Eddie Kendricks - Biography
By Nick Castro
Known as the soulful tenor of the Temptation, Eddie Kendricks had to fight his way up the musical ladder both when he began in the late 50's, and again when he went solo in the early 70's. Although he was the tenor of The Temtpations, he mainly was known for his smooth falsetto voice. He also gained notoriety as a song writer and fashion icon, even being responsible for the suits The Temptations used to wear. As a solo artist, Kendricks is mainly remembered for his song, "Keep on Truckin'", and to lesser extents, the songs, "Boogie Down", "Son of Sagittarius" and "Shoeshine Boy". Kendricks, who later changed back to his birth name, Kendrick, has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and is one of the most legendary of the Motown singers, alongside David Ruffin, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross.
Kendricks was formally trained as a vocalist by the local church in Birmingham, Alabama, when he was a child. By the mid 50's he was singing doo wop songs with his friends, Paul Williams, Kell Osborne and Willy Waller. The group first moved to Cleveland to pursue fame, then went to Detroit and became the group known as The Primes. Although the group built up a small reputation for themselves locally, nothing substantial came of their time spent in the motor city so the group disbanded by 1961, with the various members going to different places. Kendricks went back home to Birmingham. At the height of The Primes' popularity in Detroit, they had a female counterpart group called The Primettes, which featured a young Diana Ross. The Primettes would later change their name to The Supremes.
Kendricks came back to Detroit to visit Paul Williams, and it was by chance that he got a job singing in Otis Williams' group, The Distants, along with his friend Paul. Paul and Kendricks made such a sonic impact on the group that they all decided they should change the name, to The Elgins, and essentially form a new group. It was as The Elgins that the group first auditioned for Berry Gordy. Gordy loved the group and signed them right away to his Miracle label, and they changed their name to The Temptations, though it would be a few years before they would achieve any real success. One of the first jobs The Temptations got was singing backing vocals for Mary Wells.
The Temptations got their first break in 1964 when Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers, of the Miracles, wrote the song, "The Way You Do the Things You Do", for them, with Kendricks in mind for the lead vocal. By this time, Kendricks' friend, David Ruffin had just joined the group, and they now had their first big hit on their hands. The song went into the top 20, going as high as number 11. They began performing on national tour with other Motown artists and were now well on their ways to becoming superstars. Although many of the next few hits for The Temptations were sung by Ruffin, Kendricks would get plenty of opportunities to shine for the band, as on songs like "Get Ready" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg". The latter song was written by Norman Whitfield, who would soon be handling the majority of writing and arranging duties for the group.
Kendricks, always the ladies' man and romantic, became dismayed as The Temptations began to change their style and gravitate towards psychedelic soul as opposed to the romantic balladry of their earlier efforts. Ruffin was kicked out of the band in 1968 and this only served to further scar Kendricks, who remained a loyal friend to Ruffin and was formulating ideas for further projects outside of The Temptations with him. Kendricks approached the band with idea of recording solo material outside of the group since they were rejecting many of his ideas. The group refused to allow him to record solo and remain a member. In 1970 Kendricks recorded the song, "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" for The Temptations but left the group before the song had a chance to go to number 1. This became the most successful song of the band's entire career.
Kendricks signed to Tamla records, which was under the parent Motown label, and began his solo career with a slew of singles that did mildly well, but failed to garner any of the success of The Temptations. Meanwhile, The Temptations recorded the song, "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)", out of spite for Kendricks, though the various members would soon write short pieces for Kendricks' first solo album about how his departure was amicable. Kendricks released All by Myself (1971 - Tamla), with the famous Funk Brothers as the backing band. This album was one of last recorded at the legendary Hitsville USA studios, before their relocation to Los Angeles.
Kendricks' second solo album, People...Hold On (1972 - Tamla), was produced by Frank Wilson, who also penned a couple of the songs on the album, "If You Let Me" and "Let Me Run Into Your Lonely Heart". This album finds Kendricks embracing many funk elements into his music as well, which helped to define his sound apart from The Temptations, but unfortunately failed to gain the success he was searching for as a solo artist.
Kendricks most of his success as a solo artist when he released the album, Eddie Kendricks (1973 - Tamla), which contained his biggest solo hit, "Keep on Truckin'", which still manages to garner radio airplay to this day. This is often considered his most solid solo album with material carefull chosen to compliment Kendricks' voice.
Kendricks would continue to enjoy moderate success throughout the remainder of the 70's with songs like, "Happy", "Shoeshine Boy" and "He's a Friend", but would begin to fade into obscurity in the 80's. He appeared on a live Hall and Oates record and even recorded some duets with David Ruffin in the late 80's, but unfortunately his time had passed and he was beginning to contract lung cancer from his incessant chain smoking. He had been planning to make a comeback in the early 90's with Ruffin but Ruffin died of a drug overdose before this could come to fruition. Kendricks died shortly after trying to have a lung removed.
