Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve all been observing Black History Month across the nation. As part of that observation, we’ve been producing one-minute segments to include on our school news show at Central. 

Of course, anybody who knows me knows that I love local history more than any history, mainly because it is right here in our backyard. So as part of those little segments I’ve been making more than a deliberate effort to focus on the stories that are more part of Thomasville and Thomas County. 

Many of us know the stories of Henry Flipper, Lloyd Austin, Curtis Thomas, I.L. Mullins, Earl Williams, Frank Delaney, and other local heroes of color. But in digging for information on lesser-known history, I learned of something that, as a music fan, completely blew me away. 

How many of you knew that one of the founding members of The Temptations was born right here in Thomasville? 

Yes, those Temptations. 

On September 28, 1939, Elbridge “Al” Bryant was born here in The Rose City, and later moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he met his best friend-to-be, Otis Williams. According to WBSS Media, Williams and Bryant were in a number of groups together, including Otis Williams & the Siberians, the El Domingoes, and The Distants, before forming The Elgins in 1960 with fellow Distants Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams, and The Primes’ Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams. 

The Distants came together in 1959, the first set of building blocks in what eventually became one of the greatest of all Motown and American musical acts. Those three Distants plus the two Primes equaled an 80-percent-complete blend of voices and personality. Later, when a stray solo singer supplied the final element, The Temptations were primed to leave all other male groups in the distance, which is exactly what they did.

The Elgins would re-christen themselves as The Temptations before signing with Miracle Records, a subsidiary of Motown Records. After releasing two of the group’s singles, the label was closed and all following singles were released under the Gordy Records label.

On The Temptations’ studio recordings using this lineup, Paul Williams and Kendricks split most of the leads, while Otis Williams, Franklin and (the rarely recorded) Bryant were usually called upon to sing background vocals and deliver ad-libs, harmony vocals, and occasionally a few lead lines. 

However, all five group members got a chance to sing lead when they performed live on stage; most of which was handled by Bryant, Kendricks and Paul Williams (the latter served as the Temptations main lead, both on stage and in the studio, for most of this period). 

Bryant also sometimes sang the lead on “May I Have This Dance” (led by Kendricks — in his natural voice — on the studio recording), and was a co-lead on “I Want a Love I Can See” (led only by Paul Williams on the studio version) during live performances the group made in 1963. They also served as background singers for various Motown acts, including Mary Wells and Marvin Gaye.

In actuality, there may be no way to know exactly how many recordings he can be heard on.

During the Temptations’ first two years with Motown, they only scored one charting single, “Dream Come True,” which hit No. 22 on the R&B charts; the b-side to the single, “Isn’t She Pretty,” featured all five members trading lead vocals. But despite its commercial success the single still failed to make the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles charts, just as the group’s other six singles released during this period (although most became huge regional hits). Their lack of national success caused Bryant to become restless: he had a regular day job as a milkman, which he preferred to constantly performing and recording with the group.

By 1963, alleged fueled by a fierce drinking habit, Bryant had become volatile and unpredictable. One mid-1963 backstage altercation between Bryant and Paul Williams resulted in the former smashing a beer bottle across the latter’s face and landed him in the hospital. Paul, surprisingly, forgave Al and talked the other group members out of firing him as he was determined to give Bryant another chance. 

However, a few months later, the group determined that he had done little to change his ways. After a second altercation onstage during Motown’s 1963 company Christmas party, Bryant was fired from the group. 

By the New Year of 1964, the Temptations had recruited David Ruffin as their new fifth member, and the group recorded what would be their first Top 20 pop hit, “The Way You Do the Things You Do.”

After being fired from the Temptations, Bryant turned up in a number of other Detroit singing groups, including The Premiers, which reunited him with former Distants bandmate Pee Wee Crawford. 

Al Bryant died of cirrhosis of the liver in Flagler County, Florida on October 26, 1975 at the far-too-young age of 36. He was married to Bobbie Jean Bryant. She and their daughter still live in the Detroit area.

So, the next time you hear The Temptations sing “My Girl”, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” or “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” you can also take some pride in knowing that one of the most prominent figures in the group ever existing called Thomasville his home.