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==Biography==
==Biography==
===Early life===
===Early life===
Williams was born '''Otis Miles, Jr.'''<ref name="Ribowsky" /> <ref>Higgins, Chester (April 1971). "[http://books.google.com/books?id=FdsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=%22Otis+Williams+Miles%22&source=bl&ots=ET-OpXqCe-&sig=NiMQxRmTeFR8iRSw23RUd8QyDmc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xLohUcm_FIG89gSvtIC4Cw&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Otis%20Williams%20Miles%22&f=falseThe Temptations]". ''[[Ebony (magazine)|]]''. Retrieved 02-17-2013.</ref> in [[Texarkana, Texas]], to Otis Miles and Hazel Louise Williams, an unmarried couple who separated shortly after their son's birth.<ref name="Ribowsky" /> While he was still a toddler, his mother married and moved to [[Detroit, Michigan]], leaving the younger Otis Miles to be raised by both of his grandmothers in Texarkana.<ref name="Ribowsky" /> Williams' mother moved him to Detroit when he was ten years old, where he lived with his mother and his stepfather, Edgar Little,'<ref name="Ribowsky" /> and began using the last name "Williams" instead of "Miles".<ref name="Ribowsky" />
Williams was born '''Otis Miles, Jr.'''<ref name="Ribowsky" /> <ref>Higgins, Chester (April 1971). "[http://books.google.com/books?id=FdsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=%22Otis+Williams+Miles%22&source=bl&ots=ET-OpXqCe-&sig=NiMQxRmTeFR8iRSw23RUd8QyDmc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xLohUcm_FIG89gSvtIC4Cw&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Otis%20Williams%20Miles%22&f=falseThe Temptations]". ''[[Ebony (magazine)|]]''. Retrieved 02-17-2013.</ref> in [[Texarkana, Texas]], to Otis Miles and Hazel Louise Williams, an unmarried couple who separated shortly after their son's birth.<ref name="Ribowsky" /> While he was still a toddler, his mother married and moved to [[Detroit, Michigan]], leaving the younger Otis Miles to be raised by both of his grandmothers in Texarkana.<ref name="Ribowsky" /> Williams' mother moved him to Detroit when he was ten years old, where he lived with his mother and his stepfather, Edgar Little,'<ref name="Ribowsky" /> and began using the last name "poopie head"


===Career===
===Career===

Revision as of 17:28, 21 February 2013

This article is about a member of The Temptations. For the doo-wop group, see Otis Williams and the Charms.
Otis Williams
Otis Williams (bottom right) with The Temptations circa 1965
Otis Williams (bottom right) with The Temptations circa 1965
Background information
Birth nameOtis Miles, Jr.
Born (1941-10-30) October 30, 1941 (age 82)
Texarkana, Texas, U.S.
GenresR&B, pop, soul, disco
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, producer
InstrumentVocals
Years active1958–present
LabelsWarwick, Motown, Atlantic, New Door/Universial

Otis Williams (born October 30, 1941) is an American baritone[1][2] singer. Nicknamed "Big Daddy", he has also acted as a sporadic songwriter and record producer. Williams co-founded the Motown vocal group The Temptations in early 1960 as The Elgins,[1] a group in which he continues to perform. Williams is the group's only surviving original member.

Biography

Early life

Williams was born Otis Miles, Jr.[2] [3] in Texarkana, Texas, to Otis Miles and Hazel Louise Williams, an unmarried couple who separated shortly after their son's birth.[2] While he was still a toddler, his mother married and moved to Detroit, Michigan, leaving the younger Otis Miles to be raised by both of his grandmothers in Texarkana.[2] Williams' mother moved him to Detroit when he was ten years old, where he lived with his mother and his stepfather, Edgar Little,'[2] and began using the last name "poopie head"

Career

Main article: The Temptations

Williams became interested in music as a teenager. He loved music and put together a number of singing groups, among them Otis Williams and the Siberians, the El Domingoes and the Distants. The Distants had a local hit, co-written by Williams and manager/producer Johnnie Mae Matthews, called "Come On", with lead vocals by Richard Street. Future Distants recordings were not as successful, and after an offer from Berry Gordy of Motown Records, Williams and his friends/bandmates Elbridge "Al" Bryant and Melvin Franklin quit the Distants. (Best friends for over thirty years, Williams and Franklin were the only two Temptations to never quit the group.) Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams from The Primes later joined Williams, Bryant, and Franklin to create the Elgins, who signed to Motown in March 1961 as "The Temptations".

