Jessie Spencer's Blogspot: Motown Scandals

The original 1967 version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," was the first song recorded by the greatest duo of all-time, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. According to Marvin Gaye, Terrell was nervous and intimidated during the recording session because she hadn't rehearsed the lyrics. During her first verse, she looked at the lyrics, almost missing her cue, then she blurted out, "no matter where you are," but eventually she followed Gaye's lead and became comfortable.

Due to the abuse she suffered in her personal life, Terrell began to drink heavy. Motown's Artist Development division stepped in quickly and erased the problem.

The night she collapsed in Gaye's arms onstage, earlier that day, she said she wasn't feeling well. She stayed in her dressing room, laying her head on a table with the light out. She told the promoter, after some rest, she would be okay, she just had a severe headache (brain tumor).

After Diana Ross left the Supremes in 1970, Tammy was being considered to replace her but due to her illness and her preference to remain a solo artist, Motown abandoned the idea.

A former Motown employee wrote a critical portrait of Tammi in a little known book. Before the book could reach a mainstream audience, Motown stepped in and purchased the rights. They eventually canned the book.

Despite their volatile relationship, Tammi was the love of David Ruffin's life. This doesn't sit too well with Ruffin's white "common-law," wife. She bashed Tammi in a memoir on Ruffin.

After Tammi died, despite Marvin Gaye being married to Anna Gordy, he told close friends and confidant's that Tammi's memory inspired his classic 1971 album, "What's Going On." He credited her with being the sole inspiration for this masterpiece.

She had an effect on everyone she met or came in contact with.

Despite the constant rumors of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell having a relationship. The rumor is false. They were never involved. They had a brother-sister type of relationship.

(TAMMI TERRELL & JAMES BROWN'S ABUSIVE ROMANCE)

According to Tammi Terrell's sister Ludie, during one weekend, "Our mother received a distressing telephone call. Mother was horrified to learn that a 17-year-old Tammi had encountered some trouble on the road and was coming home. James Brown had beaten her mercilessly and Tammi wanted out."

Singer Gene Chandler was also on the tour and said Tammi was in a tumultuous relationship with James Brown. He adds, "I witnessed the situation and she came to me for help, then I called her parents."

Ludie adds, "My father was especially hurt because he knew James and he trusted him with Tammi since she was only 17 and he was 30."

"When Tammi returned home she looked disheveled, tired and just worn out. I learned that night that she had been trying to get away for some time but was worried about breach of contract repercussions."

"While mother and I were unpacking Tammi's things in the basement my mother discovered a blue, silk oriental dress. It was called a Kimono and James had bought it for Tammi. This dress had particular significance! There was blood all over it. We learned that Tammi's abuse was extensive and that this tragic incident involved an umbrella with horrific results.

Raynoma Gordy Singleton reveals in her book, "Berry, Me and Motown."

In 1959, Raynoma was Berry Gordy's girlfriend, pictured above. She was also a Motown songwriter, background singer, arranger and producer and she helped start Motown records.

Books credit her with convincing Gordy to open up a publishing company so they could publish their songs. Gordy selected the name "Jobete," for the publishing company.

In January of 1959, Raynoma went downtown (Detroit) to establish their publishing partnership.

About a week later, Raynoma was shocked when Berry asked her to go back downtown to change the paperwork, he wanted everything in his name, only.

She was stunned, she tried to respond but no words came out. Reluctantly, she did as she was told. This move caused her to miss out on untold millions over the years

On their wedding night, Raynoma prepared for her honeymoon by soaking in a luxurious long hot bath. After she finished bathing, she waited for Berry in the bedroom. Instead, Berry entered the bedroom, walked right past her on the bed, ignoring her.

Berry changed into a expensive suit. She asked him, "You're not going out, are you? He replied, "Yes, I am."

She said, we just got married, this is our wedding night. He said, "So? What's the big deal?" and proceeded to leave.

Later, she found out that he had spent their wedding night with a mistress.

According to Raynoma, Barrett Strong's sister informed her that the mistress was a girl named Margaret who worked in the "Hitsville," office. Raynoma claims, she started receiving hundreds of calls from Margaret bragging about her affair with her husband and Margaret also informed her that she was pregnant with Berry's child. Raynoma adds, Margaret even started referring to herself as Mrs. Gordy.

One evening, Smokey Robinson's then wife Claudette called Raynoma and invited her to go bowling. Like Raynoma, Claudette couldn't stand Margaret either.

When they entered the bowling alley, they see Berry, Smokey and Margaret. Raynoma storms over to Margaret and says, "Listen bitch, what are you doing here with my husband?" Margaret became nervous when she sees the gleam of the pearl-handled .25 in Raynoma's pocket. Raynoma told her, "Get up now bitch, and walk out. Make one whimper and I'm going to blow you away."

They walked outside. Raynoma planned to bash the handle of her gun into Margaret's face, she raised her hand to strike but a pair of strong arms locked around her from behind. It was Smokey. I screamed "let me go," as Margaret ran down the street for her life. Meanwhile, Berry glared at me from a distance.

Shortly after this incident, Berry and Raynoma divorced.

Source: "Berry, Me and Motown," by Raynoma Gordy Singleton

According to Rick James:

I became close with singer Jimmy Ruffin. Jimmy was the brother of the late David Ruffin (original lead singer of the Temptations), with whom I had a strong friendship with in later years.

Jimmy had a huge success with a record called "Broken Hearted." He was originally approached about being the lead singer of the Temptations but he rejected the offer and turned his brother David onto the gig.

When I was staying at the Lee Plaza, I met this cute white girl from Toronto. We became very intimate. She stayed at the Lee Plaza with another girl, who was seeing Jimmy at the time. The four of us became best of friends. Jimmy was married at the time with kids, so his affair was very discreet.

One day, Jimmy told me his girl wanted to go work for him and he asked me, how would I like it if my girl worked too. That way, we could pimp them together.

Well, I knew nothing about pimping and I don't think Jimmy did either. We took the girls to Canada where they worked. We made good money, but I thought the whole experience was too inhumane for me. I had feelings for her, and the idea of her selling her body was not what I wanted.

Near the end of my short stint as a pimp, I had three or four women working for me, and it was strenuous. Pimping is a 24/7 job, and in my mind I was going to be a big star and make more money than all these women put together.

I put an end to the experience quick and vowed never to pimp again.

After this pimping episode, I cut Jimmy loose and hardly ever saw him again. I think he knew that the lifestyle wasn't for me.

According to author Tony Turner: The minute that Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin got back together again as "former lead singers of the Temptations," their stars began to rise and their pockets began to fill. This reunion was hot news. But, promoters chastened by past experiences with David Ruffin where scared to touch them.

But, before you knew it, Ruffin and Kendricks were headlining and Mary Wilson and her Supremes were the opening act.

Shortly after we arrived at the airport, a shiny black super-stretch limo arrived. The limo, it turned out, had been supplied for David and Eddie since they were the stars of the tour.

Next minute up crawled an old, rickety yellow school bus for Mary and her Supremes. Luckily for Mary, Eddie and David were having none of that. They cursed out the promoter's representative and, like gentlemen, invited the Supremes for a ride in their limo.

Mary's ego was especially crushed because she felt that her level of stardom had always exceeded Eddie and David. Earlier, when we were waiting for the baggage, a disgusted Mary said, "A Supreme should never be kept waiting."

Confusion progressed as the tour went on. We almost packed up and went home after the first show because the promoter didn't have enough money to pay us. But Mary thought the guy was cute and since this was his first time acting as a promoter, we should give him a chance to make up the money in the other cities on tour.

I didn't understand her approach because I know she really needed the money now and David and Eddie were threatening to walk out until I told them, give the promoter a chance to make the money with the next show. Like a gentleman, David said, "F**k it, if Mary wants to do it, we'll all do it. We all have to stick together but if he doesn't pay for the next show, we'll all cut his balls off.

Source: "Deliver Us From Temptation," by: Tony Turner

According to Tammi Terrell's sister (Ludie), James Brown enticed the impressionable 17-year-old Tammi with lavish gifts and luxuries when she toured with the James Brown Review.

When Tammi's mother and sister visited her in New York. Her suite was beautiful and spacious with a sitting area and bedroom. The space was adorned with an array of flowers that complimented the colors of the decor.

James Brown spoiled Tammi. He even had cosmetologists who took care of all Tammi's needs. She had professional hair weaves, daily facials, manicures and pedicures.

James also bought her many presents which included furs, jewelry and gorgeous ensembles; the next outfit was more beautiful than the last.

Tammi took us shopping and bought us expensive gifts at Saks Fifth Avenue. When we returned, we entered Tammi's room, we saw that James Brown was sleeping in Tammi's bed. He woke up abruptly, greeted us politely and left. Mother seemed awfully worried and confused but Brown's assistant-Gertie assured her that she kept a watchful eye out for Tammi on the road.

A short while later, the brutal beatings started.

Marvin Gaye would become Tammi Terrell's most trusted friend, play big brother and confidant later in life-when she signed with Motown. After her death, allegedly, Gaye never forgot Brown's rumored treatment of Terrell. When he encountered Brown at industry events, he was civil but distant.

Tony Turner (David Ruffin's godson) reveals in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation." When Eddie Kendricks left the Temptations, Paul Williams (above, 2nd from left) completely lost his balance and couldn't even fake it on stage any more. Richard Street was brought in as his replacement and Paul, still under contract, was kept on salary by Motown as a "consultant" to the Tempts.

One day in August 1973, Paul came home from work to find his girlfriend, Winnie, partying with friends. Upset, he promptly left again. He was found some time later, dead with a bullet in his brain. The verdict was suicide. Everybody agreed that Paul had plenty of reasons to kill himself-he owed $80,000 in back taxes, his family life was in ruins, a boutique he had opened with Winnie had failed, he'd drunk himself out of the Temptations, and now considered himself a prisoner of Motown. But hardly anyone believed Paul had killed himself.

Eddie Kendricks had his doubts. He had seen Paul just a couple of days earlier and found him in a positive mood. Besides, as David Ruffin said, why would anyone get into his car with only his underwear on, drive to within a few blocks of Motown and using his right hand, shoot himself in the left side of his head? It didn't make sense.

Whatever the reason for Paul's death, it terrified Eddie. As the years went by, Eddie became increasingly self-controlled and cautious, carefully picking and choosing who he would allow in his life.

Paul's fate also made Eddie even more wary of Motown, despite the fact that his solo career was going well. Eddie thought he was going to be the male Diana Ross but nobody could be because Gordy wouldn't let them. And nobody was given the kind of star treatment or attention she got either, which Eddie resented.

Once, Eddie and Gordy were in an elevator together and Gordy allegedly told Eddie, "You know, your career would go much further if you would be like Diana and just do what you're told. "Well, I'm not Diana," Eddie replied. From that point on, according to Eddie, it was as if he didn't exist at Motown. According to Eddie, he wanted out of Motown despite his solo success and offered to buy his way out but Motown wanted him to sign an agreement relinquishing all future royalties. Eddie said, things got so bad, Motown had him in a hospital seeing psychiatrists. Eventually, Eddie signed the agreement according to Turner.

Rick James and his female friend Kelly did everything together, they were partners in crime. A friend of Rick's named Bill and his friend Donny were smuggling a bunch of drugs for a lot of money.

Since Rick was having a money flow problem at the time, he decided to do the same. Rick and Kelly flew to India. He met a druggist who supplied him with cocaine. Rick and Kelly tested it and spent the next few days snorting cocaine, smoking weed and having sex.

Rick decided to smuggle the cocaine back to New York in his boots. While Kelly distracted the customs guard at the airport, he was able to get through customs.

According to Rick, "When I got to New York, I ran into Stevie Wonder's brother Calvin. He had just come down from the South where Stevie had a bad car accident. Calvin pulled him out of a burning car in the nick of time. He was shook up so I gave him a bunch of coke to calm him down and we talked about old times."

Source: "Memoirs Of A Super Freak," by Rick James

(PATTI LABELLE & TAMMI TERRELL FRIENDSHIP)

One year, Tammi Terrell toured with Patti LaBelle & The Blue Bells. Tammi often hung out with Patti, Cindy, Nona and our girl Sarah Dash (special shout-out).

One afternoon, the girls were sitting at the table looking sad and gloomy. Cindy Birdsong's cheeks were tear stained because her mother had passed away but the management would not let her out of her contract to attend her mother's funeral.

According to LaBelle, "We all just sat there in disbelief." "The lesson of this day stayed with me forever about the cruelties of show business. My heart wept with her."

Patti LaBelle recalls those times spent with Tammi. "Tammi and I were buddies. We were so young back then, so young. I remember what a beautiful girl she was, pretty as can be. She had a beautiful spirit and was so fun loving and just loved life. Tammi was always making everyone laugh and feel good."

"Tammi was also bold, vivacious and daring on stage. Her voice was beautiful and nobody could sing like Tammi, nobody. She was free on stage, not stiff. She was a natural and unafraid. You felt her and her words hit your emotions when she sung."

"She was one of the purest souls I ever knew and one of the most generous people in this business. She held others in high regard. Tammi was a honest person in this business and it came through in everything she did.

The friendship that begun that summer with Tammi meant so much to us (Myself, Cindy, Nona and Sarah).

Tony Turner makes the following allegations in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

"During an Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin performance, almost right smack in the middle, an older woman barged up to me and demanded, "I must speak to Eddie Kendricks at once," to which I replied, "Miss, can't you see Eddie is still on stage." The woman threw back her shoulders haughtily. "I must be taken backstage. Immediately."

"She was in the company of another female, somewhat quieter but just as old. They were both dolled up with tons of blatantly synthetic hair weaved on in the wrong way, and the uppity one had taken it upon herself not to be just an Eddie Kendricks groupie but Eddie Kendricks sister." "I stared at her and knew decisively that this crass and vulgar woman was probably no sister to anybody, and especially not to Eddie Kendricks."

