Yet fame meant trouble. There were hints Ruffin wanted top billing: "David Ruffin & The Temptations.'' Franklin paused at the memory. "Money and success is a very powerful aphrodisiac," he said evenly. "Egos change and become more profound. And you have people around that pick their favorite in the group, whispering, "'Well, you're the making the group, why don't you go solo? It got to be more than just being with each other and loving it.''

There were fits of anger between the guys. The nightly prayer was a memory. But records got made, and "I Wish It Would Rain'' showed a very public pain, the literal flipside of My Girl: "We always hoped that it would work out with David but it didn't happen that way." So in the summer of 1968 Ruffin was released. Ruffin was replaced it Dennis Edwards. David's departure was a shock even to Edwards. Edwards wanted to be a Motown solo artist. A soul shouter from Birmingham, Alabama, he'd turned up at Hitsville U.S.A. ready to roar. Motown instead kept him on a retainer, eventually placing him in the Contours. His first gig was opening for the Temptations. Eddie Kendricks, watching in the wings, turned to Otis and said, " That's who we should get. "

Dennis Edwards spent the summer of ' 68 breaking in . Sly & The Family Stone was breaking through. Cops were breaking heads. A conversation with Kenny Gamble inspired Otis to pitch Norman Whitfield on the new vibe. This new vibe is what cut ''Cloud Nine'' out on the road. The new vibe was called the Psychedelic Soul / Era. The swirling psychedelic soul sound provided a new texture for Whitfield and the group: five lead voices, darting in the sound and mix. ''Cloud Nine'' charged by Edward's lightning, won Motown's first Grammy.

IN 1968 PAUL WILLIAMS the original lead singer of the Temptations was crumbling. Save for '' Don't Look Back" and the occasional album track, his soulful lead voice was pushed aside. His choreography had been rubbed down. He sought solace in the bottle damaging what had already turned out to be a fragile condition.

"Paul was our strength," said Otis Williams shaking his head. '' The spirit of the group. The persona we created on stage. The one who told us, 'Oh, no guys, we can't just stand there. We got to sell sex. We got to dance and move.' To see a guy come from drinking milk to alcohol on a regular basis was a tramatic experience for us." Richard Street, who'd moved from the Distants to the Monitors, was hired to sing Pauls parts from the wings. Richard Street eventually took Paul's place on stage after 1971. Otis said to Paul, "You will always be a Temptation." But for Eddie Kendricks it was reason enough to leave because Paul had to leave. He was torn. Dennis Edwards had emerged a solid team player. Whitfield and Strong's message songs kicked Motown into the future, even as Gordy executed his crossover dream.

Kendricks decided to make his last performance before he left, a showstopper. He qiueted his mind to turn "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" into the performance of this life. The combination of his voice close to the microphone, the slow drag guitar in the spaces between the percussion, the group's hushed harmony, and Jerry Long's breathtaking arrangement, made for an exquisite moment-the closest thing to prayer. Then as the lights went down Kendricks stepped off stage into the darkness.

''Just My Imagination'' was Kendrick's first lead on a hit in three years. It became the Temptations first Pop Number One since ''My Girl,'' and a notable return to ballad form for producer Whitfield. And then Eddie said goodbye.

Ricky Owens of the Vibrations stepped in. Disaster. Then came Damon Harris of Baltimore's Vandals, who modeled themselves after guess-who. Damon, then just 21, debuted nicely on the Solid Rock album.

Rumors flew Berry Gordy was moving Motown permanently to Los Angeles. Noman Whitfield cut tracks in Detroit until the last, trying out material on different artists with different rhythm arrangements-until one spring night he found the pulse of '' Papa Was A Rolling Stone.''

Through the years with the Temps, Whitfield recorded original versions of ''Too Busy Thinking About My Baby,'' ''War,'' and ''Smiling Faces Sometimes,'' revamping them later with sucess for Marvin Gaye, Edwin Starr and Undisputed Truth. He flipped the formula for ''Papa Was A Rolling Stone,'' making it a minor hit first for the Truth. But for the Temps Whitfield discovered something deeper and deeper and deeper "many levels past the original intention,'' he told BBC reporter in the Eighties, ''in terms of concept and colors and the edge on the music and the intensity of the lyrics.''

Otis remembers the day in the studio when they had a option to do a song or let some other artist have the chance. Dennis Edwards got so riled up over the song that Norman Whitfield had written - ''Papa Was A Rolling Stone''. His anger was due to the fact that Edward's father had died on the third of September. He refuse to do the song. He was furious at Whitfield, but in the end they did the song. It upset me," Dennis Edwards admitted. "I kept asking, 'when do I come in, when do I dome in? I got so mad that I sang, 'It was the third of September/That day I'll always remember'' very tightly, not in my usual style. But Norman was real good at psyching us up, and I realized: it was the attitude he wanted. I was wrong about that record. I'm glad I was wrong.

"Papa Was A Rolling Stone'' won three Grammys. It solidafied the group's longevity. And it gave Whitfield more room to play, leading to the breathtaking cinematic soul of ''Masterpiece.''

That was the good news. While attending Richard Street's wedding in August 1973, the Temptations got the worst news: Paul Williams shot himself to death, sitting in his car just two blocks from 2648 West Grand Boulevard.

Everything was changing. Detroit was history, and so were Norman Whitfield's productions after the 1990 album. The Temps tried out Memphis soul stirrer Steve Cropper. Stevie Wonder served up "Golden lady" before taking it back for himself.

