Post by Weak4Weeks on Dec 17, 2005 14:44:57 GMT -5
Thanks to Aba21 for this article
Blues And Soul Article: David Ruffin
Feb. 11-24, 1992
DAVID RUFFIN HALL OF FAME
“David was a fantastic singer and performer.” (Otis Williams)
When the tall gangly, painfully thin ex-Temptation died last year, we lost a talent the comes so rarely. Within and without the Temptations, David Ruffin’s voice was deliciously golden, deep in emotion, tinged with that something unique that turns a soul singer into a dynamic soul stirrer. And he did it with such little effort. David’s music was his life, although few people read behind his eyes, hidden behind the glasses, to see if he was really happy. Fellow Temptations Otis Williams and Eddie Kendricks probably came to be the closet friends he had, yet in time, they reluctantly admitted they were helpless.
Ruffin was born in Whynat, Miss on Jan. 18, 1941. David: “My brothers Jimmy and Quincy, and my sister Rita Mae, were known around Mississippi as the Ruffin Family. When I was thirteen, I left home to practice in the ministry in Memphis in 1955/56 but ended up singing. I san with Elvis Presley in the same talent shows, then joined a gospel group, The Dixie Nightingales.”
At 17, David worked his way to Detroit where he later recorded for Anna and Checkmate Records. Anna was a label operated by Berry Gordy’s sister Gwen, among others, and Checkmate was a Chess subsidiary, where David recorded as a soloist and as a spasmodic member of the Voice Masters. On Anna he recorded “I’m In Love’, while at Checkmate, “Action Speaks Louder Than Words”.
Through these outlets, David found himself a floater in Berry Gordy’s Motown, Where the Temptations were looking for someone to replace departing member, Elbridge Bryant. They considered both David and his brother Jimmy, but decided on David because he was more extroverted than his brother.
However some members of the Temptations were wary of David joining the group because of his soloist experience. They felt that perhaps he was used to doing things his own way and would be unable to adapt to the ways of a group. These reservations were soon forgotten as soon as David sang, a glorious seductive voice with feelings as deep as the ocean. An in-born talent so rare, a gift to be cherished and shared.
David was first heard on The Way You Do The Things You Do in 1964, and from then on shared leads with Eddie Kendricks on all the group’s masterpieces. Of all those songs, Otis Williams remembers Get Ready. “David sang his ass off on that one. By the time he was halfway through the session, he was drowning in sweat and his glasses were all over his face. Listening to that record some 25 years later you can tell David was giving his all”
(I think this may be a typo. I believe the song he was speaking of is Ain’t Too Proud to Beg….ABA)
On record and on stage David was a hit. Because the group sang such tight harmonies, it presented a problem for four men and one mike. SO David suggested the now famous 4 headed mike stand, which gave the group freedom on stage without restricting their movements or the sound.
As the Temptations moved form gold to silver to platinum, the going was tough and the work was hard but the rewards were priceless. Handling such fame, acclaim and fortune became a problem for the now egocentric Davis, as Otis recalls. “ To put it bluntly, success went to his head. It started off with little things, like refusing to travel with the four of us in our two group limousines, and he got his own, complete with a mink-lined floor, and his name painted on the side.”
Yet, Otis is the first to admit, “When David stepped out on that stage, you always knew something great was gonna happen.”
While David was coping with his glittering professional life, his personal life was devoted to fellow singer Tammi Terrell. They shared what can best be described as an intense relationship; Tammi was one of the few people who understood David and at the time kept him on the rails.
As both were in the same business, they could share the problems and enjoy the success, but the demands upon them meant they spent little time alone. So Tammi would sometimes join them on tour.
Performing now played a large part in the Temptations life, and their stage work demanded all five members working in unison. So, it came as a blow when David began missing shows. He was trying desperately to cope with and control a turbulent inner self that, some believed, could eventually lead to self-destruction.
The temptations covered for him as long as they could, defending his actions to Motown, but even they couldn’t carry on indefinitely.
The situation had to change, and David wouldn’t listen. So reluctantly, the other member had to vote him out of the group.
Dennis Edwards was his replacement, and he quickly learned the repertoire and stage routines making the transition as painless as possible.
At last David Ruffin was free to control his own destiny and at Motown’s insistence stayed with them as a solo act, although not before he had filed a lawsuit against them requesting an accounting of his finances. A track that Johnny Bristol had originally written for the Temptations became David’s debut single. Titled My Whole World Ended, it was released in Jan. 1969, and was the title track on his album of the same name. The song soared to number 9 on the US charts, and six months later, was followed by I’ve Lost Everything I’ve Ever Loved. Both were heart-searching sagas of lost love, perfect for David’s mournful, broken vocals and typical of Motown’s euphony.
