Dennis Edwards

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Dennis Edwards (born February 3, 1943 in Birmingham, Alabama , † February 1, 2018 in Chicago , Illinois ) was an American soul - and rhythm and blues singer. He was best known as the lead singer of the group The Temptations .

biography

Career

Edwards began singing in a church choir when he was two. When he was seven years old, his parents moved him to Detroit , Michigan . He studied piano and composition at the Detroit Conservatory of Music . Dennis Edwards & The Firebirds was a soul jazz band that he founded himself. He released his first single on International Soulville Records, an unknown Detroit label . The single I Didn't Have To (But I Did), Johnnie on the Spot is traded for between $ 3,000 and $ 6,000 among soul fans .

After David Ruffin was kicked out of the Temptations for unprofessional behavior, Edwards became the group's new lead singer. He had an argument with the songwriters Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong over the first verse in the song Papa Was a Rollin 'Stone , which Edward thought was a reference to his father's death. In 1977, shortly before the break with Motown , Edwards was fired by Otis Williams .

After a failed solo career with Atlantic Records , he returned to Motown in 1980. On the Reunion Tour in 1982 he had the opportunity to perform again with Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks. Motown was still interested in a solo career by Edwards and so he was replaced by Ali-Ollie Woodson with the Temptations in 1984 without completely losing his membership in the band. He had a hit in a duet with Siedah Garrett in 1984. Don't Look Any Further , like the album of the same name, was able to place itself in the English and American charts.

Problems of various kinds seemed to recur between Edwards, Woodson and Williams, and so Edwards was fired from the Temptations in 1989 for good. Edwards and ex-members David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks toured with songs by the Temptations in the late 1980s. After Ruffin and Kendricks died, he was forced to continue the project alone. In the mid-1990s, there was a lawsuit between Edwards and Williams over the name Dennis Edwards & The Temptations. Edwards had to rename his group to "The Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards". Its final cast included Paul Williams Jr., David Sea, Mike Patillo, and Chris Arnold.

Private life

Dennis Edwards was briefly married to Ruth Pointer, who is a member of the band The Pointer Sisters , from 1977 . In 1978 their daughter Issa was born, who like her mother is a member of the Pointer Sisters.

Edwards died on February 1, 2018, two days before his 75th birthday, of complications from meningitis in May 2017.

Discography

Studio albums

year Title
music label 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US R&B R&B
1984 Don't Look Any Further
Gordy 6057 		UK91 (1 week)
UK 		US48 (27 weeks)
US 		R&B2 (35 weeks)
R&B
First published: February 1984
Producer: Dennis Lambert
1985 Coolin 'Out
Gordy 6148 		- - R&B36 (20 weeks)
R&B
First published: July 1985
Producer: Dennis Lambert

More albums

  • 1993: Talk to Me (Three Gems 114)
  • 1995: The Temptations Greatest Hits Live (Stom 200 372)

Compilations

  • 1984: Soul on Sound 029 (including telephone interview, with Shannon , Nat Augustin and others)
  • 2002: The Essential Collection ( Universal 018 7772)
  • 2014: Just a Little Misunderstanding: Rare and Unissued Motown 1965–1968 (with The Contours ; Kent Soul 419)

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US R&B R&B
1984 Don't Look Any Further.
Don't Look Any Further 		UK45 (12 weeks)
UK 		US72 (6 weeks)
US 		R&B2 (23 weeks)
R&B
First published: January 12, 1984
feat. Siedah Garrett
Author: Duane Hitchings
(You're My) Aphrodisiac
Don't Look Any Further 		- - R&B15 (14 weeks)
R&B
First published: April 23, 1984
Authors: Dennis Lambert, Duane Hitchings, Franne Golde
1985 Amanda
coolin 'out 		- - R&B77 (4 weeks)
R&B
First published: June 1985
Authors: Dennis Lambert, Peter Wolf, Patrick Henderson
Coolin 'out,
coolin' out 		- - R&B23 (12 weeks)
R&B
First published: August 6, 1985
Authors: Dennis Lambert, Dennis Edwards,
David English, Glenn Leonard, Otis Williams ,
Richard Street, Robbie Buchanan

More singles

  • 1965: Johnny on the Spot
  • 1966: I Didn't Have To (But I Did)
  • 1977: Shakey Ground ( The Temptations feat. Dennis Edwards)
  • 1984: Another Place in Time (release: July)
  • 1989: Get It While It's Hot! (with Eddie Kendricks )
  • 1993: Talk to Me
  • 1998: Don't Look Any Further (feat. The Weather Girls )

swell

  1. ↑ CBS Chicago at (0:34)
  2. ^ "Temptations" singer Edwards dies , accessed February 3, 2018.
  3. ↑ a b Dennis Edwards of the Temptations dies aged 74 , The Guardian , February 2, 2018
  4. ↑ Dennis Edwards dead: The Temptations singer dies aged 74 , The Independent , February 2, 2018
  5. ↑ Temptations Former Lead Singer Dennis Edwards Dead at 74 rollingstone.com, February 2, 2018
  6. ↑ a b Chart sources: UK Billboard Hot 100 Billboard 200
  7. ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
  8. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Edwards, Dennis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American soul and rhythm and blues singer
DATE OF BIRTH February 3, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Birmingham , Alabama , USA
DATE OF DEATH 1st February 2018
Place of death Chicago