"I won't be kept waiting!" she screamed. "You will be sorry. Do you understand who I am? Smiling, I replied, "I'm trying." She made an attempt to force her way through security while lunging at me, all the while swearing that she was going to get backstage, no matter what I said." "Fine, I told her. "But let me tell you something. You're going to wait here until we say you can go up, if and when. "I'll have your job for this, she screamed."

"After many vulgar displays of screaming and pushing, the women finally did get into Eddie and David's dressing room. How, I never found out." The uppity one approached Eddie and said, "Eddie, I don't know who this motherfucking boy is who you have working for you but you need to fire him because I'm sick of his shit and I want you, Eddie Kendricks, to fire him."

"Eddie, very elegantly tall and trim, just turned to her and said, "Who are you talking about?" "The one over there, she said, pointing at me. I was talking to David at the time."

"A few hours later, back at the hotel, I had an urgent call from Eddie. "Tony, he whispered, "would you please come up here and throw these women out of my room."

"Excusing myself from the crowd in David's suite, I immediately changed into my throwing-her-ass out outfit. When I arrived at Eddie's suite, the uppity one had already unbuttoned her blouse. She was going in for the kill." I told them to get out! This time thundermouth didn't try me, nor did her partner. They just got up and left.

On January 6, 1966, Tammi Terrell recorded her vocals for a song written by Ashford & Simpson, according to her sister, Ludie. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," would become the beginning of something magical, a union that transcended time and space. Marvin Gaye would dub his vocals later in the month.

Valerie Simpson says, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," was just written as a song and then we realized that it would be a great song for the two of them. Nick adds, "It was not a duet from the beginning; it turned into a duet. Marvin always told us that Tammi was his favorite to sing with. She would cuddle up to him like she belonged to him, it was a beautiful friendship they had."

Valerie Simpson remembers, "There was something very sexy about the way they did another one of our songs, "Your Precious Love." That song was more intended for them when it was written. Tammi gave a lot of input. Ad-libs came from her directly, whatever you hear in ad-libs is all her, just as Marvin did. That's why it was so great to have them in the studio together because they would bounce off each other."

Nick Ashford says, "Val and I would usually make a demo and send it to them, so by the time we got our part together they would be well rehearsed on what they were going to do with the song."

Nick and Val each have favorite memories of their time spent with Tammi and Marvin. Nick says, "I loved when we would all get together after a session and just hang out together, Marvin would start to tell jokes that were not funny and Tammi would wave her hand at him and playfully ask him to be quiet and we would all bust out laughing."

"We were all so young then, it was always fun just being together and talking. We were full of life and everything. Tammi was a person who really loved life itself. She never argued with people. That was the beautiful thing about her. "

Val shares, "When the magic is there in the studio like it was between the two of them, you just sit back and watch some wonderful musical moments taking place, moments that have lasted over 40 years."

According to Rick James: "The Winter in Buffalo was one of our worst yet. We were stranded in my house for two weeks, which was good because that gave us a lot of time to work. The tune was called "Party All The Time."

Eddie Murphy flew in, I had my whole entourage with me at the airport, including all six of my cars. Eddie and I rode in my Rolls Royce while the rest of my crew followed close behind. We talked like two lost friends, suddenly, I heard him scream "Rick!" I had barely missed this car coming from the other direction. When we arrived at my home safe, I was still in a little shock. I said to Eddie: "What if I would have killed us both. Then what?" Eddie replied, "Then there would have been two less n***ers in the world to deal with."

"I was on my best behavior while Eddie was staying at my house. I don't think I got high once while he was there-maybe smoked pot but that was it. I didn't want to expose him to freebasing, especially when he didn't smoke or drink anything; never did. We were becoming good friends. Why spoil it on account of a fucking drug?"

"When the record was finished, Eddie and his boys flew to L.A. where Stevie Wonder completed the rest of the album. The only problem I had was finding his true sound. He could emulate so many vocalists, including me, Al Green and Michael Jackson."

"After finishing "Party All The Time," I found myself more and more isolated. If I wasn't locked in my room (where my housekeeper would leave food by my bedroom door), I was flying here and there in private jets getting high in the clouds. I was slowly but steadily losing control. I had turned into a nocturnal monster who existed solely on the smoke from a freebase pipe. I'd wake in the night and begin. It got so bad I had my staff put aluminum foil on all my windows so no sunlight could get in. I'd just sit and get high, usually with the company of a female or two. When that was done, I'd take Valium's to go to sleep. This went on and on."

"The first time Eddie saw me high was in L.A. He came to my room after I spent days locked inside and began asking all these questions about how I felt and what the drugs were like. According to Rick, allegedly, Rod Stewart and his then girlfriend Kelly were there snorting cocaine and Eddie's questions made them feel so uncomfortable that they got up and left."

"It was almost Christmas and New York was beautiful. One of my girls Debbie had met rocker Billy Idol and brought him over to my hotel suite. I had never heard his music but had heard he was almost as crazy as me. Later, we ripped down to Idol's place in the Village and hung out. He was trying to stop smoking dope at the time, so all we did was smoke grass and snort."

Source: "The Confessions Of Rick James: Memoirs Of A Super Freak," by Rick James

One of Berry Gordy's marketing methods included various "battles of the stars." He had always been intrigued by the long-standing gimmick of a "battle of the bands." The battles were instant sellouts. Some of the match ups included the Temptations vs. the Contours, the Supremes vs. The Velvelettes and Martha and the Vandellas vs. the Marvelettes.

Everyone embraced the concept and fun was had by all until the night Little Stevie Wonder was pitted against Marvin Gaye. Gordy figured Gaye would easily be the crowd favorite simply because of his hits and polish and his immense popularity as a sex symbol with his female fans.

But Stevie, ever competitive wasn't conceding anything. He was up first, unleashing a fervid version of "Workout Stevie, Workout." Gordy watched the house respond with a roar and decided that Gaye might be in for a tougher time than he first believed.

But Gaye answered with a stirring rendition of "Hitch Hike," shimmying like a tornado and driving the ladies wild.

Stevie then countered with his first single, "I Call It Pretty Music," and the crowd swayed along. At song's end, he sent an electrical bolt through the hall with an exultant "Everybody Say Yeah!" Stevie then proceeded to virtually run the table with "Fingertips," leaving the crowd nearly spent with his blue-streak harp play.

Gaye had one more shot left and was determined to carry the day. He sprung back onstage as the band struck up "Stubborn Kind Of Fellow," but amazingly, was greeted not only by the screams he expected from the ladies but also by boos.

Confusion showed on his face but he gamely jumped into the song, determined to turn the tide. Some from the audience yelled, Marvin, you ought to be ashamed, taking advantage of a little blind kid!

Gaye ignored it and pressed on. At the conclusion of the number, the boos rained even harder. Gaye clearly was hurt but motioned for the band to play "Pride and Joy." Still the boos came, and Gordy quickly decided to intervene, taking the stage and mike from Gaye and announcing the show was over.

Source: "Blind Faith," by Dennis Love & Stacy Brown

Tony Turner reveals in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

Motown virtually acted as a bank for its artists. The Tempts, for instance, were given an advance of $500 dollars a week each against their earnings from royalties and live performances. If they needed anything, all they had to do was let Motown know and the money would be released. If the Tempts were on tour and one of their wives needed money, she would go to Motown and tell them, "My kid needs new shoes," or "The mortgage is due," and it would be paid.

All of these expenses were deducted from their royalties as were the expenses incurred on tours, including limos, champagne, first-class hotel suites, etc. The Tempts were never given any written statements showing what they had earned or spent.

David Ruffin would often say, "It's my fucking money, nobody controls my money. Fuck that, "we'll always take care of you" shit. Gordy better take care of me now!

Ruffin began to balk the system. Although Ruffin was a capable songwriter, he or any other of the Temptations were never allowed to write or produce their own material.

Despite this, Ruffin was spending plenty and living high. He bought himself a huge place in Ontario where he went whenever there was time off. He loved to ride horses by the water.

David loved horses and he loved cars. At one point he bought a Cadillac and had it lined with mink. Back in 1966, he was driving an Eldorado convertible, emerald green with a white interior. David showed up at Flo Ballard's house in the car when I was in Detroit.

As I got to know David, I found out that by the time he was 14, he had already been on stage for 8 years singing spirituals. While he was in grade school, he sung with Mahalia Jackson. There was a lot about his early childhood that he kept from people but I did know that he came from a very poor family in Meridian, Mississippi, that his mother died while he was a baby and that he was raised by a very abusive father. He would later be raised by his brother Jimmy, a sister and a stepmother.

After he left home, David drifted. At a New Orleans racetrack, he met a traveling minister who doubled as a pimp, "Father Eddie Bush." He took David under his wing and filed adoption papers so David could legally travel with him.

Later, in Memphis, David joined the Dixie Nightingales. He switched to pop when he heard Sam Cooke, then got a lesson in the star persona when he appeared on the same talent show as Elvis Presley.

David had already been scraped hard, which was probably why he was the first Temptation to start looking at what was going on and to demand to be treated like an adult. And yet, perhaps Otis was smarter. He bided time, asked no questions, stayed on Berry Gordy's good side and kept a firm grip on his leadership role in what had become the world's number one black male singing group.

Tony Turner claims, according to Flo Ballard, Eddie Kendricks once had an odd extramarital affair. Allegedly, he and Diana Ross were secretly involved. Flo said, "Diana told me that Eddie was the man of every woman's dreams, his emotions were very guarded." Despite this comment, the alleged affair ended as quickly as it started.

Turner also makes allegations (in his book) that Diana Ross came to Berry Gordy's room unexpected while Berry was allegedly with Chris Clark, a blonde white singer whom he was pushing despite her lack of talent. When Berry heard Diana at the door, he allegedly shoved Chris into the closet, and that's where she stayed all night while Berry and Diana allegedly shared the bed.

Tony Turner reveals the following in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation:"

While the Temptations and Supremes rehearsed for an joint appearance on the "Ed Sullivan Show," David Ruffin became angry, because the set featured several boxes with the names "The Temptations" and "The Supremes," all across them but if those names came up thirty times, the name "Diana Ross" came up sixty times. Worst of all, her name was overlapping not just the Supremes name but the Temptations too. So visually, you had something like, "Diana Ross Temptations-Diana Ross Supremes and there was nothing the Tempts could do about it.

The real problem started when the two groups started rehearsing and realized the Tempts songs and the Supremes songs were arranged in different keys and Diana could not sing in David's key. As usual, after the rehearsal Diana started complaining about the whole thing and when the Tempts left and came back to rehearsal the next day they all knew she must have run and called Berry Gordy because everything had been changed. Overnight, somebody had transposed the Tempts charts into Diana's key and rehearsed the band to play the new charts. The guys were shocked. They hadn't worked with Diana in a while and they weren't used to seeing her treated almost like a solo star with her own separate staff and everything. Little did they know, Diana had the nerve to be upset because she had the audacity to think that the Tempts were riding her coattails.

David whispered to Mary Wilson, "Is this what goes on all the time?" "Yes, said Mary, "she always gets her way."

Later, before the actual show, David told me. "Watch, Tony. When I get up there tonight, I'm gonna give that phony wig-wearing bitch a run for her money." I didn't know what he was planning but I knew David could murder Diana vocally and he did. He did exactly what he was supposed to do as far as his dance steps and movements were concerned but when it came time to singing, he did a whole lot of ad libbing and completely threw Diana off. Diana was livid by the end of the show.

Around this time, David had started making louder and louder noises about Motown and he began questioning their financial practices. According to David, that's when Motown began to campaign openly against him. At first, the campaign centered around David's apparent ego problems and his live-in relationship with the beautiful singer, Tammi Terrell.

Before you knew it, Tammi was Motown's golden girl who could do no wrong. In 1966, she paired with Marvin Gaye and by the end of 1967, they were an established duo with two million selling hits to their name. Motown wanted to encourage the public's assumption that Marvin and Tammi whose duets were intensely romantic, were lovers-despite a very jealous Anna Gordy Gaye.

Meanwhile, the relationship between David and Tammi had grown mutually destructive and openly tempestuous, though no less close. They fought, they made up, they drank, they slept around.

I remember going shopping with Tammi one time when she told me a story about how she discovered David fooling around with someone else, and to spite him, she allegedly jumped right into bed with Eddie Kendricks.

Soon after, Tammi showed up at Motown with two black eyes and bruises. Employees were telling each other that she was a good girl who deserved somebody better than David Ruffin and of course, the male employees would have preferred to have Tammi for themselves.

After Tammi collapsed on stage, the rumors started to fly. People said that Tammi's tumor was a result of David beating her or hitting her over the head with a hammer-the rumors hurt David badly.

In fact, Tammi had apparently suffered beatings at the hands of a least a couple of men, both in and out of Motown.

Tony Turner reveals in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

"Before her death in 1992, Mary Wells was in very bad shape and had been involved at different times with two of the Womack brothers, she was now living with one of them, who not only managed her but also sang with her. Mary was touring as a nostalgia act with her baby daughter in tow, taking on just enough work to feed herself and her children while quietly suffering the physical and mental abuse of her lover."

"While I was traveling with the Tempts, I would see her on the road from time to time, nursing a black eye or a bruise. One night in Westbury, Long Island, after an argument about money, Womack went crazy. He started cutting up Mary's Louis Vuitton suitcases. Then he threw everything she owned out the window into the parking lot, which had just been covered in fresh, wet, black asphalt, took her money, and left her on the road alone with their baby."

I went to the local mall the next morning and picked out a dress for her to wear and some cosmetics for that evening's show because she had absolutely nothing but the fans didn't know it."

"They loved her for who she had been in their lives and as long as she sang, "My Guy," and "Two Lovers," they didn't care that she was singing for survival.

