EDDIE KENDRICKS - The UNTOLD PAINFUL HIDDEN STORY | Death | PAUL WILLIAMS_What They Didn't Tell You!

whenever we talk of The Temptations there's one name that always comes top of Mind Eddie James Kendricks to many he is undoubtedly the best falsetto singer to ever have existed his distinctive vocals Sue Velvet Smooth Compares To None You could argue he was the first person to give the falsetto some real class many both The Young and the old have tried mimicking him many will try to do so but the fact remains there'll never be another Kendricks ever on top of his god-given gift his tall and slender stature coupled with his shy boyish cool charm made him a lady's favorite whenever he stepped on stage together with the other Temptations all the ladies would melt down chanting his name in admiration surprisingly it wasn't only the fans drooling over him many great female singers have also expressed how he carried them away Diana Ross and Mary Wilson of The Supremes being some of the stars who found M themselves as victims of Eddie's charm but beneath this innocent and handsome face was someone who had an ego loved to take control and not afraid to air out his views but most importantly very very cautious one who trusted no one but himself from relationships to businesses he would always be vocal in poking the holes without hesitation even if it meant getting into altercations backing down was never an option to him many confused him with being rebellious just by this trait this misunderstanding of character has led to many basing his legacy solely on how his life turned out to be in the latter years something that is absolutely and completely far from the truth many stories about him have been put out there to justify his untimely death in 1992 at a mere age of 52 but there's more than meets the eye while Reports say that the cancer was brought about by the 30 years he had been smoking many eyebrows were raised did they knowingly frustrate him to drive him to depression knowing his weaknesses was there a secret motive behind this did his curious nature of questioning everything turn back to bite him or did he poison himself by his own ego which turns sour this is the untold chilling story of Edward James Kendricks born on December 17th 1939 in Union Rings Alabama to Johnny and Lee Bell Kendrick Eddie together with his four siblings one sister Patricia and three brothers Charles Robert and Clarence moved to the Ensley neighborhood of Birmingham from a young age his no nonon trait was first expressed in elementary school when a boy his age poured a bucket of mop water onto him although Eddie was very slim he whipped the boy so bad but after that they let things slide and became best of friends after noticing they shared much in common and were just a few blocks from each other from then the two did all the mischievous things you could think of as kids often getting into trouble on top of this the fact that they were schoolmates right from elementary school all the way to Western oen High which is now Jackson oen high and also Church mates at Macedonia Baptist Church strengthen their bond even further that boy was none other than Paul Williams his partner in crime away from this their love for music ran deeper than people think they were always together singing both in the church choir and also practicing at the porches of their homes hoping that one day they would make it big in around 1955 Kendricks Williams and Friends Kell Osborne and Willie Waller formed a dwop group called the Cavaliers and began performing around Birmingham Waller would drop out of the group in 1957 they were determined to chase their dreams although this dream didn't sit well with their parents they were singing secular music something that was against their religious families this inner drive to succeed was attributed to the fact that they didn't like how their lives were being planned out by their parents Paul had decided he wouldn't clear High School despite him lacking only two grades going against his mother's wishes Eddie on the other hand was being being pushed to work in a slaughter house something he had zero passion in Kelly's stepfather had wanted him to be a minister this meant for them to succeed they had to get out of Birmingham in 1958 they came up with a plan Kelly upon leaving High School had taken up a job at a local hardware store for 6 months and decided to use the money he had saved to get them out of Birmingham on top of this Eddie stole his brother's income tax check the three hoped onto a great Hound bus and left Birmingham heading to Cincinnati they would change their mind and head to Cleveland where they hooked up again with Willie Waller who put them up at his mother's house for a few weeks until they could sort something out for themselves as they sang in auditions they took jobs as dishwashers at the Majestic Hotel despite them not being successful in being signed by any label an article run by a local press labeling them as the dishwashing Trio got them noticed by local pimp by the name of Milton Jenkins he would become their manager and proposed they move to Detroit the new land of milk and honey he also changed their name to the primes and kitted out the trio with clothes and Suits to make them look the part upon arriving in Detroit they trained and rehearsed Round the Clock sharpening their vocals with perfection their main aim Milton would also add a girl group which consisted of Florence ballad Mary Wilson Diana Ross and Betty mcglown naming