of love. If soul was about physical passion in a gospel context, this song is its apex. Full of artistry, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” is, fittingly, a pop pinnacle. Though its roots lie in gospel, the song...

As the Detroit Free Press reports, Williams shared stories from the group’s 61-year history. With the latter-day Temptations and Four Tops back in the city where both groups were born, for a double bill show at Detroit’s Fox Theatre tonight (6), the Tempts’ surviving co-founder Otis Williams paid a visit to the Motown Museum yesterday. Shop the best of the Temptations’ discography on vinyl and more. As the Detroit Free Press reports, Williams shared stories from the group’s 61-year history, imparting his wisdom to an audience including 13 aspiring artists from the museum’s Hitsville Next programs. The event was hosted...

The ideas that emerged when R&B’s heaviest heads let it all hang out make for a compelling chapter in the story of American music.By the time the psychedelic revolution dosed America’s collective consciousness in the late 60s, Motown Records had spent the decade’s first half at the front of just about every new move in R&B and soul. And the label wasn’t about to lag behind when it came to keeping pace with the wildly blooming counterculture. R&B artists were used to being a step ahead of rock ‘n’ roll, with the world’s most influential rockers scrambling to adopt the...

Full of artistry and soul, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ is a pinnacle of pop music that cannot be surpassed.It was one of the most glorious achievements in 60s music, rising from a delicate opening to a shattering climax. If the 60s gave us the love generation, here was an anthem full of love. If soul was about physical passion in a gospel context, this song is its apex. Full of artistry, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” is, fittingly, a pop pinnacle. Though its roots lie in gospel, the song...

The Spinners helped create the sound of an era with a parade of soul and pop hits beginning in 1973. Their music has lived on thanks to its sly sophistication, love-struck lyrics and timeless hooks. The lineup whittled down over the years to stalwart Henry Fambrough and a group of newer collaborators, but the songs – and memories of the camaraderie – remain: "The other guys are gone, but they're still with us any time we sing," Fambrough told Billboard. "This group's bigger than any one of us." After a slow start at Motown, the Spinners switched to Atlantic Records...

Because he was such an icon, he was able to have Black artists on TV when they were often not welcomed nor wanted elsewhere.I cannot recall when I first heard the name Ed Sullivan, but it certainly had to have been when I was a ghetto youth coming of age in the 1970s and 1980s. I initially connected his name with music superstars Elvis Presley and The Beatles, and their now legendary appearances on his variety show. I was intrigued by how he introduced musical guests, his mightily distinctive diction, his genuinely low-key demeanor. But I had no clue, truly,...

Strong -- who passed away Sunday, Jan. 29, at the age of 81 in Detroit -- co-wrote some of Motown's most enduring hits.More than 73 years ago, Barrett Strong, as a singer, declared “Money (That’s What I Want)” — for the first hit single from the Motown empire. What he actually wound up getting was musical immortality. As a songwriter. Strong — who passed away Sunday, Jan. 29, at the age of 81 in Detroit — co-wrote some of Motown’s most enduring hits, with a variety of collaborators but primarily the late Norman Whitfield. Those included “I Heard It Through...

Lamont Dozier, one-third of the legenday “Holland-Dozier-Holland” songwriting and production trio who wrote many of Motown Records’ biggest hits for the Supremes, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Martha and the Vandellas and others, has died at the age of 81. The news was confirmed by his son Lamont Dozier Jr.; no cause of death has been announced. His family issued the following statement: “Lamont Dozier, devoted father and legendary songwriter, producer and recording artist, died peacefully in his home on Monday, August 8. He was preceded in death by his wife of 40 years, Barbara Ullman Dozier and is survived...

The Motown singer and prolific songwriter — who once fronted Smokey Robinson and the Miracles — is still going strong despite a recent bout with COVID-19 in 2020. “I was very sick — I was in the hospital for 11 days with it — but I came through,” Robinson said down the line from his L.A. home. The Detroit-born songwriter behind such classics as Shop Around — Motown’s first million-selling hit record — You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me, I Second That Emotion, The Tears of a Clown and The Tracks of My Tears, says the key to staying...

'Who You Gonna Call,' premiering on digital streaming platforms June 7, chronicles the life and career of the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter.Ray Parker Jr., the legendary R&B artist/musician, is the subject of a new documentary. The film, “Who You Gonna Call”, about the life and career of the man best known for his smash 1984 hit “Ghostbusters,” will hit digital streaming platforms on June 7 via Sony Pictures, Variety reports. While “Ghostbusters” was the pinnacle of Parker’s commercial success, he accomplished a great deal prior. Parker gave filmmaker Fran Strine full access to archives of his life, a life full of...