In 1966, while the Supremes were on tour in Tokyo, Florence Ballard started dating Tommy Chapman, Berry Gordy's chauffeur. Berry was incensed when he learned of the relationship; after all; she was one of his prized girls and Chapman was only a chauffeur. But Diana, who had told Berry, of course, and Mary, who was having an affair with Duke Fakir of the Four Tops, were happy to see that Flo was romantically involved with someone.

It seemed that after she was raped, Flo was never very interested in romance and when she did get involved, it was with the wrong men. An affair with Obie Benson of the Four Tops ended sadly when he wasn't able to commit to her; one with Bobby Rodgers (3rd photo, top left) of the Miracles broke her heart when he went back to his wife, one of the Marvelettes. When Flo fell in love with Otis Williams of the Temptations, whom she called Big Daddy, she thought it would last. According to Williams, "It was Flo who taught me the expression "shoot the habit to the rabbit," which means make love. Due to their busy schedules, they were unable to spend time together.

Tommy Chapman first remembered his first in-depth conversation with Flo while they were driving along; he looked at her through the rearview mirror. He said, "If you don't mind me saying so, you're messing things up," he told her. "The way you're handling Diana Ross."

Florence was at first surprised that the chauffeur would be so direct with her. "I'm not listening to you. You just drive. You got some nerve." Tommy told her if she had problems with Diana, she should talk to Berry about them. Flo responded, "I been knowing Berry a lot longer than you, whatever your name is. And I can't talk to him."

"Well, what about Diana?" Tommy asked, still driving. "You should be close by now. Like sisters." Flo said, "Yeah. I know. It's a shame, ain't it?" "Ain't what?" "That we ain't like sisters."

"No, that's even better," Tommy remembered saying. "Makes it easier to handle her." "So how do you think I should handle Diana?" Flo wanted to know.

"Ignore her," Tommy said simply. "If you ain't sisters, what the hell's the difference." He smiled at her through the rear-view mirror. "Ignore the bitch and before you know it, poof! she'll be gone."

Flo did a double take and then she smiled. "You know what? I think I like you. Let's go dancing, you and me."

After that night, Flo and Tommy began seeing each other regularly.

Source: "Call Her Miss Ross," by J. Randy Taraborrelli

According to Ludie Montgomery (Tammi Terrell's sister) David Ruffin made a good impression when she met him. "When I arrived in Detroit, Ruffin was at the airport to pick me up. He led me to a waiting limousine. He was the perfect gentleman as he held the door opened."

"Later, the three of us (myself, Tammi and David) ate steak, salad and baked potato's David had prepared for dinner. Later, we laughed and joked for hours, David seemed like a nice guy, very funny and with a definite charm."

"I knew little of Tammi's relationship with David Ruffin prior to this visit. They began dating and living together fairly soon after she arrived in Detroit. I would soon learn that he meant everything to her. She was always saying, "David this, or "David that." Our parents did not know of this live-in situation."

"David Ruffin was a very significant part of Tammi's life. She was deeply in love with him and he seemed to be deeply in love with her." Only later, would she would learn that David was married to another woman in another state.

"The next night, Tammi and David had a small get together attended by Stevie Wonder and Florence Ballard." The next day, Tammi and I went to Aretha Franklin's house to visit Aretha and her sisters.

"A few nights later, we went to go see a Temptations show, David was definitely a great entertainer. On that night, I remember they gave me my first and only joint. I never smoked marijuana before and I did not like how it made me feel. I remember David laughing and feeling good and just being ridiculous."

"I enjoyed the week I spent in Detroit with my sister."

"Something that went unnoticed at this time by our family were Tammi's headaches." This was the first sign of something tragic to come."

The late Rick James on his prison stay: "After my conviction, I was sent to Folsom. I was moved into a private part of the prison, the "Rich House," because the warden knew a lot of people would be trying to get to me, but in the end, pretty much everyone loved me. These thug life motherfuckers would come over and start in talking shit and I would talk shit right back to them."

"I ended up having all the shot-callers real close to me and they put a blanket of love around me. The Mexican Mafia, the 415, the Crips and the Bloods, even the Aryan Race. I had heard the Mexicans had a hit out on me, so I called the head Mexican Mafia shot caller to my cell and he said, "I've been in prison 25 years and your music helped me get through this shit, I ain't gonna let anyone touch you man. I'd kill one of our people if they fucked with you."

"Many of the guards hated me, but I just told them, "Fuck with me and I'll have your ass. I'm too fucking rich and I have a cousin in Congress, so go ahead and fuck with me." They had bets going; who was going to be the first to write me up, send me to detention, shoot me accidentally."

"But soon, even the CO's were growing fond of me. "One of the females smuggled me in a tape recorder that recorded, so I could write and record. Another female officer would smuggle my tapes back out. When I wanted it, I could get steak, escargot, champagne. The female prison guards loved me, the CO motherfuckers even loved me and the rednecks loved me. A few times, I even sent fruit baskets to their old ladies in the street after my people found out their addresses.

During a Motown rehearsal, during breaks, Diana Ross always retreated to her dressing room. She never socialized with any of her peers. Later, she would complain to Berry Gordy, "Those people hate my guts and I don't know why." She was lonely.

Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong and the Temptations sang old doo-wop standards to each other, having a blast. In a dark corner, Diana sat alone, her legs crossed and her arms folded. Whenever anyone would look her way, she would avert her eyes and act uninterested. But when she didn't think anyone was watching, her mouth would move along to the song lyrics and she would bop her head.

Later that day, Martha & The Vandellas stopped by. They joined the Tempts, Cindy and Mary for a warm reunion.

Suddenly, Diana's dressing room door swung open. "Will you please shut the hell up. I am trying to rest in here!" she exclaimed, and then she slammed the door shut.

"What's her problem?" one of the Temptations asked. "Who the hell cares" one of the Vandellas cracked. Then the reunion continued.

Paul Williams spoke up, "If it wasn't for me, Miss Ross would still be in the Detroit ghetto and now I can't even have a conversation with her unless I clear it with six people.

Oddly, Diana Ross had slapped Eddie Kendricks in front of everyone during a prior rehearsal and Kendricks never revealed what happened between the two of them.

Source: "Call Her Miss Ross," by J. Randy Taraborrelli

In 1969, when the Jackson Five first arrived in Los Angeles to record for Motown. While Michael's father and brothers were shuffled from one hotel to another. Michael moved in with Diana Ross. "It was a calculated thing, I wanted him to be around her," Berry Gordy once said.

Michael, at age 11, was terribly lonely living in the Ross home for the month he stayed there; he missed his mother a great deal and talked to her on the telephone incessantly, running up Diana's phone bill. Berry Gordy allegedly told Diana, "Don't worry, I'll pay the bills and charge their royalty account when they finally have a hit."

According to author J. Randy Taraborrelli, Katherine was troubled by Michael's life in the Ross household. She was concerned about Diana's Hollywood lifestyle and how it might influence her son.

Allegedly, it also bothered Katherine that Diana seemed reluctant to talk to her directly. When Katherine would telephone to check in on her 11-year-old son, she would have to allegedly talk to one of the household staff if Michael wasn't available. Diana would usually not come to the phone to talk to Katherine. Of course, Diana did not yet have any children of her own, so she could not relate to a mother's concern.

If Katherine was distressed about the possibilities of wild parties at the Ross residence, she had nothing to worry about. Diana was not very sociable in those days.

Source: "The Magic & The Madness," by J. Randy Taraborelli

According to author J. Randy Taraborrelli, "It was always Motown's company policy that no act leave the label without some difficulty. Allegedly, Berry Gordy always considered defection from Motown the ultimate act of treason and artists never left without a fight.

Motown employees still remember the time former Temptations' lead singer David Ruffin demanded a release from his contract. When Gordy adamantly refused, Ruffin threatened to sit in a Motown lawyer's office until Gordy gave in to his demands for freedom. Finally, hours later, the lawyer called the police. Ruffin took a swing at the cop and was arrested and jailed. The next day, his brother Jimmy, also a Motown artist, had to apologize and ask the attorney for $500 dollars for David's bail. Gordy authorized the loan. It was easier to get out of jail than it was to get out of a Motown contract.

When Diana Ross considered leaving Motown for RCA and a $20 million dollar advance. She allegedly turned to Smokey Robinson for advice. She had only a few hundred thousand dollars in her bank account after selling millions and millions of records and couldn't purchase an automobile without Berry's signature, yet Smokey allegedly gave her a speech about loyalty. She wisely ignored it.

Marvin Gaye openly boycotted Jermaine Jackson's and Hazel Gordy's wedding. He said, "I refuse to go. It was obvious to me what was happening. I was being replaced. Jermaine is marrying into the Gordy family as I had. Berry no longer cared about me. He wanted a newer, younger Marvin Gaye, and that's what he was priming Jermaine to do, be the next Prince of Motown. No way was I going to watch the crowning ceremony."

Source: "The Magic & The Madness," by J. Randy Taraborrelli

According to Smokey Robinson, "Her father came up to me and said, my daughter's a fan of yours and she would like to meet you."

"His daughter looked like she'd just stepped out of Vogue. Her name was Kandi and she was, in fact, a fashion model. She had flashing eyes, caramel-colored skin, a bright smile and a nice figure." Nice to meet you, I said. She replied, "You can't escape my spell." I'm working as a model in a auto show but my full-time job is at the Playboy Club. "

"She gave me her number and I attended the Playboy Club that night." Shortly afterwards, I was playing Leo's Casino in Cleveland, I invited Kandi and she showed up."

"Whether it was frustration from Claudette's unsuccessful pregnancies or the fact that I'd been with her since we were fourteen, I felt myself moved with this other woman. I also told Kandi that no matter what, I loved my wife and had no intention of leaving her. At the same time, I wanted Kandi, wanted her as badly as I'd ever wanted any woman."

"After the show, we were in my hotel suite, we talked all night and, at five in the morning, though she was reluctant, I talked her into making love. It was beautiful."

"A few years later, Kandi told me she was pregnant. I can't say I was thrilled about having a child outside of my marriage, I knew what this would do to Claudette."

"Ever since Claudette and I had been married, she maintained a simple position. "I can tolerate just about anything concerning you and another woman and there is only one thing that would make me leave you, if you ever have a baby with another woman."

"Soon, Claudette knew something was wrong but I tried to get back into my marriage but my heart wouldn't budge."

"She even wanted us to remarry for our upcoming 25th wedding anniversary, I told her, "I can't do it, baby, I can't do it just for appearance sake."

"Then, I blurted out, Kandi is having my baby." "That was the straw that broke the camel's back."

"I moved out as divorce proceedings got underway."

According to the late Marvin Gaye, "Tammi Terrell was the kind of chick who couldn't be controlled by men." "That can drive a man crazy-trying to deal with a woman who won't be dominated by anyone.

"I loved that about Tammi. I knew we could be friends but never lovers. Independent women hold no romantic interest for me."

"James Brown and David Ruffin both had stormy relationships with Tammi but mine was completely creative. Because she was fun and funny and totally unpredictable, I loved her."

"Her singing style was also perfectly suited to mine. What we chiefly accomplished, was to create two characters, two lovers that might have been taken from a play or novel and let them sing to each other."

"While we were singing, we were in love. The vibe was incredible. The emotions were heartfelt and real. But, when the music ended, we kissed each other on the cheek and said good-bye."

Source: "Divided Soul," by David Ritz

In the 60's, The Dells, a popular R&B group were appearing on a show with the Supremes in Washington. Diana Ross was allegedly romancing one of the group members and everyone involved with the revue was whispering about it.

Ardena Johnston, the Supremes' chaperone at that time, once remembered, "Berry Gordy calling me on the phone and letting me have it." 'How could you allow this to be happening?" he screamed at me.

And I said, 'Look, Mr. Gordy, this girl is very difficult and I'm having a hard time controlling her. She does what she wants to do. The others listen to me but she won't. And I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do with her."

Berry's response: "Don't be ridiculous. That's your problem."

After talking to Gordy, Ardena searched for Diana and found her in the basement dressing room of the theater with her friend from the Dells, eating lunch."How dare you socialize with this young man," Johnston said.

"From now on, you follow my rules or I'm sending you home. The group will continue without you."

"I can talk to a fella if I want to" Diana protested. "I know my rights! I can say hello to a guy if I like and you can't tell me what to do, Miss Johnston.

"You're doing a lot more down here than just talking," Ardena said suspiciously," "Don't you think I know what's been going on around here? You just wait until I tell Mr. Gordy.

The next day when they returned to Detroit, Ardena told Berry what had happened and he called Diana into his office. After Diana told her version, Berry incredibly asked Ardena to apologize to Ross.

After that incident, Ardena asked Berry to reassign her to another group. She never traveled with the Supremes again.

Source: "Call Her Miss Ross," by J. Randy Taraborrelli

Tony Turner reveals in his book, "All That Glittered," after Flo Ballard had fallen on hard times, she had arranged to borrow money from Diana Ross to get her house back because the bank told her if she got the $7,000 she owed she could continue living there.

She says, she went to Diana because she'd had a lot of job offers since the story broke about her being destitute. She would be able to repay the loan. Diana told Flo to go and sign some papers in a Detroit office.

Flo said, when she got to the office she was surprised to find Diana there with some lawyer types and Diana had a lot of papers for her to sign. Flo didn't mind signing them but Diana allegedly wanted her to sign some papers that were blank, they supposedly didn't have a word on them and these people were telling her, "Don't worry, just go ahead and sign these."

Flo said she wasn't going to sign blank papers, she said by this point she had been through so much, she had been ripped off and ruined and she wasn't trusting anyone, anymore.

She was not signing, she said there was a lot of strings attached for such a small amount of money. One of the stipulations was: She could never tell anybody where she got the money.

Flo left the office without signing the papers.

