He ain't no david ruffin

This question is for those of us old enough to remember when dennis first replaced david in the temps,how did you initially feel about it i for one was very angry and it took me awhile to get used to the[new guy]although i knew him from the contours the temps were a different story...how did you feel about dennis coming in?

Oh dear Jai. I got a feeling a few bricks are gonna be chucked my way.

I have loved Dennis Edwards right from the start - I still prefer Dennis and for me, it will always be that way.

I can imagine some fans were not pleased with the change while others were alright with it.

Haaaaaaa,no bricks at all,i'm just getting opinions about dennis coming in,you know how it is when a legend is replaced we as humans have a comfort level and when it's disrupted we don't take it well and me being human and a big david fan i didn't like it,now ain't it funny how forty some odd years later we love dennis to death but back in the summer of[68]it was no way!!

Because the Temptations consisted of five lead singers, not just one, Dennis replacing David did not seem to me to be a monumental change. Also, because of their new, "psychodelic" direction, it seemed that a "new" voice was almost called for.

The Temptations' success was based on the fact that all members could sing. To me, David Ruffin was the master, his voice still gives me goosebumps, but Dennis was more than a worthy replacement, he was certainly instrumental in helping maintain The Temptations as the number-one vocal group of the time, infact, anytime. In an ideal world, give me David, but I'll settle for Dennis.

I just think that we are lucky to have been blessed with two so very different, and dynamic vocalists. The Temptations legacy is certainly better for both these guys being in the group. I tend to divide up my fav Temps tracks to the mid-late 60s with Eddie and David. Late 60s-early 70s Eddie and Dennis. Plus a sprinkling of Paul and Melvin, of course. When Damon joined, he was good too. Although other great singers joined after this, I sort of lump them, and their recordings all together. Is that awful? I just have a terrible time trying to work out who was who on what after the returned from the Atlantic sourjon.Without looking it up. I rarely seem to play many of their recordings after this time. Not that they have made some good music, its just that its hard to remember any that have the same impact on me as a David, Dennis or Eddie lead.....Paulo XXXX

back then i wasnt old enough to realize there had been a change.there were so many singers!
the change in style after david was electric [[bearing in mind not all the us releases were mirrored here)i can take the temps in any period,but the best for me is the whitfield/strong's cloud nine/cant get next to you/ball of confusion 7" releases.these are still my favourites.at the time here we had a wall of a sound we hadnt heard before and [[seemed like) an ever changing of the lead singers so much power and movement.the jackson 5 came along doing the same style months later.i used to watch the andy williams show with my mates knowing there would be a good chance of the temps and the j5 turning up...............and the cookie bear,just one,go on ,can i,please?
any way its dennis hands down for me

Dennis was GREAT. Just different. It would have been more jarring if Dennis wasn't someone with [[as Q himself put it) that thang in his voice. Dennis was magic. A different sort of magic, but of an equal quality.
Asking this question is like asking: Who was more Beautiful- Lena Horne or Dorothy Dandridge?

But I digress. Dennis Edwards was GREAT. You are right- he ain't no David Ruffin. He didnt have to be.

HE JUST HAD TO BE DENNIS EDWARDS. And he was a BADD MUTHAFU*KA!!!


DC

I agree that Dennis was a great addition to the Temptations. He received my solid nod of approval on TCB when he sang "Losin' You." Gave me chills!

You are so right Jai and others that Dennis certainly didn't have to be David Ruffin. To me and the guys I hung around with, there was absolutely no group that could best the Temptations. They were the epitome of cool with David as their standard bearer. Now David's leaving was anticipated because being the media darlings that they were and Motown being the company that it was, a great deal of emphasis was being placed on the lead singers of all the groups and we all know who they were.

However the fact that David had actually left sent a shock wave around the world and we all wondered what they would do next, not who would replace David ! Paul was still on point as was Eddie and we had heard what they could do before David. Dennis quite frankly was a super duper surprise as was their album Cloud Nine. I remember walking down the street on the southside of Chicago on my way to the local pool hall and hearing this sound, this beat, which had permeated the entire block from a loudspeaker above a local grocery store. Cloud Nine, you can be what you want to be, Every man in this world is free, ...........and so on, by the time I got to the pool hall the WVON good guys were playing cuts from the entire album. I honestly couldn't believe what I was hearing, Runaway Child simply tore the hood up...........

These were the Temptations ???? Who in the hell is Dennis Edwards? Although many folk talk about this album, I felt as though I lived it.......the impact of this album was so significant toward the acceptance of Dennis as well as The Temptations because everything had changed overnight and these guys were pulling an all out assault on our senses..........they were traveling at the speed of light and invited us to join. The sheer audacity of these guys, who would have believed they could have done anything like this without "Ruffin" ? Dennis shut everybody up because he came out firing like Muhammed Ali........yes my friends this was the album that cemented them as the true icons that we still talk about today. No it wasn't their best album, but it certainly took the world by storm and their place in the pantheon of vocal groups was clearly established by this take no prisoners attitude that coincidentally arrived at the same time Dennis did.

Funny thing, I have always loved their vocals on "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", they flat out clowned on that song, they were having so much fun, that to this day I smile everytime I hear it, Eddie and Dennis were just......you know....

PS: yes we knew Dennis could sing because we had heard the Live At The Copa lp, which really didn't make anyone forget the Live at RoosterTail [[Upper Deck) but little did we know what was on the horizon........and then the sun came up on Norman Whitfield..

David Ruffin is perhaps among one of the greatest singers ever. However Dennis Edwards could also stake claim to that title as well. Although Dennis replaced David when he was fired from The Temptations - his voice was remarkably DIFFERENT from David, thus there is no conflict between the two. However when Motown replaced Eddie Kendricks with Damon Harris the company chose to go with a mimic voice - therfore in the recordings and or live performance between Eddie and Damon- you can rightfully compare and judge the two of them - as to who was the best. Just as in Dennis Edwards group, he has chosen to hire singers that sound as close as possible to the original line-up, that is what makes his show great.

Can someone remind me again of how Dennis Edwards first got into the Motown stable? I know he recorded some solo sides prior to joining the Temps and also recorded some as lead to the Contours, but can someone give more details and a time line of when he first came to Detroit, did he record as a solo artist first or as a Contour? How long was he with the Contours? How long before he became a Temp?

I remember it as if it was yesterday and I hated it - How dare you/him do this. The same feelng I had when Florence Ballard was replaced. However, as time went by I grew to not only accept Dennis but adore his work as a Temptation.

While Dennis Edwards was no David Ruffin - thanak God, he never had to, or tried to be - Dennis Edwards remains a great and unique super talent all on his own. His style is totally different from that of the fabulous David Ruffin. Dennis Edwards was a great benefit to The Temptations, and lead them to many hit records.