There have been 22 replacement Tempts over the years, but Williams has been a constant throughout.
The following are edited excerpts of his conversation with AARP aboutMotown’s 60th anniversary.
On his long, amazing journey:
I was raised by two grandmothers.
Im originally from Texarkana, Texas.
I milked the cow, got the eggs and I picked some cotton.
But my grandmother would have me listen to nothing but gospel.
Mahalia Jackson, the Swan Silvertones, the Dixie Hummingbirds.
I was about 12, 13.
There have been so many highs.
We won Motowns first Grammy for Cloud Nine.
Now I have five.
Ed Sullivan if you went on one time and he didnt like you dont come back.
We were onThe Ed Sullivan Show13 times.
With the original Tempts, we broke all existing records at the Copacabana.
As a young man, I heard all about Nat King Cole and all the great heavyweights there.
When we came [to the Copa], they had police out in front.
Everybody was trying to get in.
We broke all existing records at the Apollo Theater [in Harlem].
Our star is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
You drop down and then rise up and spin.
David Ruffin was known for it, too.
As he was coming up and the mike was coming down, he would grab it.
The timing was so magnificent.
It was truly a showstopper.
The choreography has been our cornerstone ever since, and we still have to do it.
Were working on some for a song on our new album.
Im [nearly] 80 years old!
I have to warm up.
It is what it is were identified with our choreography.
It makes me get as much rest as I can.
On the enduring joys of taking the stage when Ladies and gentlemen, the Temptations!
still prompts a happy roar:
It hits you in the chest.
We can feel it before we go on.
Were getting love before we hit the stage.
Thats a powerful feeling.
When that doesnt happen anymore, we better find something else to do.
After 58 years, I still love it.
But the real key is, you have to get that rest.
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