Between 1974 and 1975, allegedly, Berry Gordy was having major problems. He was still deeply involved with Diana Ross's career as the moving force behind her second film, "Mahogany." While shooting in Rome, where Gordy lived at the Villa Angelino, the palatial love nest customized for Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Diana and Berry's relationship reached the boiling point. Like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder before her, Diana had grown increasingly independent. She was about to turn 30 and was tired of being directed. Besides, she missed her children and wanted to go home. According to Rob Cohen (a producer) Gordy reprimanded Ross on the set in front of the crew, she slapped him across his face, breaking his sunglasses. "I hate you! I hate you!" she screamed, and with that, left the set, two days before completing the picture and flew back to L.A.

Source: "Divided Soul," by David Ritz

According to Martha Reeves, "Whenever somebody would ask me to say something nice about Tammi Terrell, I couldn't, except, that she was a pretty girl who could sing. She could also play drums well. Tammi was a very talented girl but everything she did was crazy and wild. But, I knew she was young and far advanced for her years.''

"My friend Ron from the Apollo confirmed in a recent conversation that Tammi was a troubled person possibly due to the gang rape she suffered as a girl."

"I knew Tammi before she became 'Terrell.' I met her when she was still Tammi Montgomery. When I was out on the road with James Brown, she was out on the road with him too. Neither one of us should have been out there because we were both too young. She was James Brown's woman."

"That lie that they put out about David Ruffin hitting her in the head with that hammer, causing that brain injury to her head-trust me, it happened, but way before David Ruffin's time. I know that for a fact."

Source: "Dancing In The Streets," by Martha Reeves and Mark Bego

When author David Ritz asked Marvin Gaye, are you interested, like Stevie Wonder, in building a music powerhouse catalogue?" Marvin replied, "I've always been so broke that I've had to sell my publishing up front for cash." Berry Gordy owns my tunes. I get my writer's share but I hardly own any copyrights. Stevie's been a lot smarter about that than me."

According to Ritz, Marvin Gaye was going through such financial turmoil that he once snorted a full once of pure cocaine. Allegedly, Marvin also asked his mother to give him two diamonds he had once given her, worth $6,000. Marvin pawned them for $2,000.

Marvin also tried to borrow money from celebrity friends Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder but they turned him down and Motown wouldn't give him anything because he hadn't finished his album.

Some women of his fan club were sweet enough to send checks for $200 and $300 dollars but it was a sad, sad time.

His Hidden Hills home and studio were shut down while his family scrambled to save the furniture and recording equipment. Federal IRS agents put everything else under lock and key.

Marvin's entire empire collapsed a few years before his untimely death.

Source: "Divided Soul," by David Ritz

Tony Turner reveals the following in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

"Since the beginning of the 80's, nobody I knew had been paying much attention to Motown Records. Even Diana Ross had stormed out of the company in 1981.

"Reportedly, because Gordy wouldn't honor her three conditions for re-signing: Make me a vice president like Smokey Robinson, give me my own label, "Ross Records," and most important of all, finally make me Mrs. Gordy."

"Diana had been watching her friend Cher take charge of her own life and career, and she wanted to do the same. She was sick of being dependent on Gordy."

"According to the grapevine, Diana told Berry that she would quit if he didn't give her what she wanted and he said, No way. He didn't believe she'd do it. No one believed Ross would leave the cocoon Berry had sheltered her in.

Nevertheless, she said good-bye."

"That's when she discovered that the yellow convertible Rolls Royce and super-stretch Mercedes that Gordy had gift wrapped and delivered to her door as birthday and Christmas presents had never really been hers."

"They were just perks of her employment at Motown, owned by the company, little extras that Gordy sent someone to retrieve when Diana, no longer an employee had stopped playing the game."

Tony Turner reveals the following in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

"I was on tour with David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks and Mary Wilson. When we arrived in Austin, Texas, Martha Reeves was supposed to join us as the opening act. We found Martha plopped over the hotel check-in counter, trying to check in her group "with her wide backside stuffed in filthy sweat pants," as Mary remarked-Mary, of course was dressed in her best Supremes regalia."

Martha's huge wig was lopsided and her sweatsuit ensemble looked like she'd slept in it. She probably had, since she and her band had driven all the way down from Detroit by van to save money.

As soon as Mary had finished spying on poor Martha, she said, "Oh, please check me in Tony, and escort me, my dear, to my suite. I simply cannot be standing at a check-in desk like Martha." When I asked Mary about during radio promotions for the show, she said, "I don't want to be bothered with Martha Reeves, she hates me because I look better than she does. Always did and always will!"

The first show started. Martha and her stand-in Vandellas worked the room for twenty minutes. Mary Wilson followed with her imitation "Supremes Show." She did about six costume changes and went over schedule by about fifteen minutes.

Eddie and David came out and totally commanded the crowd.

After the show, David's manager came back from the box office and reported that the cash ticket sales for the night were far short of what they were owed.

Despite this problem, everyone agreed to do the second show and then all of the sudden, Martha said, staring at Mary, "I don't like this one fuckin bit because after all, I came on this show with you people for one night, you guys have been working all week and already have your money."

We all agreed to take the cash from the second show, put it on the table and divide it equally four ways so that Eddie, David, Mary and Martha could each go home with something.

Martha agreed to the settlement. And then Mary Wilson suggested we give all the cash from the first show to Martha, since Martha could really use the money. Eddie and David agreed.

"So they went ahead and got the cash from the first show and handed it to Martha. Martha counted the money, jumped up, put her hand on her hip, slipped the Dynel wig back on her head and said, "I'm not doing no second show. I'm going home."

"David Ruffin jumped off the table and started calling Martha a crazy bitch, whore and tramp and Eddie just shook his head in disbelief. David had suddenly lurched forward and was trying to reach across and choke the shit out of Martha. David hollered, "Somebody snatch that money from that bitch!" She's crazy! Everyone knows Martha's crazy! She's been in the loony bin five fucking times. She's a fucking nut! Beat her ass! I say knock her out! I want my part of the motherfucking money back since she ain't staying for the second show. Eddie was trying to hold David back."

Suddenly, Martha turned on Mary. "Miss Mary Wilson, I went out and did my twenty minutes like my contract called for and I got off. You went up there on that stage with your supposed to be Supremes shit and nobody told you to do all those damn costume changes, parading up and down the ramp like a fucking model instead of a singer. You weren't even half-way singing. It was a total disgrace."

Moving on to David and Eddie, she continued, "You two went up on the stage and you're supposed to be such big headliners and all of the fucking sudden you don't know how to come off the stage. Plus, Eddie, your voice was weak and cracking!"

Eddie released his grip on David, at which David jumped at Martha and snatched the money from her, tearing some of it in the process. "Bitch," David said, "you're not getting paid until you go on that stage for that second show."

But Martha just rustled up whatever money she could and left the dressing room in a hurry.

Raynoma Gordy reveals the following allegations in her book, "Berry, Me, And Motown:"

My boys often walked down to a West Hollywood park to play with the Jacksons and their other school friends. One day, my son Kerry, went down to the park, saw all his pals on the field and started walking towards the ball game. A man stopped him saying, "I'm sorry you can't play." Kerry did not introduce himself even though he knew who the man was. Instead he dashed into the game. The man ran after Kerry and pulled him back, "Now go on home, kid." This is a closed game.

Instead, Kerry hightailed it back into the game. The man was close to the boiling point as he chased after Kerry. He caught him, picked him up and started to remove him from the park. All of the sudden, Kerry asked the man, "Do you know my mother?" "Raynoma Gordy is my mother."

It took the man a beat longer to make the connection. "Oh, my God! You're my son!

"Yeah, Dad," Kerry said to Berry.

Berry was stunned. I received a call from him that night. "Guess what, guess what?" he tripped over his words. "I saw Kerry. And I didn't even know the kid." He was beside himself with the emotion of it.

One day, I was dropping Kerry off at school. From the car I saw a beautiful young black woman with a flawless face, another ghost from my past.

The woman was walking with a little boy around five or six years old. My stomach tightened and my breathing grew short.

It was Berry's former mistress Margaret. Smokey Robinson restrained me at a bowling alley from kicking her ass.

The boy Margaret was walking with was the child she was pregnant with when she was having an affair with my then husband, Berry Gordy.

I found out later that the boy (Kennedy Gordy) was bullied in school. When the bullies taunted him and terrorized him, an older boy would always suddenly appear and rescue him and then without a word, the older boy would turn and walk away.

Years later when Kennedy was staying at his father's house and Berry introduced him to his half brother Kerry, Kennedy's jaw dropped. He recognized Kerry as being the boy who always rescued him from the school bullies.

A few years later , Kennedy would record a million selling smash, "I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me," with Michael Jackson. Kennedy recorded under the stage name, Rockwell.

According to the late Richard Pryor, "Given the word on the street, I wasn't surprised Motown founder Berry Gordy assumed a lot of shit about me when I auditioned for "Lady Sings The Blues." From the questions he asked, I realized he thought I was a junkie. He thought I shot up heroin. I never had."

I was asked, "What would you say to Billie Holiday if you caught her doing drugs?"

"I closed my eyes for a moment. I'd grown up around people like Billie Holiday. I knew women like her. I knew that if I was her friend and caught her doing drugs, I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't get angry. I might not like it but I'd understand, I'd be sympathetic to her need."

"I improvised and pretended to fix up some shit as I talked to her. I said, "Baby, how could you be doing, you know, don't be thinking you're hiding it."

"I got the role of Piano Man right there." "I was very excited."

"I modeled the character after a piano player I knew from Collins' Corner in Peoria, named Jimmy Brinkley and I tried not to get high as we shot the movie."

"I held my own and Diana Ross was great, mysterious and gorgeous."

"Billy Dee Williams' self-assurance in front of the camera made me jealous, though I thought he took himself way too seriously."

"After the movie premiered, suddenly, famous people wanted to meet me. One of those people was white actress, Margot Kidder."

"One night Margot Kidder stopped by my place to see if I'd go out with her. She observed me sitting in the middle of the floor of a vast, luxurious suite, sucking on a crack pipe. I was surrounded by empty vials." She muttered something about me being such a sad sight but that didn't stop us from dating."

"Margot and I co-starred in the film "Hero." Our six month relationship ended just before the movie did when she discovered that I was cheating on her."

"She got even by coming over to my hotel and scissoring my Armani wardrobe hanging in the closet."

Source: "Pryor Convictions," by Richard Pryor and Todd Gold

Tony Turner makes the following allegations in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

"I began to tour with the former Tempts, having jumped right on the chain in the newly created role of "second road manager."

Early in July they were working a private, corporate job at a new luxury condominium townhouse development out on Long Island. I arrived in Florida on the day of the show and was driven out to the sound check.

Dennis Edwards had left his latest wife at home in Dayton, Ohio, and was there with a rather rough-looking New York girlfriend. Eddie Kendricks was there alone and David Ruffin had not yet arrived.

When the sound check was over, I returned to the hotel and discovered that Ruffin had still not arrived. Judas the road manager had already made two limo trips to the airport to pick him up, he had not been on any of those flights.

Nedra (Ruffin's) daughter called. She had taken David to the airport and dropped him off outside and gone home, only to be called to pick him up from a crack house and take him back to the airport for the second flight. David had disappeared back to the drug den.

By now it was almost show time. The singers and band were ready to make their way from the hotel to the venue for the performance-all except Dennis Edwards, who was still in his room.

We called the hotel, Dennis did not answer the phone. I snatched up Dennis's costume and went racing back. I arrived at his door and banged on the door, you could smell the odor of crack coming out of the room.

"Let me in Dennis." Still no answer. And then, the door opened a bit. Dennis's face was trembling, his teeth were shifting around in his mouth. What do you want? He asked?"

I forced open the door, breaking the chain, to find Dennis there buck naked. His girlfriend was sitting on the edge of the bed with a crack pipe. I dragged her out of the room and quickly helped Dennis get dressed.

We arrived back at the show site just as Eddie was doing the closing number by himself.

Around midnight, Eddie had a huge argument with Dennis who was now sulking like a spoiled child in his room.

Finally David arrived, he came bouncing in as if everything was fine. Eddie turned on David and they had a huge argument. David's only concern seemed to be, "Did that Dennis Edwards sing my songs?"

David didn't know yet that Dennis had not made it to the show either.

David shouted, "As long as I'm living, I don't want that motherfucker singing lead on my songs." Shit, he uses just as much blow as me. He ain't no better. He's a pretty boy that's all. What he does isn't even singing, it's just Sunday-going-to-church shouting!

"Fuck that motherfucker, trying to be me!"

Tony Turner makes the following allegations in his book, "All That Glittered: My Life With The Supremes."

"When I was in the company of Flo Ballard, she talked a lot about the projects. She said, everyone was like family. They would go in and out of each others' apartments, nobody locked the door, nobody rapped on the door, it was just turn the handle and walk in and borrow whatever you need, it's okay."

"They would braid each other's hair on the front steps for everyone on a hot night, to cool things down. You could listen to the doowop groups competing with each other and people would be dancing."

"She also told me how she, Mary and Diana got to be heroines in their projects when they had their first hit, how they heard their song blasting from transistor radios in all those different apartments and kids whispered as they walked by."

"She told me about Eddie Kendricks and his group the Temptations and how they were all friends, how they used to sing around the projects."

"Flo told me, they'd always done their own makeup. She told me Diana had studied this kind of thing in school and early on, Diana made all their outfits and used to cut Flo & Mary's hair but Flo was taken aback that Diana charged them for it."

Roger Penzabene was an songwriter for the Motown label. Among his most notable compositions are a trilogy of three hits for the Temptations: "You're My Everything," "I Wish It Would Rain," and "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)."
The mournful break-up song "I Wish It Would Rain" in particular drew from Penzabene's real-life pain. The songwriter found out that his wife was cheating on him, but could not bring himself to leave her, and his emotions on the situation are present in both of his final compositions, "I Wish It Would Rain" and "I Could Never Love Another."

