The Temptations
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This book is one in a series entitled "African-American Achievers" in which other titles include "The Black Cowboys", "The Black Muslims", "Boyz 11 Men", "The Buffalo Soldiers", "The Harlem Globetrotters", "The Harlem Renaissance" and "The Negro Leagues". Despite the marketing strategy of giving it a hard, glossy front cover, this work is really little more than a pamphlet packaged into book format. The entire biography of one of Motown's most prolific groups is a mere 82 pages long, and these are heavily illustrated with black and white full page photographs from the group's hey-day. The text is well supported by three appendices; a discography of albums, a discography of singles and a timeline of key events in the group's history. What immediately struck me on reading the book was the simplicity of the language used, which was clearly not directed at adults. If I had done my homework better I would have noticed that the classification used on the inner sleeves read "Soul Musicians-United States-Biography-Juvenile Literature" and that the author's credits read, "Ted Cox is the author of several books for young readers" Published in 1997 it is hard to see the market for a book like this. Why would the youth of today be interested in the fuddy-duddy music their parents used to listen to? I certainly have no interest in delving into the lives of Alma Coogan or Gracie Fields. The clue I suspect can be found in the other titles in this series. The books have been written more from a "Black Pride" perspective rather than a musical one. I suspect most of the History taught in the United States would be from a white European perspective and this series was written to try and redress the imbalances of the American curriculum. Black American's also have their idols and these need publicising just as much as their white counterparts. Credit must go to Ted Cox in this respect however as he does not try to package "The Temptations"as role models and whilst paying tribute to their achievements he is not afraid to testify to their human frailties as well. There is no denying that the book is well packaged, well written and extremely well illustrated. It would be easy to criticise it for being only eighty pages long, but we should not forget that it is aimed at a juvenile audience. My biggest annoyance with the book is the author's tendancy to go off at tangents, but given that the audience may not be familiar with Berry Gordy or the Four Tops, The Funk Brothers or even Martin Luther King this is perhaps unavoidable. A good balance is maintained between praising their achievements and slighting them for their human weaknesses. He discusses the effect of Drugs on David Ruffin and makes readers aware of their damaging consequences, but he does so without going into un-necessary detail. In short he shows great sensitivity to his audience. It is well researched and well written, but the depth is undoubtedly superficial. It would be of interest to the casual adult reader who wanted to find out about this iconic group, but no more so than might be found in a chapter dedicated to the Temptations in just about any book on Motown. People with specialist interest in soul won't find much in this that they do not already know. I hope that younger readers show an interest, but unfortunately I have my doubts that they will. |
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Why Not visit the Authors other Website, 'The Alternative Blackpool Website' at http://www.localdial.com/users/jsyedu133/bpool This Site Last Updated 18/05/05
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