I met Ron Tyson [[Presson) shortly after he joined the Tempts. He is as talented and foine as an exquisite wine today, as he was 29 years ago. His stellar credentials as a singer, performer, songwriter and producer takes a back seat to know one and as a member of one of the most legendary groups in history, I honestly can’t remember when the Tempts with Tyson as one of the wing men, didn’t receive a rousing standing ovation at the end of their set. Recently I heard someone say, “it’s amazing to me how two legendary groups can still pack a house after 50 years”….this is true and for those that say, well they are small venues, well let me ask you this….when was the last time you brought 2500 people to their feet with thunderous applause?
Tyson, or “Roscoe” as I jokingly call him is and has always been the epitome of style and grace and when you look up the word gentleman, his picture should be on the page. Ron Tyson is the kind of person that will go out of his way to sidestep BS…he’s also as humble as they come…both traits I’ve witnessed in another Ron…or I should say Ronnie over the years.
People pass away, and inevitably they get kudos, love and adulation after they are gone but it seems to me, we should be giving them their props while they are still with us.
If they record a song you don’t like, so be it…some times you win and sometimes you lose in this biz…its how the game is played but to disparage an artist because of their physical appearance or because of some BS judgment you’ve formed without even knowing the person, shows no class or decorum whatsoever.
Yes I am biased when it comes to Tyson, yes I have pissed people off around here because they thought I was being mean to them but I challenge one person on this MUSIC forum to show me a post where I have ever, said a nasty or unkind word about the people who brought us the music we all claim to love…let me give you a hint….that post doesn’t exist…but feel free to check the archives to look. You see, I didn’t come to SDF just for the love of music; I also came here for the love of the people who bring us the music, the writers, musicians, singers, engineers…
A song and or a tune are nothing but notes on a page until someone brings those notes to life. The next time you tell yourself, it’s all about the music, think again. …hell, next time, why not simply trying THINKING period!
And on a side note … Whenever someone would ask Obie Benson how he felt about the fact that there were people that didn’t know he was one of the writers of “What’s Going On, he would say, as long as the checks are going to the bank, it doesn’t matter who knows what I wrote….
I love this biz, while some are obsessing over charts and stats, others are going to bank and cashing checks….don’t hate, congratulate.
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