David Eli Ruffin (born Davis Eli Ruffin;[1] January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991) was an American soul singer most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations (1964–1968) during the group's "Classic Five" period as it was later known. Ruffin was the lead voice on such famous songs as "My Girl" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg". He later scored two top 10 singles as a solo artist, "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)" and "Walk Away from Love".
Known for his unique raspy and anguished tenor vocals, Ruffin was ranked as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2008[2] and again in 2023.[3] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 for his work with the Temptations.[4] Fellow Motown recording artist Marvin Gaye once said admiringly of Ruffin that, "I heard [in his voice] a strength my own voice lacked.
After moving to Detroit with the Bushes, Ruffin recorded his first
released record with the songs "You and I" (1958) b/w "Believe Me"
(1958). These songs were recorded at Vega Records and released under the
name "Little David Bush", using the last name of his guardian. Ruffin
would later recall how he initially recorded "a different kind of
music", strongly influenced by the smoother pop and R&B of the time,
when he first recorded in Detroit for Vega.[10]
In 1957, Ruffin met Berry Gordy Jr., then a songwriter with ambitions of running his own label.[6] Ruffin lived with Gordy's father, a contractor, and helped "Pops" Gordy do construction work on the building that would become Hitsville USA, the headquarters for Gordy's Tamla Records (later Motown Records) label.[6][10] Jimmy Ruffin would eventually be signed to Tamla's Miracle Records label as an artist.
Ruffin also worked alongside another ambitious singer, Marvin Gaye, as an apprentice at Anna Records, a Chess-distributed label run by Gordy's sister Gwen Gordy Fuqua and his songwriting partner Billy Davis.[6][10]
Asked about Ruffin in the Detroit Free Press
in 1988, Gordy Fuqua said: "He was very much a gentleman, yes ma'am and
no ma'am, but the thing that really impressed me about David was that
he was one of the only artists I've seen who rehearsed like he was on
stage".[7] According to Ruffin, both he and Gaye would pack records for Anna Records.[citation needed]
Ruffin created music as both the vocalist and drummer in the Voice Masters, a doo-wop style combo[11]
and eventually started recording at Anna Records, where he recorded the
song "I'm in Love" b/w "One of These Days" (1961), with the Voice
Masters, a group which included future Motown producer, Lamont Dozier. Other group members included members of The Originals:
Ty Hunter, CP Spencer, Hank Dixon and (Voice Masters and The Originals
founder) Walter Gaines. (At one time, The Voice Masters also included
another future Temptations member, Melvin Franklin, one of numerous people David would claim as a cousin).[6] Ruffin did sign to Anna Records as a solo artist, but his work in that time was unsuccessful.[11]
Ruffin eventually met an up-and-coming local group by the name of the Temptations. His older brother, Jimmy, went on a Motortown Revue tour with the Temptations, and he told David that they needed someone to sing tenor in their group. Ruffin shared his interest in joining the group with Otis Williams, who also lived in Detroit.
In January 1964, Ruffin became a member of the Temptations after
founding member Elbridge "Al" Bryant was fired from the group. Ruffin's
first recording session with the group was January 9, 1964. Ruffin and
his brother both auditioned to join the group, but they ultimately chose
David after he performed with them on stage during the label's New
Year's Eve party in 1963.
After joining the Temptations, the bespectacled Ruffin initially sang backgrounds while the role of lead singer mostly alternated between Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams.
Ruffin did sing a few lead parts, both on stage and in the studio,
during his first year with the group, but his leads on these studio
tracks would not be released for over a year, as they were not
considered good enough to showcase his vocals. However, Smokey Robinson, who produced and co-wrote
most of the Temptations' material at this point, saw Ruffin during this
period as a "sleeping giant" in the group with a unique voice that was
"mellow" yet "gruff".[13] Robinson thought that if he could write just the 'perfect song' for Ruffin's voice, then he could have a smash hit.[13] The song was to be something that Ruffin could "belt out" yet something that was also "melodic and sweet".[13] When Robinson achieved his goal, the song, "My Girl",
was recorded in November 1964 and released a month later. It became the
group's first number-one single in 1965. "My Girl" subsequently became
the Temptations' signature song, and elevated Ruffin to the role of lead
singer and frontman.
