Hathaway
Someday, We'll All Be Free
May 28, 1967. Regular day for most people. A Sunday. But Sundays were special. Nah not just football. Not just church. The mf Ed Sullivan show. 8pm nikka. This night though, Ed had something planned. Some real shyt. fukk a Elvis. fukk the Beatles. We off that
Let's see what they got brewing up in Detroit. Motor City. Motown. Lets see what all the fuss is about with this up and coming group of young men. They call themselves The Temptations.
The God 5 - Melvin Franklin, Otis Williams, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks & got damn David Ruffin. These nikkas been grinding the Chitlin Circuit since 64, stringing together hits tryna climb their way into commercial success the natural way. Hard work. Hard misses. Hard hits. Organic. No cheat codes. No 2017 GS Warriors pay to win type shyt. Natural evolution into stardom. Well they got their mf opportunity when ol Ed came calling to book em for primetime; word to Deion.
The Ed Sullivan show was the epitome of music stardom. The premiere evening music showcase for all the major acts of the day. It got no better than this. You better show up and show tf out and these "Tempting" Temptations did just that.
Eddie Kendricks had them boys fitted in khaki 3pc suits with chocolate vests and shoes. The drip was undeniable and them white girls panties felt every drop. 5 grown ass men. All 6ft+, all singing, all dancing. Smooth af. Rugged soulful harmonies. Style. Charisma. Big dikk energy. This spelled doom for the competition. Just off looks alone they were the best looking group of their time. How tf can we compete with that?
Already scored they first number 1 hit a couple years prior thanks to Smokey Robinson the GOD lacing them with My Girl. Now everybody was tryna get ahold of them boys. They started the show off smooth. The plan was a 4 song medley. Let's give em a lil bit of every thing. Started that bytch off nice with Girl Why You Wanna Make Me Blue with Eddie's sweet falsetto on lead. Imagine you and the fam sitting Indian style on the living room floor in front of your brand new color tv ya dad bought after saving up for half a year pulling double shifts at the factory and seeing these 5 nikkas grace the tv looking like African Gods. 1st thing you notice is the smooth dance moves:
Tight. On point. Cohesive. Not too flashy but at the same time exciting. Precise. You lean in closer to the screen as they progress to the next song, All I Need. The sweet smooth falsetto of Eddie fades away as he passes the mic to Ruffin. Tall, slender and confident. He grabs the mic as if it were a natural extension of his body pause. His voice bellows. Rough, edgy, soulful. A voice nurtured by tough times in the dirty south of Mississippi. The stage presence is natural. A born showman. My Girl is the next song and you and your family all sing along to the sweet melody that's been dominating the radio for months. Those smooth harmonies and dance steps on view for all to see. Then we get to the finale.
The first 3 songs of the medley were cool. Pop/Light R&B tryna make sure you cater to the crossover crowd, this IS the Ed Sullivan Show of course.
But now we gotta take em to church. Give em that grimey shyt. That real R&B shyt. They pulled out I'm Losing You. A slow, deliberate, thumping bluesy joint much too mature for the young viewers of the Ed Sullivan show but I respect the choice. Can't forget about your core audience. At this point, ya pops who's been chilling in his recliner during the entire show takes notice when that guitar riff begins to play on the intro. That shyt takes him back to the mid 50s when him and his boys was grinding up the east coast playing gigs tryna make it big as a blues quartet. He leans up in his chair, cigarette hanging on his lip, eyes fixed on the screen. The beat drops and Ruffin begins his verse. The Tempts in the back shuffling that shyt. Moves is tighter than virgin coochie
The climax of the song rolls around. Drums booming. Trumpet section blaring. Ruffin the ultimate showman. He been telling the guys he had something planned. The rest of the group didn't know what though. They watch him as he moves out in front. Then on a mf dime, my nikka hit one of the cleanest moves the Ed Sullivan show had ever seen:
nikka...what?
The entire move was like 2.5 seconds long but it went down in music television history. You can't even describe it. It's not a split but it kinda is. Notice how many times he switched hands with the mic to execute the move. Threw that mf behind his back, hit a spin move, drop down to his knees in a semi split, then the cherry on top, the way he slid back up all in one motion without the slightest hesitation. Even James Brown himself took notice when he saw this shyt. What's even funnier, look at Melvin (far left in the front) he watches him the entire time, even the seconds leading up to the move. He wanted to see that shyt. Let me see what Ruffin bout to do.
Look at the look Eddie gives Melvin (both on the left side)
He looking like:
This one move kind of shaped a section of music history when you think about it because you know who was glued to the tv screen that night? A 9 year old boy in Gary, Indiana. Little did he know that only 2 years later in 1969, he and his brothers would grace the same stage on primetime television for all of America to see and he would grow to become the greatest musical artist of all time.
He often mentioned Ruffin as one of his biggest inspirations for his showmanship and stage presence.
