EDDIE KENDRICK[[s) AND MOTOWN

[captainjames]

Was Eddie Kendrick[[s) still under some type of recording contract with Motown when he left the Temptations ? Is this the reason he decided to remain with Motown as a solo artist ?

[captainjames]

An expanded "All by Myself" or " People Hold On" would be great.

[soulster]

I'm sure he was still under contract, but may have also renegotiated it as a solo artist when he went left the group. I notice that Kendricks signed with Arista about the same time as The Temptations signed with Atlantic, so he was probably still under the group contract. When that expired, he was free too. Same with David Ruffin. When they kicked him out, he was still under contract, despite his behavior.

If anyone else knows the details, let's hear them.

[marv2]

I loved 99% of Eddie Kendricks solo output for Motown. I believe he renegotiated his contract as a solo artists. They should given any and everything he wanted because he was great!

[radionixon]

It's standard practice in entertainment law for the individual members of a group to agree to be bound by the group contract if the group subsequently splits, but in cases like Eddie [[or David, or indeed Flo), where the group has simply parted ways with one member, it depends entirely on what contract was signed at the start of the term. If the Temptations signed jointly *and* as individuals, or if the contract was capable of being construed that way in court due to implied terms, their contract with Motown would have expired at the same time if it was time limited rather than based on a stipulated number of works [[i.e. for 6 years rather than 8 albums). If it's the latter, unpicking the threads can be a nightmare and often - especially if they don't have good agents, or agents at all - people will just sign a new solo deal offered by their existing label to save on hassle. Not sure which of these applied in Eddie's case, but it's one of the few areas where Motown don't seem to have deviated much from standard practice, unless anyone knows differently!

[radionixon]

[[I'm talking about performing contracts, obviously - any writer or producer contracts should be separate, and might also have been a considerable incentive to sign a new performing deal too...)

[captainjames]

Eddie did not strike me as a person who was happy with Mr. Gordy and after he left the Temptations I was surprised he stayed with Motown.

[dvus7]

It's standard practice in entertainment law for the individual members of a group to agree to be bound by the group contract if the group subsequently splits, but in cases like Eddie [[or David, or indeed Flo), where the group has simply parted ways with one member, it depends entirely on what contract was signed at the start of the term. If the Temptations signed jointly *and* as individuals, or if the contract was capable of being construed that way in court due to implied terms, their contract with Motown would have expired at the same time if it was time limited rather than based on a stipulated number of works [[i.e. for 6 years rather than 8 albums). If it's the latter, unpicking the threads can be a nightmare and often - especially if they don't have good agents, or agents at all - people will just sign a new solo deal offered by their existing label to save on hassle. Not sure which of these applied in Eddie's case, but it's one of the few areas where Motown don't seem to have deviated much from standard practice, unless anyone knows differently!

That begs a great question!!!!! Who was Eddie's manager????

[Hotspurman]

I may be wrong, but my understanding is that Motown owned the name The Temptations [[as well as The Supremes) and had the right to hire and fire as they saw fit. The Temptations manager was Shelly Berger, and he and the group were obviously able to work out some kind of arrangement whereby the group would decide on any line-up changes - the group decided David Ruffin had to leave and got Motown to deliver the final blow.

The individual members of the group were under contract to Motown and therefore when they left the group, were still obligated to Motown, hence David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks subsequent solo careers with the company. David Ruffin in particular wanted to leave the company well before he actually did but still signed a contract extension in 1970 when his original contract expired. With regards to Eddie Kendricks, when he left the group for his own solo career, he set up a management and production company and boutique label in EJK. You could probably assume he was his own manager, although the only outside entity I recall him actually working with was Posse, who were signed to V.I.P.

If you also recall, when The Spinners left Motown to sign for Atlantic, they left behind G.C. Cameron, whose own contract with Motown was still in force at the time the group departed. Off topic I know, but the most famous instance of one contract expiring at different times to another was that of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy – Stan wanted to leave Roach Studios well before he finally departed in 1940 and then had to sit and wait for Ollie’s contract to expire before they could resume their partnership.

