Paul Williams (The Temptations)
| Paul Williams | |
|---|---|
Williams performs with The Temptations on The Ed Sullivan Show
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| Background information | |
| Born |
July 2, 1939 Ensley, Alabama, U.S. |
| Origin | Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | August 17, 1973 (aged 34) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1955–1971 |
| Labels | Motown |
| Associated acts |
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Paul Williams (July 2, 1939 – August 17, 1973) was an American baritone singer and choreographer. Williams was noted for being one of the founding members and original lead singer of the Motown group The Temptations. Along with David Ruffin, Otis Williams , and fellow Alabamians Eddie Kendricks and Melvin Franklin, Williams was a member of The Temptations during the "Classic Five" period. Personal problems and failing health forced Williams to retire in 1971. He was found dead two years later as the result of an apparent suicide.
Paul Williams was born and raised in the Ensley neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama. He was the son of Sophia and Rufus Williams, a gospel singer in a gospel music vocal group called the Ensley Jubilee Singers. He met Eddie Kendricks in elementary school; supposedly, the two first encountered each other in a fistfight after Williams dumped a bucket of mop water on Kendricks. Both boys shared a love of singing, and sang in their church choir together. As teenagers, Williams, Kendricks, and Kell Osborne and Willie Waller performed in a secular singing group known as The Cavaliers, with dreams of making it big in the music industry. In 1957, Williams, Kendricks, and Osbourne left Birmingham to start careers, leaving Waller behind. Now known as The Primes, the trio moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and eventually found a manager in Milton Jenkins, who moved the group to Detroit, Michigan. Although The Primes never recorded, they were successful performers, and even launched a spin-off female group called The Primettes, who later became The Supremes.
In 1961, Kell Osborne moved to California, and the Primes disbanded. Kendricks returned to Alabama, but visited Paul in Detroit shortly after. While on this visit, he and Paul had learned that Otis Williams, head of a rival Detroit act known as The Distants, had two openings in his group's lineup. Paul Williams and Kendricks joined Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, and Elbridge Bryant to form The Elgins, who signed to the local Motown label in 1961, after first changing their name to The Temptations.
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