Video of Eddie Kendricks' "Unsung" episode

[Duchess]

www.tvone.tv/shows/unsung/video/full-episode--eddie-kendricks-.html

Wow! I didn't know that story about Diana Ross...scandalous!! No wonder BG wouldn't promote Eddie's solo career...he was still drinking on that Haterade, baby. Really disappointed that his episode was so heavy on the Temps stuff and so light on his solo career Eddie tried to tell yall, "In old Temptations reign, I'm duckin'...." And they didn't even mention "Just My Imagination"? WTF!? Still no Leonard Caston, huh? I'm convinced he never existed in real life lol. To me, Eddie's solo career is still unsung. I mean, no "Intimate Friends." No "Tell Her Love Has Felt The Need." Hell, they didn't even show or mention the names of his solo albums beyond the "Eddie Kendricks" & "I've Got My Eyes On You" LPs, smdh.

[Common]

Duchess, thanks for this. I was looking for it earlier and didn't find it.

I agree it was too Tempts heavy. I wanted to hear more about Eddie's solo career. I don't think Unsung did Eddie justice but then I can say that about some of the other stories they had that were haphazardly done. At least, he got some air time, though.

When I saw Mary Wilson, I said, "here we go"!! Talking about how she had crush on him, yada, yada, yada. It seemed like the producers deliberately found a way to weave in the likes of Mary, Otis and Shelly, extending their time on screen waaaaaay too long! One thing I can say: it seemed like Shelly like Eddie. When it came to David's episode, it seemed like he hated David's guts! LOL. But I have to hand it to Eddie: he was willing to fight for what he believed in unlike O.

The only folks worth listening to was David Washington and Pat. I got the sense that Pat really understood Eddie. Aika, on the hand, whoa! I sensed some hostility there too and it sounds like her mother's relationship with Eddie was acrimonious to say the least.

I wonder why Eddie's brothers/sisters did not participate in the special.

[Common]

BTW, what does O mean saying 'that we didn't have as many hits with David'. Uh, excuse me? Did I miss something? Or is O trying his dandiest to ONCE again to put down Ruffin. There are times I wish that Eddie and David were still alive to counter alot of this BS that O and his slavemas...er, manager spouts out in interviews.

[Queenie]

Feb 28, 2013 17:26:35 GMT -5 Common said:

BTW, what does O mean saying 'that we didn't have as many hits with David'. Uh, excuse me? Did I miss something? Or is O trying his dandiest to ONCE again to put down Ruffin. There are times I wish that Eddie and David were still alive to counter alot of this BS that O and his slavemas...er, manager spouts out in interviews.

Common, I commented this in another thread. O is a fool. I don't think he knows what he is saying. I think O has dementia. If it was not for DR, O will be working at Steak and Shake. He forgets everything when it comes to David. David did this.....David did that... In reality, David put shoes on O's feet. He needs to discuss that instead of the nonsense he has been saying since DER's death.

[dc]

Feb 28, 2013 17:26:35 GMT -5 Common said:

BTW, what does O mean saying 'that we didn't have as many hits with David'. Uh, excuse me? Did I miss something? Or is O trying his dandiest to ONCE again to put down Ruffin. There are times I wish that Eddie and David were still alive to counter alot of this BS that O and his slavemas...er, manager spouts out in interviews.

That's a vague statement. I have respect for O. Shelley is just lucky he lived in the 60's. to be a failed actor and singer and still have a career is pretty good.

We have to be honest. I'm a big fan of Dennis. Talented brother.But the hits he had were multi leads.Cloud 9,Papa Was A Rolling Stone,Psychedelic Shack, Run Away Child, and I Can't Get Next To You. Now by himself about the only single lead hit Dennis had was Shakey Ground.

Now every single they dropped with David was a hit, and he sang lead by himself. The numbers don't lie.My Girl, Ain't To Proud,Beauty Is Only Skin Deep, Losing You,Since I Lost My Baby, All I Need, Wish It Would Rain, I Could Never Love Another. All hits. Ruffin was the front man when he was in the group, point blank. He was in the group 4 years and had more single lead hits than Dennis had in 17 years.

No disrespect but everybody knows this. To bring the point home these are the last three Temptations products :

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000GW8RYI/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1362853948&sr=8-9&pi=SL75

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005D0TESG/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1362854087&sr=8-28&pi=SL75

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005JLN9QM/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1362854174&sr=8-1&pi=SL75

Now who's on the cover? I had nothing to do with this. I wasn't born during this time. But facts are facts. And it's anal retentive to gloss over this fact.

