cover image Temptations

Temptations

Otis Williams. Putnam Publishing Group, $17.95 (240pp) ISBN 978-0-399-13313-8

With Romanowski, coauthor of Vanna Speaks , Williams, founder of the Temptations, a blues group that sang its way to the top of the charts in the 1960s, tells a vivid story of good times and bad: Motown's super group has been plagued by violent quarrels, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide. The Temptations have often been on the verge of falling apart, but Williams, according to the authors, has always been able to pull them together again, even to pick up the pieces of their troubled relationship with Motown founder Berry Gordy. Among other tidbits, the book provides illuminating insights into the famous ``Motown U,'' where singers were instructed in charm and deportment as well as musical skills. The group is still going strong, though membership has changed over the years, and Williams writes as a man who is proud of having kept it alive for so long. Photos not seen by PW. (September)