[milven]

Very interesting post Hotspurman with interesting info. The Stan and Oliver story reminds me of the Gladys and Pips Buddah fiasco where Gladys Knight & the Pips could not record together because of legal problems with Buddah - and so, they recorded separately , as THE PIPS, and as GLADYS KNIGHT.

Did the Temptations go to Motown with their name or did Berry ask them to change their name as he asked the Primettes to change their name - simply so that he could own the name?

I remember reading that The Temptations had to give up their royalties in order to leave Motown for Atlantic with their name. But I've never been able to find any info about it on the internet, so perhaps I am just remembering incorrectly.

[detmotownguy]

Very interesting post Hotspurman with interesting info. The Stan and Oliver story reminds me of the Gladys and Pips Buddah fiasco where Gladys Knight & the Pips could not record together because of legal problems with Buddah - and so, they recorded separately , as THE PIPS, and as GLADYS KNIGHT.

Did the Temptations go to Motown with their name or did Berry ask them to change their name as he asked the Primettes to change their name - simply so that he could own the name?

I remember reading that The Temptations had to give up their royalties in order to leave Motown for Atlantic with their name. But I've never been able to find any info about it on the internet, so perhaps I am just remembering incorrectly.

Dang it all! You mean Otis receives no royalties from the 60's hits?

[milven]

I looked again to find something on line and could not find it, but I found that Eddie Kendrick had to give up his royalties in order to get out of his contract.

[soulster]

Dang it all! You mean Otis receives no royalties from the 60's hits?

You never know if his estate does or not. It is possible something was worked out after his death. But, then, a lot of veteran artists receive nothing, and are battling it out in court.

[Hotspurman]

The Temptations name was created as a condition of their signing with Motown – they wanted to be called The Elgins, after a famous watch, but Berry rejected that name [[although he later resurrected it for another group) and told them to come up with something better. As portrayed in The Temptations mini series, they sat outside Hitsville throwing up all manner of names before finally settling on The Temptations.
Again, my understanding, based on what was written by Otis and Mary in their respective autobiographies, at some point Motown registered the names The Supremes and The Temptations and no doubt one or two others. Otis and Melvin were able to negotiate the return of the rights to the name when they left Motown for Atlantic, but I seem to remember they still wanted payment of some $200,000 outstanding royalties.
Eddie Kendricks briefly shortened his name to Kendrick [[without the ‘s’) as something of a protest when he discovered Motown owned the rights to his name!

[dvus7]

You never know if his estate does or not. It is possible something was worked out after his death. But, then, a lot of veteran artists receive nothing, and are battling it out in court.

Otis is still alive!!!!

[supremester]

I don't believe Motown ever owned the name - although they may have tried to. Supremes was made up by a salaried Motown employee, so that's why Motown had a right to it. DMF weren't savvy enough to deal with it correctly with their first contract. IF The Tempts had to negotiate for the name - they had poor representation. I doubt that Otis signed away his royalties after seeing how much Flo lost.

[reese]

In his book, Otis wrote that in 1966 he sent off papers to register a copyright on the name the Temptations. A few weeks later, he received a reply saying that Esther Gordy Edwards had already applied two weeks before and had been granted ownership of the name. He said that the group had never given those rights to Motown.

At the time, the guys were upset but were doing very well. But by 1976, the group was unhappy with Motown and ready to leave. They fought for their name and Motown reversed the rights to the name to Otis and Melvin.

[captainjames]

Jezzz if that is true with Eddie that was a bit harsh and cold. He was such a talented man.

[jobeterob]

If Motown ever owned the rights to the name Temptations, in order for them to give it up, they would definitely have got something in return ~ likely royalties being given up.

In the last few years royalties haven't mattered much but the sales are gone.