After this show though, it was a wrap. You could tell all them other singing groups to pack they shyt up cause none of em was fukking with these boys. The Temps are the greatest singing group of all time. 1 of 1.
Let's see what they got brewing up in Detroit. Motor City. Motown. Lets see what all the fuss is about with this up and coming group of young men. They call themselves The Temptations.
The God 5 - Melvin Franklin, Otis Williams, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks & got damn David Ruffin. These nikkas been grinding the Chitlin Circuit since 64, stringing together hits tryna climb their way into commercial success the natural way. Hard work. Hard misses. Hard hits. Organic. No cheat codes. No 2017 GS Warriors pay to win type shyt. Natural evolution into stardom. Well they got their mf opportunity when ol Ed came calling to book em for primetime; word to Deion.
The Ed Sullivan show was the epitome of music stardom. The premiere evening music showcase for all the major acts of the day. It got no better than this. You better show up and show tf out and these "Tempting" Temptations did just that.
Eddie Kendricks had them boys fitted in khaki 3pc suits with chocolate vests and shoes. The drip was undeniable and them white girls panties felt every drop. 5 grown ass men. All 6ft+, all singing, all dancing. Smooth af. Rugged soulful harmonies. Style. Charisma. Big dikk energy. This spelled doom for the competition. Just off looks alone they were the best looking group of their time. How tf can we compete with that?
Already scored they first number 1 hit a couple years prior thanks to Smokey Robinson the GOD lacing them with My Girl. Now everybody was tryna get ahold of them boys. They started the show off smooth. The plan was a 4 song medley. Let's give em a lil bit of every thing. Started that bytch off nice with Girl Why You Wanna Make Me Blue with Eddie's sweet falsetto on lead. Imagine you and the fam sitting Indian style on the living room floor in front of your brand new color tv ya dad bought after saving up for half a year pulling double shifts at the factory and seeing these 5 nikkas grace the tv looking like African Gods. 1st thing you notice is the smooth dance moves:
Tight. On point. Cohesive. Not too flashy but at the same time exciting. Precise. You lean in closer to the screen as they progress to the next song, All I Need. The sweet smooth falsetto of Eddie fades away as he passes the mic to Ruffin. Tall, slender and confident. He grabs the mic as if it were a natural extension of his body pause. His voice bellows. Rough, edgy, soulful. A voice nurtured by tough times in the dirty south of Mississippi. The stage presence is natural. A born showman. My Girl is the next song and you and your family all sing along to the sweet melody that's been dominating the radio for months. Those smooth harmonies and dance steps on view for all to see. Then we get to the finale.
The first 3 songs of the medley were cool. Pop/Light R&B tryna make sure you cater to the crossover crowd, this IS the Ed Sullivan Show of course.
But now we gotta take em to church. Give em that grimey shyt. That real R&B shyt. They pulled out I'm Losing You. A slow, deliberate, thumping bluesy joint much too mature for the young viewers of the Ed Sullivan show but I respect the choice. Can't forget about your core audience. At this point, ya pops who's been chilling in his recliner during the entire show takes notice when that guitar riff begins to play on the intro. That shyt takes him back to the mid 50s when him and his boys was grinding up the east coast playing gigs tryna make it big as a blues quartet. He leans up in his chair, cigarette hanging on his lip, eyes fixed on the screen. The beat drops and Ruffin begins his verse. The Tempts in the back shuffling that shyt. Moves is tighter than virgin coochie
The climax of the song rolls around. Drums booming. Trumpet section blaring. Ruffin the ultimate showman. He been telling the guys he had something planned. The rest of the group didn't know what though. They watch him as he moves out in front. Then on a mf dime, my nikka hit one of the cleanest moves the Ed Sullivan show had ever seen:
nikka...what?
The entire move was like 2.5 seconds long but it went down in music television history. You can't even describe it. It's not a split but it kinda is. Notice how many times he switched hands with the mic to execute the move. Threw that mf behind his back, hit a spin move, drop down to his knees in a semi split, then the cherry on top, the way he slid back up all in one motion without the slightest hesitation. Even James Brown himself took notice when he saw this shyt. What's even funnier, look at Melvin (far left in the front) he watches him the entire time, even the seconds leading up to the move. He wanted to see that shyt. Let me see what Ruffin bout to do.
Look at the look Eddie gives Melvin (both on the left side)
He looking like:
This one move kind of shaped a section of music history when you think about it because you know who was glued to the tv screen that night? A 9 year old boy in Gary, Indiana. Little did he know that only 2 years later in 1969, he and his brothers would grace the same stage on primetime television for all of America to see and he would grow to become the greatest musical artist of all time.
He often mentioned Ruffin as one of his biggest inspirations for his showmanship and stage presence.
After this show though, it was a wrap. You could tell all them other singing groups to pack they shyt up cause none of em was fukking with these boys. The Temps are the greatest singing group of all time. 1 of 1.
