Who had the bigger solo career? David or Eddie?

[RossHolloway]

So who had the bigger solo career after they left the Temptations? David or Eddie? While David got a three year head start, it seems that Eddie had more or better charted solo hits. Was David's biggest solo hit My Whole World Ended [[The Moment You Left Me)? Does anyone have any idea how well their respective solo albums sold when they were first released? These two singers were some of the best out there. But it also seemed like they may have fallen into the shadows of Marvin and Stevie during the early-mid 70's as well. Not to mention the other solo male artist at the time: Smokey Robinson, Edwin Starr, Jimmy Ruffin, Chuck Jackson, Marv Johnson, Michael Jackson, Bobby Taylor, it's no wonder that some artist got lost in the shuffle.

[dickiemint]

In the UK they both only had 1 top ten hit each, Eddie with Keep on Truckin', David with Walk away from love, I don't think either achived the solo sucsess they deservred. Personally I prefer David Ruffin's solo work and his duet album with brother Jimmy.

[paladin]

In all honesty I would say that Eddie Kendricks had a better solo career. Eddie was one of the most popular Temptations from the beginning and he didn't seem to carry as much drama and controversy along with him. His producers and writers knew exactly what to do with him and I'm sure he was very cooperative in that process. I am not sure about sales figures or chart positions, but it just seems that Eddie was always around and David was MIA for extended periods.

As far as albums go. I played Eddies a lot more than I played Davids. Come to think of it, maybe it was because Eddie was not in a position to re-create a Temptation sound, he was the Temptation sound. David always appeared to be trying to out do whatever he did as a Temptation and a lot of times his material really wasn't up to par. Just saying.......perceptions.......

I was about to start a thread on Eddie, looks like I better speed it up....lol.....

[jboy88]

I kinda agree with Paladin on the Ruffin tracks! I rencently got a copy of the anthology of his first four albums! I'm glad I found it for retail cause if I had payed $100 I would of been angry! IMO Feeling Good was best in quality, "My whole world Ended" Also was great but a bit depressing also. I didnt really care for the last album with Norman Whitfield though. But his performance on the "David" sessions were his best!

[Amithesameboy]

Very clearly, it was Eddie. The Billboard Top R & B Album artists of all time from 1999 had Eddie at number 84 and David at number 143. The all time Billboard R & B single artists from the same year had Eddie at number 104 and David at 244. Neither of them had any hits since then so their respective positions will not have changed.

[marv2]

Eddie had the more consistant, the more commercially successful solo career.

[Jimi LaLumia]

both had a few NY hits on the all important 77 WABC AM; "Walk AwaY From Love" and "MY Whole World Ended " for David,
"Keep On Truckin" and "Boogie Down" for Eddie

[marv2]

both had a few NY hits on the all important 77 WABC AM; "Walk AwaY From Love" and "MY Whole World Ended " for David,
"Keep On Truckin" and "Boogie Down" for Eddie

Yes I remember, but also kick in for Eddie:

"Girl You Need A Change of Mind"
"Going Up In Smoke"
"Shoe Shine Boy"
"He's A Friend"
"Intimate Friends"
"If You Let Me"
"Can I"

All were hits here in the United States in one degree or another......

[thisoldheart]

... guess "darling, come back home" was not a single for kendricks, bit it was played in clubs as if it was a big hit. it is my favorite late motown song of all time, but usually goes unnoted.

[reese]

... guess "darling, come back home" was not a single for kendricks, bit it was played in clubs as if it was a big hit. it is my favorite late motown song of all time, but usually goes unnoted.

It was a US single, and it hit #26 on Billboard's R&B chart.

[smark21]

Putting aside sales and chart position, who would you say produced better work? David or Eddie? And why?

[marv2]

... guess "darling, come back home" was not a single for kendricks, bit it was played in clubs as if it was a big hit. it is my favorite late motown song of all time, but usually goes unnoted.

It was a great song and can certainly be added to the list of hits by Eddie Kendricks.

[marv2]

Putting aside sales and chart position, who would you say produced better work? David or Eddie? And why?



Eddie Kendricks. Mainly because of his ability to get over with all types of music, ballads, dance and funk, etc.

[jobeterob]

Amithesameboy spells it all out...........charts and sales wise it is Eddie hands down. And they were dwarfed by Stevie, Marvin, Michael etc.

But there was also their work with the Temptations.

Neither Eddie nor David will ever influence the music industry the way Stevie, Michael and Diana did..........but they definitely have a huge fan following. Sometimes I think David may have had more influence than Eddie; his voice was more in a class by itself than Eddie's. And so, for the hardcore soul music fan, many may take David over Eddie.

[Jimi LaLumia]

"Date With The Rain" was also a NY 'disco hit' for Eddie

[Kamasu_Jr]

[QUOTE[/QUOTE]

It doesn't really matter to me because both Eddie & David ultimatelyended up workig togeher.

