The Temptations and the Four Tops Thrill at The Palace Theatre

The magic of Motown was in the house at the Palace Theatre in Stamford on April 24 as The Temptations and the Four Tops put on a clinic in real singing.

The two groups have toured together for decades and though the names and faces have changed over the years, they didn’t disappoint.

“I thought the show was absolutely awesome,” said Stamford resident Sean Minton.

“I enjoyed it,” said Bishop Eugene Collins of New Haven. “Everything was wonderful. They brought back a lot of loving memories of songs from back in the day.”

On this night, the Four Tops led things off, with Theo Peoples in the lead spot, doing all the original records justice. The late great Levi Stubbs would be proud. The night kicked off with “Baby, I Need Your Loving,” the Four Tops’ 1964 hit, which was also the group’s first Motown single.

Peoples introduced the group before going into “Bernadette.” The line-up includes Lawrence Payton Jr, son of original member Lawrence Payton. The group’s longest-serving member – due to the passing of the last original member, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, last year – is now Ronnie McNeir, who took Stubbs’ place in 1999. Rounding out the foursome is Michael Brock.

The Four Tops have always incorporated dancing as part of their repertoire, though they’re not known for their moves like the Temptations are. They’re more like the Rat Pack, but with more pep in their step. After opening with two up-tempo numbers, the Four Tops slowed it down a bit and reminisced about the old days, how every town used to have a thriving Main Street, and how money went further when taking a girl on a date.

“Try taking a girl to the movies with 50 dollars today and see what she says,” said Payton. “Take 50 dollars and she’ll think you’re cheap.”

The Four Tops went back into the hits with “Still Waters Run Deep,” a 1970 release that put the group back on the Billboard Top 40 album chart. Members waved their arms while singing, and the crowd followed suit. They then went into a lesser-known song, “Keeper of the Castle,” though one with a great message about a man’s responsibility and commitment to his family.

The Four Tops followed with Bobby Darin’s “Mack The Knife” and “Are You Man Enough,” a post-Motown 1973 hit that was featured in the film Shaft in Africa. After some comical banter with their musical director, he encouraged the crowd to prove the good time they were having by getting up and dancing. The Four Tops then launched into “When She Was My Girl,” a 1981 release that put them back on the Top 40 pop chart and #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart.

The group followed up with a trio of Tops’ classics, kicking off with “Aint No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got)” from their stools. When “Aint No Woman” ended, Payton jumped from his seat, saying, “It’s party time” and he and his vocal brothers did a medley of “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” and “Standing In The Shadows of Love.”

The crowd now whipped into a frenzy; it seemed all good things must come to an end. Peoples said, “Thank you so much” and group members seemed to be departing the stage. However, this is an old show business trick. There would be an encore.

“Can we do one more?” asked Peoples. The crowd went nuts, knowing they were about to get the Four Tops most famous song, and a great up-tempo one – “Sugar Pie (Honey Bunch).” The crowd sang along to every word and McNeir was cutting a rug on stage more than any of his group mates. At one point, he feigned like he was going to throw his suit jacket into the crowd. Payton, the last to leave the stage, after shaking hands with audience members, said, “Thank you very much. You could have been anywhere tonight, but you chose to be here with us and The Temptations.”

After a 20-minute intermission, it was time for the headliner, often referred to as “American Music Royalty.” Ask anyone to name Motown’s most famous acts, and The Temptations are right there at the top, along with The Supremes, Marvin Gaye and The Miracles.