I mentioned before that R Dean Taylor once said his share of royalties for writing Love Child didn't matter much because it wasn't a lot.

[soulster]

Otis is still alive!!!!

Uh...never mind. For some reason, my mind went to Otis Redding. D'uh!

[jobeterob]

Uh...never mind. For some reason, my mind went to Otis Redding. D'uh!

And it's possible the live Otis isn't receiving any either!

And even if he didn't sign it away, it's not that much anymore.

[soulster]

The individual members of the group were under contract to Motown and therefore when they left the group, were still obligated to Motown, hence David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks subsequent solo careers with the company. David Ruffin in particular wanted to leave the company well before he actually did but still signed a contract extension in 1970 when his original contract expired. With regards to Eddie Kendricks, when he left the group for his own solo career, he set up a management and production company and boutique label in EJK. You could probably assume he was his own manager, although the only outside entity I recall him actually working with was Posse, who were signed to V.I.P.

David Ruffin sued to get out of his contract in 1968 when Motown refused to allow a complete audit of the books. When he did that, Motown countersued for breach of contract. They settled out of court, and Ruffin agreed to serve the remainder of his contract until it expired in the mid-70s.

Eddie Kendricks left the group in 1972 after he, too tried to get the group to boycott Motown until they allowed them to audit all of the books. Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin disagreed. When they mutually agreed that Kendricks would quit, Kendricks signed a new solo deal with Tamla that expired about the same time the group's contract was due to expire. So, it seems that they were also bound to the original contract with the group as well, even though they had quit or were relieved of duties.

So, it kind of seems that the contracts with Motown weren't based on the number of albums they delivered, as is standard, but for the length of time they are with the company. It also seems that, though Ruffin was fired by the group...twice in the 60s, he was legally still part of it! Of course, we're talking about Motown, here.

All in all, radionixon seems to be on the money, here.

And it's possible the live Otis isn't receiving any either!

And even if he didn't sign it away, it's not that much anymore.

It's unlikely he negotiated it when he resigned with Motown in 1979. That would require an accounting of the books, something Motown didn't like to do, for some reason......
But it could have changed when Motown was bought by MCA.

[captainjames]

Its sad to hear.............. I loved Eddie's solo work.
Eddie's career world have been interesting if Motown would have considered doing some duo work with him as well. I love the album tat David and Eddie did together. They also could have been paired up with some of the female artists while at Motown like Martha Reeves, Diana Ross or even Mary Wilson.

[soulster]

Its sad to hear.............. I loved Eddie's solo work.
Eddie's career world have been interesting if Motown would have considered doing some duo work with him as well. I love the album tat David and Eddie did together. They also could have been paired up with some of the female artists while at Motown like Martha Reeves, Diana Ross or even Mary Wilson.

By the 80s, they could have pretty much done what they wanted anyway. Remember that Ruffin, Kendricks, and Harris were going to cut an album while under contract to Motown, but it all came to a halt when Ruffin OD'ed and died. By the late 80s, with Berry Gordy out of the picture, Motown was no longer operating like an overbearing parent.

[dvus7]

Its sad to hear.............. I loved Eddie's solo work.
Eddie's career world have been interesting if Motown would have considered doing some duo work with him as well. I love the album tat David and Eddie did together. They also could have been paired up with some of the female artists while at Motown like Martha Reeves, Diana Ross or even Mary Wilson.

That would have under-mind the Temptations and Norman Whitfield..Cause you would be "re-selling" the Temps all over again!!!

[captainjames]

By the 80s, they could have pretty much done what they wanted anyway. Remember that Ruffin, Kendricks, and Harris were going to cut an album while under contract to Motown, but it all came to a halt when Ruffin OD'ed and died. By the late 80s, with Berry Gordy out of the picture, Motown was no longer operating like an overbearing parent.

Yes, I agree but Eddie was a pure, rare talent and it is a shame we did not get more of him. The same goes for Paul Williams