The perfect disaster
The tragic Temptation’s 1969 solo debut should have sealed his reputation, says Geoff Brown.
David Ruffin
My Whole World Ended
ELEMENTAL/MOTOWN. CD
WHEN DAVID Ruffin’s formidably strong yet supple tenor exited The Temptations in 1968, his whole world didn’t exactly end, but neither did he flourish in the manner he, or many others outside Motown, expected. A rebellious soul who had a strong belief in his excellence as a singer, a belief borne out by almost all of the available recorded evidence, it nonetheless did not pay to upset the powers that be, and his reputation, deserved or not, as a man who was hard to work with is evident in the ups and downs of a solo career that spanned seven albums at Motown (1969-77), at least one shelved project and a duets LP with his older brother Jimmy. Two outstanding tracks crossed over into pop, both reaching Number 9 in the US. The first was this solo debut album’s title track, but only the second, 1976’s imperishable Walk Away From Love, connected in the UK, reaching Number 10 in the pop charts. Mississippian Ruffin, born in 1941, had moved to Detroit in the late ’50s, signed to the Anna label in 1960 as a solo singer but ended up joining The Temptations in 1963. For Ruffin, joining a group, playing on the team, learning routines and discipline, was not part of his DNA. Add to that mix the other strong characters in The Temptations – notably Otis Williams – and its other outstanding lead singers (Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams) and proven producers like Smokey Robinson, who early on leaned more towards Kendricks’s voice but set Ruffin free on My Girl, their first pop Number 1. After flourishing as lead singer in Norman Whitfield’s productions (Ain’t To Proud To Beg’s opening plea “I know you want to leave me” defined his style; Beauty’s Only Skin Deep; You’re My Everything; I Wish It Would Rain), solo deification seemed assured when after five years as a Temptation, My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me), the opener from his solo debut album, sailed into the US Top 10. The teams of Motown songwriters who worked on My Whole World Ended knew Ruffin well, which makes the tone of the material chosen by singer and producers striking and pertinent. With his personal life dogged by separation, departure, desertion and disruption, he thoroughly inhabits every story though a voice exceptionally well-suited to heartbreak. My Whole World… starts the album on the highest emotional note – his whole world ended when his woman left him, his desperation summed up by: “You just might as well have placed a gun to my head.” Flute and guitar distinguish the instrumental track. Replacing the missing Temps, The Originals’ backing vocals leave plenty of room for Ruffin to express as his tough personal journey continues: Pieces Of A Man (“with an invisible knife, you’ve cut me clean in two”); I’ve Lost Everything I’ve Ever Loved (his parents die in a fire on the 14th floor when he’s four, grandma dies, even his dog dies. Now his girl has cooled on him); in both Somebody Stole My Dream and The Double Cross his girl goes off to marry another (in the latter it’s his best friend). These are not lucky men and their tales are perfect for Ruffin’s ruptured-heart tenor. World Of Darkness is full of inventive production curlicues and girl group The Andantes are outstanding as Ruffin’s cosmos collapses: “Take away my sight, it’s no good to me/’Cos loneliness is my destiny,” he roars. Thankfully, not all of the dozen songs are quite so bleak. An early cover of Robert Knight’s 1967 soul hit Everlasting Love, plus I’ve Got To Find Myself A Brand New Baby, My Love Is Growing Stronger, and We’ll Have A Good Thing Going On all foresee a positive outcome, but in general the grittier the tale, the stronger Ruffin’s grip on the song. After My Whole World Ended, Ruffin recorded a less successful Feelin’ Good, but when a third album was shelved (eventually released in 2004 as David), his behaviour – drugs, fractious relationships with women, notably Tammi Terrell – and availability to work became markedly unreliable. After brief, hopeful interludes – two albums with Warners, a reunion with the Temps, a 1985 live album with Kendricks and fans Hall & Oates – David Ruffin’s