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Otis Williams

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About Me

Otis Williams -Biography My life story? Well, 43 of my almost 63 years have been spent as baritone/second tenor for The Temptations so The Temptations are a huge part of my life. What a ride it’s been, as a founding member a legendary group that is currently in its 5th decade of recording and performing.Otis Williams, BT (Before Temptations) The start of my life was simple but loving. I was born October 30, 1941 to Hazel Louise Williams and Otis Miles in Texarkana, Texas. As my parents were not married, and Hazel was only a girl of 16 when I was born, I was raised by my paternal Grandmother Gooden, with plenty of involvement by my maternal Grandmother Lucinda Eliga .In 1951, Hazel brought me to Detroit, Michigan to live with her and her husband Edgar Little. I grew up with a younger half-brother Allan and half-sister Denise. I occupied myself with things important to 10 year olds: comic books, sports, toys and riding my red and white J.C. Higgins bike.The other force in my life was music. The music scene in Detroit was exploding with doo-wop groups on every corner and I spent countless hours watching the likes of Lavern Baker, Royal Jokers, Chuck Berry, the Nightcaps, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers appearing at the Fox Theatre. But it was watching the Cadillacs in their loose light suits and stepping routines—and the effect it had on the audience – that made up my mind up – singing is what I wanted to do.Informal groups came and went in junior and senior high school until The Distants pulled together-Al Bryant, James Crawford, Melvin Franklin, Richard Street and yours truly. It was with the Distants I made my very first professional recording “Come On/Always” on Northern Records.Berry Gordy heard The Distants perform and told us howmuch he like us and that if things changed with our current management, to give him a call. Shortly there after, The Distants decided to part company with our then manager, Ms. Johnnie Mae Matthews. Unfortunately the contract we signed gave her ownership to the name The Distants, so we were a group with no name. Close to that time, another rising group, The Prime,s had a recording deal that fell apart. This left Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams without a contract.So now a line up featuring Me, Melvin, Al, Eddie and Paul went to Hitsville (the two story house where Motown was headquartered) to audition as The Elgins (like the watch) After the audition, Berry Gordy said he wanted to sign us—but change the name! We would have had to anyway because there was a group already known as The Elgins. The Year is 1961 and The Temptations are born!

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