Before 69 ended, the Doin’ His Thing album was issued. Then there was the absence of nearly 3 years when a planned “David” album was withdrawn in 1971.
However, the ex-Temptation did team up with his brother to record a dismal collection of songs on the I Am My Brother’s Keeper album in 1970. A couple of singles were lifted, Stand By Me, When My Left Hand Comes Down, but both bombed. The public didn’t support the experiment, sound in theory.
Two further albums followed, offering all types of music, none earth shattering in the guise of David Ruffin in 1973 and Me & Rock & Roll Are Here To Stay in 1974. The material might have been poor but was saved by David’s magic. Single like, Blood Donors, Common Man and Rock & Roll & Me Are Here To Stay while good didn’t seem to stop the feeling that David’s career was in decline. He was particularly worried about re-signing with Motown. However, the company recognized the immense talent before them and extended their relationship. One of the first requests form David under the new deal was to work with writer/producer Van McCoy.
Motown agreed, and the project got underway and the end result was probably David’s finest project ever recorded, the Who Am I album, released in 1975. It was an absolute joy to listen to.
David: “Van allowed me to screen the songs before the selection was actually made. And I was at every session, even for the smallest thing because he felt it was important.”
He compared working with Van to working with Smokey as a Temptation. “You’ll hear that same natural approach because he told me to sing my way.”
Walk Away From Love was the first single released and it was a huge seller, and R& b chart topper, a national hit at number 9 and his first British hit at number 10 in 1976. Walk Away From Love was a magnificent piece of music.
David: Its not that I always record sad songs, it simply depends on how the person accepts my songs. If a person just listened to my songs, they’d probably think I had the saddest love life in the world”
David Ruffin was back on track again, and not before time either. Heavy Love was a top fifty hit in 1976 and within 3 months a new album was released, Everything’s Coming Up Love. The title song reached the top fifty and was the last single to do so.
Two albums later, the ex Temptation left Motown for Warner Records in 1979. While with Warner, 3 singles crawled to the top eighty-Break My Heart. I Get Excited and Slow Dance and by mid-1980, David was once again struggling. But not for long. A Concert promoter convinced Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin to as David and Eddie Kendricks to join them for a reunion tour. The idea appealed to them and likewise to David and Eddie.
Before an enraptured Lake Tahoe audience, David and Eddie were invited to join the Temptations onstage. The magic came back instantly. The Reunion project was next, highlighted by an album of the same name. The seven Temptations worked onstage like a well-oiled machine., but backstage arguments crept in and bouts of egotism prevailed.
The promoter’s deal was based on all seven Temptations performing and when David missed a handful of shows, the whole tour was thrown into jeopardy as the group began losing money. The strain of touring and performing nightly was taking its toll on David. And instead of bottling up his feelings, he turned to his fellow Temptations for help .He didn’t know what was wrong or how to help himself.
Otis: “As much as I tried to reach out to David, time and bitterness had created a shell and David lived inside it.”
In retrospect, its thought David was slipping further into the dark world of drugs, but quite possibly he was at his lowest on this tour because once the tour was over in 1982, he had to serve six months in jail for fiddling his tax returns in 1976. He was also fined $5,000 dollars.
In true spirit, David Ruffin rose again!!! This time to appear with Hall & Oates and Eddie Kendricks on the US leg of the Live Aid Tour. A single and a chance to record on and album with the duo followed.
Eddie and David went on to tour together, bookings were regular during 1987 and in1988, released tow singles, I Couldn’t Believe it and One More For the Lonely hearts Club- on RCA Records.
At one time, another ex-Temptation, Dennis Edwards joined them and although the “real” Temptations were aware of this, declined to take any action even though they included group material in their shows. Once again things looked bright for David. It seemed that the fickle finger of fate knocked him back every time he enjoyed and success.
This time she did it for the last time. Following a welcomed tour of this great country, David Ruffin died suddenly. Soul music mystro of love lost his life through drug related symptoms. His unexpected death shocked soul circles. Just prior to his death, David thankfully recorded for Motor city Records, the song, Hurt The One You Love.
David Ruffin, an enigmatic man of exceptional talent. A gentleman of soul, a purveyor of emotion, might have led a life that seemed crazy to some, but he was well respected by his peers and loved by his public. Not many can be remembered in such glowing terms.
