American soul and R&B vocalist Dennis Edwards Jr. was the frontman of The Temptations for Motown Records. Edwards joined the Temptations after David Ruffin left in 1968, and he worked with them from 1968 to 1976, 1980 to 1984, and 1987 to 1989. In the mid-1980s, he established a solo career and collaborated with Siedah Garrett on the hit song “Don’t Look Any Further” in 1984. Until his death, Edwards was the lead vocalist for The Temptations Review, a Temptations side project.
Edwards was born in Fairfield, Alabama, on February 3, 1943, just eight miles from Birmingham. His parents were Idessa Fuller and Reverend Dennis Edwards Sr. They relocated to Michigan when Edwards turned ten. He continued to sing in the church his father pastored, eventually becoming the choir director.
When Edwards was younger, he joined a gospel singing group called the Mighty Clouds of Joy. Edwards studied composition and piano at the Detroit Conservatory of Music. When Dennis Edwards learned that Sam Cooke had switched from gospel to secular music in 1961, he started his soul/jazz combo, Dennis Edwards and the Firebirds. He was not allowed to sing or listen to secular music at home since his mother disapproved of a career in that genre. “I Didn’t Have to (But I Did)” b/w “Johnnie on the Spot” is a song that Edwards recorded in 1961 for the uncommon Detroit label International Soulville Records.
Edwards was stationed in Europe for most of his tenure as a field artilleryman in the U.S. Army, from January 1961 to December 1963. Headquarters Battery, 2nd Howitzer Battalion, 35th Artillery, Seventh Army was his last significant service assignment. In the army, he was promoted to Specialist 4th Class.
Edwards got a contract but was kept on retainer at Detroit’s Motown Records after giving an audition in 1966 with James Jamerson’s assistance. Edwards had planned to be a solo artist, but due to the illness of The Contours’ lead vocalist, Billy Gordon, he was forced to join the group. Edwards was introduced to Eddie Kendricks and Otis Williams of the Temptations when they saw the Contours perform as their opening act a year later. They were considering replacing lead vocalist David Ruffin, a close friend of Edwards’, at the time.
Later, in 1967, Edwards quit the Contours and was placed back on retainer. He attempted to be released from his contract, as Holland–Dozier–Holland had promised to sign him to their new Invictus Records. However, he was drafted in late June 1968 to join the Temptations, who had just fired Ruffin from the act. Ruffin had tipped Edwards off that he was being drafted as his replacement, which eased Edwards’s conscience in replacing him.
The four founding members of The Temptations played for the first half of the show at their July 1968 premiere at the Forum in Los Angeles, marking the group’s official lineup debut. The final part of the performance included Edwards. On July 9, 1968, The Temptations gave Edwards his stage debut in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. But to a thunderous ovation, Ruffin—trying to get back into the group—came storming onto the stage during Edwards’s lead vocal on “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.”
He carried on with such antics for almost a month, Edwards claimed, until the group decided to rehire Ruffin and lay Edwards off with the possibility of a solo deal with Motown. The Temptations declined to consider rehiring Ruffin after he did not show up for his scheduled return engagement in Gaithersburg, Maryland, the next night, thereby keeping Edwards on staff indefinitely.
Edwards’ debut album with the Temptations was Live at the Copa, recorded on the group’s return to the Copacabana nightclub. A year later, Norman Whitfield debuted his hallucinogenic soul sound on their second studio album, Cloud Nine. The 1969 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal or Instrumental, went to the song’s title track. In the US pop chart, it reached number six as well. The hit singles that followed included “I Can’t Get Next to You” (1969), “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)” (1970), “Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)” (1971), and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” (1972).
The first verse of “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” (“It was September 3/That day I’ll always remember/’cause that was the day/that my daddy died”) allegedly infuriated Edwards during the song’s recording, according to Otis Williams’ account. Edwards’ father was considered to have passed away on September 3. Edwards, however, denied the story that his father had passed away on October 3. The song received four 1972 Grammy Awards and peaked at number five on the R&B charts.
As seen by the song “Masterpiece” (1973), Whitfield’s overemphasis on the musical arrangement over the vocals resulted in more inventive arguments with the Temptations. The Temptations hired Jeffrey Bowen as their next producer for their 1975 album A Song for You. Two of the album’s number-one R&B hits were “Happy People” (1974) and “Shakey Ground” (1975).
Wings of Love by Edwards had lead vocals that Bowen liked, even at the group’s expense. According to Williams, Bowen had never bothered to record or mix the background vocals so that Edwards’ singing stood out more than the background vocals. Bowen grabbed Edwards away during the recording sessions and said, “You don’t need to be with them guys.” I can cut you up into pieces, Dennis. You may be more formidable by yourself.”
Bowen refuted this, citing a hold-up in the album’s production. By now, Edwards’s cocaine addiction had become worse, and he was missing practice and team meetings. In 1976, when the Temptations were about to leave Motown for Atlantic Records, Williams fired Edwards because of his “intolerable attitude.”
Since Edwards’ contract was still in effect, he worked out a deal with Motown to pursue a solo career. During the contract discussions, Edwards recorded an album. After a deal fell through, Edwards’ solo album was put on hold. Later, he started working as a concrete driveway installer for his uncle’s Cleveland business.
Edwards returned to the Temptations in 1980 following the departure of Louis Price, his successor. He assured Edwards he would not “take any nonsense,” according to Williams. Power, the Temptations’ 1980 studio album, marked their re-signing with Motown. With Edwards returning on lead vocals, the lead song “Power” peaked at #11 on the R&B charts but slipped outside the top 40 on the mainstream charts.
After Edwards returned, Motown decided to produce a Temptations reunion album in 1982, which included Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin in the group. One week before the publication of the album Reunion, in March 1982, the reunion tour got underway. Ruffin appeared in one tune, and Edwards appeared in numerous others on the album. Edwards reconnected with Ruffin during the trip, and during their downtime, the two men indulged in cocaine binges. Williams said that Edwards was also running late or drunk from partying through the night.
The tour stopped at the Westbury Music Fair in mid-November. Surface Thrills, the Temptations’ studio album, was released in 1983. That same year, in a memorable “battle of the bands” on the television show Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, leader Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops and Edwards traded hit songs from their respective groups. Due to the segment’s relative popularity, both performers were booked on a three-year “T ‘n’ T” global tour.
Aretha Franklin, who sang “Day Dreaming” in 1972, said that Edwards was the idea behind her song. The two had a romantic connection. Ruth Pointer and Edwards were temporarily wed on December 21, 1980, in Las Vegas and divorced in 1983. Issa Pointer, the couple’s only child, joined her mother’s vocal group, The Pointer Sisters. Edwards relocated to Florissant, Missouri, in the 1980s to be nearer to his mother.
Two days before turning 75 years old, on February 1, 2018, Edwards passed away at a hospital in Illinois. Before his death, he was battling meningitis. In St. Louis County, Missouri, in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, he is laid to rest.
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