{"id":2438,"date":"2021-11-07T16:26:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-07T16:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/?p=2438"},"modified":"2025-04-28T16:29:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T16:29:19","slug":"temptations-legendary-group-always-has-been-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/2021\/11\/07\/temptations-legendary-group-always-has-been-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts\/","title":{"rendered":"Temptations: Legendary group always has been greater than the sum of its parts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Monday, November 1 at 7:30PM EDT, the City College Center for the Arts will honor Williams and other members of the Temptations. The ceremony will feature a conversation with Williams and special guests, including longstanding members Ron Tyson and Terry Weeks. Distinguished musician, composer, and entertainment entrepreneur K. Sparks will serve as emcee the event and fans can view the simulcast broadcast from the Aaron Davis Hall\u2019s renowned Marian Anderson Theatre on BlackPressUSA.com<\/a> as well as NNPA\u2019s Facebook and YouTube platforms and at <\/em>https:\/\/citycollegecenterforthearts.org<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To hear him tell his story, Otis Williams is just a southern boy from Texarkana, Texas, who, while growing up, loved the \u201cDevil\u2019s music.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His two grandmothers took care of him when his mother moved to Detroit in search of better employment and living conditions for the musically inclined troublemaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams had recently become a teenager when he happened upon The Fox Theater in the Motor City, where his family group, The Cadillacs, performed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, how I wanted to have my own group,\u201d he told NNPA Newswire in a discussion at the Imperial Theater on Broadway where a sold-out crowd sang, danced, laughed, cried, and cheered the fantastic musical, \u201cAin\u2019t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As in the musical, Williams revealed an everlasting fondness for the Classic Five, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, and David Ruffin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also the seldom mentioned Lamont, not a Temptation, but Williams\u2019 son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople often ask me, if I could bring back to life one member of The Temptations, which one would I choose,\u201d Nik Walker, who portrays Williams in the musical, says during a spotlighted scene near the close of the electrifying performance. \u201cLamont. My son. That\u2019s who,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even behind the dark shades and the baseball cap with the \u201cAint To Proud\u201d logo, one could see Williams\u2019 genuine expressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe music lives forever,\u201d Williams deadpanned. \u201cLife isn\u2019t like a record that you can rewind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the tragic deaths of each of the original members, Williams at 80 remains in a familiar spot. Sixty years ago, his motivation centered on not only making The Temptations the biggest group in R&B history but protecting the brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the reopening of the Broadway show and a touring version hitting the road, Williams said he can now concentrate on getting back on the road with the latest incarnation of the supergroup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams reminds everyone that he\u2019s been fortunate to have been with the \u201cmost singing-Esque brothers ever.\u201d In all, the group has made 24 changes in its 60-year history and, as they embark on their anniversary tour, Williams confides that he\u2019s about to make another personnel change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut every single member has always, at some point, asked if they could come back,\u201d Williams insisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the opening of \u201cAin\u2019t Too Proud,\u201d Williams and the group will launch a concert tour that could span the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor more than four decades, Aaron Davis Hall has been Harlem\u2019s performing arts center,\u201d stated City College of New York President Dr. Vincent Boudreau. \u201cWorld scholars, artistic giants, and academic geniuses like Nelson Mandela, Alicia Keys, President Barack Obama, and Ella Fitzgerald have blessed these stages. The City College of New York is so proud of the contributions The Temptations have made and continue to make to the American cultural landscape, and we are honored to add their name to that distinguished list.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams recalled his roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was always about the collective,\u201d he asserted. \u201cSure, having talent is good, but I\u2019ve always looked at the head and the heart over talent. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve been so successful and have become the number one R&B group ever because we were always operating under the realistic model that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Monday, November 1 at 7:30PM EDT, the City College Center for the Arts will honor Williams and other members of the Temptations. The ceremony will feature a conversation with Williams and special guests, including longstanding members Ron Tyson and Terry Weeks. Distinguished musician, composer, and entertainment entrepreneur K. Sparks will serve as emcee the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1509,1214,1508],"class_list":["post-2438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-fox-theater","tag-nnpa","tag-otis-williams","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2438"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2439,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438\/revisions\/2439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}