[rufferino]

Excellent point, dc
I feel basically the same way you do about the people you mentioned, with the difference being that while I may have some level of respect for O's tenacity to carve out a career for himself, I feel that he certainly wasn't a friend to David and Eddie and didn't support them as a friend should. And I'm sure he likes to think they were friends at one time. He just didn't have any vision.

[citystars]

DC/Rufferino/Queenie

Great points!

Here's my 2 cents:

I think O knows exactly what he is saying about David and does not seem to care how it’s perceived. Contrary to what he wants people to think, I really don’t believe he was ever loyal to any of his band mates with the exception of maybe Melvin. I really feel O’s loyalties have always been to O and to the powers that be @ Hitsville. Perhaps David and even Eddie sensed this when they were in the group.

Let’s not forget O needed to keep the group alive so he could earn a living. What else was he going to do, make money off of his own voice and pursue a solo career like Eddie and David? One of the reasons why O was able to carve out a very long career was because of all those hit records David sang lead on.

O spouts this nonsense about David, but does he not, in some way, profit from the sale of the DVDs and CDs that uses David's voice and David's picture?

Common,

As far as Shelly, I don’t know much about him. But, I do wonder how he was able to become the manager of one of the biggest groups in America. Who did he know, what qualifications did he have and why was he chosen to manage the Temptations?


Citystars

[dc]

This is why in the end the Tempts could never possibly stay together. They could never get on the same page. People wanna put all the blame on Ruff, but the group fell apart still after he was fired. As a group you only have leverage if you're unified, and they weren't. I dunno if they didn't have enough time to understand each other before fame hit or what?

I do believe Motown used this division tactic to keep the group at bay. Otis said on the Definitive Performances DVD that when a business situation would come up Berry would call on him alone. I saw a interview on YouTube (that had been taken down obviously) where Dennis said this was a problem. He said there were several business meetings that O went to that the group had no knowledge of. This is very contrived.

The Four Tops are one of my favorite groups too. Right or wrong they were on the same page their entire career. If you had any type of meeting, if all four members weren't present the meetings were not held. Every decision they made was made as a group. Also Levi Stubbs never wanted top billing or solo praises.

This is why even when the Tops switched labels and the hits dried up in the late 70's they still were successful on the road. When people went to see them they were going to see all four members. That's important to people.

And Im sure they had internal conflict like any other group, but they kept that between themselves. They let no one divide them.

I talked to Duke Fakir on Facebook. He said a book is coming on them. Can't wait to read it. I had actually heard Levi and Lawrence Payton had issues to where they didn't speak to each other for years( I dunno if it's true or not). But even if they did they didn't let that interfere with business. The Tempts should take note.

Now to play devils advocate, the Tops were together for 10 years on the road before they came to Motown. That prolly makes a big difference too.

[rufferino]

Hey Citystars,
I think there's truth in what you say about O not caring how he's perceived, but I also think that he truly does not understand that he could not have carved out a career for himself w/o David.
Queenie./CityStars, I think he's either forgotten or has been spouting his version for so long that he truly believes, that he didn't need David to build a foundation and famous name for the Temps so that he could continue to coast along on it for decades.
dc, good point about the group falling apart after David was fired. Re: their understanding each other before fame hit, well, they were all very young and hungry at that point, so they were probably still a bit naive about human nature in some ways (not saying they weren't street smart) and also they prolly tended to overlook things in each other cuz they really wanted that first hit record....
No doubt in my mind that Berry/O conspired together to keep control of the group. To me it all still boils down to a lack of vision, on Berry's part, and certainly on O's part. It's like Eddie said in that one interview - why couldn't O/Berry have just let David have a solo career at the same time he was in the Temps? I believe that's what David wanted, anyway. Seems that Berry was just too distracted trying to keep control of Diana, maybe....anyway, their differences were their strengths as well as their weaknesses.

[Common]

Well, I have no respect for O. It says alot about a person's character who continually dogs out a dead man, try to portray this person as a 'problem' yet uses said controversy to keep HIS name in the public eye. Nah. Without David, Eddie and Paul, the tempts would've been another signing group. O finds it difficult to give David his due and that speaks alot about the type of person he is.

Secondly, David had a seperate contract from the other group members. It was Gwen Gordy, as its been alleged, that wanted David to be in that group because as she said, 'he had superstar potential'. David had been toiling with BG's sister since the days he was living with her family in the late 50s. He helped build Studio A with Pops Gordy as well as sing and work with Gwen and Billy Davis' fledging record company. David was already signed with BG's sister so when he bought her out, he also got David and the other acts that were signed to his sister's label.

