In the 1960s the group that epitomized black male style and elegance were the tempin’ Temptations. Aside from being the engine of Motown’s hit machine with the lead vocals of Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin, the five man group had an smooth as butter stage show with Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams moving precisely while delivering pitch perfect backing voices. The great choreographer Cholly Atkins was the chief movement architect, though Williams and other group members definitely contributed to their style.
The Temps were my mother’s favorite group and, in 1967, she traveled to Manhattan to see them and purchased this band book. So, in tribute to black music month and the woman who raised me to love soul music, here some images from that program. The black vocal group tradition, with its roots in black choirs and street corner doo wop, has fallen on hard times. I’d be hard pressed to think of contemporary black male vocal group of note. But back then imitating “the Temptations walk” was a rite of passage.