them the prets however things didn't work out for them as they didn't get any recording contract they disbanded in 1961 after Kell decided to move to California Eddie and Paul returned to Alabama coincidentally around that time Kendrick's heard that another group The Distance had just received an offer from Barry Gordy's mtown label and had lost two of its members mooch Harold and Richard Street he called Otis and asked if he could fill in Otis gladly agreed he also requested to tag along his friend Paul from then the lineup was complete with Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks from the primes merging with otus Williams Melvin Franklin and Elbridge Al Bryant from the distance the elens was born the wood shortly after changed the name to The Temptations after learning the elens was already in use by another group The Temptations began singing background for Mary Wells shortly before kickstarting their career after a couple of failed singles with Paul Williams as lead singer the song Dream Come True written by Barry Gordy which had Eddie Kendricks on lead peaked at number 22 on the R&B chart in 1962 the following four singles flopped badly but Barry kept the faith the firing of the rebellious Al Bryant and coming in of David Ruffin marked the beginning of something special the birth of the classic 5 to make matters juicier the legendary Smoky Robinson began working with them and his love ballads were perfect for the group they brought the best out of everyone in 1964 the way you do the things you do shot them to fame from then there was no looking back it was hit after hit the group's Golden Era had just begun the classic five lineup went deeper than just their god-given vocals they also complemented each other in every aspect with their unique Personalities in the group Eddie was the spark plug with his one-of aind falsetto David Ruffin was the gasoline that kept the engine running with his energetic voice and performances Melvin with his playful character was the glue Paul Williams was the dancer who always brought life and entertainment Otis on the other hand with his huge stature and excellent time management skills served as the leader always keeping the team on toes and in check with all these in play it is Justified to say without fear or favor that no group compares to the Temptations classic 5 no group will ever will regardless of the genre of music even after his best friend was demoted from co-lead and David Ruffin taking his place the group's name continued to be bigger Eddie AKA cornbread as the other members of the group called him due to his love for cornbread was now a fans favorite and not only fans even members of the other groups the likes of Martha Reeves of the velas Mary Wilson and Diana Ross with whom he worked with during his early days of the primes and the pret were all obsessed with him too the falsetto together with his tall stature not forgetting his charm look and the silk suits perfectly blending with his slender body you could see why all the girls sang his name they say as you pray for the blessings pray with equal measure for the strength and wisdom to handle the trials that come when you reach the top their success would plunge for a while making a revamp in mtown inevitable as from 1965 a series of Encounters in around the group marked the beginning of Eddie Kendrick's problems problems that would follow him to the Grave to begin with there was a change in the roles and Authority in the group Norman Whitfield took over from Smokey Robinson as the group songwriter and switched to the Psychedelic style of singing influenced by the rise of the Sly Stone something which worked but didn't sit well with Eddie who was all about the love Ballads of smokey which favored his vocal range secondly Eddie had put his mind body and soul into the group success on top of playing lead he also co-wrote some of the great hits he was responsible for creating most of the group's vocal Arrangements he also served as wardrobe manager due to his fashion sense a trait he had picked from Milton Jenkins in his days with the primes you could smell confidence whenever you came close to him much of this work was delegated which he took personal thirdly the now fan favorite David Ruffins unruly character was up the roof the fame had gotten into him when plans to moove him from the group came up when he demanded the group's name be changed to David Ruffin and The Temptations influenced by the newly Diana Ross and The Supremes he was the only member against his ouer despite Ruffin going against the group's rules which stated not at any point any member should feel Superior Eddie felt he was too important to be let go this caused an internal war with Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin David Ruffin also decided to question the authority of the mtown label on the group later in around 1967 by inquiring the group's Financial records and demanding an accounting of the group's money something that caused friction between him and Gordy on top of this Eddie felt that Barry Gordy didn't support them enough due to the fact Diana Ross and Eddie had had a fling in the early mtown years demotion of his childhood friend Paul from co-lead and role as choreographer taken by cholly Atkins after he was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia and had turned to the bottle took a toll on him too as he felt him together with the people he trusted were losing grip of the group's Authority Ruffin would go on