Eddie Kendricks

Edward James Kendrick (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992), better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American tenor singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1961 until 1971. He was the lead voice on such famous songs as "The Way You Do the Things You Do", "Get Ready", and "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)". As a solo artist, Kendricks recorded several hits of his own during the 1970s including the number-one single "Keep On Truckin'" and the number-two single "Boogie Down."

Edward James Kendrick, who was of African American heritage, was born to Johnny and Lee Bell Kendrick in Union Springs, Alabama on December 17, 1939. He had one sister, Patricia, and three brothers, Charles, Robert, and Clarence. Kendricks and his family moved to the Ensley neighborhood of Birmingham, where he met and began singing with his best friend Paul Williams in their church choir in the late 1940s. In 1955, Kendricks, Williams, as well as their friends Kell Osborne and Willy Waller, formed a doo-wop group called the Cavaliers and they began performing around Birmingham. The group decided to move for better opportunities in their musical careers, and in 1957, the group moved to Cleveland, Ohio living on E. 123rd Street and Kinsman Road. In Cleveland, they met manager Milton Jenkins, and soon moved with Jenkins to Detroit where the Cavaliers renamed themselves the Primes. Under Jenkins' management, the Primes were successful in the Detroit area, eventually creating a female spin-off group called the Primettes (later becoming the Supremes). In 1961, Osbourne moved to California, and the Primes disbanded. Kendricks and Paul Williams joined forces with members Elbridge “Al” Bryant in addition to Otis Williams and Melvin "Blue" Franklin from Otis Williams and the Distants after two members quit. They became the Elgins; on the same day the group changed their name to the Temptations and signed to Motown.

The Temptations began singing background for Mary Wells. After an initial dry period, the Temptations quickly became the most successful male vocal group of the 1960s. Although technically Kendricks was first tenor in the group's harmony, he often sang in the falsetto register. Among the Temptations songs, Kendricks sang lead on were "Dream Come True" (1962), the group's first charting single; "The Way You Do the Things You Do" (1964), the group's first US Top 20 hit; "I'll Be in Trouble" (1964); "The Girl's Alright With Me" (1964), a popular B-side that Kendricks co-wrote; "Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)" (1964); "Get Ready" (1966); "Please Return Your Love to Me" (1968); and "Just My Imagination" (1971). He was also allowed to sing a few leads in his lower registers such as "May I Have This Dance" (1962). He shared lead vocal duty on other records, including "You're My Everything" (1967) (shared with David Ruffin), and a long string of Norman Whitfield produced psychedelic soul records where all five Temptations sang lead, such as the Grammy winner "Cloud Nine" (1968), "I Can't Get Next to You" (1969), and "Ball of Confusion" (1970). He also leads on "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" (1968), a popular duet with Diana Ross and the Supremes, and on the Temptations' version of the Christmas classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (1968).

In the Temptations, Kendricks was responsible for creating most of the group's vocal arrangements, and also served as wardrobe manager, including the now famous purple suits the group wore for one performance. Though Whitfield had chief responsibility for writing, Kendricks co-wrote and received credit for several Temptations songs apart from "The Girl's Alright With Me" including "Isn't She Pretty" (1961) and "Don't Send Me Away" (1967). His favorite food was cornbread, and as a result, Kendricks was nicknamed "Cornbread" (or "Corn" for short) by his band mates. According to Otis Williams, Kendricks romantically pursued Diana Ross, lead singer of the Supremes, and he was said to have been close friends with Martha Reeves of the Vandellas. In her second book, Supreme Faith, Supremes singer Mary Wilson writes that she and Kendricks were lovers "briefly," but remained close friends.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.