Dennis Edwards knows music. That’s because he began singing in his father’s church at age 2, then joined the group The Contours. After that, he replaced a lead singer named David Ruffin and began a career with one of Motown’s most memorable R&B groups, The Temptations. Be There caught up by phone with Edwards, who performs in East Chicago on Saturday with his most recent venture, The Knew Temptations.
Q. What have you been up to lately?
A. We’ve been touring Europe. It has been very dramatic the last few years, with Eddie Kendricks gone and David Ruffin gone and Melvin Franklin. I was really, really low, after all the deaths, as anybody would be. Then I looked and I said, “Hey, there’s no sense in me sitting down.” And people kept calling for concerts. They wanted to hear the good music again. So I am sort of regrouping.
Q. Do you talk to original Temptation Otis Willliams?
A. Yeah. I talk to Otis. We recently met in Philadelphia. I don’t want to get into that too much, we – my lawyers and my manager – we currently are in litigation with him. I hadn’t seen him in a while, and I went up to him and I know we’ve been in court, but I just told him, “I love you” and I hugged him. I said, “Regardless of what our problems are, we were together for 30 years and everybody’s gone but me and you and I love you.”
Q. Can you sing some of “Papa Was A Rolling Stone?”
A. It was the third of September …. (rhythm) …. a day that I’ll always remember …. (rhythm) …. that was the day that my daddy died.
Dennis Edwards and The Knew Temptations will perform at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Jazz & R&B Music Festival at Block Stadium, 144th & Parish streets in East Chicago, Ind. Tickets ($15 in advance, $20 at door) can be purchased at the stadium or through Ticketmaster, 312-559-1212. For information, call 219-391-8474.
