In 1964, Bryant was replaced by David Ruffin, who was the lead vocalist on a number of the group's biggest hits, including "My Girl" (1964), "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (1966), and "I Wish It Would Rain" (1967).

Kendricks and Paul Williams both left the group in 1971, with subsequent members including Richard Street, Damon Harris, Glenn Leonard, Ron Tyson, and Ali-Ollie Woodson, the last of whom was the lead singer on late-period hit "Treat Her Like a Lady" in 1984 and the theme song for the children's movement program Kids in Motion in 1987.

[19] Following that same time, Al Bryant had grown frustrated with the group's lack of success and became restless and uncooperative, preferring the mundane routine of his day job as a milkman over the rigors of rehearsal and performing.

After a second altercation onstage at a Christmas performance, following an incident where he struck Paul with a beer bottle during a heated quarrel at an earlier gig in the middle of the year, Bryant was summarily fired from the group.

In January 1964, Smokey Robinson and Miracles bandmate Bobby Rogers co-wrote and produced "The Way You Do the Things You Do" with Eddie Kendricks on lead and the single became The Temptations' first Top 20 hit that April.

However, producer Smokey Robinson saw potential in the "mellow yet gruff" voice of David Ruffin, and thought that if he could write the perfect song for his lead, then the group could have a Top 10 hit.

[22] While traveling as part of Motown's Motortown Revue later that year, Robinson and fellow Miracles member Ronnie White wrote "My Girl", which The Temptations recorded in the fall of 1964 with Ruffin singing his first lead vocal for the group.

The B-side to "My Baby", "Don't Look Back", featured a stirring lead from Paul Williams, and was a sleeper hit on the R&B charts and a standard for vocal group playlists.

During this period, the various songwriting partners of Norman Whitfield included Roger Penzabene, Edward Holland, Jr., and The Temptations road show manager and guitarist Cornelius Grant.

At the same time, the group began to achieve a crossover popularity, catering to middle America with a pop standards album (The Temptations in a Mellow Mood, 1967), the success of which resulted in performances at the famous Copacabana in New York City along with dates at other similar supper clubs.

[31][33] For most shows, save for his solo numbers, Williams danced and lip-synched on stage to parts sung live by Street into an offstage mic behind a curtain.

Kendricks lobbied strongly in 1970 to have The Temptations go on "strike" – no performances, no recordings – until Berry Gordy and the Motown staff were willing to go over all group finances with independent accountants.

Originally a three-minute record written and produced for The Undisputed Truth, Whitfield took the somber tune and created a sprawling, dramatic twelve-minute version for The Temptations - a forerunner of the extended single - soon to become popular in clubs and discothèques.

The success of such single led Whitfield to create more elongated, operatic pieces, including the Top 10 hit "Masterpiece" (1973) and several of the tracks on the resulting eponymous album.

Citing his habitual tardiness, his emphasis of the instrumental tracks at the expense of their vocals on many of his productions, and the declining singles and albums sales as other sources of conflict, the group sought to change producers.

[40] Otis Williams complained about Whitfield's actions and The Temptations' stagnant sales to Berry Gordy; as a result, the group was reassigned to Jeffrey Bowen, co-producer of the 1967 In a Mellow Mood album.

Damon Harris was fired from the group during the recording of A Song for You, as his behavior and work ethic were deemed unprofessional,[41] and his replacement was Washington, D.C. native Glenn Leonard, formerly of the Unifics.

Rick James, the Motown funk star who had previously used The Temptations as backup vocalists on his 1981 hit "Super Freak" and whom Franklin claimed as his nephew,[13] wrote, produced, and guested on the Reunion album's lead single, "Standing on the Top".

While the ensuing Reunion tour with all seven Temptations (Ruffin, Kendricks, Otis Williams, Franklin, Edwards, Richard Street, and Glenn Leonard) was financially successful, it ended up being a stressful venture: Kendricks' voice had weakened after decades of chain smoking, Ruffin (still addicted to drugs) missed a number of the performances due to being incapacitated, and current group members Dennis Edwards and Glenn Leonard were causing problems.

Woodson's first lead on a single was 1984's "Treat Her Like a Lady", co-written by himself and Otis Williams, and co-produced by former Earth, Wind & Fire members Al McKay and Ralph Johnson.

[citation needed] The Temptations' new lineup, consisting of Otis Williams, Ron Tyson, Theo Peoples, and newcomers Harry McGilberry and Terry Weeks, toured throughout 1997, and was featured in the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXII in early 1998, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of Motown.

The album was anchored by "Stay", a single featuring Theo Peoples on lead and including a sample from "My Girl", which became a number-one hit on the urban adult contemporary charts.

[52] The miniseries was a ratings success and was nominated for five Emmy Awards, with Allan Arkush winning for Best Direction;[53] it was subsequently rerun on the VH-1 cable television network and released to VHS and DVD.

Recordings made prior to 1966, such as "My Girl", were built-around songs with simple, direct lyrics supported by an R&B rhythm section with orchestral strings and horns added for pop appeal.

In 1966, Norman Whitfield changed the group's dynamic, moving them away from the previous one lead singer model and adding elements derived from the rougher soul of artists such as James Brown, Wilson Pickett, and the performers at Stax Records.

Whitfield and his lyricists crafted Temptations songs with shifts of dynamics, syncopated horn stabs, and more intricate harmony arrangements which spotlighted each singer's unique vocal range.

Their signature ballad sound, reduced to filler material during much of the Whitfield period, was restored to the lush, full productions of the earlier hits produced by Smokey Robinson.

Berry Gordy insisted that all his acts be equally appealing to both white as well as black audiences, and employed an extensive creative team to help tailor Motown talent for the crossover success he desired.

The Temptations' songs have been covered by scores of musicians, from R&B singers such as Otis Redding ("My Girl"), Bobby Womack ("I Wish It Would Rain") and Luther Vandross ("Since I Lost My Baby"), to white soul and reggae bands such as Rare Earth ("Get Ready"), UB 40 ("The Way You Do and The Things You Do") and The Rolling Stones ("My Girl", "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", "Just My Imagination") and Mick Jagger's collaboration with reggae artist Peter Tosh on ("Don't Look Back").

On Saturday August 17, 2013, The Temptations were officially inducted into the R&B Music Hall of Fame at the inaugural ceremony held at the Waetejen Auditorium on the campus of Cleveland State University.