David Ruffin

The Temptations

David Eli Ruffin (born Davis Eli Ruffin; January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991) was an American soul singer most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations (1964–1968) during the group's "Classic Five" period as it was later known. Ruffin was the lead voice on such famous songs as "My Girl" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg". He later scored two top 10 singles as a solo artist, "My Whol...

David Eli Ruffin (born Davis Eli Ruffin; January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991) was an American soul singer most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations (1964–1968) during the group's "Classic Five" period as it was later known. Ruffin was the lead voice on such famous songs as "My Girl" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg". He later scored two top 10 singles as a solo artist, "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)" and "Walk Away from Love". Known for his unique raspy and anguished tenor vocals, Ruffin was ranked as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2008 and again in 2023. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 for his work with the Temptations. Fellow Motown recording artist Marvin Gaye once said admiringly of Ruffin that, "I heard [in his voice] a strength my own voice lacked." Early life Ruffin was born Davis Eli Ruffin on January 18, 1941, in the rural unincorporated community of Whynot, Mississippi, 16 miles southeast of Meridian. He was the third born son of Elias "Eli" Ruffin, a Baptist minister, and Ophelia Ruffin. His siblings were Quincy B. Ruffin, Rita Mae Ruffin, and Jimmy Lee Ruffin. Ruffin also had another sister Rosine, who died in infancy. Ancestry Ruffin's parents were both natives of Mississippi. His father, Eli, worked as a truck driver at numerous lumber mills, and his mother, Ophelia, worked out of their home. Eli's parents had moved from Alabama to Mississippi, because of the harsh circumstances of living after the American Civil War. Prior to living in Alabama, David Ruffin's great-grandparents, John and Clara Ruffin, had moved from Bertie County, North Carolina. John Ruffin was a Civil War veteran, fighting with the 14th United States Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment. Childhood and adolescence Ruffin's father was strict and at times violently abusive. Ruffin's mother died from complications of childbirth 10 months after he was born; and his father later married Earline, a schoolteacher, in 1942. As a young child, Ruffin, along with his other siblings (older brothers Quincy and Jimmy, and sister Reada Mae) traveled with their father and their stepmother as a family gospel group, opening shows for Mahalia Jackson and The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, among others. Ruffin sang in the choir at Mount Salem Methodist Church, talent shows and wherever else he could. In 1955, at age 14, Ruffin left home under the guardianship of a minister, Eddie Bush, and went to Memphis, Tennessee, with the purpose of pursuing the ministry. At age 15, Ruffin went to Hot Springs, Arkansas, with the jazz musician Phineas Newborn Sr. There, they played at the Fifty Grand Ballroom and Casino. Billed as Little David Bush, Ruffin continued to sing at talent shows, worked with horses at a jockey club and eventually became a member of The Dixie Nightingales. He also sang with The Soul Stirrers briefly after the departure of Johnnie Taylor. After some of his singing idols such as Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson had left gospel music and gone secular, Ruffin also turned in that direction. Eddie Bush and his wife, Dorothy Helen, took the then-16-year-old Ruffin to Detroit, Michigan, where his brother, Jimmy, was pursuing a career in music while simultaneously working at the Ford Motor Company. Career Early years After moving to Detroit with the Bushes, Ruffin recorded his first released record with the songs "You and I" (1958) b/w "Believe Me" (1958). These songs were recorded at Vega Records and released under the name "Little David Bush", using the last name of his guardian. Ruffin would later recall how he initially recorded "a different kind of music", strongly influenced by the smoother pop and R&B of the time, when he first recorded in Detroit for Vega. In 1957, Ruffin met Berry Gordy Jr., then a songwriter with ambitions of running his own label. Ruffin lived with Gordy's father, a contractor, and helped "Pops" Gordy do construction work on the building that would become Hitsville USA, the headquarters for Gordy's Tamla Records (later Motown Records) label. Jimmy Ruffin would eventually be signed to Tamla's Miracle Records label as an artist. Ruffin also worked alongside another ambitious singer, Marvin Gaye, as an apprentice at Anna Records, a Chess-distributed label run by Gordy's sister Gwen Gordy Fuqua and his songwriting partner Billy Davis. Asked about Ruffin in the Detroit Free Press in 1988, Gordy Fuqua said: "He was very much a gentleman, yes ma'am and no ma'am, but the thing that really impressed me about David was that he was one of the only artists I've seen who rehearsed like he was on stage". According to Ruffin, both he and Gaye would pack records for Anna Records. Ruffin created music as both the vocalist and drummer in the Voice Masters, a doo-wop style combo and eventually started recording at Anna Records, where he recorded the song "I'm in Love" b/w "One of These Days" (1961), with the Voice Masters, a group which included future Motown producer, Lamont Dozier. Other group members included members of The Originals: Ty Hunter, CP Spencer, Hank Dixon and (Voice Masters and The Originals founder) Walter Gaines. (At one time, The Voice Masters also included another future Temptations member, Melvin Franklin, one of numerous people David would claim as a cousin). Ruffin did sign to Anna Records as a solo artist, but his work in that time was unsuccessful. Ruffin eventually met an up-and-coming local group by the name of the Temptations. His older brother, Jimmy, went on a Motortown Revue tour with the Temptations, and he told David that they needed someone to sing tenor in their group. Ruffin shared his interest in joining the group with Otis Williams, who also lived in Detroit. In January 1964, Ruffin