Five voices, one step: how the Temptations were assembled

The Temptations began as a merger of two rival groups. In Detroit in 1961, Otis Williams, Elbridge “Al” Bryant and Melvin Franklin, from Otis Williams & the Distants, joined Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams, who had sung in the Primes. They first called themselves the Elgins. Kendricks and Paul Williams had begun singing together in church as children in Birmingham, Alabama, and Otis Williams had arrived in Detroit from Texas to live with his mother.

Their first big change came in 1964, when David Ruffin replaced Bryant. Ruffin sang lead on “My Girl”, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” and “I Wish It Would Rain”. In 1968 Dennis Edwards took over from him, and the group moved into a harder, stranger sound under producer Norman Whitfield. “Cloud Nine”, a Top 10 hit that October, pioneered psychedelic soul and made the Temptations the first Motown act to win a Grammy Award. “I Can’t Get Next to You” and “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)” followed.

Part of the appeal was how they looked and moved. Five male vocalists who were also dancers, they became known for choreography, close harmonies and a distinctive way of dressing. Over the years the lineup shifted often, with Kendricks and Paul Williams leaving in 1971 and later members including Richard Street, Damon Harris, Glenn Leonard, Ron Tyson and Ali-Ollie Woodson. “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” sit alongside “My Girl” among the songs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of 500 that shaped rock and roll.

The numbers are large: four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, fourteen R&B number ones, four Grammy Awards in total and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. The Hall of Fame inducted six of them in 1989. Otis Williams, the last surviving original member, still performs with the group and owns the rights to the name. A band assembled from two rivals has outlasted almost every one of the singers who first stood on its stage.