The “Classic Five” line-up of The Temptations were all at least six feet tall, good looking and always dressed impeccably. They were more than a music group. When they hit the scene in the early 1960s, it was a time when African-Americans were still being subjected to signs that said “whites only” above water fountains; it was a time when Martin Luther King Jr. was still marching for civil rights; it was a time when concerts were often still segregated, delineated by a rope to separates blacks and whites. However, the R&B music of Motown, with its pop sensibility, likely played a role in the changing of racist laws on the books, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would officially de-segregate public spaces. At minimum, groups like The Temptations and The Supremes, helped boost the pride of young African-Americans in the 1960s with the sharp and elegant images they presented on stage. Motown’s acts, along with Muhammad Ali in boxing, and basketball star Lew Alcindor changing his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, are but a few examples of connecting dots that made African-Americans walk a little taller in the early to mid-60s in the face of blatant discrimination.

When it was time for The Temptations at the Palace Theatre, their band and horn section warmed the crowd up with a few instrumental versions of their well-known songs. When the guys came out, they did an up-tempo succession of hits, opening with “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” and following with “The Way You Do The Things You Do” and “Get Ready.” That alone was worth the price of admission, with Anthony Grant doing a fine job holding down the spot once held by David Ruffin, and his successor, Dennis Edwards. Ronald Tyson, who has been with the group since the early 1980s, did his thing filling the role once held by Eddie Kendricks, with his falsetto lead vocals.

The party continued on as The Temptations sang “Aint Too Proud To Beg,” a 1966 hit that reached #1 on the Billboard R&B chart and #13 on the pop chart. Belting out the song while doing all the dance steps and arm movements, the audience ate it up. Original member and Temptations founder Otis Williams, who recently celebrated his 83rd birthday, must be eating all the right things, because his energy level was a sight to behold.

“I can’t believe he can keep up with the younger guys in his group,” said one concert-goer after the show. “He still has the moves.”

“Ball of Confusion,” a 1970 hit single that touches on racism, war and the political times of the era, was the last song of the fast start before The Temptations slowed things down a bit.

Though a force throughout the night, Grant perhaps shined brightest on “I Wish It Would Rain,” a 1967 Temptations ballad written from the perspective of a man whose woman had just left him. Unlike the record, the performance featured a sudden musical pause. Simultaneously, the guys dropped down into a crouch, a second before a thunderstorm sound effect. When Grant resumed singing, beginning with the line, “My eyes search the skies, desperately for rain,” he seemed to take the song to another level, with more fervor than its start.

Tyson took over on “Just My Imagination,” which he pointed out was The Temptations first platinum record, although it was their third number one hit. Grant was back on lead when the group transitioned into “Can’t Get Next to You” and he was flapping his “wings,” or rather, his arms, when he sang the line, “I can fly like a bird in the sky…”

When Grant wasn’t dancing in unison with the others, he was showing off some subtle but smooth footwork whenever he’d step away from the group. After “Can’t Get Next To You” ended, the guys gathered near their stools. Williams was behind his stool, slumped over it.

“We just started,” said Tyson.

“I just got tired,” joked Williams.

Fellow member Terry Weeks then used his microphone like a wrench at the bottom of the stool, and with each turn,” Williams became more upright, and was back to a full standing position. Weeks then dabbed Williams’ face a few times with a hand towel. He was good as new.

Williams proceeded to share some Motown history and advised aspiring entertainers to “own your rights.”

“When Berry Gordy started Motown, he started out with 800 dollars,” he said. “That’s a small income to put into the company but when he sold it, oh my goodness, he got a lot for the recording company itself, but when he sold the publishing, let me say this, Berry will never have to work again…I say this for those that might aspire to get into show business, own your rights, because it will come back and quadruple.”

Williams also spoke of a handful of people that were impactful on the group, including vocal coach Maurice King, arranger and artist-development coach Johnny Allen, the late great Paul Williams, a member of the “Classic Five” who was wise to the need for choreography, and famed choreographers Lon Fontaine and Cholly Atkins.

“You had to be a very good mathematician to do Cholly Atkins’ choreography,” said Williams, who added that sometimes an all-day rehearsal would go beyond the expected ending time.