On New Year's Eve 1967, a week after the release of "I Wish It Would Rain," Penzabene committed suicide.

The following lyrics to "I Wish It Would Rain," tell the story:

Sunshine, blue sky, please go away,
My girl has found another, and gone away
With her went my future, my life is filled with gloom,
So day after day, I stay locked up in my room

I know to you it might sound strange,
I wish it would rain (oh how I wish that it would rain)
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah

Cause so badly
I wanna go outside (such a lovely day)
Everyone knows that a man ain't supposed to cry
But listen, I got to cry, cuz crying, ooooooooh,
Is the pain, oh yeah.

Tony Turner reveals the following in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards were scheduled to perform at a big by-invitation-only party at the Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin's mansion in a Detroit suburb.

Aretha had personally requested that Dennis Edwards, her one-time live-in lover sing one of her favorite songs at the event, "A Song For You," but Edwards politely declined because Dennis had made a vow to a long term ongoing love interest of his never to sing "A Song For You," specifically for anyone else but her.

Just getting to the party proved to be an event in itself. As usual, David Ruffin missed three or four planes. I had to keep rebooking his flight arrangements throughout the day.

Finally, David finally arrived and we got into a limo that took us to Aretha's estate. On the way over, Eddie Kendricks looked like he was silently reminiscing. At his peak, he had lived in this neighborhood but he had to give the house and practically everything he owned to his ex-wife Pat in the divorce settlement.

The house was filled with thousands of dollars worth of fresh flowers. The white walls were covered with gold and platinum records spanning Aretha's whole career. It took me back to the time Mary Wilson moved homes for a day when she was invited to appear on one of the Rich & Famous shows. She took all her photographs and gold records off the walls, moved them over to a friend's mansion, parked her old Rolls-Royce with the Supremes license plate and pretended that this was her house so that nobody would know she was actually washed up and lived cooped up with her family in a tiny, two-bedroom bungalow.

But Mary's production paled in comparsion to Aretha because this was actually Aretha's home.

Strategically placed among all the photographs on the walls were several large framed pictures of Dennis and Aretha. It was like a shrine to Dennis.

"Me and Aretha could have made it." Dennis once told me. "But when you get Aretha, you get the Queen's staff and guards." He added, that he was worried that Aretha might be seeking to rekindle their romance. Dennis was in a marriage that didn't appear to be a match made in heaven, plus his career was definitely in need of the kind of shot in the arm Aretha could give it.

Suddenly, Aretha's personal manager arrived and told me "there's a man calling for you in the hallway, he's buck naked, he's soaking wet and he's screaming for you to get him a razor." Looking down the corridor, I saw that it was David Ruffin, my godfather.

Eddie suddenly informed me, he wanted to perform for Aretha, get paid and get out.

Aretha suddenly shows up with her boyfriend and asked Dennis again-to sing "A Song For You." As soon as Aretha's boyfriend turned his back, Dennis whispered, "Aretha, how can you ask me to sing "A Song For You," with your boyfriend standing right there? She said, "Honey, this is my house. He do what I say or he can get out!"

David, Dennis and Eddie came out on stage in their black jumpsuits and tore Aretha's house down with their performance.

After the performance, Aretha left to watch actor Blair Underwood model men's furs upstairs.

Not much later, after doing the payroll in Dennis's suite, there came a knock at the door. It was Aretha's sister, Erma. "Dennis, I want to speak to you privately," she said.

I left so they could speak.

The next morning, as I sat eating breakfast with Eddie, in walked Dennis Edwards followed by Aretha wearing a fabulous mink coat. She nodded her head regally, and said, "Y'all be sure to come up to the house for brunch," and left.

The second Dennis sat down Eddie and I both asked him, "What in the world has happened now?" Dennis claimed that Erma told him that Aretha still loved him and wanted to get back with him.

Later, Aretha came in saying she wanted Dennis to ride back to the house with her and spend the weekend, he asked, "What about your man?" "Honey, she said, what about him? He knows I came up here to see my man."

Dennis just told her, "Now Aretha, I'm not with all that." To this day, he insists nothing further happened between them that night.

Tammi Terrell's sister Ludie Montgomery reveals the following in her book:

The entire Montgomery family made arrangements to see Tammi perform at a out of town engagement. By this time, she was living with David Ruffin.

Apparently, while the family was out sightseeing, Tammi and David got into a big argument.

There had been a ongoing feud between them for a few months ever since Tammi had announced their engagement to a packed house in another state.

David was angry, because, unbeknownst to Tammi, he was still married with a family.

Before she found this out, on many occasions, she flaunted the ring he gave her and expressed to everyone that it was an engagement ring.

David was furious.

According to our Aunt Doris (who stayed behind), they argued very loudly in the hotel room.

Aunt Doris went and banged on the door and David finally opened it.

Tammi was lying on the bed and David was applying ice to the side of her face. When David went to get more ice, Tammi confessed to our Aunt that David had hit her viciously on the side of her face with his motorcycle helmet.

When we arrived a few hours after the incident, David put on his motorcycle helmet and jumped over the balcony.

It's a good thing that Daddy didn't find David that night, because I'm sure daddy would have ended up in prison.

This was the beginning of the end of their relationship.

Sam Cooke was very attracted to Tammi Terrell. The reason they didn't hook up is because the timing was off. He was married but separated and she was living with David Ruffin. Cooke even autographed a photo to Tammi, which read: "A message to Tammi, Sammy's in Love." They would have made a stunning couple. Sadly, Cooke was killed the following year. His death left Tammi devastated.

One night, Muhammad Ali attended one of Tammi's show with dashing actor, Calvin Lockhart in tow. Lockhart commented on how beautiful Tammi was throughout the show. Tammi's sister describes Lockhart as a deep, dark, velvety, gorgeous chocolate man.

Tammi grew up with Lola Falana. They were best friends and inseparable during childhood. They even did talent shows together. The crowds went wild when the two of them performed. Lola's family lived one block from Tammi's family.

Source: "My sister Tommie," by Ludie Montgomery

Tony Turner makes the following allegations in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

"I was on tour with David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks. The day of the show, due to drugs, David Ruffin was so weak, anyone could have easily held him down and called the ambulance because he was so weak he couldn't have fought a six-year-old child."

"To avoid scandal, I couldn't call the ambulance and nor did anyone else. I followed what I felt were his last wishes, and did what he asked of me. I took instructions from a man who had been doing drugs and hitting the pipe for years, and all day that day, and all day the day before."

"We were under his spell, caught in his nightmare. And he was telling us he wanted to die. I believe that David felt he was dead already, he just hadn't fallen over yet. He realized what he had done to his body. He realized what he had done to his life."

"He'd had everything he wanted: Women, money, drugs, cars, applause but he had failed."

"Inside himself he knew he had only himself to blame."

Tony Turner makes the following allegations in his book, “Deliver Us From Temptation.”

When David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards were performing in Los Angeles. Ollie Woodson (Treat Her Like A Lady) and Ron Tyson (from Otis Williams' Temptations) were at the show.

After the show, Ruffin, Kendricks and Edwards returned to the hotel, Ollie and Ron tagged alone. During the course of the evening, Dennis asked me to bring some ice to his suite. I went out into the hallway, suddenly, I heard moaning and groaning. I could hardly believe what I was seeing, the grand Ollie Woodson making out with a dishwasher-blonde whose butt was up against the ice machine.

Also, David had for some reason always been protective of me and had never let me see him actually using drugs, which was why it came as something of a shock the first time I ever saw him openly doing cocaine. It seemed like he just didn’t care anymore. He didn’t want to, or couldn’t stop.

And, Dennis Edwards didn’t even try to hide the fact that he made a drug connection as soon as he had arrived at the hotel in Baltimore. One of the guys who worked on the hotel staff was providing drugs as well as room service.

Dennis started doing crack until he decided the guy was ripping him off. One day, David called me to his hotel room and I found him sitting there with his crack pipe and a plastic bag full of white rocks, all laid out in full view of anyone who cared to see.

David looked terribly ill. He couldn’t breathe too well, he was wheezing with asthma, and his face was ashen. Between hits on the pipe he would give himself hits on his asthma inhaler, until finally it seemed like the inhaler just wasn’t enough.

It was time to take David to the hospital. At first David resisted vehemently but after barely making it through the first night’s performances and then staying up doing crack until he couldn’t breathe again, he finally gave in and was taken to the hospital.

The doctors gave David oxygen and tried to find his veins. They said he was in such bad condition that he was at risk of dying at any moment. They wanted to rush him to intensive car but David wouldn’t hear of it. After he left the hospital and returned to his hotel room, he picked up his crack pipe.

According to Tammi Terrell's sister Ludie Montgomery, few people know that Tammi was raped and severely beaten by three boys when she was a teenager.

She was on her way home from the "Wissahickon Boys And Girls Club." She was coming from a show rehearsal when it happened to her. Although she was completely distraught, she was able to get herself to the police station and make a positive identification of the boys who did this.

This incident changed her and made her a little rough around the edges.

That night, I saw Tammi's bloody clothing in the bathroom. I put it all together and was devastated for my sister. I felt so horrible about what she must have gone through.

It was solemn around our house for many weeks. I could do little to make Tammi feel better. Tammi would stay in her room crying, sulking and staring into space.

I hated those boys for what they did to her.

Thankfully, they were caught and punished for their actions.

During these years, most families, not just ours, swept any topics of this nature under the rug. Our family never discussed sex at all with Tammi or me. I learned the hard way and Tammi learned the horrific way.

Eventually, Tammi tucked her pain deep inside and, as always, she pulled herself up, dusted herself off, and snapped back to what seemed to be normal for Tammi.

I never told anyone outside of my family these details.

This event is the catalyst for my sister's complexities with relationships, choices in men. She was highly misunderstood by those who did not know her.

Tammi was often unfairly judged and even after her death, the things that were said about her were not accurate.

Source: "My Sister Tommie." Tammi Terrell photo: Courtesy of Tammiterrell.com

Tony Turner reveals the following in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards were booked to appear on a double bill with the Four Tops.

David had not shown up for the previous two performances in Wisconsin and when he didn't show in Milwaukee I wondered what I was going to tell the Four Tops because I knew they were booked for a huge tour of forty or so cities.

Around 4 p.m. the Four Tops showed up and they gave me no time to make excuses for David.

The first thing Levi Stubbs said was, "We know David's not here."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because we just saw him in Detroit. We were in our limo, coming through the city on our way to the airport and we saw him scrambling for crack on the corner. We think he was selling his Rolex. We had the driver pull over, and we said, 'David, come on, what are you doing? You've got a show to do tonight.' He told us, 'Oh, I'll be there. Go on and I'll be there later. Tony's going to get my ticket.' Well, we told him to fly out with us, we told him we could get him a ticket and everything but he wouldn't come with us."

The Four Tops eventually replaced David, Eddie and Dennis with Otis's Temptations.

Things got worse for David. One night, cops called David's girlfriend and asked her, "Do you know David Ruffin?" "Because we have a fourteen-year-old down here that has your Lincoln Continental and a signed piece of paper saying he bought it from Mr. David Ruffin for twenty dollars." David had traded the Lincoln for twenty dollars worth of crack.

Another night, David had returned late one evening from a crack house with two young boys, 8 and 10. It turned out, their mother had tried to sell them in the crack house for crack. David rescued them, he was scared something would happen to them. Despite his addiction, he managed to track down the kids Aunt and turn them over to her.

At the time of Tammi Terrell's death, she was engaged to be married. The man was one of the most prominent black doctors in the world, based in Philadelphia. Marvin Gaye was thrilled that Tammi had finally found happiness and was finally in a non-abusive relationship. Sadly, she would never see her wedding day.

She could always count on Marvin. According to her sister, Ludie, Marvin was her best friend and confidant. He knew her better than anyone.

At Tammi's funeral, Marvin approached Tammi's parents and thanked them for creating a beautiful human being whom he had the pleasure of knowing.

Ludie confirms, Tammi and Marvin were "never" romantically involved and her death nearly destroyed him because he lost his best friend.

Ludie also reveals, Tammi encouraged her first puppy love relationship. Ludie's first childhood boyfriend was Stevie Wonder, whom she often referred to as her "little sweetheart."

Tony Turner makes the following allegations in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

In the early 1990's, David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards were booked to perform at the Super Bowl pregame show.

We had all been given complimentary Super Bowl tickets. David asked me, what are you going to do with your Super Bowl ticket? I told him, "I'm going to sell mine. There's a man downstairs who wants to buy two for $1,200 dollars in cash."

David said, what! Sell mine, too!

I went downstairs, sold the tickets and gave David his $1,200 hundred dollars.

When everyone was ready for the Super Bowl show we started down in the elevator together and waited in the circular driveway. As we were waiting, we saw Whitney Houston about to leave in her limo, looking like a young girl out with her dad, and surrounded by her female security guards all dressed up in what appeared to be men's suits.

She came towards Dennis and said, "You're the singingest motherfucker I ever heard, baby!" she bellowed. "You could turn out a fuckin place!"

Dennis looked at me as if to say, Damn, isn't she kinda rough? But he just said, "Thanks, Whitney. Are you staying for the game?" "Hell, no! I've got my lover waiting for me back home, baby. I'm getting a flight out of this motherfuckin place right after I finish singing the National Anthem."

She then got in her limo and left with her dad.

Tony Turner reveals the following in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

"When my godfather David Ruffin was high, he'd fly off the handle and then he'd calm down and for a while he would be perfectly coherent. He talked about all his drug treatment programs, "You can't cure no motherfucker like me in thirty days, I need to be locked up."

"He also talked a lot about Tammi Terrell: How he had really loved her and how sorry he was about the way things turned out. "Because...because of the way I treated her. How she died, what could have been-that's why I'm so messed up man."

