THE TEMPTATIONS

The Temptations (Detroit, 1961), grupo de música soul, rhythm and blues y pop, aunque se han acercado igualmente a distintas fusiones de estilos musicales y al funk con cierta carga política. Fue el más importante grupo vocal masculino de los años sesenta.

Estuvo inicialmente formado por cinco cantantes a partir de la fusión de dos grupos de Detroit, The Primes y The Distants. Otis Williams, Elbridge (conocido como El, o Al) Bryant y Melvin Franklin eran ya unos veteranos de la escena musical de Detroit cuando formaron the Distants, que en 1959 grabarían el sencillo "Come On" para el sello local Northern. Por las mismas fechas, the Primes, trío formado por Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams y Kell Osborne, se trasladaron a Detroit desde su originaria Alabama. Rápidamente, obtuvieron éxito (el mánager crearía una versión en femenino, The Primettes, del que más tarde surgirían The Supremes, con Diana Ross, Mary Wilson y Florence Ballard).

En 1961, the Primes se disolvió pero no sin que antes Otis Williams les pudiese ver en directo, quedando impresionado tanto por las cualidades vocales de Kendricks como por las habilidades coreográficas de Paul Williams. En poco tiempo, Otis Williams, Paul Williams, Bryant, Franklin y Kendricks se habían unido formando the Elgins; tras cambiar el nombre a the Temptations, firmaron con la compañía Miracle, subsidiaria de Motown, con la que realizaron unos cuantos sencillos en los meses siguientes. Solo uno, en 1962, "Dream Come True", logró algún éxito comercial, tras lo que Bryant abandonó el grupo por razones no claras. En 1964 volvieron a grabar con David Ruffin en el lugar de Bryant, contando con la colaboración del compositor y productor Smokey Robinson. El éxito fue inmediato con "The Way You Do the Things You Do", que sería el primero de los 37 Top Ten hits de su carrera. En 1965 presentaron la que sería su canción más conocida, "My Girl", un número uno del pop y un éxito del R&B; otros éxitos de ese años fueron "It's Growing", "Since I Lost My Baby", "Don't Look Back" y "My Baby".

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Letra de la Canción
It was the third of September.
That day I'll always remember, yes I will.
'Cause that was the day that my daddy died.
I never got a chance to see him.
Never heard nothing but bad things about him.
Mama, I'm depending on you, tell me the truth.

And Mama just hung her head and said,
"Son, Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."
"Papa was a rolling stone, my son.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."

Well, well.

Hey Mama, is it true what they say,
that Papa never worked a day in his life?
And Mama, bad talk going around town
saying that Papa had three outside children and another wife.
And that ain't right.
HEARD SOME talk about Papa doing some store front preaching.
TalkIN about saving souls and all the time leeching.
Dealing in debt and stealing in the name of the Lord.

Mama just hung her head and said,
"Papa was a rolling stone, my son.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."
"Hey, Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."

Uh!

Hey Mama, I heard Papa call himself a jack of all trade.
Tell me is that what sent Papa to an early grave?
Folk say Papa would beg, borrow, steal to pay his bill.
Hey Mama, folk say that Papa was never much on thinking.
Spent most of his time chasing women and drinking.
Mama, I'm depending on you to tell me the truth. Mama looked up with a tear in her eye and said,
"Son, Papa was a rolling stone. (Well, well, well, well)
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."
"Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."

"I said, Papa was a rolling stone. Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."