FULL SPECIAL: UNSUNG HEROES OF ALABAMA | BLACK HISTORY MOMENTS | BIG MAMA THORNTON | JAZZ HALL OF FAME | MUSIC OF THE MOVEMENT | FAME RECORDING STUDIO | BCRI HONORS BLACK HISTORY MONTH | WHAT IS BLACK HISTORY MONTHIf you take a walk down 4th Avenue North in Birmingham, in the Historic Business District, you may notice a sculpture that seems familiar. The Eddie Kendrick Memorial Park features "The Temptations " and singing lead Eddie Kendricks. Speakers play some of their hit songs, including one of the iconic songs where Kendricks' voice takes the lead, "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)."Kendricks was born in 1937 and grew up in Birmingham. The Temptations were discovered in Detroit in the early 1960s.Former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington Jr. commissioned Dr. Ronald McDowell to sculpt the R&B superstars in the late 1990s.Part of his preparation for this assignment was spending time with Kendricks' family. McDowell said he would eat dinners with them and learned that Eddie's nickname was "Cornbread" because it was his favorite meal.During the sculpting process, McDowell said he came up with three different models before completing a final statue.The park uses his name without the "s," which was added early in his career. To help with accuracy, Eddie's mother gave input on how it should look."She would come in and tell me how she wanted his body to look; she said he was super thin," McDowell said.Kendricks left the band and began a solo career in the 1970s.He returned to live in Birmingham later in his life and died on Oct. 5, 1992, of lung cancer. Learn about Big Mama Thornton's enduring impact on rock and roll below.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — FULL SPECIAL: UNSUNG HEROES OF ALABAMA | | BIG MAMA THORNTON | JAZZ HALL OF FAME | MUSIC OF THE MOVEMENT | FAME RECORDING STUDIO | |
If you take a walk down 4th Avenue North in Birmingham, in the Historic Business District, you may notice a sculpture that seems familiar.
The Eddie Kendrick Memorial Park features "The Temptations " and singing lead Eddie Kendricks. Speakers play some of their hit songs, including one of the iconic songs where Kendricks' voice takes the lead, ."
Kendricks was born in 1937 and grew up in Birmingham. The Temptations were discovered in Detroit in the early 1960s.
Michael Ochs Archives
NEW YORK - CIRCA 1968: Studio group shot of the Temptations, (Clockwise from top left) Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Dennis Edwards, Otis Williams. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington Jr. commissioned Dr. Ronald McDowell to sculpt the R&B superstars in the late 1990s.
Part of his preparation for this assignment was spending time with Kendricks' family. McDowell said he would eat dinners with them and learned that Eddie's nickname was "Cornbread" because it was his favorite meal.
During the sculpting process, McDowell said he came up with three different models before completing a final statue.
Jeff Greenberg
Alabama, Birmingham, Memorial Park, Temptations Memorial, Eddie Kendricks Statue. (Photo by: Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The park uses his name without the "s," which was added early in his career. To help with accuracy, Eddie's mother gave input on how it should look.
"She would come in and tell me how she wanted his body to look; she said he was super thin," McDowell said.
Kendricks left the band and began a solo career in the 1970s.
ABC Photo Archives
IN CONCERT - Shoot Date: November 14, 1973. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
He returned to live in Birmingham later in his life and died on Oct. 5, 1992, of lung cancer.
Learn about Big Mama Thornton's enduring impact on rock and roll below.