Saturday, August 17, 2013

40 Year Itch: I Feel Like Giving Up




   On August 17, 1973 Temptations baritone Paul Williams, wearing nothing but a swim suit,  was found dead inside a car parked in a Detroit alley. The coroner ruled the death a suicide even though Williams is right handed but was shot in the left temple. Williams, suffering from sickle cell anemia,  had left the Temps in 1971. He had suffered from depression and drug abuse and had shared suicidal thoughts with group members Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin.


   Jet Magazine reported several members of the band as well as the musical director were robbed after leaving the funeral. Although he was focusing much of his attention on a beauty culture complex called Celebrity House West, Williams had also returned to the studio where he recorded a moving single Motown didn't release for years after his death. 

"Feel Like Giving Up" sounds like an epitaph --a point Eddie Kendricks made in an interview.





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