Culture
The Temptations’ Otis Williams looks back on ‘My Girl’ magic, resilience, and 65 years of performing
By: Ian Saint
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PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (WOUB) — The Temptations have weathered many challenges in their 65 years, but Otis Williams has been their bedrock. In fact, he co-wrote their first couple of singles.
When “My Girl” went #1 in 1965, The Temptations bridged racial divides on radio and television. Their meteoric success could’ve been jeopardized by “My Girl” lead singer David Ruffin’s dramatic departure, but they notched three more #1 singles.
The Temptations and Four Tops play the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts (237 7th St.) Friday, and Cincinnati’s Hard Rock Casino (1000 Broadway St.) on August 21.
Williams spoke to WOUB’s Ian Saint. A transcript of their conversation, edited for length and clarity, follows.
Otis Williams: “My Girl” has become universal and taken on a life of its own. I told Smokey Robinson, “I don’t know how big a record this is gonna become, but this is gonna be a big record.” It sold a million and we were happy, then kept going to two million within a year. I didn’t know it’d become what it is known for now, but I had a feeling “My Girl” was going to be one of those songs that would be around for a long time.
Ian Saint: When you guys composed the ad-libs, was the orchestra on the track when you came up with “hey hey hey” and such? Or were strings added afterwards?
Otis Williams: We heard the raw track, before the strings. We’d rehearsed it, and it was so apropos for that section of the song that we made it a mainstay.
Ian Saint: I can only imagine how glorious it was to hear your ad-libs with the strings afterwards.
Otis Williams: Yeah. I’ll tell you something else: that lick at the beginning of “My Girl” — “bow, da doo-dum doo-dum bow” — was by accident. (Guitarist) Robert White said, “Smokey, I’m so sorry, I don’t mean to put that in there.” Smokey said, “No, keep that. I like that.” But that was by accident. It was very popular.
Ian Saint: Your autobiography details how Dr. King’s murder demoralized you. That was April, 1968. Later that year, The Temptations released “Cloud Nine” — a drastic shift in your sound, that you wrote “minced no words talking about life for inner-city blacks.” That was a big gamble, but “Cloud Nine” won Motown’s first Grammy. Did the success of your socially conscious material help with your grief over Dr. King?
Otis Williams: Well, they happened at different points. “Cloud Nine,” we were in New York. Kenny Gamble of Gamble & Huff and I were talking, and Sly & The Family Stone cut into our conversation with “Dance To The Music.” I said, “Man, who is this? This is different.” Kenny said, “I don’t know, but it’s definitely different.” I cataloged it in my head.
When I got back to Detroit, I ran into (producer) Norman Whitfield at the club. We were just having Dennis Edwards (replace David Ruffin) in the group. I said, “Hey man, there’s a new sound we should probably try, because we’ve got a new guy. Let’s give another kind of presentation of the Tempts.”
Norman said, “Man, I ain’t gonna touch that stuff.” He could be huffy-puffy, you know; but he ended up recording “Cloud Nine.” When I heard that from a man that’d said “We ain’t gonna do none of that stuff,” I went “Nah, I ain’t gonna let him go that easy.” I said “Oh, you didn’t wanna cut nothing like this. What you doing?” He goes, “Man, shut up. Come on, let’s record this; I believe this is a hit.”
With Dr. King, we were headlining a big show. The place was packed, and the show was going fine until they stopped the music and made the announcement that Dr. King had been shot just as we were getting ready to go on. It changed the whole mood. We had to grapple with that, because people did come to see the show, but it was rough to do — the crowd had become somber. “And the band played on,” like (we later sang) in “Ball of Confusion” — that’s what we had to do. It was sad for us to try and do that, because Dr. King was special to us all.
Ian Saint: I’m struck by your “Solid Gold” performance of “I Can’t Get Next to You” during The Temptations’ 1982 reunion. David Ruffin was willing to perform songs from Dennis Edwards’ era; David even covered Paul’s lines. Eddie shared his leads with Glenn, the newest member. It’s magical to watch that collaboration of lead singers from all eras.
Otis Williams: Right. Naturally, you have to plan things out because of all the egos involved. We met before we rehearsed (about) how things should be done, who would do what, what songs would be in the show. It was an open discussion.
Ian Saint: The Temptations did lots of memorable collaborations with The Four Tops and Supremes. Then onto “Super Freak” with Rick James, “The Motown Song” with Rod Stewart… Any other standouts?
Otis Williams: Yeah, “Under the Boardwalk” with Bruce Willis.
Ian Saint: Oh, Bruce’s Return of Bruno album was fun. I remember The Pointer Sisters were on that, too.
Otis Williams: Yeah. Bruce told us when he’d signed with Motown, he said, “The Tempts have to be on my first release.”