to be fired in 1968 and Williams left in 1971 with him always at loggerheads with Otis and Melvin he finally left in 1971 after recording the group's last Just My Imagination Running away with me he had rekindled his friendship with the long gone Ruffin who persuaded him to make the decision Eddie had always contemplated to leave the group as early as 1965 when he saw that the group's objectives had taken an unprecedented turn but his main worry was that he would not get the support he needed if he left prompting his decision to stay hoping things would go back to normal as before while also planning an Exit Plan just like that the classic 5 was no more in April 1971 Kendrick signed a solo deal with motown's tamler division and the struggle to hit the airwaves became evident with ghosts of The Temptations not giving him peace whatsoever The Temptations on the other hand continued with their string of Norman Whitfield helmed hits even going an extra mile to throw a jab towards Kendricks and Ruffin in the hit Superstar remember how you got where you are fast forward Kendricks would score a number one pop hit in 1973 with the Frank Wilson produced keep on trucking becoming the only member of The Temptations to register a number one hit in the US as a solo artist as well as reaching number 18 in the UK it sold over 1 million copies and was awarded a gold disc from then he would release a couple of hits such as 1974's boogie down which shot to number two in the US and number 39 in the UK UK among a couple more but his stardom was greatly stunted by the lack of creativity and financial constraints with the labels he worked with the death of Paul Williams on August 17th 1973 under mysterious circumstances further distorted his peace of mind driving him into a state of paranoia with beliefs that people were out to silence him he would often isolate himself trusting no one but himself reason for this was according to him the didn't make sense to him as he had talked to Paul and he seemed to have been recovering and going to his old self many people say after Paul's death Eddie never quite recovered they say this together with his lack of success doubled his cigarette smoking as the years went by a reunion with the Temptations in 1982 was received well but also exposed the effect the cigarettes had on him after he found difficulty in hitting the high notes as before it is during this time that he learned he was in the early stages of lung cancer he however refused to undergo chemotherapy at the time because of fear that he would lose his hair fast forward in 1989 Kendrick Ruffin and their Temptations bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame there Kendrick and Ruffin made plans with fellow former Temptation Dennis Edwards to tour and record as Ruffin Kendrick Edwards for former leads of The Temptations the Ruffin Kendrick Edwards project was cut short in 1991 when Kendrick's lung cancer got worse and David Ruffin died of an allegedly drug overdose what happened to Eddie at Ruffin's funeral summarized in a nutshell his post tempations era you see Eddie's lack of constant success coupled with bad luck for lack of a better word following him everywhere he never found the peace of mind this greatly affected his relationships with him even admitting that he was lucky in many things except in finding love he also neglected taking care of his kid which later came back to bite him Kendricks was arrested for not fulfilling Financial Obligations to his ex-wife Patricia for child support Martha Reeves contacted Barry Gordy who put up the bail to Eddie this was a sign for him to find peace with everyone we all knew the two never saw eye to eye but gordi did an honorable thing that made him rethink his whole life Kendrick and Edwards would continue to tour for the remainder of 1991 after the surgery with one lung removed to prevent the spread of cancer in late 1991 Kendrick's resumed touring through the summer of 1992 but the tour was cut short after he fell ill again and was hospitalized he also decided to mend the bridges with everyone he even wanted to be baptized before he died when he was in the hospital which his mom made accommodations to have that done on October 5th 1992 at age 52 a Baptist Medical Center Princeton in Birmingham Kendricks died of lung cancer ending a somewhat frustrating and painful final years he was survived by his three children Paris AA and Paul Kendricks named after Paul Williams a funeral service was held at the First Baptist Church in Ensley Alabama he was buried in Elmwood Cemetery Birmingham back in his hometown he is celebrated not only for his voice but also his acts of kindness and philanthropy it is to no doubt that on October 16th 1999 a memorial pack Eddie Kendrick Memorial Park was dedicated to him to show how much he meant to them and his legendary status as a true native forgetting Birmingham to the map and never ever forgetting his roots a lot may be said a lot may be done but one thing is there will never be a carbon copy of Eddie Kendricks and to us he will always be the face of The Temptations and the best falsetto singer the world has ever seen his legacy will never be erased

Channel: BACK TO THE 60s

Views: 401,322

Keywords: Eddie Kendricks documentary, Eddie Kendricks unsung, Eddie Kendricks story, the temptations documentary, the temptations movie, the temptations story, Eddie Kendricks movie

Id: DOptfsa7RUs

Length: 18min 16sec (1096 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 05 2023