It was Berry Gordy and Jeffrey Bowen, co-producer of In a Mellow Mood, who came up with the goods: A Song for You, an album many believe is the Temps' Seventies pinnacle. Berry shook guitarist Eddie Hazel from Funkadelic for "Shakey Ground" while the album's title song came from the live show.

"Entertainers spend all their time singing for the fans," Dennis said. "They run out of energy singing for her. That song was the first time I could express what I felt."

There were more bumps in the road, though. Edwards, who had enjoyed about as many hits as David and Eddie combined, was ready to move on. And the group- now with Louis Price in Edward's spot and Damon Harris replaced by Glenn Leonard- left their beloved Motown for Atlantic Records in 1977.

Berry Gordy went on a mission to get the Temptations back, luring them with "Power." Dennis Edwards returned, too. For fans, though, the best was yet to come: David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks were coming home to the Temptations.

A 1982 reunion tour drew sell-outs across the country. Its cornerstone was "Standing On The Top," a bad-ass hunk of funk courtesy of Rick James. Yet the dream tour lasted just nine months.

Even with Ruffin and Kendricks again one, a wave of Motown nostalgia boosted the gourp's cache. Reunion was a common thread: College alumus in the 1983 hit movie "The Big Chill" relived its youth with "Ain't Too Proud To Beg," crystalized by Kevin Kline planting a big wet one on the Temps' original Anthology album. Motown itself brought together old friends in a 25th anniversary network television special. Marvin Gaye reminisced, Michael Jackson moonwalked and the Four Tops battled the Temps, who that very night brought in a wide-eyed Ron Tyson- writer of their Atlantic material- to replace Glenn Leonard.

The Temps, like the mythological phoenix, kept coming back.

Yet Dennis Edwards left again, during the recording of the Back to Basics album. The Temps refused to quit, performing wihout him until the arrival of the electrifying Ali-Ollie Woodson.

Woodson was used to stepping up - he'd filled Teddy Pendergrass' shoes in Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes. He wrote with Otis (and played piano on) "Treat Her Like A Lady," its Temptations essence evident in the first note. "Lady Soul" was another bright spot for the group in the Eighties.

Turmoil surfaced again, when Woodson fell victim to the dark side of the Ruffin-Edwards legacy. His replacement for one album was surprisingly, Dennis Edwards. But Ollie was given another chance. Stronger than ever, he has become the Temps' longest running lead singer.

On January 18, 1989, David, Eddie, Paul, Otis, Melvin and Dennis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Watching were Ali-Ollie, Richard, Ron, and rock's elite. It was 25 years almost to the day of recording "The Way You Do The Things You Do."

Yet as the Temptations looked forward, their past stung them hard. David Ruffin died tragically in June 1991, a ravaged man. Eddie Kendricks, suffering from lung cancer, passed a year later. Maurice King, their vocal coach died soon after that.

Otis and Melvin continued bravely on the wings of the phoenix. When their longtime friend Richard Street faded from the group in 1993, they discovered Theo Peoples, the soul-satisfying Baptist preacher's kid from St. Louis.

The accolades continued. The Temps finally received their star on Hollywood Boulevard in the fall of 1994, right next to the Supremes. The festivities featured a bloodrush of Motown family: Smokey Robinson, Cornelius Grant, David Ruffin Jr., Richard Pryor, Momma Rose Franklin, even the secretive Norman Whitfield. But there was a twinge then, too: it was the last public appearance of Funk Brother guitarist Robert White, a key ingredient of so many Temptations hits. He died a month later.

Every Temptation loves his group. Melvin Franklin epitomized that devotion. "Don't tell anyone," he used to whisper to friends in his well-bottom voice, "but I would be doing this for free." He fought hard against a host of physical problems, many of them brought on by a near-fatal shooting. In the summer of 1994 Melvin was forced by doctors to sit out the Temps' grueling road schedule, a tough call for a guy who gave up a college scholarship to sing. Melvin was to finish a new album with the group when he died in a Los Angeles hospital in February 1995. He was 52.

Former Bass singer Raymond Davis and Deceased Temptation real name DAVID MELVIN FRANKLIN  a.k.a better known as BLUE were friends along time Speaking with Rose Franklin and her other son WILLARD say they can't remember how long they had been friends. Ray Davis left the Temptations he was not let go in 1996 /after  the album FOR LOVERS ONLY. he had to leave Due to  health problems but is now OK.

The Temptations have weathered changes that would have sundered any lesser act. Because the Temptations are forever. And they refuse to let you go.

In 1998 The Temptations put out their 1st. album since FOR LOVERS ONLY called PHOENIX RISING. Two years later in 2000 Temptations released their new album called Ear - Resistible which earned them a Grammy in 2001. In 2001 the Temptations released their most recent album album AWESOME. Still today the Temptations line up is the same as it was two years ago with Last surviving member Mr.Otis Williams and now that the Temptations on the road be sure to watch out for announcements that they may be coming to your area.

Harry Weinger

THE TEMPTATIONS

In 1998 The Temptations put out their 1st. album since FOR LOVERS ONLY called PHOENIX RISING. Two years later in 2000 Temptations released their new album called Ear - Resistible which earned them a Grammy in 2001. In 2001 the Temptations released their most recent album album AWESOME. Still today the Temptations line up is the same as it was two years ago with Last surviving member Mr.Otis Williams and now that the Temptations on the road be sure to watch out for announcements that they may be coming to your area.

AGAIN TEMPTATIONS FOREVER !