Fort Lauderdale Magazine: Dr. Otis Williams, what a pleasure to meet you.
Dr. Otis Williams: Oh, back at you.
FLMag: You’re not only a legend, but also the founding and sole surviving member of The Temptations. I grew up with your music, starting with “The Way You Do the Things You Do.”
Dr. Otis Williams: Yeah, that’s what started it.
FLMag: What age did you move from Texas to Detroit to pursue music?
Dr. Otis Williams: I moved to Detroit when I was about 10 or 11 years old.
FLMag: What led you to form The Temptations?
Dr. Otis Williams: I went to the Fox Theater, which is the second largest indoor theater in America, and I was impressed. Jumping around with five guys. I said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’
FLMag: You succeeded in doing it. What song would you say was significant to the evolution of your career?
Dr. Otis Williams: When we signed with Motown, I was 19 or 20 years old. So that’s when it started. We signed in 1961, and in 1964, we had our first big hit, “The Way You Do the Things You Do.” We had some releases before, but we really got on the road in 1964 with “The Way You Do the Things You Do.” So we are still rolling.
FLMag: Was “Cloud Nine,” before that, or after it? Because that was another one of my favorite songs.
Dr. Otis Williams: “Cloud Nine” came out in 1968.
FLMag: That was kind of a psychedelic song, wasn’t it?
Dr. Otis Williams: It was, yeah. We got the influence from Sly and the Family Stone.
FLMag: That was another good song. So what was your debut song on your first album? You know, it’s funny, “Meet The Temptations” and The Beatles had that same name for their first album “Meet The Beatles.” And in the same year: 1964.
Dr. Otis Williams: Yeah. I think, from what I was told, Motown did what was done for The Beatles, and so we came up later.
FLMag: My two favorite bands. Those were the good days.
Dr. Otis Williams: They were the good days, for sure.
FLMag: Detroit is known for the Big Three automakers: Ford, Chrysler and GM, but Motown put the city on the cultural map, and you were part of that. How did that make you feel to be The Temptations, defining its musical legacy?
Dr. Otis Williams: It’s nothing but a compliment all the way around. Moving to Detroit and being part of Motown Records, which has become such an [important part of] history, as far as music is concerned. I will tell people that Motown was God’s plan, because Detroit has always been known for the Big Three. Now you go to Detroit and see people standing outside of Motown, trying to go in and see where everything was done.
FLMag: Your vocals are legendary. But how did you synchronize your dance moves and your brilliant dress style? How did that set you apart from all the others?
Dr. Otis Williams: We just wanted to look nice every time we would go out. So Eddie Kendricks did the uniform theme. Paul was known for choreography, and Charlie Atkins would come along thereafter.
FLMag: How much time did you spend rehearsing to keep those routines flawless? They were so synchronized. It was amazing just listening to you, but watching was even more amazing.
Dr. Otis Williams: We had to rehearse every day, and we got it through a year perfecting [it with] a team of people. And then Paul Williams was at the beginning of the choreography. The late, great Charlie Atkins came along and really grew this when we went into the “Copacabana.” So we rehearsed. I mean, you can’t get that kind of precision.
FLMag: Well, that’s why all of you were in such great shape, tall and lean.
Dr. Otis Williams: We had no idea that all of us would be six foot and all slim, like basketball players.
FLMag: You were the same height?
Dr. Otis Williams: Yeah, Paul, Eddie, myself, David, we were all six foot. I had no idea. We just wanted to sing, all of us.
FLMag: Maybe that’s why you were all so synchronized. “My Girl” became a number one pop hit, selling over a million copies, over 1 billion streams on Spotify and earning platinum certification. How did that milestone feel at the time, given your young age?
Dr. Otis Williams: “My Girl” was our first million seller. So it was just a joyous occasion to be part of Motown. Motown was taking on a great kind of favor with the market, the general population, and then to get our first million selling single the next year, in 1965, and then to get great admiration from The Beatles, because they sent us a telegram congratulating us for being number one. So it’s just a lot of wonderful memories.
