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Did you know the iconic voice of 'The Temptations' grew up in Birmingham?

Did you know the iconic voice of 'The Temptations' grew up in Birmingham?
ENTERPRISE, ALABAMA. HITSVILLE USA, HOME OF THE SIGNATURE MOTOWN SOUND. THE RECORDING STUDIO IN DETROIT CHURNED OUT SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ACTS OF THE 1960S, FROM THE MIRACLES TO THE SUPREMES, BUT ONE OF MOTOWN鈥橲 GREATEST COMES FROM RIGHT HERE IN CENTRAL ALABAMA. 米兰体育 13 JARVIS ROBERTSON TELLS US HOW THE LEGACY OF EDDIE KENDRICKS LIVES ON IN THE MAGIC CITY, SO WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE TEMPTATIONS, SOME OF THEIR MOST ICONIC SONGS COME TO LIFE, SONGS LIKE MY GIRL OR BEAUTY鈥橲 ONLY SKIN DEEP AT THE FOREFRONT OF MANY OF THEIR HITS, IS ONE UNDENIABLE AND MEMORABLE VOICE, THAT BEING EDDIE KENDRICKS. THIS SCULPTURE OF THE BIRMINGHAM NATIVE WAS COMMISSIONED IN THE LATE 90S. THE BRONZE SCULPTURE SITS IN THE HISTORIC FOURTH AVENUE BUSINESS DISTRICT NORTH. EDDIE KENDRICKS WAS BORN IN BIRMINGHAM IN 1937 AND WAS DISCOVERED BY MOTOWN RECORDS IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN. THE SCULPTURE WAS DONE BY DOCTOR RONALD MCDOWELL. HE TOLD US IT TOOK ABOUT SIX MONTHS TO A YEAR TO FINISH. THE ARTIST SAYS HE CAME UP WITH THREE DIFFERENT MODELS TO HELP WITH PREPARATION. MCDOWELL SPENT TIME WITH THE KENDRICK FAMILY LEARNING ABOUT WHO EDDIE WAS. HIS NICKNAME WAS CORNBREAD BECAUSE IT WAS ONE OF HIS FAVORITE FOODS, MCDOWELL SAYS. THE R&B STAR鈥橲 MOTHER ALSO GAVE INPUT ON HOW EDDIE鈥橲 BODY WOULD LOOK THROUGH THE SCULPTURE. I HAD HIS MOM COME TO THE FOUNDRY AND BRENT MARTIN STUDIOS ON ON SECOND AVENUE SOUTH, WHERE WE CAST THE STATUES, AND SHE WOULD COME IN AND SHE KIND OF HELPED ME WITH THE WAY SHE WANTED HIS BODY TO LOOK, AND SHE SAID HE WAS SUPER THIN. EDDIE KENDRICKS DIED OF LUNG CANCER IN OCTOBER 1992. WHILE THIS TANGIBLE SCULPTURE STANDS IN HIS MEMORY AND HONOR HIS ICONIC AND SMOOTH FALSETTO VOICE CAN STILL BE HEARD IN HIS MANY RECORDINGS TODAY, JARVIS
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Did you know the iconic voice of 'The Temptations' grew up in Birmingham?
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.

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 |

If you take a walk down 4th Avenue North in Birmingham, in the Historic Business District, you may notice a sculpture that seems familiar.

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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.

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) 
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.

Alabama, Birmingham, Memorial Park, Temptations Memorial, Eddie Kendricks Statue. (Photo by: Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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.

IN CONCERT - Shoot Date: November 14, 1973. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
EDDIE KENDRICKS
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.