THE FELLAS
Loving You Has Been So Wonderful (1972)
Make My Water Boil (Loving You Has Been So Wonderful) [The Motown Solo Albums, vol. 2]
I Feel Like I'm Falling in Love Again [Motown Unreleased 1967]
Once You Had a Heart [One by One: The Best of Their Solo Years]
I'll Turn to Stone*
Mountain of Memories [The Unreleased Album]
Feel Like Giving Up [One by One: The Best of Their Solo Years]
Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time) [I Am My Brother's Keeper]
I'd Rather Forget*
Heaven Help Us All [The Unreleased Album]
Give it Up [Gettin' Ready CD re-issue]
Since I Don't Have You [Motown Unreleased 1967]
I Need You More Than Ever*
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In 1968, David Ruffin was fired by The Temptations and replaced with ex-Contours frontman Dennis Edwards. Ruffin sought to be released from his contract with Motown but the company would not let him go. Instead, Motown would retain Ruffin's original contract he signed as a solo artist (along with his brother Jimmy Ruffin years before) and release his 1969 debut LP 'My Whole World Ended'. This arrangement would prove detrimental to Ruffin's career; his would-be smash 1971 LP 'David' was shelved for seemingly no reason. Ruffin also teamed up with Stevie Wonder for what could've been a big hit single. "Make My Water Boil (Loving You Has Been So Wonderful)" was written, produced and recorded by Wonder himself with Ruffin delivering the vocal only he could. Despite its completion in 1972, Motown once again sat on it and David Ruffin's solo career was cooled considerably.
As early as 1970, Ruffin had expressed his desire to put together a new group called The Fellas with his brother Jimmy, Dennis Edwards and the other two soon-to-be ex-Temptations, Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams. Though this move would have ended Kendricks's solo career before it started and probably The Temptations, as well. Paul Williams would retire from the Tempts due to health issues. He would team up with Kendricks again to record "Feel Like Giving Up" b/w "Once You Had a Heart". The 45 was shelved due to Williams's untimely death in 1973. Other recordings made by Williams exist ("I Need You More Than Ever" closes out this collection) and I found this on YouTube along with a couple other Motown outtakes like "I'd Rather Forget" (sung by Kendricks and the Tempts' left over from their Gettin' Ready LP sessions ) and a cover of The Four Tops' "I'll Turn to Stone" recorded by Dennis Edwards prior to joining the Tempts. I fill the rest out with songs from Ruffin's David LP ("Heaven Help Us All" and the demo "Mountain of Memories"), some cuts from the Motown Unreleased 1967 CD compilation ("Since I Don't Have You" by Ruffin with the Tempts; a Jimmy Ruffin 45 of "Feel Like I'm Falling in Love Again") and the Ruffin brothers covering the Delfonics (taken from their own LP, I Am My Brother's Keeper).
This LP would not have been allowed to be. It's fun to make believe, though.
R.I.P. Paul Williams, David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, and Dennis Edwards.