I am saying all of this to say that I feel that there were promises made to David by BG and his family. I believe David was very loyal to them despite whatever 'problems' BG's wife 'alleges' he had. David was a solo act from the start and his addition to the group help made the group what it is today. Melvin was silly to say that they felt that David was using the group as a spring board for a solo career. They didn't have any damn hits when he joined them so how was David 'using' the group? In reality, O has been using David's name and 'problems' to build himself up and keep the group name alive. So who's 'using' who?

Now O nem wanted David in the group but BG had the last say. The same thing with the decision to fire David. O nem could've had all the meetings they wanted as the day was long but the fact reminded that the final decision came down to BG. If O had all these 'solo' meetings with BG, more than likely it was to run his mouth about who was doing what. BG always had spies to tell him what was happening in other groups and within his administrative staff. This is not new. O wasn't that important in the scheme of things. The only thing he was willing to do was keep his mouth shut and tow the line because he didn't want to end up on the unemployment line. O had more to lose than David did.

[Common]

Additionally, David's 'problem' was that BG felt he could not control David. Putting aside the drugs and the other mess, I don't think David was all in that 'celebrity' type of thing. David seemed to like to hang with everybody and people at Motown had a problem with that. David didn't mind hanging with street people as well as 'high class' folk. Despite what they say about his 'ego', he seemed to respect everybody. I agree with Tony Turner's assessment that David's personality was misunderstood by alot of people because he dared to show he had a mind of his own and did what he felt was right for him. Motown was held bent on controlling the lives as well as the money of their stars. This is documented. When folks cannot 'control' you, you become a 'problem' or a 'trouble' because you wouldn't allow them to abuse or mistreat you. There is much more to this Motown story that has yet to be told and you wouldn't hear it until BG kicks the bucket.

[citystars]

Common,

Well said. ITA with everything you stated.


Regarding the issue of spies:
According to Unsung, BG was upset when he found out Diana went to Eddie's house to allegedly cause some kind of commotion. I wondered how in the world did he find out and why was he told when it was clearly a personal matter. Someone had to inform him about the alleged incident for a reason. Not sure who it was, but I highly doubt it was Eddie or his ex-wife.

[Common]

Dc, thanks for the info about Duke coming out with a book. It will be very interesting to read about what he will write about. I found it interesting that last or the year before, Obie Benson's daughter had taken Fakir to court, saying that she wasn't getting her father's royalties or something like that. Apparently, there are issues in that group but, like you said, they manage to keep things on the downlow.

citystars, Shelly probably got the job because he probably knew one of the executives at Motown. It didn't sound like he had much qualifications, backing what Raynoma Gordy said about how BG would hire people. Raynoma stated that BG would hire somebody who was an 'administrator' but had no idea exactly what they 'administered' in.

BG had people spying on the producers and the musicians so it's not surprising on how that incident with Ross reached back to him. I think it was very important for BG to keep control and a tight reign on Ross at that time because the Supremes were the money makers. BG seemed to be very paranoid when it came to scandal of any kind that might have related back to the artists.

I think Eddie's relationship with BG was much more than the fact that they shared Ross. I think it was because Eddie was a quiet man yet wasn't easily intimidated by anyone. I think BG had a hard time trying to figure Eddie out when Eddie was a Tempt.

[citystars]

Common,

Here's an excerpt from Blues & Soul Magazine, January 15-28, 1980 issue:

.......Born in Meridian, Mississippi, on January 18, 1941, David's roots lie in gospel. His early experiences were gained with the Dixie Humming-birds and Swan Silvertones but, by 1957, he had settled in Detriot. One of his first friends was Berry Gordy and he became a close friend to the family -baby sitting and doing odd jobs around he house. A year later he hooked up with Marvin Gaye and Lamont Dozier to form the New Moonglows.

In 1962, he met two Birmingham, Alabama natives - Eddie Kendricks and Paul William and then Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin and, in 1963, the Temptations was born. The next five years was a piece of musical history because the Temptations became the epitome of vocal groups....

1) It seems David's and BG's relationship was more complicated than people connected to Hitsville truly wish to discuss. Perhaps this explains why David is the designated 'bad guy' in the Temptations narrative.
Also, since it appears David was connected to and friendly with BG way before O, I wonder could this be a reason why O may have been been willing to undermine David.
2) Interesting to learn David met Eddie and Paul first.

Citystars