[marv2]

I was there that night, December 31, 1984 in Detroit [[Sterling Heights) when Eddie and David ended up on stage together for the first time in years. After that, they began touring together again.

[marv2]

Eddie Kendricks was far more influential than he's been given credit for. Even more so than folks like Diana Ross [[ I don't know of anyone wanting or trying to sing like that....) However, there were a whole host of talent young singers that worked at emulating Eddie Kendricks' sound and style which was evident in the succession of great replacements the Temptations hired from various lesser known groups.

[captainjames]

David gets my nood simply because he was such a powerful singer and a great showmanship on stage. I remember seeing him singing and dropping to his knees and then getting back up as quickly as he went down. There will never be another David Ruffin. Now, Mr. Kendricks was as mellow as good red wine and was good on songs like "Can I" and "Just My Imagination" [[with the Tempts).

Now as far as who had the better solo career, we would need to look at the sales.

[jobeterob]

Well put Captain. I agree with your analysis of David's stage presence. That was very appealing about him even if Eddie had the bigger career. I suspect if David had been more personally stable, his career might have benefited.

[BayouMotownMan]

Eddie Kendricks outsold David hands down. Eddie had three gold records, Keep On Truckin', Boogie Down and Shoeshine Boy, with modest sales for Tell Her Love Has Felt The Need, He's A Friend and a couple others. Two gold albums, Eddie Kendricks and Boogie Down.

David had two gold singles, My Whole World Ended and Walk Away From Love. Modest sales for I've Lost Everything I've Ever Loved, I'm So Glad I Fell For You and Everything's Coming Up Love. Only one gold lp, Who I Am. Eddie, in his prime, was booked into larger venues but critically not well received as he just sort of stood there and sang without moving much. His voice started to waver by the time he left Motown. When he toured with Ruffin and Hall & Oates his voice was pretty much gone.

Ruffin played smaller venues but usually got great reviews for his stage aerobics and powerful, soulful voice, which despite his addictions, he never lost.

[captainjames]

Thanks Rob
David was something to behold on stage.


Well put Captain. I agree with your analysis of David's stage presence. That was very appealing about him even if Eddie had the bigger career. I suspect if David had been more personally stable, his career might have benefited.

[BayouMotownMan]

Well Marv, despite your continued misrepresentation of Diana Ross, several singers...Natalie Cole...Whitney Houston...CeCe Penniston...Polly Brown, etc. have all said Diana Ross was influential.

I don't recall anyone naming Mary Wilson as such

[jobeterob]

Not sure what would be negative here about Diana.............but what Diana and David had in common was the dynamic stage presence; and I think Diana might have David beat there. But I think her duets with Eddie were better.

Good question Ross. I didn't realize that Eddie had a significantly more successful career than David; but it is very difficult to be successful over a long term when you have such intense personal problems like David did.

[smark21]

Eddie Kendricks outsold David hands down. Eddie had three gold records, Keep On Truckin', Boogie Down and Shoeshine Boy, with modest sales for Tell Her Love Has Felt The Need, He's A Friend and a couple others. Two gold albums, Eddie Kendricks and Boogie Down.

David had two gold singles, My Whole World Ended and Walk Away From Love. Modest sales for I've Lost Everything I've Ever Loved, I'm So Glad I Fell For You and Everything's Coming Up Love. Only one gold lp, Who I Am. Eddie, in his prime, was booked into larger venues but critically not well received as he just sort of stood there and sang without moving much. His voice started to waver by the time he left Motown. When he toured with Ruffin and Hall & Oates his voice was pretty much gone.

Ruffin played smaller venues but usually got great reviews for his stage aerobics and powerful, soulful voice, which despite his addictions, he never lost.

But both men are dead now. While sales and concert bookings might be good ways to measure their careers at the time they were active, the question now remains is whose work stands up better? And why?

[jobeterob]

That's a really hard question.

It is easier to answer that question when you have a major career like Stevie's or Marvin's or Michael's or Diana's or Aretha's.

But both David and Eddie did not have careers of that longevity, creativity or with that kind of peak.

I guess you are asking...........taking the career and the output for what it was, which stood up better?

I think I'd still say Eddie's.

[paladin]

That's a really hard question.




No its not, its just a whole different one........to borrow a phrase from Eddie Kendricks...."they both were sitting on top of the world"....as Temptations. When they left they started over as single acts not as members of a vocal group who where the primary lead singers. They both did very well, Eddie had the better single career. They were different singers and brought different things to the table, but they will both be remembered most favorably as Temptations. That is a fact that can't be disputed successfully. I personally avoided any mention of their output with the Temptations because the original question was about their careers sans the Temptation. My thread was going to be based upon their output as Temptations and possibly why that was so.........oh well........and can somebody please tell me how in the hell Diana Ross got in this thread...jumpin jeezus !!!!!!