He believed Tammi could have been the next Diana Ross. According to David, Berry had ruined her career, he had put her on the back burner. "Motown was using Tammi at that time to help propel Marvin Gaye's career because Marvin was married to Berry's sister Anna and Marvin needed some hits so Anna could have gobs of money."

"They couldn't have Tammi going solo, you couldn't have another girl getting big hits. What the hell would happen? Diana Ross would no longer be the top dog at Motown but as long as Tammi was hooked up with Marvin Gaye it was fine. It was a duo, it was safe and Diana could be top diva without any competition."

David said it wasn't true that he had hit Tammi in the head. People told that story, he said, trying to blame him for Tammi's death-people who didn't like him, who felt that Tammi was too good for him, that she was forsaking a solo career by running around in a mink-lined Cadillac with a crazy no-good-drug addict like David.

That was certainly not what Gordy had in mind for her when he put Motown to work cleaning up her image.

"Gordy wanted to keep her away from me. He was trying to break my spirit because I refused to kiss his little short ass."

Raynoma Gordy (Berry's ex-wife) reveals the following allegations in her book, “Berry, Me, and Motown.”

After Diana Ross decided to marry Bob Silberstein, she asked me to call Berry Gordy with the news.

I contacted Berry and said, “Congratulations, Berry, I said. “What are you talking about?” He asked, completely in the dark.

“Diana and Bob just got married in Las Vegas.” Berry took the blow like a real soldier. “Great, that’s absolutely great!” He sounded like he was throwing streamers around his office.

For a long time, the public sentiment was “poor Berry Gordy-getting the shaft by the cold-hearted Diana.” Berry told me later that Diana’s wedding day was the happiest day of his life. He said that at an earlier point she’d almost forced his hand until at the last moment he’d realized, “I can’t marry this woman. This woman is selfish as I am. I’m going to have to be kissing her ass all the time. I need somebody to kiss my ass.”

A perfect Hollywood mismatch, their marriage was all to accommodate Diana’s needs while Bob kept busy managing Chaka Khan & Rufus. To complicate an already loaded situation, Berry became a sort of third party to the marriage, accompanying the two of them everywhere. Another weird triangle.

Soon after Diana married Bob, a new light was shed on the ultimatum she’d given Berry-she was pregnant. When Rhonda was born, she looked enough like Berry for those of us who knew the situation to figure it out but whether or not Diana told Berry at that time is unknown. An extremely devoted mother, Diana shielded Rhonda from the knowledge until she was seventeen years old. In the meantime, Rhonda had grown up the daughter of a white man.

Later in 1973, two years after Rhonda was born, Berry held a wedding reception at the Beverly Hills Hotel for his daughter Hazel and Jermaine Jackson. Toward the end of the beautiful affair, according to Raynoma, Berry stood up to say a few words. Telling some humorous and poignant stories about Hazel, his eyes fell at last on Diana, Bob and their baby girl. “And thank God I only had one daughter,” Berry finished. Diana immediately drew herself up, signaled to her husband they were going, and made a hasty, conspicuous departure.

It came as no surprise to me when, a few years later, Diana and Marvin Gaye locked horns. Marvin was just as temperamental as Diana, probably more so. While they worked on a duet album, Diana was thoroughly professional; Marvin was chronically undependable. She didn’t touch drugs, Marvin was in his early bouts with cocaine. She kept her personal turmoil's far away from work, Marvin’s ran wildly out of control. Diana, the teacher’s pet, deferred always to Berry Gordy, Marvin had an attitude problem with authority in general and with Berry in particular and yet the two were the reigning romantic prince and princess of Motown. During this time, Berry and Diana were having strained relations and she was pregnant with her second child.

As they arrived in the studio, Marvin was fortunately on time. However, he was sitting on his stool surrounded by a cloud of pot smoke. Diana stormed out of there and into the control room to find Berry. “Listen, she said, “I cannot sing with this man smoking weed. I’m pregnant. I do not want to be around any drugs. I won’t go on until you make him stop.” Berry chose to act with diplomacy. “Man, don’t smoke no weed. Diana’s pregnant.” Marvin said, “Fuck Diana Ross. I’m going to smoke weed or I don’t sing.”

Neither would back down, so all the duet vocals, those tender words of love were recorded separately. For the entire Diana and Marvin session, Diana refused to be in the room with Marvin.

Whenever I hung out with Diana in Los Angeles, I’d teach her some things on the piano. Not musically trained, but with lots of energy and enthusiasm, Diana enjoyed it tremendously. Soon we found ourselves with a regular lesson going. I told her, “You know, you keep going like this and you could eventually write songs of your own.” She said, “Really, you really think so?” She seemed so flattered.

A few days later, behind his desk, Berry was glaring at me as I walked through his office door. Diana was seated facing him, legs crossed, staring straight ahead at the wall. I sat down next to her, though she would not so much as look at me.

Berry stated, “Diana tells me you’re trying to steal her away from the company.” I almost laughed. “What?”

“She has told me that you want to record her yourself, avoiding the company’s producers and furthering your own career at the expense of Motown.”

I was angry. “What? That’s ridiculous. All I did was talk to her about learning to play the piano and suggest that we work on some songs and maybe go in and produce a couple of things together. I didn’t say anything about leaving the company. Or, “I spoke directly to Diana, “furthering my career. You know that’s a lie.” Diana stared blankly ahead.

Berry responded for her. “Nevertheless, Diana and I have decided you’re fired.”

According to author, J. Randy Taraborrelli: Before the Supremes had a hit, Diana Ross allegedly told Berry Gordy in no uncertain terms that she wanted Holland-Dozier-Holland to come up with a winning formula for her, just as they had for Martha Reeves & The Vandellas.

As Berry tried to make up his mind, Diana allegedly decided to take matters into her own hands. She began to pursue Brian Holland hoping to convince him he should produce her group with his partners. Brian was interested. Soon he was writing notes to Diana and trying to be discreet asking a Motown employee to deliver them.

Before long, Brian's wife Sharon, a small but very tough and determined woman threatened to kick Diana Ross's ass if she didn't stop messing with her husband.

Nevertheless, Holland-Dozier-Holland were in the studio with the Supremes by May 1963.

The Supremes seemed to be off to a new start but their future was threatened when Sharon Holland accosted Diana in the Twenty Grand nightclub where she was partying with Florence Ballard.

According to witnesses, Sharon Holland shouted obscenities and screamed at Diana, "If you don't stay away from my man, you're a dead woman."

Diana wasn't one to run from a challenge. She was ready to fight Sharon Holland if she had to. In fact, she seemed eager to. But her friends managed to get her out of the club just in time.

"Well, he likes me, Diana allegedly explained to Mary and Florence on the way home."

Source: "Call Her Miss Ross," by J. Randy Taraborrelli

"MOTOWN" HARD LUCK CASES:

Rick James makes the following allegations in his book, "Memoirs Of A Super Freak."

"I became aware of the importance of publishing and royalty rights." James knew that publishing rights were an artist's lifeline, and that you had to hold on to them no matter what.

James made the following bombshell allegation on page 127: "A few members of the Temptations (unnamed) turned to pimping their women out despite the fact they were Number One artists and were only seeing a 'low' weekly salary despite being huge stars."

In 1990, "Motown" songstress Mary Wells (My Guy, Two Lovers) was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx. She immediately began treatment and was forced to sell her house, possessions, and eventually could not afford health insurance. The treatments ravaged her voice, which forced Wells to quit touring. With no way to continue treatment, Wells' friends Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Martha Reeves financially supported her, with the help of many artists who looked up to Wells, including Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, and Bonnie Raitt. Martha Reeves also got in contact with people she knew at the "Rhythm and Blues Foundation." The foundation gave Wells an additional $125,000 to help pay her medical bills and get her set up in an apartment. Mary Wells died in 1992.

After David Ruffin's death, his daughter Nedra told Tony Turner (godson) that she was unable to raise enough money for Ruffin's funeral. "We're going to have to hold a press conference tonight and let the public know that we need money to bury him."

Tony told her, "That would be too embarrassing to your father's memory."

When the word got out that the family was unable to cover the funeral costs: A casket company in Atlanta, the same company that had made Martin Luther King, Jr.'s casket, offered to donate a very expensive one for David and Michael Jackson agreed to cover the funeral costs.

Raynoma (Ray) Gordy (ex-wife of Berry Gordy) reveals the following allegations in her book, "Berry, Me & Motown."

"One day I received a call from my ex-husband, Berry Gordy. He said, "I can't handle being on the road with Diana Ross, "I would like you to go in and work with her. She opens tomorrow at the Cocoanut Grove and she's expecting you." After we agreed to financial terms, I accepted the job." This was before Diana got me fired.

"Amazingly, I thought, a lot of water had passed under the bridge since those days in 1960 when skinny little Diane and her group, the Primettes, came forward hoping to be part of Motown. Sweet, polite and respectful, Diane then knew me only as Miss Ray, her employer and her other employer's wife. Now, a decade later, she was an international star and she was a different person."

I greeted Diana in her dressing room, "Hello, Diana." Although she responded, there was no acknowledgement of our history or the dramatic reversal of our roles.

After the show, Diana asked to speak to me. Before I got a word out, Diana said, "Look, I know tonight was your first night but from now on, I would prefer that you refer to me as 'Miss Ross." I know that you have known me for some time but in my position I need to be treated with respect."

"My reaction was a strong mix of nausea and pity for her. In molding Diana into a superstar, Berry was shaping a monster."

I'd played some rough chess games in the past but this one took the cake. There was Diana, queen of Motown yet still playing to be Berry's queen-to be his wife and have his child. There was me, the ex-queen, the previous wife and already a mother of one of his children. It was an absurd game, brilliantly devised by Berry.

One night Berry showed up without notice. He gazed at me and said, "Ray, you look fabulous!" As Berry spoke those loving words of praise, I turned to see Diana, a woman who spent hours on makeup, standing in the wings with a look of horrified resentment.

When Diana opened at the Waldorf, Berry showed up again, unannounced. Diana had on a four thousand dollar Bob Mackie gown. Berry did his little tongue-in-cheek, cocked head look and said, "You know, you look just like a chicken in that thing." Diana ran into the dressing room in tears and I felt sorry for her.

Raynoma Gordy (Berry Gordy's ex-wife) reveals the following in her book, "Berry, Me, and Motown."

"On April 1, 1984, I received a call from my friend Cliff. I immediately heard something strange in his voice. He said, "Marvin Gaye has just been shot and killed." I reeled from shock and disbelief.

Cliff asked, where is little Marvin?" "Oh, no," I said, with a renewed bolt of anguish. "He and Eddie went out to eat." I was heartsick. Marvin III had spent the night at our place and had left a few hours ago with Eddie. Any minute now the news would be blasting on the stereo in Eddie's car. The boys had even talked of dropping by and saying hello to Marvin's father.

I made my first phone call. "Anna, is what I heard true?" She sounded solemn, almost sedated, answering, "Yes, it is."

For an excruciating hour, I stood at the window, praying that Marvin III would be spared the unspeakable devastation of hearing it on the radio. At last, I held my breath as Eddie's car pulled up. Music was pouring out the windows and when the two got out they were dancing and laughing.

I met them at the door. "Marvin, go in the bedroom and call your mother. I watched him trot off to the phone. I took Eddie into the other bedroom. On hearing the news, Eddie's knees buckled.

It was a long time before Marvin III emerged from the bedroom, moving very slowly, fighting to hold back his sorrow, only one tear glistened his cheek. We stood together silently, lending our presence, we were unable to speak. We were quiet for a long time and then little Marvin bit his lip and said, "You know my father told me not to cry. He told me when I saw him last week, that if anything happened to him, not to cry. To just go ahead and really do great in school and get ahead in life.

'Just don't cry for me,' he said."

By Joel Selvin @ The SF Chronicle

Chris Clark, first photo, was a tall, blond 20-year-old Air Force brat out of Marin County when she signed with Motown Records as the label's first white artist in 1966.

"I didn't see it as a problem," says Clark, 61, sitting in her Santa Rosa home, cluttered with artwork, computer equipment and cat furniture. "I was the 6-foot blonde who got off the plane with the Temptations in the '60s."

"She was up against Smokey. She was up against Stevie. She was up against Marvin. She was up against Diana and the Supremes, Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Marvelettes. And she held her own against those people," says Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr.

In her recording career at Motown, Clark worked with the Detroit label's top producers and songwriters - Smokey Robinson, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Marvin Gaye. She collaborated with Gordy himself on his song "I Want to Go Back There," a number he frequently cites as one of his favorites. But her scorching "Love's Gone Bad" - written and produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland in the middle of the team's run of 10 No. 1 hits with the Supremes - only managed two weeks on the R&B charts in October 1966 and disappeared.

When neophyte film producer Gordy decided to do a complete rewrite on the script for "Lady Sings the Blues," he turned to Clark. She earned an Oscar nomination for her first script. Their personal relationship grew from the day she auditioned with her favorite Etta James song, "All I Could Do Was Cry," a song Gordy also happened to write ("I didn't know he wrote it until about a year later," she says).

"He ended up signing me, kind of reluctantly, because he didn't want to deal with any white artist. I just held on to his foot. 'Taught me everything I know' doesn't say enough."

She stayed with Motown 16 years. She served as vice president for the company's movie and TV division and also worked as staff photographer. Clark was running the creative affairs department when she left in 1982 to marry screenwriter Ernest Tidyman. He won an Oscar for writing "The French Connection," but is probably better remembered for creating "Shaft," the black detective movie hero, although Tidyman was white. He died from a perforated ulcer two years after they married ("He left early," she says).

In 1990, after going through rehab at the Betty Ford Clinic ("I reached a crash point in my life"), Clark moved to Arizona, where she spent many years living in a cabin in the woods.

According to Diana Ross biographies, Gordy once went on a Supremes tour and booked hotel suites flanked on one side by his girlfriend, Diana Ross, and on the other by Clark. Clark didn't like the term "girlfriend."

