David Ruffin

This article is about singer David Ruffin. For his album of the same name, see David Ruffin (album) .

David Ruffin (born January 18, 1941 as Davis Eli Ruffin in Whynot , Mississippi , † June 1, 1991 in Philadelphia ) was an American soul singer who became famous as one of the lead voices of the Temptations . His powerful voice is still valued by many critics and musicians today. For example, Rolling Stone voted him 65th of the 100 best singers of all time .

biography

David Ruffin had great successes with Temptations like My Girl (1965) or Ain't Too Proud to Beg (1966). After separating from the Temptations in 1968, he tried his hand at being a soloist. But apart from My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me) (1969) and Walk Away from Love (1975), a Van McCoy production, it hardly had any commercial success. His longtime drug addiction eventually took its toll, and Ruffin died of an overdose in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania at age 50 . In 2001, his family sued NBC and Temptations bandleader Otis Williams: A TV mini-series based on Williams' memoir alleged that Ruffin was thrown from a moving car into a hospital driveway and his body was listed as John Doe for several days . Instead, however, Ruffin was taken to the hospital by his driver and clearly identified there. Ruffin was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit .

Ruffin was held in high regard by many of his colleagues. Rod Stewart called him "the greatest rock singer of all time" in an interview. Marvin Gaye admired the power in Ruffin's rough voice: “It reminded me that a lot of women want to feel the power of a real man when they listen to music.” Daryl Hall , who worked with Ruffin in the 1980s, saw it similarly: “He had this one wonderful 'pain' in his voice that spoke to people on many emotional levels. "

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	R&B
1969	My Whole World Ended	US31 (17 weeks) US	R&B1 (22 weeks) R&B	Motown
	Feelin 'good	US148 (7 weeks) US	R&B9 (19 weeks) R&B	Motown
1970	I am My Brother's Keeper	US178 (2 weeks) US	-	Soul with Jimmy Ruffin
1973	David Ruffin	US160 (7 weeks) US	R&B34 (6 weeks) R&B	Motown
1974	Me and Rock N Roll Are Here to Stay	-	R&B37 (7 weeks) R&B	Motown
1975	Who I Am	US31 (27 weeks) US	R&B5 (23 weeks) R&B	Motown
1976	Everything's coming up love	US51 (12 weeks) US	R&B16 (12 weeks) R&B	Motown
1977	In My Stride	-	R&B36 (8 weeks) R&B	Motown
1979	So soon we change	-	R&B19 (14 weeks) R&B	Warner
1980	Gentleman Ruffin	-	R&B66 (3 weeks) R&B	Warner
1988	Ruffin & Kendricks	-	R&B60 (5 weeks) R&B	RCA with Eddie Kendricks

More studio albums

• 2004: David (Motown / Hip-O, previously unreleased album from 1971)

Live albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	R&B
1985	Live At The Apollo	US21 (18 weeks) US	R&B41 (12 weeks) R&B	RCA with Hall & Oates & Eddie Kendrick

Compilations

• 1978: At His Best (Motown)
• 1998: The Ultimate Collection
• 2002: The Essential Collection
• 2005: The Great David Ruffin: The Motown Solo Albums, Vol. 1
• 2006: The Great David Ruffin: The Motown Solo Albums, Vol. 2

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		UK	US	R&B
1969	My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me) My Whole World Ended	-	US9 (10 weeks) US	R&B2 (11 weeks) R&B
	I Lost Everything I've Ever Loved My Whole World Ended	-	US58 (5 weeks) US	R&B11 (8 weeks) R&B
	I'm So Glad I Fell for You Feelin 'Good	-	US53 (7 weeks) US	R&B18 (7 weeks) R&B
1970	Stand By Me I Am My Brother's Keeper	-	US61 (7 weeks) US	R&B24 (7 weeks) R&B	with Jimmy Ruffin
1973	Common Man David Ruffin	-	-	R&B84 (3 weeks) R&B
1975	Walk Away From Love Who I Am	UK10 (8 weeks) UK	US9 (15 weeks) US	R&B1 (17 weeks) R&B
1976	Heavy Love Who I Am	-	US47 (7 weeks) US	R&B8 (13 weeks) R&B
	Everything's Coming Up Love Everything’s Coming Up Love	-	US49 (9 weeks) US	R&B8 (14 weeks) R&B
	On and Off Everything’s Coming Up Love	-	-	R&B48 (8 weeks) R&B
1977	Just Let Me Hold You For A Night In My Stride	-	-	R&B18 (16 weeks) R&B
	You're My Piece of Mind In My Stride	-	-	R&B71 (5 weeks) R&B
1979	Break My Heart So Soon We Change	-	-	R&B9 (17 weeks) R&B
	I Get Excited So Soon We Change	-	-	R&B79 (6 weeks) R&B
1980	Slow dance gentleman Ruffin	-	-	R&B63 (8 weeks) R&B
1987	I couldn't believe it Ruffin & Kendricks	UK85 (1 week) UK	-	R&B14 (16 weeks) R&B	with Eddie Kendricks
1988	One More For The Lonely Hearts Club Ruffin & Kendricks	-	-	R&B43 (10 weeks) R&B	with Eddie Kendricks

More singles

• 1970: Each Day is a Lifetime
• 1971: You Can Come Right Back to Me
• 1972: Little More Trust
• 1973: Blood Donors Needed (Give All You Can)
• 1974: Me and Rock & Roll
• 1975: Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)
• 1977: I Can't Stop the Rain
• 1991: Hurt the One You Love

Web links

• David Ruffin at Allmusic (English)
• David Ruffin at Discogs (English)
• David Ruffin in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Sound carrier by David Ruffin in the catalog of the German National Library
• Image: The Temptations 1967, in the middle: David Ruffin

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone: 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. In: Rolling Stone. December 3, 2010, Retrieved November 29, 2019 (American English). 
2. ^ Billboard. November 16, 1974, ISSN 0006-2510 , Volume 86, No. 46, p. 14 ( limited preview in Google book search).  
3. ^ Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone: 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. In: Rolling Stone. December 3, 2010, Retrieved November 29, 2019 (American English). 
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: UK US