Eddie Kendricks

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eddie Kendricks, 1972

Eddie Kendricks (* December 17, 1939 as Edward James Kendrick in Montgomery , Alabama , † October 5, 1992 in Birmingham , Alabama) was an American soul singer who helped shape the success story of the Motown record company for almost two decades . He was first known internationally as the lead singer and founding member of Temptations . After leaving the group in early 1971, he embarked on a successful solo career that culminated in the US number one hit Keep On Truckin ' . He was the only member of the Temptations who could do that. The standard work Top R&B Singles 1942-1995 by Joel Whitburn lists him at number 25 of the most successful artists of the 1970s.

Life

The career of the Afro-American soul singer Eddie Kendricks began in the late 1950s with the singing trio The Primes, before he joined the Temptations with his friend Paul Williams in 1960 . In 1962 the group received a record deal with the legendary Motown label. Eddie Kendrick's soft, bright falsetto voice shaped the first hits of the Temptations such as The Way You Do The Things You Do , I'll Be In Trouble , The Girls Is Alright With Me and Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue) . But with the success of My Girl , he was increasingly pushed into the background by David Ruffin as lead singer.

In 1971 Kendricks left the Temptations to start a career as a soloist. Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) was the last Temptations hit that had his voice heard. His first solo LP was All by Myself . With Keep On Truckin ' , the first single from his next solo album Eddie Kendricks , he achieved a No. 1 hit in the US charts in 1973 . A year later he was able to repeat this success with the dance number Boogie Down from the LP of the same name. It reached number two on the US charts. Both hits were also number one on the American R&B charts, where Kendricks achieved another top runner with Shoeshine Boy in 1975. He's A Friend narrowly missed the top in 1976 and was also his last Top 40 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 .

After that, interest in the music of the former Temptations voice subsided, despite further successful solo albums. Even his turn to the then extremely successful disco music on the albums He's a Friend (1975) and Goin 'up in Smoke (1976) could not stop the downward spiral, although these works achieved good placements in the disco charts.

After little successful albums for Arista and Atlantic , Kendricks briefly returned to the Temptations in 1982 for a reunion tour and LP. David Ruffin was also there again. Three years later they both sang as star guests at a concert by the soul-influenced US pop duo Hall & Oates . This enabled both Kendricks and Ruffin to make a certain comeback, because the live recording published afterwards received a gold award in the USA. In 1987, Ruffin and Kendricks finally recorded the LP Ruffin & Kendrick as a duo . For this, Kendricks had deleted the "S" of his surname and took his maiden name again. With I Couldn't Believe It and One More for the Lonely Hearts Club , Ruffin and Kendricks achieved two more smaller hits in the R&B charts. It should stay the last.

In 1989, Kendricks was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a founding member of the Temptations .

Kendricks died of lung cancer on October 5, 1992 at the age of 52 . He himself attributed his illness to his 30-year cigarette consumption. A little later, Bobby Womack organized a series of tribute concerts in memory of Kendricks, in which he was supported by artists such as Chaka Khan , Bill Withers , Freda and Scherrie Payne and Mary Wilson .

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US R&B R&B
1971 All by myself US80 (32 weeks)
US 		R&B6 (44 weeks)
R&B
Tamla
1972 People ... Hold On US131 (14 weeks)
US 		R&B13 (26 weeks)
R&B
Tamla
1973 Eddie Kendricks US18 (40 weeks)
US 		R&B5 (26 weeks)
R&B
Tamla
1974 Boogie Down US30 (17 weeks)
US 		R&B1 (16 weeks)
R&B
Tamla
For you US108 (14 weeks)
US 		R&B8 (28 weeks)
R&B
Tamla
1975 The Hit Man US63 (25 weeks)
US 		R&B9 (12 weeks)
R&B
Tamla
1976 He's a friend US38 (19 weeks)
US 		R&B3 (18 weeks)
R&B
Tamla
Goin 'Up In Smoke US144 (7 weeks)
US 		R&B22 (7 weeks)
R&B
Tamla
1977 Slick - R&B47 (13 weeks)
R&B
Tamla
1978 At his best - R&B48 (8 weeks)
R&B
Arista
Vintage '78 US180 (3 weeks)
US 		R&B33 (21 weeks)
R&B
Arista
1979 Something More - R&B69 (4 weeks)
R&B
Arista
1981 Love keys - R&B62 (3 weeks)
R&B
Atlantic
1985 Live at the Apollo US21 (18 weeks)
US 		R&B41 (12 weeks)
R&B
RCA
with David Ruffin and Hall & Oates
1987 Ruffin & Kendrick - R&B60 (5 weeks)
R&B
RCA
with David Ruffin