The Temptations eventually became the most successful act in black music over the course of its nearly five-decade existence, over which time notable singers such as David Ruffin, Dennis Edwards, former Distant Richard Street, Damon Harris, Ron Tyson, Ali-Ollie Woodson, Theo Peoples, Ray Davis and G.C. Cameron have all been members. In fact, the group's lineup changes were so frequent, stressful and troublesome that Williams and Melvin Franklin promised each other they would never quit the group. Franklin would remain in the group until 1994, when he became physically incapable of continuing. Franklin died on February 23, 1995, leaving Otis Williams (then 53) as the last surviving original member of the Temptations quintet.

Williams is the co-author, with Patricia Romanowski, of Temptations, a 1988 book that served as both his autobiography and a history of the group. Ten years later, the book was adapted into a NBC television miniseries The Temptations. Williams was portrayed by actor Charles Malik Whitfield. Over the years fan opinion of Williams has been mixed, with some criticizing him for what they perceive as jealous insults against his former bandmates while others defend him for simply trying to be honest about the problems that the group suffered.

Although he has served the longest tenure in the Temptations, Williams rarely sings lead, focusing instead on his role as the group's leader and organizer, and as the background "tenor in the middle". The Smokey Robinson and Eddie Kendrick written track "Don't Send Me Away" from the LP The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul (1967), the intro on early group song "Check Yourself" (1961) and the Norman Whitfield-penned tune "I Ain't Got Nothing" from 1972's All Directions are extremely rare showcases for Williams singing lead. Williams has provided non-singing (spoken word) contributions to some Temptation songs, including "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" (1968, a hit duet with Diana Ross and Eddie Kendricks sharing the lead vocals), and during the opening verse of "Masterpiece" (1973).

In 1989, Otis Williams was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Temptations.[4]

Williams received an honorary doctorate from Stillman College in May 2006.

Personal life

Williams married Josephine Rogers in 1961;[5][6] the couple's son, Otis Lamont, was born the same year.[6] [5] Otis and Josephine divorced in 1964. Williams went on to date Florence Ballard of The Supremes, and was for a time engaged to R&B singer Patti LaBelle.

Williams was married to Ann Cain from 1967 to 1973. [7] Williams married his third wife, Arleata "Goldie" Williams (neé Carter), in 1983.[8] Arleata Williams' daughter Elan Carter became 1994's Playboy's Playmate of the Month for June 1994.[9] They divorced in 1997. Williams' son Lamont, a construction worker, died in a workplace accident in 1983. [10]

References

  1. ^ a b Ankeny, Jason. "Biography: The Temptations". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e Ribowsky, Mark (2010). Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Endearing Soul of the Temptations. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 7-9
  3. ^ Higgins, Chester (April 1971). "Temptations". [[Ebony (magazine)|]]. Retrieved 02-17-2013.
  4. ^ List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees
  5. ^ a b Williams, Otis and Romanowski, Patricia (1988, updated 2002). Temptations. Lanham, MD: Cooper Square. ISBN 0-8154-1218-5. pg. 52-53
  6. ^ a b "RUFFIN-STEINBACK v. dePASSE (UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT)" (PDF). 2001-09-28. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  7. ^ Williams and Romanowski (1988, updated 2002), pg. 122-123
  8. ^ Ribowsky, Mark (2010). Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Endearing Soul of the Temptations. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 263
  9. ^ http://www.otiswilliams.net/bio.aspx
  10. ^ Williams and Romanowski (1988, updated 2002), pg. 214-215

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