Paul Williams (The Temptations)
Paul Williams (
July 2,
1939 â€"
August 17,
1973) was an
American second
tenor/
baritone singer.
Williams is noted for being one of the founding members and original lead singer of the popular
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 their most successful years in the
1960s, later dubbed the "Classic 5" period. Paul Williams himself was a member of the group from its founding in
1960 until
1971, when personal problems and failing health forced him to retire. Those same problems would later cause Williams to commit
suicide two years later, at the age of thirty-four.
Early years
Born and raised in
Birmingham,
Alabama, Williams 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 had in common a love of singing, and sung in their church choir together. As teenagers, Williams, Kendricks, and their friends Kel Osboure and Wiley 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 for greener pastures, 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
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 lead singer during the group's early years. Considered the Temptations' best dancer, Williams served as the group's original
choreographer, devising routines for his group and The Supremes as well (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 included "No More Water in the Well", "Just Another Lonely Night", and his signature song, "
Don't Look Back". One of his best-known lead performances is his live performance of "
For Once in My Life," from the
television special
TCB, originally broadcast on
December 9,
1968 on
NBC.
Personal problems and decline
Williams suffered from
sickle-cell disease, which would keep him in poor health at times. In
1965, Williams began an affair with Winnie Brown, hair stylist for
The Supremes and a relative of Supremes member
Florence Ballard. In love with Brown but still devoted to his wife and children, Williams was also depressed because he was now being denied lead spots on the Temptations' singles in favor of
David Ruffin, and Cholly Atkins' presence now made Williams' former role as choreographer essentially obsolete. As a result, Williams, who previously never drank anything stronger than milk, began to drink alcoholic beverages heavily, and soon slid into
alcohol dependency. Because of Williams' sickle-cell condition, which already made touring hard on him, alcohol took a stronger than usual toll on his health.
In
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. 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 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 Paul Williams' parts, save for Williams' special numbers such as "Don't Look Back" and "For Once in My Life", from behind a curtain. When Williams was too ill to go on, Street took his place onstage. In April of
1971, Williams was finally persuaded to go see a doctor. The doctor found a spot on Williams' liver, and demanded that the singer retire from The Temptations. Williams left the group and Street became his permanent replacement. In support of helping Williams get back on his feet, The Temptations 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
Now spending most of his time at home, Williams continued to be troubled by the problems of his affair, the boutique, and his dependence on alcohol. By early
1973, Williams had returned to Motown's
Hitsville USA recording studios, and was now working on solo material. Eddie Kendricks, who had quit the Temptations just before Williams himself 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, Motown decided to shelve the sides, and the single was not released.
Williams never overcame his depression or his personal and health problems. On
August 17,
1973, Williams, age thirty-four, was found on the ground near his car, dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot to the head, in a deserted parking lot near 14th Street and West Grand Blvd., not far from Hitsville.
The mysterious circumstances surrounding Paul Williams' death caused many people, including the Williams family, to suspect (and continue to suspect) that some form of foul play or murder 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'd dropped it while being shot. Finally, the gun used in the shooting was found to have fired two shots, only one of which had killed Williams. Despite the unusual evidence, Williams had in fact previously expressed suicidal thoughts, and his death was officially ruled as being self-inflicted.
Paul Williams' funeral was held on August 24, with his family, friends, and former bandmates in attendance. He was survived by his wife, Mary Williams, and their six children: Sarita, Paula, Kenneth, Mary Agnes, Paul Jr., and Paul Lucas. 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.
*
Williams, Otis and Romanowski, Patricia (1988, updated 2002). Temptations. Lanham, MD: Cooper Square. ISBN 081-541218-5.
* Williams-Perry, Paula. "The Official Paul Williams Home Page". Retrieved from http://members.aol.com/maaalumni/paul1.html on January 17, 2006.
*
The Official Paul Williams Home Page. Operated by his daughter Paula Williams-Perry, the executor of his estate.
*
Paul Williams' Gravesite*
Paul Williams' MySpace group*
Paul Williams' MySpace Page*
A homage to Paul Williams