Williams also mentioned The Temptations latest CD, Temptations 60, and spoke of collaborating with Smokey Robinson on one track, titled, “Is It Gonna Be Yes or No.” Robinson wrote the song for The Temptations and also contributed his vocals to it. The crowd laughed as Williams imitated Robinson’s soft voice in relaying a dialogue the two had as they worked on the tune.

“I want to make sure it’s just right so it will move the ladies,” said Williams, doing his best Smokey voice.

Although Tyson is the naturally higher voice in the group, Grant did Smokey’s part as The Temptations performed it for the Stamford crowd, showing there’s no end to his overall skills.

If the ladies weren’t already pleased by that tune, they were overjoyed when The Temptations went into “Treat Her Like A Lady,” a later career hit for legendary group that was part of the 1984 album Truly For You.

At one point, the group seamlessly segued into “Aint No Stopping Us Now” before reverting back to “Treat Her Like a Lady.”

Last but certainly not least, the group would close with their most popular song, “My Girl,” the Temptations’ first ever number one single. Bass singer Jawan Jackson, who previously starred in The Temptations’ musical, “Aint Too Proud,” and became an official member of the group in 2022, asked the crowd, “Do you mind if we keep this party going in here?” Jackson added that “My Girl” is the “Temptations’ National Anthem.”

The crowd was on its collective feet once Grant began the classic cut.

“I know everyone knows the words,” said Grant, “But I want to hear you sing it.” He pointed the microphone toward the crowd for the second chorus.

A few minutes later, if things couldn’t get any better, Grant invited three people up on stage to sing the first verse of the song. Audience members made their way to the stage. Two ladies and a man were chosen. The male volunteer, who EarlyRnB.com caught up with later, was the consensus best singer of the bunch.

A performer from West Haven, CT, Alex Pericas said he initially hesitated to walk to the stage, but was prodded by a relative.

“I’m kind of a shy person,” he said. “But I sing at restaurants and senior homes [in New Haven County] and “My Girl” is one of the most requested songs that I do.”

How was it singing up there with The Temptations by his side?

“It was very enjoyable,” he said. At one point, while waiting to sing, he turned to his right and saw Williams.

“I shook his hand, and I said, ‘Man, it’s a real pleasure to meet you.’”

Before it was Pericas’ turn to sing, he tried to calm down, not only from the excitement of it all, but also “I’m in my 70s.”

“By the time I ran down that aisle and up to the stage I was kind of out of breath to begin with,” he said. “I was just trying to relax, cause I wanted to do my best.”

Pericas said he didn’t realize the gravity of the once-in-a-lifetime moment until after it was over.

“I felt it more after it was done,” he said. “I got in the car, and I said to the people I was with, I can’t believe I just did that, sang up there with The Temptations.”

Before he left however, he received acknowledgement he did a fine job, even though he sang “My Girl” in a higher key than he normally would.

“The most exciting part of the whole deal was when we were leaving the theater,” said Pericas. “We walk out and I’m hearing my name being called. People are coming up to me shaking my hand, congratulations, saying, ‘You were great.’ I mean I felt like star, a celebrity.”

A singer himself, Pericas knows a top-notch singer when he hears one, and added that Grant was the icing on the cake on a night that featured quality vocalists.

“That show to me was one of the best I’ve ever seen,” he said, “Especially the lead singer, he sang with such soul and such a strong voice that it really spoke to me. I just didn’t expect the level of show that they put on. I was really, really thrilled with it.”

EarlyRnB.com would like to thank everyone who had a hand in helping us cover this wonderful concert, including Stamford Palace Theatre President and CEO Michael E. Moran, Jr.; Lenore Heller, Director of Patron Services; Yency Molina, Assistant Box Officer Manager; as well as The Temptations’ manager Shelly Berger; Jay Schwartz, head of public relations for The Temptations; and Derrick Porter, Tour Manager for The Temptations. 

 

 

 

Words by Kirk Lang

Concert photos by Kirk Lang and Marlene Centeno-Lang

Questions/Comments: earlyrnb@gmail.com