When she moved back to the Bay Area - her younger sister owns a recording studio in Cotati - she ran across the British CD reissue of her album on the Web. The disc proved popular with the avid fans of obscure '60s R&B records they call Northern Soul in England, and led to Clark appearing as opening act last summer on a 13-date United Kingdom tour by the Temptations and the Four Tops. The concerts were her first public performances since the Supremes ruled the charts.

Clark saw it all. She watched thousands of dollars change hands on flurries of bets over the course of 18 holes with Gordy, Robinson, Gaye and the rest. She played in the fiercely competitive Gordy vs. Jacksons volleyball games ("At Motown, chess was a blood sport," she says). She remembers Stevie Wonder as the blind kid who showed her around Motown studios. Her past follows her wherever she goes.

Tony Turner makes the following allegations in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

"There was a woman sitting right behind me at David Ruffin's funeral, who claimed to be a member of the church, and she didn't stop gossiping for about 25 minutes. "Yeah, girl, let me tell you a thing or two. The man (David Ruffin) was no good," she was saying to her best friend. "David had at least four wives! Honey, my step-sister's girlfriend's cousin once told me that a friend of hers had known this woman who lived with him. She said that he beat her ass! He was a dope head, took all her money and almost made her lose her house up in Southfield, girl. Baby, he gave her no money, he had children all around."

"Meanwhile, Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards had not been asked to speak or sing at the funeral. So when it came time for the Temptations to take their three minutes in the funeral spotlight it was Melvin Franklin who went to the podium. As Melvin approached the podium, Ollie Woodson got up, uninvited, and followed him. After Melvin read the eulogy, he called up his whole packet of Temptations."

"All of a sudden I saw a man vault down the aisle dressed in gold Bermuda shorts. When the Muslim guards tried to stop him, Melvin said, "Let him through, he's here to stand in for his late cousin, Paul Williams."

"Finally, Melvin called Eddie and Dennis up to the podium. He then announced that they were going to sing "My Girl." Ollie stood at the mike and started singing and the crowd went crazy. Dennis had pushed his way from the back of the podium to the front, practically knocking Ollie out of the way and was standing at the mike singing "When it's cold outside, I got the month of May,"in his best 'I'm going to turn this mother out gospel voice."

"Dennis completely overshadowed Ollie. Then Ollie came back to the mike to get a few more lines in, at which point Dennis vocally finished him off."

"It was a true Motown-style war between Dennis and Ollie, at the end, the mourners rose from their seats and gave them a standing ovation."

According to James Brown, he once had a secret meeting with Berry Gordy. Gordy tried to convince Brown to join Motown by telling him, "You can sell more records with my label than the tiny label you're with."

Brown thought about it but knew he could never exist happily on Motown because Gordy's acts were a little to soft for him. Too much pop and not enough soul. Brown was way too raw for the kind of polished music Motown was willing to do.

Brown also had a problem with their choreography, which was great but it was too rehearsed, down to the last toe-step whereas Brown's dance moves were different, spontaneous and no two nights were the same. Brown said, "Mine didn't come from a rehearsal hall-it came from my heart and soul, and there was no way I was ever going to change that, for Motown or anywhere else."

"I could never be part of what they were in to."

"Under Gordy's strict, hands-on direction the Motown show and catalogue were shaped around pop, and their acts were made to strut like minstrels."

"They were like the caviar of Black music, while I, on the other hand, was strictly soul food."

Source: "I Feel Good," by Marc Eliot

(RICK JAMES' "SHARON TATE" CONNECTION)

Rick James makes the following allegations in his book, “Memoirs Of A Super Freak.”

“I needed to make some money and fast. I began to hang out with this older black dude, Ron, from Chicago. He was a real Mack Daddy and a serious player. He wore a big gaucho hat and leather clothes. He was a super-fly light skinned brother. He lived with this white chick in a million dollar home at the top of Mulholland.

“He dealt in counterfeit money, heroin and cocaine. He said he liked my style and we became instant friends. I would hold drugs for him and he would throw me a grand here and a grand there.”

“One day Ron came by and told me he was going away for a week or so and asked me if I would hold some shit for him. He gave me a bag of coke and told me I could do as much as I liked.”

“Well, Ron stayed gone quite a while. The large bag had almost diminished to nothing by the time Ron came back.”

“I came up with a brilliant idea to put flour inside the bag to compensate for the loss. Bad idea”

“I had also sold a bunch of his heroin to musician friends. I knew it was wrong but I needed the money.”

“When he came over to my house, I know he sensed something wasn’t right. He just picked up his stuff and left. He never called after that and I felt I had lost a good friend.”

“One day, celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring told me he was coming by my house to pick up me and my friend Seville because he wanted to take us to see some friends of his for a weekend of fun. Seville and I had gotten fucked up the night before snorting coke and drinking wine and when Jay came over I wouldn’t get out of bed. I can remember Jay standing at the end of my bed trying to wake me up but I was too gone to talk and just waved at him. Jay smiled and shrugged, “Your going to miss a great time, Rick.” Then he walked out and we I fell back asleep.”

“A few days later I read that Jay had been murdered with Sharon Tate and others. I was shocked. All I could think about was that I was supposed to be there.”

"I remember thanking God!"

Rick James makes the following allegations in his book, "Memoirs Of A Super Freak."

When I arrived in LA, all my friends said, "Rick, you got to get back to the Funk, the streets. You got to get hungry again." Everyone said the same thing. I had gotten too rich, too fast. I had lost that thing, that ghetto tiger, which had fueled me in the beginning. Instead of drinking cheap wine, I was drinking Cristal and bottles of Chateau Rothschild. Instead of one woman, there were twenty. Everything had multiplied. I was in the California sunshine, not the ghettos and black snow of Buffalo. Life had become easy and I had become lackadaisical."

Sunset Boulevard was a hoe stroll. All the prostitutes in Hollywood worked The Strip, and they loved Rick James and I loved them. I would send them roses while they worked. When I'd ride down the street they would whistle and yell my name. It seemed I had something in common with them. And I did-we were all from the streets. When I went back to Buffalo. I would dress in disguise and go to the Perry Projects, just to walk around for a while. I realized I was there to get back to the streets. I needed to feel the essence of the ghetto and the projects again. I needed "Street Songs."

My hangout in California was a club in Hollywood called "Carlos & Charlie's, a restaurant on the bottom and a club on the top. It was strictly VIP. All the stars hung out there. It was the in spot. I was hanging out with this guy named Pete "Petey" Kelly, a light skinned, green eyed brother. He was my coke dealer. Girls liked Petey and he liked the girls. He owned two Rolls Royces and a house in the hills. We were inseparable.

Petey and I were real close, getting high and sleeping with chicks. Petey was never that good at drinking alcohol. He could blow coke but when it came to liquor, his ass was through. Once we took a private plane to Vegas to see Diana Ross at Caesar's Palace. When we got on the plane I told Petey to take it easy because I didn't want him getting to drunk. I wanted him to see the show and meet Diana. Soon as he gets on the plane, vodka straight with ice. I knew he was fucked up when I saw his shit-eating grin while walking through Caesar's. We went in and took our seats. Diana came out, at that precise moment, Petey vomited all over the fucking table. It was disgusting. He went up to the suite and missed the whole show. Diana stopped the show and told the audience the King Of Punk Funk was in the house and introduced me. It was a great evening. I went backstage and met her for the first time.

The Supremes, the Miracles and Holland, Dozier Holland accompanied Berry Gordy to Stevie Wonder's Motown audition.

Earlier, Gordy had heard Stevie sing and play the harmonica in his office. He kept a poker face but he thought the kid was fabulous.

At the audition, Stevie found the piano and played a couple of gospel tunes with a flourish. Gordy grinned. What about the drums, Stevie?

Stevie made his way over to the big drum kit, grabbed the sticks and practically detonated the room. Okay then, Gordy said. What else can you play, Stevie?

Stevie went around the studio. He spent a little time with each of the instruments, including the trumpet, a saxophone, percussion instruments, even a xylophone and he went around the block a few times with each piece. Gordy and the others watched with growing amazement.

The kid, Gordy whispered to the Supremes, is truly some kind of young musical genius. The Supremes nodded in agreement.

Source: "Blind Faith," by Dennis Love & Stacy Brown

(RICK JAMES SLAMS MARY JANE GIRLS & ANITA BAKER)

The following allegations are from Rick James book, "Memoirs Of A Superfreak."

"One of the most upsetting things happened when the Mary Jane Girls went behind my back to Motown saying all these lies about me. Joanne (JoJo) McDuffie, second photo with the braids, was the ugly duckling, and the biggest liar of the bunch. She said the cruelest things about me to the press, things that just weren't true."

"Joanne had married this neighborhood Buffalo trick named Robert Thunderbird who was always hanging around trying to get his slimy hands on any of the girls. Joanne, being the homeliest, was weak for him. The day they got married, I could see he was after the fame and the money. JoJo's Maid Of Honor was Anita Baker."

"Anita is one of the most stuck-up b**ches I'd ever met, she was nasty to everyone at the wedding except for JoJo."

"JoJo started to change after "My House," was released. She started to get stuck up like that b**ch Anita."

"The Mary Jane Girls were scheduled to do a video, JoJo wanted $30,000 to do the video. I screamed, "What? No one, not me, not Prince gets paid to do videos. We just do them to help our careers. I told my brother to deal with the stupid b**ch. I think he gave her $15,000, after that, I was through with JoJo. She embarrassed me, herself and everyone by trying to come across like a fucking superstar. And I had made her!"

"I had began to cut another album on the Mary Jane Girls, but after six or seven songs, I said, fuck it! They aren't worth it."

"The Mary Jane Girls were finished and I was glad. I had made them and now I would break them. Now, I'd see if they were strong enough to make it. But they weren't. None of them ever made a record on their own. JoJo ended up singing background for Anita Baker. Corvette sued and lost a judgment against Paula Abdul. Candy went back to singing behind rappers like Ice Cube. Maxi got married and she is still making demos."

"What a shame, I thought. They had the world, but instead of singing and making money and thanking GOD for their break, they got ugly and thought they had no need for me. After all the lies and accusations, I deserted them."

Rick James makes the following allegations in his book, "Memoirs Of A Super Freak."

"Before my "Street Songs" tour began, George Clinton asked me if we wanted to do his Funk Festival. This festival would put me into stadiums of 80,000 people. George wanted to kick my ass on stage, so I told him, I wanted $75,000 per show, and I got it. The group and I did a hour show. By the time we finished people were hoarse from singing along. When we left the stage most people left the stadium. Despite selling out each stadium with our lineup, George never asked me to do another Funk Festival.

Next stop, Memphis. When I arrived, there were 15 Black plainclothes cops there to protect me. It seems some white racists were planning to kill me in Memphis. They had fire bombed a couple of record stores that had my albums and pictures in the windows. They didn't want a longhaired, pot-smoking n**ger in their town. I was nervous because Memphis is where they got Martin Luther King. I went to Elvis's home and was asked to leave. They said I was causing to much commotion for the tourists. That night when I walked on stage, I yelled to the crowd, "I went to Elvis's home today." And, the motherfucker wasn't home."

Rick James makes the following allegations in his book, "Memoirs Of A Super Freak."

"One day at the studio I ran into Marvin Gaye. He asked me, "Rick, have you gotten your bonus?" I said, "What bonus?" He said, "Your bonus for going platinum."

"I said I hadn't. He said whenever somebody's album goes platinum, Motown gives them a bonus. I said I hadn't gotten mine yet. He said that if it wasn't cash, then a Stutz (exotic car) or something."

I began to get pissed. I hadn't received anything and I certainly felt I deserved it.

The next day I got up early and went to Motown. I was mad. I went into Suzanne DePasse's office and screamed.

"Where's my bonus?"

She calmed down and said, "Rick, this is something you should talk to Berry Gordy about."

I tried calling Berry but he was nowhere to be found.

I didn't know it then but Marvin loved to start shit up with the company and their artists. Motown did sometimes give bonuses for huge selling albums but it wasn't mandatory and Marvin knew this.

He was just trying to rile me up and cause trouble. He knew I had a crazy nature and he knew that I would run straight to Motown and raise hell. Marvin was always like that, a crazy motherfucker, but I loved him to death.

I never got a bonus and Berry Gordy called and told me that I was out of line. At that time Marvin was divorcing Berry's sister, Anna, and he was recording an album that she would get all the royalties from. So I guess he felt like causing even more trouble than usual. Berry did end up throwing some extra money my way but he made sure I knew that from then on I had to talk straight to him if I had a problem.

David Ruffin:

Tony Turner makes the following allegations in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

"After David Ruffin's death, his daughter Nedra asked a friend to look in Ruffin's briefcase and find the diamond earring he wore on stage, which he kept in a double-barreled contact-lens case. The friend found the lens case."

"In one side was the diamond earring. In the other, a stash of cocaine. Also in the briefcase, was a note written by David, basically saying: "I'm scared, somebody is out to get me, if anything happens to me look into it."

"When someone from the Ruffin family asked the police to enter the note into evidence, the police told them, it was no point because the case was closed."

Temptations (Eddie & Dennis):

"The overseas tour in 1991 had been billed "The Reunion Of The Temptations." We had all left the states enroute to Paris."

"Beneath Eddie Kendricks charm was a growing cynicism that was eating him up inside, and sharpening a vicious tongue."

"When I asked him to lower the volume on a wild Screamin' Jay Hawkins tape he's woken up everybody on the tour bus with, he lashed out at me, "You motherfuckin b**ch, are you crazy? This is my tour bus and my goddamn show! I'll put your fucking ass off the bus, you damn tramp! You don't talk to me like that."

"I had never, ever, heard Eddie talk to me or anybody else like this. When Dennis Edwards heard the outburst, he told me, 'Tony, go to your seat, then he snapped Eddie up and literally threw him in his seat."