became a member of the Temptations after founding member Elbridge "Al" Bryant was fired from the group. Ruffin's first recording session with the group was January 9, 1964. Ruffin and his brother both auditioned to join the group, but they ultimately chose David after he performed with them on stage during the label's New Year's Eve party in 1963. With the Temptations (1964–1968) After joining the Temptations, the bespectacled Ruffin initially sang backgrounds while the role of lead singer mostly alternated between Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams. Ruffin did sing a few lead parts, both on stage and in the studio, during his first year with the group, but his leads on these studio tracks would not be released for over a year, as they were not considered good enough to showcase his vocals. However, Smokey Robinson, who produced and co-wrote most of the Temptations' material at this point, saw Ruffin during this period as a "sleeping giant" in the group with a unique voice that was "mellow" yet "gruff". Robinson thought that if he could write just the 'perfect song' for Ruffin's voice, then he could have a smash hit. The song was to be something that Ruffin could "belt out" yet something that was also "melodic and sweet". When Robinson achieved his goal, the song, "My Girl", was recorded in November 1964 and released a month later. It became the group's first number-one single in 1965. "My Girl" subsequently became the Temptations' signature song, and elevated Ruffin to the role of lead singer and frontman. The follow-ups to "My Girl" were also extremely successful singles, and included the Ruffin-led hits "It's Growing" (1965), "Since I Lost My Baby" (1965), "My Baby" (1965), "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (1966), "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" (1966), "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (1966), "All I Need" (1967), "(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need" (1967), "I Wish It Would Rain" (1967), and "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)" (1968). Ruffin also shared lead vocals on the 1967 hit single "You're My Everything" with Eddie Kendricks. Standing at 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), Ruffin's passionate and dramatic performances endeared him to the Temptations' audiences and fans. According to Otis Williams, Ruffin (playfully nicknamed "Ruff" by the group) was a natural comedian and a hard-working singer when he first joined the group. Ruffin's most notable non-vocal contribution to the Temptations was the masterminding of their trademark four-headed microphone stand. This enabled the other members to sing and do their dances without having to crowd around one microphone while the lead singer would sing into a separate microphone. However, by 1967, difficulties with Ruffin became an issue for the group. He became addicted to cocaine and began missing rehearsals and performances. Refusing to travel with the other Temptations, Ruffin and his then-girlfriend, Tammi Terrell, traveled in a custom limo (with the image of his trademark black rimmed glasses painted on the door). After the Supremes had their name changed to Diana Ross & the Supremes in early 1967, Ruffin felt that he should become the focal point of the Temptations, just as Diana Ross was for her group, and began demanding that the group name be changed to David Ruffin & the Temptations. This led to a number of disagreements between Ruffin and the group's de facto leader, Otis Williams. In addition to the group's problems with Ruffin's ego, he began inquiring into the Temptations' financial records, demanding an accounting of the group's money. This caused friction between Ruffin and Gordy. In June 1968, the Temptations agreed that Ruffin had finally crossed the line when he missed a June 22 Cleveland, Ohio, date with the Temptations in order to attend a performance by his new girlfriend, Barbara Gail Martin (Dean Martin's daughter). Ruffin was fired five days later and was replaced with Dennis Edwards, a former member of the Contours, who had been a friend of Ruffin and the group as a whole beforehand. Though Ruffin himself personally encouraged Edwards to take his place, Ruffin began turning up unannounced at Temptations concerts during Edwards' first few dates with the group. When the group started to perform a Ruffin-era song such as "My Girl" or "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", Ruffin would suddenly walk on to the stage, take the microphone from Edwards' hands, and steal the show, embarrassing the group but entertaining the fans. According to Edwards, the adulation and Ruffin's pleas convinced the other four Temptations to give Ruffin a second chance, but when he arrived late to what was to be his return show with the group in Gaithersburg, Maryland, the Temptations decided to keep Edwards and drop considerations of rehiring Ruffin. However, Otis Williams has always maintained that Ruffin's firing was permanent, and he was never considered for rehiring. In October 1968, Ruffin filed suit against Motown Records, seeking a release from the label and an accounting of his money. Motown counter-sued to keep the singer from leaving the label and eventually the case was settled. The settlement required Ruffin to remain with Motown to finish out his initial contract (Ruffin joined Motown as a solo artist and always had a separate contract from the other Temptations, which some felt caused a lot of the in-fighting within the group). Solo years Ruffin's first solo single was a song originally intended for the Temptations, "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)". The single (from the album also titled My Whole World Ended) was released in 1969 and reached the US Pop and R&B Top Ten. This was followed by the 1969 album Feelin' Good. A third album, titled David, was recorded in 1970–71, but was shelved by Motown and did not see commercial release until 2004. In 1970, Ruffin recorded an album with his brother Jimmy, I Am My Brother's Keeper, for which they had minor hits with "When My Love Hand (Comes Tumbling Down)" and "Your Love Was Worth Waiting For". Ruffin's next official release for Motown did not arrive until 1973 when David Ruffin was released. While his solo career initially showed promise, Ruffin quickly declined as a