![]() ![]() The group continued recording on a regular basis with either Paul or Eddie leading on all the early songs, but none of the 1962 singles did much, including the unique “Dream Come True”, and “Paradise”. Eddie always dressed beautifully – he had a knack for being sharp and hip, but classy at the same time, so his job in the group would be wardrobe, and he began putting together the group’s stage uniforms. Meanwhile, the group worked hard on their singing, their moves, and their look. It was 1961, but the group wouldn’t have their first hit for a few years. An audition for Berry Gordy went well, and the group was offered a contract on the spot and so the Temptations were formed. Paul and Eddie added a whole new dimension to his group’s sound, and the merging of the two groups were now called the Elgins. Later when Eddie put in a phone call to Otis, the timing was perfect – since Otis just happened to have two spots to fill in his group, The Distants. With no real success by 1961, the Primes became discouraged, and Eddie, tired of the small club gigs, decided to return home to Birmingham as the group disbanded. When future Temptation Otis Williams and his group shared rehearsal space with the Primes, they couldn’t help but notice Kendricks’ vocal prowess and Paul Williams’ smooth and classy choreography. They were young, good-looking, and talented. Once he saw their show, he was convinced they had star potential. When Jenkins met the Primes, they were just another of many unknown groups around. With nothing happening in Cleveland, Eddie and Paul moved to Detroit, along with new manager Milton Jenkins, who remembers the Primes rehearsing in the basement of his home, singing for as long as his father could stand it – often until midnight. In 1955, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Willy Waller, and Kell Osborne, were singing in local talent shows in their hometown, Birmingham, Alabama as the Primes when Eddie and Paul left for Cleveland to become the Cavaliers as Eddie in the beginning worked at the Majestic Hotel on 55th & Central washing dishes while performing in the hotel’s Rose Room. On Decemin Union Springs, Alabama, was born one who became the sweetest and silkiest of tenors, quiet and so cool – a tall, lean, handsome member of one of the greatest singing groups of all time.
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