Paul Williams (The Temptations)

Paul Williams
Williams (pictured in the bottom center) with fellow Temptations circa 1965
Background information
Born	July 2, 1939(1939-07-02) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Origin	Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Died	August 17, 1973(1973-08-17) (aged 34) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres	R&B, soul, pop
Occupations	Singer, choreographer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1955–1973
Labels	Motown
Associated acts	The Primes, The Temptations

Paul Williams (July 2, 1939 – August 17, 1973) was an American baritone singer and choreographer. Williams is noted for being one of the founding members and original lead singer of the Motown group The Temptations. Along with David Ruffin, Otis Williams (no relation), 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 committed suicide two years later.

Early years

Paul Williams was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. He met his lifelong best friend Eddie Kendricks during their grade school years; supposedly, the two first encountered each other in a fistfight after Williams dumped a bucket of mop water on Kendricks. The two eventually became good friends; both boys shared a love of singing, and sang in their church choir together. As teenagers, Williams, Kendricks, and their friends Kel Osbourne 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 1960, Kel Osbourne moved to California, and the Primes disbanded. Williams and Kendricks returned to Alabama, but soon found themselves back in Detroit again after learning 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.

Paul Williams (far right), with the Temptations in 1967.

With the Temptations

Main article: The Temptations

Although the group now had a record deal, Paul Williams and his bandmates endured a long series of failed singles before finally hitting the Billboard Top 20 in 1964 with "The Way You Do the Things You Do." More hits quickly followed, including "My Girl", "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" and "(I Know) I'm Losing You."

Williams sang lead on several of the group's songs, and served as the main lead singer during the group's early years. His early leads include, "Your Wonderful Love" (1961), "Slow Down Heart" (1962), "I Want a Love I Can See" (1963), and "Oh, Mother of Mine" (1961) (the group's first single) and "Farewell My Love" (1963) both shared with Eddie Kendricks. Considered the Temptations' best dancer, Williams served as the group's original choreographer, devising routines for his group and The Supremes (most notably their trademark "Stop! In the Name of Love" routine), before Cholly Atkins took over that role for all of Motown's acts. Williams' later leads on Temptations songs include, "Just Another Lonely Night" (1965), "No More Water in the Well" (1967), a cover version of "Hey Girl" (1969), and his signature song "Don't Look Back" (1965). One of his best-known lead performances is his stand out live performance of "For Once in My Life," from the television special TCB, originally broadcast on December 9, 1968 on NBC. The live version of the song "Don't Look Back" is also frequently cited as one of his standout performances. He also took over the lead vocal for live performances of "My Girl" following David Ruffin's departure from the group.

Personal problems and decline

Williams suffered from sickle-cell anemia, which frequently wreaked havoc on his physical health. In 1965, Williams began an affair with Winnie Brown, hair stylist for The Supremes and a relative of Supremes member Florence Ballard. Williams was also depressed because Cholly Atkins' presence now made Williams' former role as choreographer essentially obsolete. Life on the road was starting to take its toll on Williams as well, and he began to drink heavily.

In the spring of 1969, Williams and Brown opened a celebrity fashion boutique in downtown Detroit. The business was not as successful as planned, and Williams soon found himself owing more than $80,000 in taxes. By now his health had deteriorated to the point that he would sometimes be unable to perform, suffering from combinations of exhaustion and pain which he combated with heavy drinking. Each of the other four Temptations did what they could to help Williams, alternating between raiding and draining his alcohol stashes, personal interventions, and keeping oxygen tanks backstage, but Williams' health, as well as the quality of his performances, continued to decline and he refused to see a doctor.

Otis Williams and the other Temptations decided to resort to enlisting an on-hand fill-in for Paul Williams. Richard Street, then-lead singer of fellow Motown act The Monitors and formerly lead singer of The Distants, was hired to travel with The Temptations and sing all of Williams' parts, save for Williams' special numbers such as "Don't Look Back" and "For Once in My Life", from backstage behind a curtain. When Williams was too ill to go on, Street took his place onstage. In April 1971, Williams was finally persuaded to go see a doctor. The doctor found a spot on Williams' liver, and advised him to retire. Williams left the group and Street became his permanent replacement. In support of helping Williams get back on his feet, The Temptations continued to pay Williams his same one-fifth share of the group's earnings, and kept Williams on their payroll as an advisor and choreographer, and Williams continued to help the group with routines and dance moves for the next two years.

Later years

By early 1973, Williams made his return to Motown's Hitsville USA recording studios, and began working on solo material. Kendricks, who had quit the Temptations just before Williams left, produced and co-wrote Williams' first single, "Feel Like Givin' Up", which was to have been issued on Motown's Gordy imprint with "Once You Had a Heart" as its b-side. However, after Williams' death was ruled a suicide in August 1973, Motown decided to shelve the sides, because the song "Feel Like Givin' Up" was just too literal to bear and the single was not released.

Death

On August 17, 1973, Williams was found dead in an alley, on the ground next to his car, having just left the new house of his then-girlfriend after an argument. A gun was found near his body. His death was ruled a suicide by the coroner; Williams had expressed suicidal thoughts to Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin months before his death.

Williams' funeral was held on August 24, with his family, friends, and former bandmates in attendance. He was survived by his wife, Mary Agnes Williams, and six children: Sarita, Kenneth, Paula, Paul Lucas, Mary and Paul Williams, Jr., who is now a member of a Temptations splinter group, The Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards. Paul also had a seventh child, Derrick Vinyard, with a girlfriend. Paul Williams is buried in Clinton Township, Michigan's Lincoln Memorial Park.

The circumstances surrounding Williams' death caused the Williams family to suspect that some form of foul play was the actual cause of Williams' death. According to the coroner, Williams had used his right hand to shoot himself in the left side of his head. In addition, a bottle of alcohol was found near Williams' left side, as if he had dropped it while being shot. The gun used in the shooting was found to have fired two shots, only one of which had killed Williams. Williams' family has continued to investigate the circumstances of Williams' death to this date.

Legacy

As a member of the Temptations, Paul Williams was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. Both of his solo recordings were later released by Motown on Temptations-related compilations in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1998, NBC aired The Temptations, a four-hour television miniseries based upon an autobiographical book by Otis Williams. Paul Williams was portrayed by actor Christian Payton.

Sources

• Williams, Otis and Patricia Romanowski (1988, updated 2002). Temptations. Lanham, MD: Cooper Square. ISBN 0-8154-1218-5.

External links

• Paul Williams at Find a Grave