In interviews I have read by Otis, and believe me I have read A LOT, I have yet to see him TRASH any of the other members.
I don't know that you ever will find anything, either. Unfortunately, some fans are delusional -- dare I say,
deranged -- to the point that they're hyper-sensitive to any critical or even objective examination of the personal lives of their favorite group members.
The self-anointed "defenders" of Paul Williams tend to be the least rational of the bunch.
And then there's the question of whether O exaggerated his position in the group after the members were gone? What are your views on this?
I think Otis exaggerates, period. It's not confined to just his role within the group. Let's face it, the man likes to tell stories...and he generally makes them interesting and entertaining for Temptations fans.
Mind you, Otis is not at the Dennis Edwards level of BS-spreading -- that would truly require some effort -- but he clearly enjoys telling colorful, if not embellished, stories about the glory days.
In that respect, he's the antithesis of Eddie Kendricks.
Now, can I unequivocally refute a single claim he makes? Nope. It's just a feeling I get from reading between the lines, listening closely to the things he says and applying a little common sense.
It just seems incredibly fortuitous how he always seems to place himself at the heart of every important decision the group ever made in his telling of stories. Eddie and David -- what little they said about their time with the Tempts -- generally gave credit to the button-pushers and decision-makers at Motown...often remarking that they (all five group members) were just "the singers." They didn't write the songs, choose the songs or handle the business decisions.
Aside from a few notable exceptions, Berry Gordy didn't grant that kind of power to his artists in those days.
So, yes, I think Otis has a tendency to overstate his own role in the business decisions that affected the group prior to the departures of Eddie and Paul. Whatever internal dynamics were at play are a different story. I'm sure each member had his respective duties within the group and Otis' role was no less important than that of anyone else. To give the impression that he was somehow
guiding the group's creative path post-Ruffin -- as he likes to assert -- is a bit unbelievable and illogical, however.
Obviously, his role has evolved over time now that he is the only surviving original member and copyright holder of the Temptations name.
I have the version of the book published
after the mini-series aired, so I don't know how many of the claims from the original printing Melvin, Eddie and David would've read. I kind of get the feeling Eddie and David didn't read it at all.
As for the mini-series, I accept it for what it is. It's not a documentary. It's a colorful, entertaining story based mostly, but not entirely, on Otis' memoir. The vast inaccuracies between the two have been pointed out numerous times over the years.