[marv2]

No its not, its just a whole different one........to borrow a phrase from Eddie Kendricks...."they both were sitting on top of the world"....as Temptations. When they left they started over as single acts not as members of a vocal group who where the primary lead singers. They both did very well, Eddie had the better single career. They were different singers and brought different things to the table, but they will both be remembered most favorably as Temptations. That is a fact that can't be disputed successfully. I personally avoided any mention of their output with the Temptations because the original question was about their careers sans the Temptation. My thread was going to be based upon their output as Temptations and possibly why that was so.........oh well........and can somebody please tell me how in the hell Diana Ross got in this thread...jumpin jeezus !!!!!!

Diane Ross got thrown into this thread by Jobeterob as usual.

[daddyacey]

Eddie IMO. The high end tenor voice and the low baritone voice are more seductive,[[SMOKEY and EDDIE,HARRY RAY on the high end, BARRY and ISAAC, on the low end, get the juices flowing right off the get go and get you that TANG A LITTLE FASTER:D, DAVID, TEDDY, LUTHER, tend to work you up over a longer period of time, to the same result.

David was just a little too much of himself and that IMO was his downfall , as opposed to EDDIE who just carried and expressed himself and adjusted to change a lot differently.

[boywonder]

If you want to know who I listen to more and who constantly blows me away its Ruffin. His solo stuff is astonishing; the Unreleased Albums, and his two 60's ones are amazing. He is the ONLY Motown act who's 70's material is as good as 60's Motown IMHO. There's a power, emotion and pain that comes across in his music. I never used to get the idea of calling a singer an artist, even people like Michael Jackson but with Ruffin he really is an artist. Its a wonder to hear him sing, the timbre of his voice is just one of life's special treats. As Rod Stewart said, he had a voice like the foghorn on the Queen Mary; I mean Rod Stewart is a superstar and he was and always will be in absolute awe of David Ruffin. I can happily spend an entire day listening to Ruffin tracks. Now I love Eddie, and some of his solo stuff like Girl you need a change of mind are also brilliant, but he does not inspire the same devotion in me. I can listen to Eddie for a bit and then I have to switch off.

It might just come down to personal taste. David had a sledgehammer of a voice, Eddie a surgeon's scalpel [[!- don't ask where I get my analogies from!!!) For me, I don't care how much more Eddie sold. Neither were the superstars they should have been, and I will always wish they had both stayed with the Tempts. But as a body of work, David wins hands down on songs [[the best Motown writers seemed to think that David could do better jobs with their songs) and on performances. Its all subjective, but for me there is simply no contest.

[jobeterob]

Nice post Boywonder; a Ruffin fan standing up for David in a great way.

[Amithesameboy]

The title of this thread asked who had the bigger solo career and I take that to mean purely a question as to who sold the most records. In which case, as I said above, it was indubitably Eddie. A number of people have interpreted the question on artistic grounds , however, and in that case, I would say that both of them failed by a distance to live up to the quality of their work with the Temps but Eddie was probably more consistent than David, although " Walk away from love " beats any Kendricks record hand-down.

[RossHolloway]

The title of this thread asked who had the bigger solo career and I take that to mean purely a question as to who sold the most records. In which case, as I said above, it was indubitably Eddie. A number of people have interpreted the question on artistic grounds , however, and in that case, I would say that both of them failed by a distance to live up to the quality of their work with the Temps but Eddie was probably more consistent than David, although " Walk away from love " beats any Kendricks record hand-down.

Well I originally posed the question because their solo careers are rarely discussed here on SD. They were both dynamic and soulful singers and with both of them coming from the Temptations, I just figured that parallels and comparisons could be made between the two. I guess I've just never seen a full discussion on their respective careers and why they both seem to have faded by the late 70's. They both had the talent, but why didn't their careers take off and get to the heights of Marvin or Stevie's? A couple of reason that came to my mind was the fact that A. both Marvin and Stevie each essentially had a decade to build their musical reputation as a solo artist and B. by the early 70's both had for the most part taken control their careers with respect to the writing and production of their music, while David and Eddie were still producer driven. I never heard discussion of what their concert set list were like or heck what about the first time they even performed on stage alone. Where and when? There is never any discussion of how their solo careeers got off the ground, studio wise or concert wise...I'm just really curious about their careers and what happened.

[marv2]

I never really ever thought to compare these two. I mean they were so very ,very different. True, they had the Temptations in common, but other than that, they were very different talents and personalities. I enjoyed both. I had the luck of seeing them both in concert as solo artists. David once and Eddie several times. Eddies shows were a lot of fun, he gave you a party each time! I miss those days.

[jobeterob]

My favorite Eddie song is Tell Her Love Has Felt the Need and my favorite David song is Walk Away From Love.

[MIKEW-UK]

Importantly, Eddie and David remained close friends and worked together to the end... if you haven't seen this clip, it was just prior to David's passing and Eddie was to pass on just 15 months later....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLpfpGaxhTQ