诱惑乐队出道60岁:奥蒂斯·威廉姆斯从“No Hit Wonder”到摩城传奇的旅程
Believing in your art takes patience. And in 1964, Otis Williams had plenty of that.
相信你的艺术需要耐心。1964年，奥蒂斯·威廉姆斯有很多这样的经历。
While at this point in his storied career, the Motown legend and sole surviving founding member of The Temptations has since earned his place in history books at 82 years old, he can still remember those early years — between 1960 and 1964 — before the beloved vocal group ever scored a hit on the Billboard charts.
在他传奇的职业生涯中，这位摩城传奇人物和诱惑乐队唯一在世的创始成员已经以82岁的高龄在历史上赢得了一席之地，但他仍然记得1960年至1964年这支受人爱戴的乐队还没有登上公告牌排行榜的早期岁月。
“The Supremes and the Temps, they were calling us the ‘No Hit Wonders’ because we had so many releases that none of them really jumped off,” Williams tells PEOPLE, now 60 years after the release of the Temptations’ April 1964 debut album, Meet the Temptations.
“The Supremes and The Temps，他们称我们为‘无热门奇迹’，因为我们发行了太多的作品，没有一个真正引起轰动，”威廉姆斯告诉《人物》，现在距离诱惑乐队1964年4月发行首张专辑Meet The Temptations已经60年了。
“See, most companies would just record you, and if you didn't do it on the first single, they'll drop you,” he adds. “If they loved you to any extent, they'll let you do two. But if you do not happen with the second single, they drop you like a bad habit.”
他补充道:“大多数公司只会给你录音，如果你在第一首单曲中没有做到这一点，他们就会放弃你。“如果他们在某种程度上爱你，他们会让你做两件事。但如果你没有找到第二个人，他们就会像抛弃坏习惯一样抛弃你。”
Unlike other label bosses, however, Berry Gordy would tell the Temptations — and other struggling groups — that it wasn’t the "fault" of the musicians. "'We've got to do better as a company, as a producer, as writers,'" Williams recalls of Gordy’s words. “And he stuck to that and he believed in us. And I love him because, like I said, most companies, they'll drop you, cast you away.”
然而，与其他厂牌老板不同的是，贝瑞·戈迪会告诉诱惑乐队——以及其他挣扎中的乐队——这不是音乐人的“错”。“‘作为一家公司，作为制片人，作为编剧，我们必须做得更好，’”威廉姆斯回忆起戈迪的话。“他坚持这一点，他相信我们。我爱他，因为，就像我说的，大多数公司都会抛弃你，抛弃你。”
As hard as it may be to believe, for a period of time in the early '60s, The Temptations simply could not gain traction on the charts. It wasn’t their tight stage performances, which Williams says they “prided ourselves in.” It wasn’t their singing, either. After all, this was a group consisting of (eventually) that classic lineup of vocal powerhouses David Ruffin, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, and Paul Williams — along with Otis.
虽然很难相信，但在60年代初的一段时间里，诱惑乐队根本无法在排行榜上获得关注。这并不是他们紧张的舞台表演，威廉姆斯说他们“为自己感到自豪”。也不是他们的歌声。毕竟，这是一个由大卫·鲁芬、梅尔文·富兰克林、埃迪·肯德里克和保罗·威廉姆斯以及奥蒂斯组成的经典阵容组成的乐队。
What it was, however, was timing. And after putting the work in with Motown’s artist development department, and landing on magic with the Smokey Robinson-penned “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” the Temps found their first hit song. That meant releasing their first album, just three months later, on April 13, 1964.
然而，问题在于时机。在与摩城的艺人开发部门合作后，在斯莫基·罗宾逊创作的《the Way You Do the Things You Do》中施展了魔力，Temps乐队找到了他们的第一首热门歌曲。这意味着他们在三个月后的1964年4月13日发行了第一张专辑。
“First album, you never forget that. You’re set to really want to become a star and a recording artist. And so when the album came in, boy, you would've thought it was five Secretariats riding, ‘Da da dun, da, da, dun,’ running up there to get the album,” Williams says of himself and his fellow group members, all of whom he says were over 6-feet-tall in the mid-'60s. “And I got it, and I looked at it and I read every little credit nuance on the album.”