The follow-ups to "My Girl" were also extremely successful singles, and included the Ruffin-led hits "It's Growing" (1965), "Since I Lost My Baby" (1965), "My Baby" (1965), "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (1966), "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" (1966), "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (1966), "All I Need" (1967), "(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need" (1967), "I Wish It Would Rain" (1967), and "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)" (1968). Ruffin also shared lead vocals on the 1967 hit single "You're My Everything"
with Eddie Kendricks. Standing at 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), Ruffin's
passionate and dramatic performances endeared him to the Temptations'
audiences and fans. According to Otis Williams,
Ruffin (playfully nicknamed "Ruff" by the group) was a natural comedian
and a hard-working singer when he first joined the group.
Ruffin's most notable non-vocal contribution to the Temptations
was the masterminding of their trademark four-headed microphone stand.[14]
This enabled the other members to sing and do their dances without
having to crowd around one microphone while the lead singer would sing
into a separate microphone.
However, by 1967, difficulties with Ruffin became an issue for the group. He became addicted to cocaine and began missing rehearsals and performances.[15] Refusing to travel with the other Temptations, Ruffin and his then-girlfriend, Tammi Terrell, traveled in a custom limo (with the image of his trademark black rimmed glasses painted on the door).[16] After the Supremes had their name changed to Diana Ross & the Supremes in early 1967, Ruffin felt that he should become the focal point of the Temptations, just as Diana Ross was for her group, and began demanding that the group name be changed to David Ruffin & the Temptations.[15] This led to a number of disagreements between Ruffin and the group's de facto leader, Otis Williams.[15]
In addition to the group's problems with Ruffin's ego, he began
inquiring into the Temptations' financial records, demanding an
accounting of the group's money.[17] This caused friction between Ruffin and Gordy.[17][18]
In June 1968, the Temptations agreed that Ruffin had finally crossed the line when he missed a June 22 Cleveland, Ohio, date with the Temptations in order to attend a performance by his new girlfriend, Barbara Gail Martin (Dean Martin's daughter).[19] Ruffin was fired five days later and was replaced with Dennis Edwards, a former member of the Contours, who had been a friend of Ruffin and the group as a whole beforehand.[19]
Though Ruffin himself personally encouraged Edwards to take his place,
Ruffin began turning up unannounced at Temptations concerts during
Edwards' first few dates with the group.[19]
When the group started to perform a Ruffin-era song such as "My Girl"
or "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", Ruffin would suddenly walk on to the stage,
take the microphone from Edwards' hands, and steal the show,
embarrassing the group but entertaining the fans.[19]
According to Edwards, the adulation and Ruffin's pleas convinced the
other four Temptations to give Ruffin a second chance, but when he
arrived late to what was to be his return show with the group in Gaithersburg, Maryland, the Temptations decided to keep Edwards and drop considerations of rehiring Ruffin.[20][21] However, Otis Williams has always maintained that Ruffin's firing was permanent, and he was never considered for rehiring.[citation needed]
In October 1968, Ruffin filed suit against Motown Records, seeking a release from the label and an accounting of his money.[17] Motown counter-sued to keep the singer from leaving the label and eventually the case was settled.[17]
The settlement required Ruffin to remain with Motown to finish out his
initial contract (Ruffin joined Motown as a solo artist and always had a
separate contract from the other Temptations, which some felt caused a
lot of the in-fighting within the group)
Ruffin's first solo single was a song originally intended for the Temptations, "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)". The single (from the album also titled My Whole World Ended) was released in 1969 and reached the US Pop and R&B Top Ten. This was followed by the 1969 album Feelin' Good. A third album, titled David, was recorded in 1970–71, but was shelved by Motown and did not see commercial release until 2004.[22]
In 1970, Ruffin recorded an album with his brother Jimmy, I Am My Brother's Keeper,
for which they had minor hits with "When My Love Hand (Comes Tumbling
Down)" and "Your Love Was Worth Waiting For". Ruffin's next official
release for Motown did not arrive until 1973 when David Ruffin
was released. While his solo career initially showed promise, Ruffin
quickly declined as a performer due to his cocaine addiction, and Motown
only giving him the bare minimum of support when it became clear that
he was not nearly as popular without the Temptations behind him.
Ruffin's final top ten hit was "Walk Away from Love" in 1975, produced by Van McCoy, which reached number nine on the Pop Charts. It was also Ruffin's only entry into the UK Charts
(as a solo artist), and was a hit there as well, making it into the Top
Ten (peaking at number 10) in early 1976. The single sold over one
million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in February 1976.[23]
Other notable recordings from Ruffin's solo career include "I Lost Everything I've Ever Loved" (1969); the gospel-inflected "I'm So Glad I Fell For You" (1970); "Blood Donors Needed (Give All You Can)" (1973); "Common Man" (1973) (which was sampled on the 2001 Jay-Z song "Never Change"); "No Matter Where" (1974); "Who I Am" (1975); "Statue of a Fool" (1975); and cover versions of the Jackson Five's "I Want You Back", "Rainy Night in Georgia" (popularized by Brook Benton)—both recorded for the shelved 1970 album; and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' "I Miss You" (1973), featuring Eddie Kendricks (later Kendrick).