"As the tour progressed, Eddie grew nastier and nastier. Eddie accused the background singers and dancers of singing better and dancing better behind Dennis."

"I finally had enough and left the tour. I never saw or heard from Eddie Kendricks again."

Supremes (Mary Wilson):

Tony Turner makes the following allegations in his book, "All That Glittered."

"In 1986, Mary Wilson's "Dreamgirl: My Life As A Supreme," was published and Mary was optimistic that with the book's success she was going to get a huge recording contract. It didn't happen. Mary seemed reluctant to update her show and the bookings dwindled. We continued to tour and Mary continued to resist change. At times she could be shockingly demanding.

"Mary started to get belligerent and she cursed out her background singers, the band and me."

"One day she asked me, "Who do you think you are, Mr. Popularity? Get your own show! The tension built. I was sitting with Karen Ragland, one of Mary's pseudo Supremes. Mary strolled in, walked over to the table next to us, picked up my new fur jacket and hurled it to the floor and sat down."

"Before a concert, I told Mary that there was no backstage dressing room. She started screaming at me at the top of her lungs."

"That was the last straw. When I told her I was leaving the tour, Mary stopped cold in her tracks and said, "What do you mean?" I said, "Good luck, God bless you and goodbye. And I left."

Rick James made the following statements in his book, "Memoirs Of A Super Freak."

"I was raised in a family of eight, four boys and four girls. I often wondered how my mom managed to raise eight crazies like us, especially since most of the time she was raising us on her own."

"I was named after my father, of whom I have only vague recollections. He was a good-looking brother with Indian blood. At night, he would wear a woman's stocking over his head to keep his hair pressed down tight when he slept. He was a womanizer, especially after he'd had a few drinks. He and my mother went out frequently and mom would come home crying."

"From my bedroom I could hear them fighting and it usually had something to do with another woman."

"He was never the kind of father I used to hear and read about, the kind who took his kids to baseball games and went fishing with them. We never talked much, it was much more hello and goodbye. When I think of him, I think of the constant fights. He would beat my mother, and I'd sit at the top of the stairs with my brothers and sisters, crying, wishing I was grown up so I could kill him."

"One of my happiest memories was the day Dad walked out on Mom and us and never came back."

Supremes:

Tony Turner reveals the following allegations in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

"When I informed David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks that I was busy writing about my adventures with the Supremes, David jumped in with, "You've got to tell the truth about that bitch, Diana Ross, and all the rest of them. And Mary was trash. And that Berry Gordy, he stole all my motherfuckin money."

"That he did, that he did, chimed in Eddie.

"And Eddie, tell Tony how Mary chased you all those years, Eddie blushed. "That Diana Ross," David went on. "Did I ever tell you about the time out on one of those Motown tours, when I pulled the b**ch aside and said, "Listen, write the names down of the men on this tour whose d**ks you haven't sucked yet-write that shit down?"

Sammy Davis, Jr.

According to Tony Turner, "Mary Wilson and I were in her dressing room when a security guard knocked on the door and announced that a Mr. Davis would like to see her. I said, "Who the fuck is that?" Mary didn't have a clue who this Mr. Davis was either, so I poked my head out the door and waited until I saw a tiny, decrepit man with a cane hobbling down the hallway. And then I realized, it was Sammy Davis, Jr.

When he entered the room, I called out to Mary, 'Mr. Davis is here to see you. Mary waltzed back into the room topless. Mr. Davis proceeded to offer Mary a few lines of cocaine, I just stood in shock at the sight of her snorting coke bare breasted in front of an aging Sammy."

Cindy Birdsong & Mary Wilson:

When Cindy Birdsong of Diana Ross and the Supremes discovered that Dennis Edwards had been inducted into the Hall Of Fame, even though he had not been an original member of the Temptations, she immediately called the organizers to find out why she, as Florence Ballard's replacement in the original Supremes, had not been inducted the previous year along with a very present Mary Wilson and a very absent Diana Ross. She was stunned to discover that Mary Wilson had insisted on her exclusion from the Supremes' induction; if they allowed Cindy in, Mary would refuse the honor.

Rick James makes the following allegations in his book, "Memoirs Of A Super Freak."

"Before "Bustin Out," was finished and mixed, Berry Gordy called me early in the morning and asked if I would like to produce Diana Ross. I was thrilled at the chance. He put Diana on the other line and we talked for an hour about concepts. I even had this great concept for the album cover. I was going to have her pictured in leather and ripped up jeans.

"The next day I began to write tunes for Diana. I wrote this funky duet called "Sucker For Love." It would feature me and Diana. She loved the song and she loved my ideas. But as soon as I found out I was only going to do three or four cuts on her, I balked. It was all or nothing."

"While walking through Motown one day I heard this beautiful voice. I looked in the office where it was coming from and sitting at the piano singing was this little white chick named Teena Marie. She was shy, even bashful as she introduced herself to me. I asked her what she was doing there, and she said she was signed to the company, We talked a little longer, then I left."

"One day I got this call from Teena's manager who asked if I was interested in producing Teena. I said, send me some tapes so I could here some more of her voice. Never in my life had I heard such a range with so much passion in a white voice. I started writing for her. I was also told this was her last shot. She had spent close to $400,000 dollars recording and still no album. I was amazed at how Motown really didn't know what to do with her, Berry had signed her as an actress, and singing was going to be secondary to her. They had all these producers writing songs for her that just didn't work, some of the songs sounded good to me but Motown just didn't hear it. I finished a bunch of tunes for Teena. I also decided to give her "Sucker For Love," since I wasn't doing Diana's album anymore."

"Teena's album turned out great, we called it: "Wild and Peaceful." We deliberately didn't put her photo on the album cover because we didn't want to confuse people and we made them wonder was Teena Black or White."

"When I finished with Teena, Barney Ales, a Motown President got right in my face at Suzanne DePasse's wedding and ordered me to finish "Bustin Out." When he said, "Fuck Teena Marie," I knew he meant business."

Tony Turner makes the following allegations in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

"Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin arrived at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on January 18, 1989 for the Temptations induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame."

"It seemed as if all was forgiven if not forgotten between the two duos of Tempts. At least they made a good effort to hide their grievances from the cameras and crowds."

"David told me that offstage he joined Mick Jagger and Keith Richards allegedly in a community crack pipe that the three circulated amongst themselves."

"There was talk that Melvin and Otis had been banking on a no-show by Eddie and David, and had brought their trio of replacements along just in case, this caused tension." Otis Williams had recently published a memoir, "Temptations," that was rough on Eddie and David."

"Otis insisted on a separate table for himself and Melvin Franklin, who was there against doctor's orders. He had been a sick man lately. It was four or five years since I'd heard him talk about how rough it was to go on stage sometimes because of the various aches and pains. He had chronic rheumatoid arthritis so bad-at times he could hardly stretch his fingers out."

Dennis Edwards was in the middle, as usual. He was back with Otis's Tempts but the very next day he would appear on a local talk show with David and Eddie.

Otis still insisted on putting himself forward as exclusive spokesman for his group of Temptations, this was a rare opportunity for the naturally talkative Dennis to get a word in."

After David Ruffin's death, singer Martha Reeves accompanied Ruffin's fiancee, Diane, to the funeral homeThey both encountered an employee who was very nasty and mean at which Martha snatched off her sunglasses and said, "I am Martha Reeves!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Reeves. I didn't know it was you." "I don't care who you thought it was," said Martha. You're not supposed to speak to anybody like that. This young lady with me is David Ruffin's fiancee. This woman waited on David Ruffin hand and foot since Detroit arrested him and threw him out and you should never talk to anybody or treat any of David Ruffin's fans like that."

"We Motown people have manners and always treat people well. You really should be ashamed of yourself standing in a funeral home and speaking to human beings in that manner!"

According to Tony Turner, reports emerged of autopsy photographs showing abrasions on David's chest and knees, as if he had been dragged.

Source: "Deliver Us From Temptation," by Tony Turner, Martha Reeves photo credit: Soul Patrol

Raynoma Gordy makes the following allegations in her book, "Berry, Me and Motown."

"When Marvin Gaye and Harvey Fuqua came to Motown, they had a plan. One day, while talking on my front porch, Marvin confessed the plan to me."

"I listened to Marvin tell me of Harvey's plot. After moving to town, each would take one of the Gordy sisters. Harvey's original plan was that he would take Anna and Marvin would take Gwen but a switch was made and Marvin ended up pursing Anna, while Harvey set his sights on Gwen."

"There were to be differing stories about how the switch was made. The most popular theory was that Anna made the big push for Marvin but I happen to know otherwise."

"Marvin Gaye was probably the most desired man at Motown. He was lovable, romantic, charismatic, sensuous and brilliantly talented. Whereas the girls swooned over Harvey, they died over Marvin.

"The plan worked because I attended both weddings."

Tony Turner makes the following allegations in his book, "Deliver Us From Temptation."

"Everyone was buzzing about the upcoming former Temptations show at the Ritz with David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards."

"David was arriving direct from yet another expensive, private drug rehabilitation center, this one located only blocks from the Ritz. The center had also been home for Dennis, who had just finished the same thirty-day rehab course about a week earlier."

"Before they entered rehab, they had stayed on in Philadelphia after a show, making the hotel their home and spending several thousands of dollars on white powder dreams-most if not all of their profits from the show. I'd heard that by the time the police broke down the door of David's suite, he had thrown a chair and a 19 inch color TV through the window and trashed the entire place, costing himself additional thousands., He'd done crack until he went wild. Objects in the room begun to move and take on a life of their own."

"Dennis was hallucinating, too. But eventually, through his paranoia, he was able to see just what was happening to both of them. He could see what the drugs were doing. He could see the low-life scum surrounding him, the drifters and hangers-on, the drug pushers, the pimps and prostitutes, the suppliers who were being summoned to the hotel and who were now hovering around Dennis and David like vultures in a feeding frenzy, laughing at them while they preyed. And through all of this, David said that he and Dennis became very afraid of these vicious, dangerous characters."

"David finally went berserk just to free himself and Dennis, knowing that if the hotel heard the disturbance they would dial 911, and someone would come and stop him from destroying himself."

"A very overweight Dennis went voluntarily into treatment. David, of course, insisted that "ain't nothing wrong with me." David refused to admit that he was addicted. When he appeared before a judge, the judge put it quite simply, "Either rehabilitation or jail, Mr. Ruffin."

According to Gladys Knight: In 1971, Stevie Wonder demanded an audit and found that instead of getting a 50-50 split, which was standard, he had been getting only 2 percent of his record earnings, Motown was getting 98%.

When Stevie was a child (Little Stevie Wonder) he traveled to Europe with the Motown Revue. He was only paid $2.50 a week in the 1960's.

But when Stevie got big, he got a big pay day. After winning 10 Grammy's in two years, he negotiated the biggest contract in Motown history (worth millions).

When Gladys Knight and the Pips moved back to Detroit in the 1970's, they moved out of Marghuerite Mays mansion. They also left Marghuerite's management after she demanded an equal share in their lifetime earnings. Gladys says: "We didn't need a fifth Pip." Marghuerite was Willie Mays' ex-wife.

They moved to LaSalle Street, which became famous as the place where all the Motown stars lived. Martha and the Vandellas lived with singer and songwriter Ivory Joe Hunter just down the street, so did Jackie Wilson and the Temptations.

Gladys and the Pips were introduced to a delectable potent cocktail by Sammy Davis, Jr. when he did a few shows with them in Las Vegas. The cocktail was called "Harvey Wallbanger."

Sammy not only had a valet and a chauffeur, he also had his own private bartender in his dressing room.

Harvey Wallbanger became the official drink of the Motown parties hosted by Gladys and Bubba.

The parties were an open invitation to the Motown stars but according to Gladys, "the chosen ones" rarely graced us with an appearance.

The Marvellettes, the Miracles, the Four Tops, the Temptations, the Vandellas and the Staple Singers (when they were in town) were all in attendance.

Aretha would call to check out the action: "Gladys! Aretha's on the phone."

"Hi Re! Come join the party."

"Well, who's there?"

"I'm not telling you. You have to come and find out."

We did a lot of dancing at those parties and usually everyone's shoes came off in honor of our favorite party song: "Barefootin." That's how our little get togethers got to be known as barefootin parties. They became so well known by that name that when people showed up at the front door of our house they automatically took their shoes off. Sometimes we'd have shoes stacked halfway up the wall.

Those parties were our nightlife, but we had what we called day life parties too. We would gather up all our kids and all the Motown kids and have picnics in Kensington Park on a lake outside of Detroit. We'd have big ice tubs full of sodas and the women would cook hamburgers and the men would catch fish and we'd grill those too.

There would be football games and baseball games. The Pips and I would pick up a team and play a tem picked by the Temptations and the losers would have to sing. There would be times when we'd be yelling and screaming and singing so much at those parties that If I had a concert that night or the next day I didn't have a voice.

Melvin Franklin, the Tempts incredible bass singer had probably the most interesting living quarters of any of the Motown crew. Along with a rare bass voice, Melvin thought he was Batman. He called his house the bat cave and he had a Batman outfit and a batmobile car. He even wore his Batman outfit to parties.

Tina Turner is in mourning over Sylvia Robinson's death. Back in the day, Ike and Tina used to vacation with Sylvia (former Motown writer) and her husband (Joe).

It's alleged that Joe Robinson was a black gangster, although he was connected to several crime families, Robinson wasn't a gangster.

He was a feared numbers runner from Harlem. He got in the music business after he married Sylvia.

Despite Joe's mob connections and Sylvia's celebrity, Frankie Crocker refused to play Rapper's Delight on his radio program.

Allegedly, Ike idolized Joe, he was reportedly envious of his mob connections.

LINK:http://panachereport.com/channels/hip%20hop%20gallery/MotownEra.htm

Jessie Spencer's Blogspot

Monday, October 14, 2013

Motown Scandals

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