The Temprees are an American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

vocal trio from

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, most popular during the 1970s. The band released several albums on We Produce Records, an offshoot of

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

. In 1972, the band performed in front of more than 100,000 fans at the famous

Wattstax ''Wattstax'' was a benefit concert organized by Stax Records to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the 1965 riots in the African-American community of Watts, Los Angeles. The concert took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 20, ...

festival in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

History

Originally formed as ''The Lovemen'', the trio—lead singer Jasper "Jabbo" Phillips, whose powerful falsetto featured on most of their recordings, Harold "Scotty" Scott and Deljuan "Del" Calvin—met in the mid-1960s, when they were in junior high school,Temprees
/ref> along with Larry Dodson, future lead singer of

The Bar-Kays The Bar-Kays are an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of charting singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including "Soul Finger" (US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number 17, R&B number 3) in 1967, "Son of Shaft" (R&B number 10) i ...

. The group was first signed to

in 1970 by producer Josephine "Jo" Bridges on her 'We Produce' Stax subsidiary. Later, with the collapse of Stax, they moved briefly in 1976 to Epic Records, a subsidiary of CBS, for two singles. The band released three albums, ''Lovemen'', ''Love Maze'', and ''Temprees 3'' on We Produce, mainly produced by Bridges, Stax executive/producer and former Motown engineer Tom Nixon and arranger-producer Lester Snell, a regular collaborator with Isaac Hayes. Their catalog was later re-released on CD, along with a greatest hits compilation entitled, ''The Best of the Temprees''. The trio's last hit was 1976's "I Found Love On A Disco Floor," their first release on Epic, again produced by Jo Bridges. . The band reunited in the 1990s and released a fourth original album on the small Memphis label, High Stacks in 2000 called "Because We Love You," produced by the group. Lead singer Jasper "Jabbo" Phillips died on February 21, 2001. Jabbo was replaced by Del's brother Jerry "JC" Calvin. The Temprees' rendition of "

Dedicated to the One I Love "Dedicated To The One I Love" is a song written by Lowman Pauling and Ralph Bass that was a hit for the "5" Royales, the Shirelles, the Mamas & the Papas and Bitty McLean. Pauling was the guitarist of the "5" Royales, the group that recorded ...

" was one of 50 songs featured in the double album box set, ''Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration'' in 2007.Amazon.com: Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration: Various Artists: Music
/ref> This song was the group's biggest seller, reaching # 17 R&B and #93 pop in 1972. In 2016, they released their fifth studio album ''From The Heart'', which also included a cover of

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million reco ...

's "Reasons". Sometime before this album, JC Calvin was replaced by Solomon "Sol" Young, who was later replaced by current member Walter "Bo" Washington.

Singles

On We Produce/Stax Records

* XPA-1801 "(Follow Her) Rules And Regulations" / "I'm For You, You For Me" * XPA-1803 "I Love You, You Love Me" / "(Girl) I Love You" * XPA-1805 "My Baby Love" / "If I Could Say What's On My Mind" * XPA-1807 "Explain It To Her Mama" / "Love... Can Be So Wonderful" * XPA-1808 "Dedicated To The One I Love" / "I Love You, You Love Me" * XPA-1810 "A Thousand Miles Away" / "Chalk It Up To Experience" * XPA-1811 "Love's Maze" / "Wrap Me In Love" * XPA-1812 "At Last" / "Love... Can Be So Wonderful" * XPA-1813 "You Make The Sunshine" / "You Make Me Love You" * XPA-1814 "Mr Cool That Ain't Cool" / "Lovin' You Is So Easy" * XPA-1815 "I Love, I Love" / "Your Love (Is All I Need)" * XPA-1816 "Come And Get Your Love" / "I'll Live Her Life"

On Epic Records

* 8-50192 "I Found Love On A Disco Floor"/"There Ain't A Dream Been Dreamed" * 8-50258 "I Dare You"/"Something's Gonna Happen"

Albums (all on We Produce/Stax Records, except where noted)

* ''Lovemen'' (1972) * ''Love Maze'' (1973) * ''Temprees 3'' (1974) * ''The Best Of The Temprees'' (1984) * ''Because We Love You'' (High Stacks Records) (2000) * ''From The Heart'' (Point 3 Records) (2016)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Temprees, The Vocal trios American soul musical groups