The past week has been a flurry of activity for my wife and I. In between all of the regular life stuff like work and things like that, we have also found some time to have a bit of fun. Just about a week ago now we took @mrsbozz's parents to a show at one of the local theaters. We got the info on the show about six months ago through the mailer that our venue sent out. My wife saw it and she said "That might be fun to take my parents to". A few clicks later and the tickets were purchased.
I had a feeling it was going to be a good show just based on the description, but I really wasn't prepared for how amazing it would actually be.
In case you haven't figured it out yet, we went to see the traveling broadway production of "Ain't To Proud: The life and times of the Temptations". Now, if you aren't familiar with the Temptations, first of all shame on you! No really, if you aren't familiar with the Temptations, they are a Motown group that was formed in Detroit Michigan in 1961 by Otis Williams. The play is actually based on the autobiography Otis wrote as the last surviving member of the original Temptations.
Believe it or not, the Temptations are still going strong today and over the years there have been a total of something like 27 different members of the group. It's a pretty amazing legacy they have left. They were originally named the Elgins, and the group was originally comprised of members from two rival vocal groups.
Their story is one full of tragedy and fame. It's a perfect example of just how quickly you can find yourself at the top and not know how to handle it. It's also a good lesson about fame and fortune not solving all of the issues in your life. Especially if you have underlying trauma or mental health issues.
In case you haven't figured it out, this weeks #threetunetuesday post is going to be all about the Temptations!
Before "Ain't Too Proud To Beg", most of the songs by the Temptations were written by Smokey Robinson and they were mostly all ballads. Meanwhile a guy named Norman Whitfield was itching work with the group and write some songs for them. The Temptations manager Berry Gordy promised that if another song written by Robinson didn't chart in the top 20, he would make them sing one of Whitfields songs. That song just happened to be "Ain't Too Proud To Beg", and it did so well that Whitfield became the new producer for the Temptations.
This was a turning point for the band as it pulled them away from some of the more doo-wop and ballad inspired Smokey Robinson songs and more towards a funk sound reminiscent of James Brown.
It's actually a little sad, because the founding member of the band Otis Williams had a desire to write some of his own stuff, but the label and his manager pretty much discouraged that and just wanted them to sing.
One of the things that the Temptations were known for was their choreography while on stage. By today's standards, it's really not anything that complex, but at the time it was pretty ground breaking. "My Girl" is a long that is likely familiar to a lot of folks. It was released in fall of 1964 and in December of that year the song became their first number 1 pop hit which was a pretty big deal. They had officially crossed over from just being an R&B group to becoming a group that the whole world was listening to.
This fact made it a bit hard for them to do all the music they wanted to. They soon found themselves toeing the line between keeping their original fans happy and being "too black" for the white folks back then to still like their music.
Much of the bands success occurred after they added David Ruffin as the lead singer. David had a lot of demon's though and his story is a pretty tragic one. Actually, three out of the five original members of the band had pretty tragic ends dying to either suicide, overdose, or other similar factors. "Since I Lost My Baby" ended up being very personal for Ruffin as he lost his wife when she was only 24 or something like that.
The one thing to remember about this production is that it is all told from Otis' point of view. I tried to do a bit of research online to see how the family members of the previous members felt about his portrayal of them, but I really couldn't find anything. As usual, there are two sides to every story, but we will likely never hear the other ones.
If you have never heard of the Temptations, I encourage you to take a deep dive into them. If you ever get a chance to see "Ain't Too Proud" live, I also highly recommend that. It was a great show with a some good music and a lot of great talent.
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