Carlton Stories - The Temptations
As a child I wanted to be a Temptation or a Four Top. The closest I’ve ever come is standing next to their stage suits but even that was a thrill for me!
I first saw the Temptations at the Apollo theatre in Harlem when i was years old and they were everything I’d ever thought they would be. Their costumes, their choreography, their harmonies and their charisma was simply amazing.
The Temptations and the Four Tops had performed their famous “battle” on the iconic TV performance “MOTOWN 25”. It went over so well with the people they took this act on the road and toured America with this show.
They arrived in New York at the Felt Forum and put on two amazing shows.
The Temptations and the Four Tops sang all of their classic songs that night at the Felt Forum and I thought they would never put on a better show…until I saw them at Radio City Music Hall during their famous reunion tour when David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks rejoined the group. They were touring in support of their big comeback hit record, “Standing On The Top” featuring Rick James.
They would have one more big hit record in the 80’s “Treat Her Like A Lady” and welcome yet another lead singer named Ali Ollie Woodson.
They went back out on the road with the Four Tops and arrived in New York at the Gershwin theatre on Broadway.
The Temptation and the Four Tops are still with us and still entertaining audiences all over the world.
By the way: To date there have been 25 Temptations and 9 Four Tops!
Carlton Jumel Smith is a real Soul Man, artist, writer, author and actor from New York. He attended as a young man to tons of great Soul Shows at the Apollo Theater and met many of the artists from the golden age. In 1998 he became the first man to portray James Brown in Barry Levinson’s feature length film “Liberty Heights”. In 2019 he released his first debut album “1634 Lexington Avenue” on Timmion Records.