Music
Melvin Franklin
1942–1995 · bass singer
The deep bass voice of the Temptations, a founding member who grew up in Detroit and sang with the group from 1961 until 1994.
- Born
Montgomery, Alabama- Died
Los Angeles, California
aged 52- Birth name
- David Melvin English
- Also known as
- Blue
- Detroit years
- 1952–1970s
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Franklin moved to Detroit at ten, in 1952, to join his mother and stepfather, whose surname he later used on stage. As a teenager he sang with local groups, including the Voice Masters with Lamont Dozier and David Ruffin, who recorded for Anna Records, and he was a classmate of Otis Williams at Northwestern High School. He joined Williams's Distants, recorded for Johnnie Mae Matthews's Northern label, and briefly attended Wayne State University. In 1961 the group became the Temptations at Motown. Franklin's bass anchored hits from "My Girl" to "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", and he stayed through every lineup change, true to a pact with Williams that neither would quit. Illness forced him out in 1994, and he died in Los Angeles in 1995.
Highlights
- Founding member of the Temptations (1961–1994)
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1989 with the Temptations
- Earlier sang with the Voice Masters on Anna Records
- Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2013, with the group)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1950s
Northwestern High School (now Detroit Collegiate Preparatory Academy at Northwestern)
He attended school here with Otis Williams, his future Temptations partner.
Recorded here · 1961–1972
Motown Museum
The Temptations' Motown hits were recorded here.