More albums

  • 1983: I've Got My Eyes on You (Ms. Dixie)

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
1971 It's So Hard For Me To Say Good-Bye
All By Myself 		- US88 (3 weeks)
US 		R&B37 (6 weeks)
R&B
Can I
All By Myself 		- - R&B37 (3 weeks)
R&B
1972 Eddie's Love
People ... Hold On 		- US77 (8 weeks)
US 		R&B35 (6 weeks)
R&B
If You Let Me
People ... Hold On 		- US71 (8 weeks)
US 		R&B35 (14 weeks)
R&B
Girl, You Need a Change of Mind (Part 1)
People ... Hold On 		- US87 (3 weeks)
US 		R&B13 (8 weeks)
R&B
1973 Darling, come back home
Eddie Kendricks 		- US67 (5 weeks)
US 		R&B26 (8 weeks)
R&B
Keep on Truckin '(Part 1)
Eddie Kendricks 		UK18 (14 weeks)
UK 		US1 (19 weeks)
US 		R&B1 (16 weeks)
R&B
Boogie Down
Boogie Down 		UK39 (4 weeks)
UK 		US2 (18 weeks)
US 		R&B1 (19 weeks)
R&B
1974 Son Of Sagittarius
Boogie Down 		- US28 (8 weeks)
US 		R&B5 (14 weeks)
R&B
Tell Her Love Has Felt the Need
Boogie Down 		- US50 (10 weeks)
US 		R&B8 (15 weeks)
R&B
One tear
for you 		- US71 (8 weeks)
US 		R&B8 (11 weeks)
R&B
1975 Shoeshine Boy
For You 		- US18 (18 weeks)
US 		R&B1 (16 weeks)
R&B
Get the Cream Off Top
The Hit Man 		- US50 (8 weeks)
US 		R&B7 (14 weeks)
R&B
Happy
The Hit Man 		- US66 (13 weeks)
US 		R&B8 (16 weeks)
R&B
1976 He's a Friend
He’s a Friend 		- US36 (12 weeks)
US 		R&B2 (16 weeks)
R&B
Get It While It's Hot
He’s A Friend 		- - R&B24 (14 weeks)
R&B
Goin 'Up In Smoke
Goin' Up In Smoke 		- - R&B30 (14 weeks)
R&B
1977 Intimate Friends
Slick 		- - R&B24 (14 weeks)
R&B
1978 Ain't No Smoke Without Fire
Vintage '78 		- - R&B13 (14 weeks)
R&B
The Best Of Strangers
Vintage '78 		- - R&B49 (12 weeks)
R&B
1980 I Just Want To Be The One In Your Life
Something More 		- - R&B87 (3 weeks)
R&B
1981 Oh I Need Your Lovin
Love Keys 		- - R&B41 (8 weeks)
R&B
1984 Surprise attack
 - - R&B87 (6 weeks)
R&B
1987 I couldn't believe it
Ruffin & Kendrick 		UK85 (1 week)
UK 		- R&B14 (16 weeks)
R&B
with David Ruffin
1988 One More For The Lonely Hearts Club
Ruffin & Kendrick 		- - R&B43 (10 weeks)
R&B
with David Ruffin

More singles

  • 1977: Born Again

literature

  • Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 361f - ISBN 0-312-02573-4

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Joel Whitburn: Top R&B Singles 1942-1995, 1996 ISBN 0-89820-115-2
  2. ^ Joel Whitburn: Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, 2004, ISBN 0-89820-156-X
  3. ↑ Obituary: Eddie Kendricks. October 7, 1992, accessed November 29, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Jet. dated Nov. 9, 1992, ISSN 0021-5996 , Volume 83, No. 3, p. 60 ( limited preview in Google book search).  
  5. ↑ a b Chart sources: UK US
personal data
SURNAME Kendricks, Eddie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kendrick, Edward James (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American soul singer
DATE OF BIRTH December 17, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Montgomery , Alabama
DATE OF DEATH 5th October 1992
Place of death Birmingham , Alabama