The Firing of David Ruffin from the Temptations

Nothing new here. This info has been out for years. Ruffin was a supremely (sorry for the pun) talented singer. But between his ego and drug issues, was given far more chances than he deserved. Unlike Ross, who had some of the same issues, Ruffin didn't have the chance to sleep with Gordy.

 

love the movie...



if i'm channel surfing and i come across it, i'll end up watching it again for like the 50th time

 

The Dennis Edwards era was better anyway.

 

@mellowinman, I disagree. When you consider the Temps were in their heyday with Ruffin, check out the Temps in a mellow (heh heh heh) mood. If I remember correctly Edwards breakout Temps LP A Song For You (1975) which had hits all over it still wasn't commensurate with Ruffins studio and stage work. David was vicious (as a vocalist) and selfish unfortunately too. It was a shame to wake up one morning and hear that they found him dead in a West Phila. crack house.

 

ha! well, i'm gonna go with Clark Dark on that one. i liked all of it, but i'd give ruffin the 'edge' award. saw them both: great shows, great memories.

as for the OP: i heard (read?) all of that when it was happening, but like so many things --- forgot all about it and only remember the temptations as being one of the 'greatest of all time' acts in their prime.

 

Add in the fact they had to have Richard Street stand backstage and sing Paul Williams's lines when PW was so strung out they had to turn his mic off. So talented a group, but so #_-_#@ed up.

 

The ego, the dope, the disrupting chicks, and any number of other personal foibles are one thing, broadly and grudgingly tolerated in a big group with lots of mo-nay on the line.

But . . . . . . .

You start not making shows, and burn your bridges with the promoters? ? ? ? You are as dead as King Tut, and yourself will be dealt with quickly with great prejudice as everybody ELSE is now losing money, their throats cut by your personal indiscretions. When they say, 'You'll Never Work in This Town Again', and they can make it stick, you can stick a fork in your hindmost parts, you are d-o-n-e. Promoters have long, long, long memories.

And too, the muzik bidness is full of crash-and-burn stories, lots of them where a group gets hot, and all the voices start inflating the front man like the Goodyear Blimp ego-wise: 'You're the star, you don't need them'.
In a few cases the individual carries on just fine, but more often than not, the original group (with a replacement) and the 'star' (with a backing band), both end up on the rocks.

Ruffin overplayed his hand badly. He had two of a kind when he called, and found the dealer had two Kings and a pair of aces. See Ya'.

 

If I am not mistaken, he died in a hospital.

 

What a waste. All of that talent. Sickening.

 

The crack house was in the 5100 blk of Jefferson St in the Parkside section of west Phila. I lived on Lancaster Ave, (a block away) at the time and can say that he passed away in that house from an overdose (neighbors talk) and when he was dropped off at the hospital it was for the formality of declaring him dead.

 

Ahh. That would explain that then.

 

"Cool Story Bro" time.
Contains Temptations and bass related content as well as unprovable braggadocio.

I believe that I was the first person to tell the Temptations about "Standing In the Shadows of Motown".
It's late 1989, early 1990. I was tending bar at the long since closed Stage Deli in Boston. The restaurant and bar were attached to the Tremont House hotel in the Theater District. Lots of celebrities and entertainment business type guests.

One day after the lunch rush, I'm all alone in the bar area cleaning and restocking things and five middle aged guys in really nice track suits and a good amount of tasteful gold jewelry sit down at the bar. Clearly these guys are entertainers. When you work in a place that serves celebrities you don't bring up their work or their fame unless they do first. You just don't. You do your job and leave them alone. These guys, however, were friendly and talkative, especially one guy with a really deep voice. After a few minutes of chit chat I said something like "Alright, I'm not supposed to do this, but I know I should know who you are and I can't figure it out and it's driving me nuts."

After a pause, the man with the deep voice says "We're the Temptations". I almost peed myself and said something like "Oh my God, you're Melvin Franklin". This gets a big smile. He probably didn't get that level of recognition from random skinny young white guys* all that often. We get to talking some more about why they're in town (private corporate gig, jokes about someone's wife needing a new Mercedes and someone else's needing more jewelry.) Standard bartender/customer stuff and they really are just super nice guys.

I get asked if I do anything else beside tend bar and I tell them that I'm a bass player. Mr. Franklin says "I'm a bass singer, that makes us brothers." I actually pee myself at this.

I then say that I'm a fan of James Jamerson. They all act really surprised, even Otis Williams who's been pretty quiet up until this point. Mr. Franklin asks "How do you know about Jamerson?" I'll never forget the disbelief in his voice and on his face when he asked that. Bear in mind that this is all before the mass media about the Funk Brothers. At this time, no one outside of Motown had heard about the Funk Brothers. No one.

I explain I have this book called "Standing In the Shadows of Motown" (The link is for the version with CDs, mine had cassettes) that's a tribute to Jamerson with recordings and comments by famous bass players. They're super interested to hear about it. The fact that I knew who Jamerson was and was able to name some of their songs he had played on (Ain't To Proud to Beg, Get Ready) really surprised them in the best possible way. This led to one of the greatest afternoons of my life where I, an audience of one, got to stand two feet away from THE TEMPTATIONS listening to story after story about what it was like recording with the Funk Brothers and the early days of Motown.

You may now refer to me as Mr. marmadaddy.

*I am no longer skinny or young. Other attributes remain consistent.

 

Just saw "Ain't To Proud To Beg" on Broadway last night. It was awesome! It followed the movie closely. The thing that really amazes me is how nobody ever makes a discernible performance mistake.

The bass chair is being handled by George Farmer and he kills it! I read that he ices down his arm after every performance.

 

How do you know?

Highway 101!

 

Some real gems in his solo catalog. “Pieces of a Man”...wow!