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Otis Williams

Otis Williams (born Otis Miles, Jr. on October 30 1941 in Texarkana, Texas) is an African-American second tenor/baritone singer and a soul and R&B songwriter and record producer. Williams is the leader of The Temptations, a group he founded in late 1960 as The Elgins and in which he continues to perform as the sole surviving original member.

Biography

Otis Miles, Jr. was the son of Haze Louise Williams and Otis Miles, Sr., and was primarily raised by his grandmothers in the town of Texarkana, Texas. At age 12, his mother moved him to Detroit, Michigan to live with her and his new stepfather, and he began using his mother's last name at this time.

Williams became interested in music as a teenager, and put together a number of singing groups, among them Otis Williams & the Siberians, The El Domingoes, and Otis Williams & 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 Elbridge "Al" Bryant and Melvin Franklin quit The Distants. Williams, Bryant, Franklin and former Primes Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams formed The Elgins, which 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, Ron Tyson, and Ali-Ollie Woodson 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 remained in the group until he was physically incapable of doing so in 1994, and Williams is still in the group to this day. Williams is the co-author, with Patricia Romanowski, of Temptations, a 1988 book which served as both his autobiography/memoirs and a history of his group. In 1998, Temptations was later adapted into a NBC television miniseries, The Temptations.

While Williams infrequently takes featured solos, his voice, "The tenor in the middle", has been referred to as "the key to their sound" (Weinger, 13).

Otis Williams has been married three times. He and his first wife, Josephine, had one son, Otis Lamont Williams, in 1961; he died in a construction site accident in 1983 at the age of 23.

References

  • Weinger, Harry (1994). "Sunshine on a Cloudy Day". The Temptations: Emperors of Soul [CD Box Set]. New York: Motown Record Co., L.P.
  • Williams, Otis and Romanowski, Patricia (1988, updated 2002). Temptations. Lanham, MD: Cooper Square. ISBN 081-541218-5.

External links

Last updated: 05-07-2005 17:39:14
Last updated: 05-13-2005 07:56:04