David Ruffin: At His Best

This is a repost from March 7, 2012...I ummm...accidentally deleted my original post, but I digress...

When I think of David Ruffin, I instantly revisit my childhood when my father would play his David Ruffin: At His Best album (which he still has) every Saturday night. My first memory of listening to this particular record was back when I was around six years old.  My younger sister and I would sit on my father's lap and sing along to all of the selections.  However, our favorite was "Everything Is Coming Up Love". 

As I grew older, it's when I realized that Mr. Ruffin was a member of my mother's favorite singing group, The Temptations.  I recall her going on and on about how he was her favorite member when she was a young girl of about twelve years old when "My Girl" came out.  Since I was about her age when she would recount numerous stories of how she was so in love with him, I just couldn't understand it; but then again, maybe it's because I thought that no one would compare to my one and only true love at the time, the immortal Michael Jackson!  Plus in my young mind, there was no man on earth that looked or sounded better than he did.  Anyway...the older I became, the more I took a liking to listening to The Temptations' older classics such as "I Wish It Would Rain", "I'm Losing You", and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg"; pretty much any song that Mr. Ruffin sang lead on. 

By the time I reached adulthood, it was his standout solo hit, "Walk Away From Love" that I really understood what he was singing about.  You know how it is when you're younger and you just sing along with the lyrics not realizing the meaning behind them?  Well, this particular tune made me look at my own life a little different in relation to the song.  The passion behind his voice as he sings this tune still haunts me to this day and I can identify so easily with what he was going through as he made the decision to be the one to walk away first for a change even though things appear to be going well.

It was at this point in my life that I wanted to know more about this powerhouse vocalist.  And then what do you know?  The movie The Temptations aired on NBC several years after his tragic passing.  Needless to say, it showed a side of David Ruffin that was pretty suprising for me to say the least, but it didn't take away from the fact that he was still my favorite member of the group.

This is where TV One's airing of "Unsung" about Mr. Ruffin stepped in.  I take my hat off to them for allowing the fans to get a look into his whirlwind life of both the ups and the downs.  For those who watched and had only associated David Ruffin with the downside of life battling the many demons he faced, hopefully, they now have a better outlook on a man who was human and made mistakes like any of us have or will make over the course of our lives.  Now am I saying I condone some of the things he has done? No.  But what I am saying is that instead of us, the public, always looking for a reason to bring anyone down who may already be down on themselves, let's remember that celebrities are human too.  The only difference is that their God-given talent is to entertain us, while the rest of us are blessed with God-given talents that may leave us behind the scenes and not out onstage in the spotlight for the world to judge and dissect every little thing that's not right.

So in closing, I'd like to thank Mr. Ruffin for all the childhood memories I've had which still make me smile to this day whenever I play any of his songs.  There will never be another like him and I am both glad and proud to have been raised on his music.

CC
XOXOXO