Temptations autobiography reviewed

For the past few weeks, I've been on a big Temptations kick.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I've always liked The Temptations but I never really went out of my way to listen to them and I would groan when my dad found out that mini-series was on, and it's always on!  But I digress, years ago my dad gave me a Temptations book which was written by Otis Williams, the only surviving original Temptation which is funny since he's pretty much the Zoidberg out of the group, at least musically.  I read it in a day and I found it mildly interesting but I didn't care that much about it.  In the present though, I had a hankering to reread it with what I know about The Temptations now.  So did it get better with knowledge and interest?  We'll find out as we go into Temptations completed with a bonus chapter written in 2002.

Of course, like any good autobiography should do Otis talks about his life before and during The Temptations, there is no after The Temptations for him.  He talks about his childhood, his relatively few scrapes with the law and being in a gang and how music got him to the path he's on now.  Then comes the formation of The Temptations with David Ruffin, then he gets fired and it's psychedelic soul with Dennis Edwards and then a whole mess of personnel change afterwards where the end result is basically a black Guns n Roses where it's just Otis Williams and a bunch of other guys

Otis has a nice clear style that's pretty much on the ball and to the point.  Some bios tend to be rambly and unfocused but with this, there's a nice, sweet time line from point A to B.  However, even though he tells how dealings with Motown, producers and fellow bandmates were a hassle and sometimes nightmarish, it does feel that Otis holds back, something in which he admitted in the 2002 chapter.  Then, there's this great moment of heartfelt writing when Paul Williams, the original baritone, committed suicide and the funeral.  It really touches upon the grief that even brings back David Ruffin to tears and then Otis recounts seeing Paul's spirit telling him that everything was OK with him which is really heart-breaking stuff.

The thing that struck me about Otis the most is how much he talks about sex during his younger days.  Obviously, that sort of thing is expected when you're a big famous guy but it seems like every time he explains some hookey phrase, a good 4 out of 5 times he basically says it means having sex.  Even when he was talking dance moves to their awesome choreographer Cholly, he mentions that a woman told him certain dance steps got her all hot and bothered.  Cholly's reaction is pretty much "Damn right it should."  Obviously it tailed off as he got older but it was amusing to see him so frank about sex.

Anyways, this autobiography is pretty good for fans but it doesn't have very much cross-over appeal to non-fans.  It's decently written and it covers a great deal even if it doesn't go deep enough.  It's a good treat for anyone interested in The Temptations or even Motown in general.

7/10