Blues And Soul Article: David Ruffin
Feb. 11-24, 1992
DAVID RUFFIN HALL OF FAME
“David was a fantastic singer and performer.” (Otis Williams)
When the tall gangly, painfully thin ex-Temptation died last year, we lost a talent the comes so rarely. Within and without the Temptations, David Ruffin’s voice was deliciously golden, deep in emotion, tinged with that something unique that turns a soul singer into a dynamic soul stirrer. And he did it with such little effort. David’s music was his life, although few people read behind his eyes, hidden behind the glasses, to see if he was really happy. Fellow Temptations Otis Williams and Eddie Kendricks probably came to be the closet friends he had, yet in time, they reluctantly admitted they were helpless.
Ruffin was born in Whynat, Miss on Jan. 18, 1941. David: “My brothers Jimmy and Quincy, and my sister Rita Mae, were known around Mississippi as the Ruffin Family. When I was thirteen, I left home to practice in the ministry in Memphis in 1955/56 but ended up singing. I san with Elvis Presley in the same talent shows, then joined a gospel group, The Dixie Nightingales.”
At 17, David worked his way to Detroit where he later recorded for Anna and Checkmate Records. Anna was a label operated by Berry Gordy’s sister Gwen, among others, and Checkmate was a Chess subsidiary, where David recorded as a soloist and as a spasmodic member of the Voice Masters. On Anna he recorded “I’m In Love’, while at Checkmate, “Action Speaks Louder Than Words”.
Through these outlets, David found himself a floater in Berry Gordy’s Motown, Where the Temptations were looking for someone to replace departing member, Elbridge Bryant. They considered both David and his brother Jimmy, but decided on David because he was more extroverted than his brother.
However some members of the Temptations were wary of David joining the group because of his soloist experience. They felt that perhaps he was used to doing things his own way and would be unable to adapt to the ways of a group. These reservations were soon forgotten as soon as David sang, a glorious seductive voice with feelings as deep as the ocean. An in-born talent so rare, a gift to be cherished and shared.
David was first heard on The Way You Do The Things You Do in 1964, and from then on shared leads with Eddie Kendricks on all the group’s masterpieces. Of all those songs, Otis Williams remembers Get Ready. “David sang his ass off on that one. By the time he was halfway through the session, he was drowning in sweat and his glasses were all over his face. Listening to that record some 25 years later you can tell David was giving his all”
(I think this may be a typo. I believe the song he was speaking of is Ain’t Too Proud to Beg….ABA)
On record and on stage David was a hit. Because the group sang such tight harmonies, it presented a problem for four men and one mike. SO David suggested the now famous 4 headed mike stand, which gave the group freedom on stage without restricting their movements or the sound.
As the Temptations moved form gold to silver to platinum, the going was tough and the work was hard but the rewards were priceless. Handling such fame, acclaim and fortune became a problem for the now egocentric Davis, as Otis recalls. “ To put it bluntly, success went to his head. It started off with little things, like refusing to travel with the four of us in our two group limousines, and he got his own, complete with a mink-lined floor, and his name painted on the side.”
Yet, Otis is the first to admit, “When David stepped out on that stage, you always knew something great was gonna happen.”
While David was coping with his glittering professional life, his personal life was devoted to fellow singer Tammi Terrell. They shared what can best be described as an intense relationship; Tammi was one of the few people who understood David and at the time kept him on the rails.
As both were in the same business, they could share the problems and enjoy the success, but the demands upon them meant they spent little time alone. So Tammi would sometimes join them on tour.
Performing now played a large part in the Temptations life, and their stage work demanded all five members working in unison. So, it came as a blow when David began missing shows. He was trying desperately to cope with and control a turbulent inner self that, some believed, could eventually lead to self-destruction.
The temptations covered for him as long as they could, defending his actions to Motown, but even they couldn’t carry on indefinitely.
The situation had to change, and David wouldn’t listen. So reluctantly, the other member had to vote him out of the group.
Dennis Edwards was his replacement, and he quickly learned the repertoire and stage routines making the transition as painless as possible.
At last David Ruffin was free to control his own destiny and at Motown’s insistence stayed with them as a solo act, although not before he had filed a lawsuit against them requesting an accounting of his finances. A track that Johnny Bristol had originally written for the Temptations became David’s debut single. Titled My Whole World Ended, it was released in Jan. 1969, and was the title track on his album of the same name. The song soared to number 9 on the US charts, and six months later, was followed by I’ve Lost Everything I’ve Ever Loved. Both were heart-searching sagas of lost love, perfect for David’s mournful, broken vocals and typical of Motown’s euphony.