“第一张专辑，你永远不会忘记。你真的很想成为一个明星和一个唱片艺术家。所以当专辑出来的时候，天哪，你会以为是五个秘书处骑着马，‘哒哒哒，哒哒哒，哒哒哒’跑到那里去拿专辑，”威廉姆斯说他自己和他的团队成员，他说他们在60年代中期都超过6英尺高。“我得到了它，我看着它，我读了专辑上每一个小小的细微差别。”
相信你的艺术需要耐心。1964年，奥蒂斯·威廉姆斯有很多这样的经历。
While at this point in his storied career, the Motown legend and sole surviving founding member of The Temptations has since earned his place in history books at 82 years old, he can still remember those early years — between 1960 and 1964 — before the beloved vocal group ever scored a hit on the Billboard charts.
在他传奇的职业生涯中，这位摩城传奇人物和诱惑乐队唯一在世的创始成员已经以82岁的高龄在历史上赢得了一席之地，但他仍然记得1960年至1964年这支受人爱戴的乐队还没有登上公告牌排行榜的早期岁月。
“The Supremes and the Temps, they were calling us the ‘No Hit Wonders’ because we had so many releases that none of them really jumped off,” Williams tells PEOPLE, now 60 years after the release of the Temptations’ April 1964 debut album, Meet the Temptations.
“The Supremes and The Temps，他们称我们为‘无热门奇迹’，因为我们发行了太多的作品，没有一个真正引起轰动，”威廉姆斯告诉《人物》，现在距离诱惑乐队1964年4月发行首张专辑Meet The Temptations已经60年了。
“See, most companies would just record you, and if you didn't do it on the first single, they'll drop you,” he adds. “If they loved you to any extent, they'll let you do two. But if you do not happen with the second single, they drop you like a bad habit.”
他补充道:“大多数公司只会给你录音，如果你在第一首单曲中没有做到这一点，他们就会放弃你。“如果他们在某种程度上爱你，他们会让你做两件事。但如果你没有找到第二个人，他们就会像抛弃坏习惯一样抛弃你。”
Unlike other label bosses, however, Berry Gordy would tell the Temptations — and other struggling groups — that it wasn’t the "fault" of the musicians. "'We've got to do better as a company, as a producer, as writers,'" Williams recalls of Gordy’s words. “And he stuck to that and he believed in us. And I love him because, like I said, most companies, they'll drop you, cast you away.”
然而，与其他厂牌老板不同的是，贝瑞·戈迪会告诉诱惑乐队——以及其他挣扎中的乐队——这不是音乐人的“错”。“‘作为一家公司，作为制片人，作为编剧，我们必须做得更好，’”威廉姆斯回忆起戈迪的话。“他坚持这一点，他相信我们。我爱他，因为，就像我说的，大多数公司都会抛弃你，抛弃你。”
As hard as it may be to believe, for a period of time in the early '60s, The Temptations simply could not gain traction on the charts. It wasn’t their tight stage performances, which Williams says they “prided ourselves in.” It wasn’t their singing, either. After all, this was a group consisting of (eventually) that classic lineup of vocal powerhouses David Ruffin, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, and Paul Williams — along with Otis.
虽然很难相信，但在60年代初的一段时间里，诱惑乐队根本无法在排行榜上获得关注。这并不是他们紧张的舞台表演，威廉姆斯说他们“为自己感到自豪”。也不是他们的歌声。毕竟，这是一个由大卫·鲁芬、梅尔文·富兰克林、埃迪·肯德里克和保罗·威廉姆斯以及奥蒂斯组成的经典阵容组成的乐队。
What it was, however, was timing. And after putting the work in with Motown’s artist development department, and landing on magic with the Smokey Robinson-penned “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” the Temps found their first hit song. That meant releasing their first album, just three months later, on April 13, 1964.
然而，问题在于时机。在与摩城的艺人开发部门合作后，在斯莫基·罗宾逊创作的《the Way You Do the Things You Do》中施展了魔力，Temps乐队找到了他们的第一首热门歌曲。这意味着他们在三个月后的1964年4月13日发行了第一张专辑。
“First album, you never forget that. You’re set to really want to become a star and a recording artist. And so when the album came in, boy, you would've thought it was five Secretariats riding, ‘Da da dun, da, da, dun,’ running up there to get the album,” Williams says of himself and his fellow group members, all of whom he says were over 6-feet-tall in the mid-'60s. “And I got it, and I looked at it and I read every little credit nuance on the album.”
“第一张专辑，你永远不会忘记。你真的很想成为一个明星和一个唱片艺术家。所以当专辑出来的时候，天哪，你会以为是五个秘书处骑着马，‘哒哒哒，哒哒哒，哒哒哒’跑到那里去拿专辑，”威廉姆斯说他自己和他的团队成员，他说他们在60年代中期都超过6英尺高。“我得到了它，我看着它，我读了专辑上每一个小小的细微差别。”
