誘惑樂隊出道60歲:奧蒂斯·威廉姆斯從“No Hit Wonder”到摩城傳奇的旅程

Believing in your art takes patience. And in 1964, Otis Williams had plenty of that.
相信你的藝術需要耐心。1964年，奧蒂斯·威廉姆斯有很多這樣的經(jīng)歷。

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. 
在他傳奇的職業(yè)生涯中，這位摩城傳奇人物和誘惑樂隊唯一在世的創(chuàng)始成員已經(jīng)以82歲的高齡在歷史上贏得了一席之地，但他仍然記得1960年至1964年這支受人愛戴的樂隊還沒有登上公告牌排行榜的早期歲月。

“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，他們稱我們?yōu)?lsquo;無熱門奇跡’，因為我們發(fā)行了太多的作品，沒有一個真正引起轟動，”威廉姆斯告訴《人物》，現(xiàn)在距離誘惑樂隊1964年4月發(fā)行首張專輯Meet The Temptations已經(jīng)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.”
他補充道:“大多數(shù)公司只會給你錄音，如果你在第一首單曲中沒有做到這一點，他們就會放棄你。“如果他們在某種程度上愛你，他們會讓你做兩件事。但如果你沒有找到第二個人，他們就會像拋棄壞習慣一樣拋棄你。”

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，與其他廠牌老板不同的是，貝瑞·戈迪會告訴誘惑樂隊——以及其他掙扎中的樂隊——這不是音樂人的“錯”。“‘作為一家公司，作為制片人，作為編劇，我們必須做得更好，’”威廉姆斯回憶起戈迪的話。“他堅持這一點，他相信我們。我愛他，因為，就像我說的，大多數(shù)公司都會拋棄你，拋棄你。”

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. 
雖然很難相信，但在60年代初的一段時間里，誘惑樂隊根本無法在排行榜上獲得關注。這并不是他們緊張的舞臺表演，威廉姆斯說他們“為自己感到自豪”。也不是他們的歌聲。畢竟，這是一個由大衛(wèi)·魯芬、梅爾文·富蘭克林、埃迪·肯德里克和保羅·威廉姆斯以及奧蒂斯組成的經(jīng)典陣容組成的樂隊。

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，問題在于時機。在與摩城的藝人開發(fā)部門合作后，在斯莫基·羅賓遜創(chuàng)作的《the Way You Do the Things You Do》中施展了魔力，Temps樂隊找到了他們的第一首熱門歌曲。這意味著他們在三個月后的1964年4月13日發(fā)行了第一張專輯。

“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.”
“第一張專輯，你永遠不會忘記。你真的很想成為一個明星和一個唱片藝術家。所以當專輯出來的時候，天哪，你會以為是五個秘書處騎著馬，‘噠噠噠，噠噠噠，噠噠噠’跑到那里去拿專輯，”威廉姆斯說他自己和他的團隊成員，他說他們在60年代中期都超過6英尺高。“我得到了它，我看著它，我讀了專輯上每一個小小的細微差別。”