Before 69 ended, the Doin’ His Thing album was issued. Then there was the absence of nearly 3 years when a planned “David” album was withdrawn in 1971.
However, the ex-Temptation did team up with his brother to record a dismal collection of songs on the I Am My Brother’s Keeper album in 1970. A couple of singles were lifted, Stand By Me, When My Left Hand Comes Down, but both bombed. The public didn’t support the experiment, sound in theory.
Two further albums followed, offering all types of music, none earth shattering in the guise of David Ruffin in 1973 and Me & Rock & Roll Are Here To Stay in 1974. The material might have been poor but was saved by David’s magic. Single like, Blood Donors, Common Man and Rock & Roll & Me Are Here To Stay while good didn’t seem to stop the feeling that David’s career was in decline. He was particularly worried about re-signing with Motown. However, the company recognized the immense talent before them and extended their relationship. One of the first requests form David under the new deal was to work with writer/producer Van McCoy.
Motown agreed, and the project got underway and the end result was probably David’s finest project ever recorded, the Who Am I album, released in 1975. It was an absolute joy to listen to.
David: “Van allowed me to screen the songs before the selection was actually made. And I was at every session, even for the smallest thing because he felt it was important.”
He compared working with Van to working with Smokey as a Temptation. “You’ll hear that same natural approach because he told me to sing my way.”
Walk Away From Love was the first single released and it was a huge seller, and R& b chart topper, a national hit at number 9 and his first British hit at number 10 in 1976. Walk Away From Love was a magnificent piece of music.
David: Its not that I always record sad songs, it simply depends on how the person accepts my songs. If a person just listened to my songs, they’d probably think I had the saddest love life in the world”
David Ruffin was back on track again, and not before time either. Heavy Love was a top fifty hit in 1976 and within 3 months a new album was released, Everything’s Coming Up Love. The title song reached the top fifty and was the last single to do so.
Two albums later, the ex Temptation left Motown for Warner Records in 1979. While with Warner, 3 singles crawled to the top eighty-Break My Heart. I Get Excited and Slow Dance and by mid-1980, David was once again struggling. But not for long. A Concert promoter convinced Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin to as David and Eddie Kendricks to join them for a reunion tour. The idea appealed to them and likewise to David and Eddie.
Before an enraptured Lake Tahoe audience, David and Eddie were invited to join the Temptations onstage. The magic came back instantly. The Reunion project was next, highlighted by an album of the same name. The seven Temptations worked onstage like a well-oiled machine., but backstage arguments crept in and bouts of egotism prevailed.
The promoter’s deal was based on all seven Temptations performing and when David missed a handful of shows, the whole tour was thrown into jeopardy as the group began losing money. The strain of touring and performing nightly was taking its toll on David. And instead of bottling up his feelings, he turned to his fellow Temptations for help .He didn’t know what was wrong or how to help himself.
Otis: “As much as I tried to reach out to David, time and bitterness had created a shell and David lived inside it.”
In retrospect, its thought David was slipping further into the dark world of drugs, but quite possibly he was at his lowest on this tour because once the tour was over in 1982, he had to serve six months in jail for fiddling his tax returns in 1976. He was also fined $5,000 dollars.
In true spirit, David Ruffin rose again!!! This time to appear with Hall & Oates and Eddie Kendricks on the US leg of the Live Aid Tour. A single and a chance to record on and album with the duo followed.
Eddie and David went on to tour together, bookings were regular during 1987 and in1988, released tow singles, I Couldn’t Believe it and One More For the Lonely hearts Club- on RCA Records.
At one time, another ex-Temptation, Dennis Edwards joined them and although the “real” Temptations were aware of this, declined to take any action even though they included group material in their shows. Once again things looked bright for David. It seemed that the fickle finger of fate knocked him back every time he enjoyed and success.
This time she did it for the last time. Following a welcomed tour of this great country, David Ruffin died suddenly. Soul music mystro of love lost his life through drug related symptoms. His unexpected death shocked soul circles. Just prior to his death, David thankfully recorded for Motor city Records, the song, Hurt The One You Love.
David Ruffin, an enigmatic man of exceptional talent. A gentleman of soul, a purveyor of emotion, might have led a life that seemed crazy to some, but he was well respected by his peers and loved by his public. Not many can be remembered in such glowing terms.