After leaving Motown in 1977, Ruffin recorded for Warner Bros. Records, releasing the albums So Soon We Change (1979) and Gentleman Ruffin (1980). He then signed with RCA Records
and formed a duo with fellow Temptation Eddie Kendricks, who had
recently departed from the group under his own set of difficulties,
including the weakening power of his voice after years of chain-smoking.
In 1982, Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks re-joined the Temptations for the recording of their album Reunion and a tour to promote the album, which included the R&B hit, "Standing on the Top", that the group recorded with Rick James.
However, the reunion tour was short-lived since Ruffin repeatedly
failed to show up for concerts while using cocaine, leading the group to
be fined thousands of dollars. Otis Williams fired Ruffin from the
group for the second and final time by Christmas 1982.[25]
Ruffin started touring with Kendricks (who dropped the "s" from
his last name at this time) as a duo act in 1985 when he was also
dismissed for his poor singing. That year, longtime Temptations fans Hall & Oates teamed up with Ruffin and Kendrick to perform at the re-opening of the Apollo Theater
in New York. Their performance was released as a successful live album
and single. The four singers also sang a medley of Temptations hits at Live Aid on July 13, 1985. In 1985, a live medley of "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "My Girl" was released by Hall & Oates featuring Ruffin and Kendrick. It reached number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 12 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and number 40 on the R&B chart.[26][27] The single earned Ruffin his first and only Grammy nomination.[28] John Oates later wrote a minor hit single for Ruffin and Kendrick, but the two duos fell out, allegedly due to Daryl Hall's objections to Ruffin's heavy drug use.
After being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Temptations in 1989,[4]
Ruffin, Kendrick and Dennis Edwards began touring and recording as
"Ruffin/Kendrick/Edwards: Former Leads of The Temptations". In 1991,
they completed a successful month-long tour of England which grossed
nearly $300,000.[29] At the time of his death, they were planning a European tour.[29] Ruffin's final recording in his lifetime was "Hurt the One You Love", which was released as a solo record for Motorcity Records.
After completing a successful month-long tour of England with Kendricks and Edwards, Ruffin died on June 1, 1991, from an accidental overdose of crack cocaine; he was 50 years old.[49] Ruffin had reportedly collapsed at a West Philadelphia crack house, where he had gone with his friend Donald Brown, according to authorities.[29][38] Brown then drove Ruffin to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania,
where he was declared dead at 3:55 a.m. that morning from "an adverse
reaction to drugs (cocaine)" after emergency room personnel spent almost
an hour attempting to revive him.[50][51] The Associated Press reported that Ruffin and a man named William Nowell split ten vials of crack cocaine inside of Nowell's West Philadelphia home hours before he died.[39] Although the cause of death was ruled an accident, Ruffin's family and friends suspected foul play, claiming that a money belt containing $40,000 was missing from his body.[29][50][52] However, Ruffin's girlfriend at the time, Diane Showers, was not surprised when she was informed of his death.[29] Showers stated: "When David had a lot of money, he would be able to do things that he wanted to do."[53]
In The Temptations
television miniseries, Ruffin's beaten body is depicted as being dumped
in the street in front of a hospital where he dies. It was also stated
in the miniseries that Ruffin's body remained unclaimed in a morgue for a
week after his death. As a result, Ruffin's estate filed suit against NBC and other major players involved in the making of the series, claiming defamation.
According to the plaintiffs in the case, Ruffin was actually taken to
the hospital by a limousine and was escorted to the waiting area by his
driver, who informed the attendants of his identity. Ruffin's children
further stated that his body was claimed by one of them within a few
days of his death. Ruffin's estate lost the lawsuit, and the ruling
against it was upheld on appeal.[54]
Ruffin's funeral was held at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit. Surviving members of the Temptations sang "My Girl". Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin also sang at the funeral.[55][56] Michael Jackson volunteered to pay for the funeral expenses, but did not attend the service.[57] Jackson, Rod Stewart, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Diana Ross, the Spinners, and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas sent floral arrangements.[56][58]
Ruffin is buried in section three at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit.
