I think you hit the nail on the head. Paul was a great singer and performer, but his baritone voice is somewhat limited [[no disrespect to him at all). David was a natural 2nd tenor/baritone, but David had more range. David had about a 4 1/2 octave vocal range [[
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebKqcaVQFFg).
People really need to check out David's solo album to understand what he could do vocally.But as a Temptation the producers realized they had more to work with than Paul with David . People forget when David got into the groups the leads were pretty much even for all members. As I recall on the [[Getting Ready) album Paul got more leads than Paul. But the fans [[ as far as sales) didn't respond to Paul's leads as well as David's.
The litmus test was when "Don't Look Back" was released as a single in September 1965 . It was released as the A side and the Ruffin lead "My Baby" was the B side. For whatever reason the fans were not buying "Don't Look Back" very much when it initially was released. DJ's were flipping to the B side "My Baby" with Ruffin on lead and playing that more than "Don't Look Back." It was so obvious that Motown put out a 2nd pressing with "My Baby" as the A side and "Don't Look Back" as the B side. Many think that "Don't Look Back" was a better single, but the fans chose otherwise.
That was the beginning. When "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" hit that was the end for Paul being on lead singles. He had little leads on "With A Lot Of Soul" and "Wish It Would Rain." With "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" the producers had a once in a lifetime talent with Ruffin. You have someone who can sing smooth and rough. I think if Ruffin didn't have the power that he had Paul would of been a better choice for that song. But being able to raise the key, David being able to sing it, and it selling over 1 million records, there was no turning back with Paul.
Quiet as kept even Eddie got pushed to the background somewhat. The only singles Eddie had during that 66-68 on lead were "Get Ready, "You're My Everything," and "Please Return Your Love To Me" [[that was released in 1968 after Ruffin was fired). In the that was the producers and the fans doing. If they didn't support the Ruffin lead leads the producers would of moved in another direction quickly.
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