FLMag: I can imagine, but not many people back then were selling over a million copies of one pop hit, so that was special. Otis, let’s highlight some of the incredible accolades you’ve earned: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and recipient of the National Medal of Arts by President Biden. In 2022, you were the author of the best-selling memoir “Temptations,” which actually inspired the Broadway hit “Ain’t Too Proud.” So that’s another accomplishment you should be very proud of.
Dr. Otis Williams: I never had any inclination that my life story would pick on the kind of signs that it was taken off with. I have a big hit with “Ain’t Too Proud.” I mean, I’m still in shock, because coming from Texas to Detroit and [to get] all these wonderful accolades bestowed upon me and now to have, even before the Broadway play, the mini-series—I was told it was in the thousands of people that love that mini series—I’ve just been blessed with a whole lot of wonderful accolades. I give thanks to God, because being a little lucky boy from Texas, I never had any idea that I would have accomplished so much, [and am] still doing quite well, 60-plus years later.
FLMag: You guys kept the funk alive even today. In 2022, you kept the funk alive with your last album “When We Were Teens.” What drove you to that decision?
Dr. Otis Williams: I don’t know. I woke up one morning, and I always thank God for blessing me to wake up. And immediately after, I got this hymn of prayer, and it came to me about doing this song [from] when we were kids. So I called Michael Walter, a producer friend of mine. I said, ‘I got an idea. Man, no one has done it. Let’s do a song called ‘When We Were Teens,’ about the classic chapter,’ and that’s how that song came about. And now they did a great job of producing it. But it was just an epiphany.
FLMag: That was God’s wish for you.
Dr. Otis Williams: That’s true. I always say the same thing.
FLMag: When did you first realize that you were part of something bigger than music and that you were reshaping American culture?
Dr. Otis Williams: Yeah, you start wondering—we must be something fantastic. But with the clarity of looking back, I can see it in a whole other perspective, that 12 people were on stage, and Motown was no happenstance. God brought that little two-story Motown house during the 60s, which was one of the most tumultuous decades within the last 100 years. It housed all those talented people. That was an epiphany, the way it happened, and to be part of that was just really, really gratifying. We had no idea that we would be loved the world over for the music that came out of that little two-story family house.
FLMag: So that’s where Motown began, in a two-story house?
Dr. Otis Williams: Initially everybody came to sing and practice at home.
FLMag: Was that Barry Gordy’s house? Was that the house he owned?
Dr. Otis Williams: Well, initially he didn’t, but he bought that and got three others on West Grand Boulevard.
FLMag: You guys are in the center of the Motown era, so you opened the doors for so many artists that followed in your footsteps. Otis, you’re not just a witness to Motown history. You wrote it. And you’re still performing as the last surviving member.
Dr. Otis Williams: Yes, ma’am.
FLMag: Are you looking forward to playing in Fort Lauderdale?
Dr. Otis Williams: Oh, yeah, we’ve been playing in Fort Lauderdale for a number of years. Great times. So we have history coming through.
FLMag: What brings you peace today? The music you made, the people you’ve met or knowing your story lives on.
Dr. Otis Williams: I can’t just pick one, because when it all comes together, it’s wonderful. There are so many different emotions that have carried me through the Motown evolution. So I’m just thankful and bewildered.
FLMag: I wish you happiness, Otis, and many blessings.
Dr. Otis Williams: Thank you, Deb. Thank you very much.
FLMag: It was a pleasure speaking with you. And again, God bless you.
Dr. Otis Williams: Thank you. You too.
WHAT: The Temptations & The Four Tops – 40th Anniversary Tour
WHEN: March 29, 7pm
WHERE: Au-Rene Theater at The Broward Center for the Performing Arts
TICKETS: browardcenter.org
