David Ruffin (January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991) – Let Somebody Love Me (1971)

The former Temptations lead singer's third solo LP remained unreleased for three decades, including this epic heartbreak anthem co-written by Ivy Jo Hunter.

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David Ruffin was arguably the Temptations’ all-time greatest lead singer.

See our earlier post on Ruffin for more on his musical career, plus his older brother Jimmy Ruffin, Temptations members Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, and Melvin “Blue” Franklin, producer Norman Whitfield, and songwriter Clay Drayton who wrote a very funky song for Ruffin during his solo career.

After leaving the Temptations and releasing his first two solo albums on Motown, Ruffin recorded many songs from 1969 to 1971 that were intended for his third LP. But the album was inexplicably shelved, although deteriorating relations between Ruffin and the label were partially to blame. It remained unreleased until it finally saw the light of day in 2004, simply titled David.

One of the lost album’s masterpieces was the epic heartbreak anthem “Let Somebody Love Me.” It was co-written by Ivy Jo Hunter, Vernon Bullock, and Freddie Gorman.

Other highlights included the superb upbeat jam “It's Gonna Take A Whole Lot Of Doin',” which was a track recorded during the David sessions but cut from the unreleased LP, produced by Clay McMurray and co-written by McMurray, Martin Coleman, and Janie Bradford. “Out In the Country” was a heartfelt love song co-written and produced by Ricky Matthews (aka Rick James), one of his earliest Motown productions. The funky, gospel-flavored “Dinah” was co-written by Smokey Robinson and Al Cleveland, and co-produced by Robinson and Gene Page.

With his third LP shelved, Ruffin’s career went into a holding pattern and his cocaine addiction worsened. But he kept performing. In 1973, he appeared on the Detroit public access TV show The Real Side and laid down a funky set that included a powerful cover of Luther Ingram’s recent hit “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right.”

Ruffin’s next Motown album finally dropped in early 1973. David Ruffin was produced by Bobby Miller, who wrote most of its tracks, including the socially conscious tale of inner city life “Blood Donors Needed (Give All You Can).” Miller and Ruffin co-wrote the LP’s superb closing cut “A Day in the Life of a Working Man.”

Songwriter Larry Buford was a personal friend of Ruffin’s. One of the many stories he has about their time together was that one day during a car ride, Ruffin told him that while he was recording “My Girl,” he wasn’t thinking about a romantic partner, and instead “had his eldest daughter Cheryl Lynette in mind.” Ruffin also revealed he had improvised the “Ooo...Yeah!” that ends the iconic song’s break, “but on playback Smokey approved.”

Ruffin died in 1991 after collapsing in a West Philadelphia house where he and his limo driver had gone to buy crack cocaine. His death was officially ruled an overdose, but he was reportedly carrying $40,000 at the time, flush from a recent month-long UK tour with fellow former Temptations Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards. The money was never found, leading family and friends to suspect his death involved foul play.

Shortly after Ruffin’s tragic passing, Buford wrote and recorded the heartfelt tribute song “Soul Man (A Song For David).” It was produced by Jimmy Hunter and recorded at Cazador Studios in Los Angeles. The following year, Kendricks called Buford and said he wanted to re-record it, which unfortunately never happened.

The song’s lyrics acknowledged “he didn’t play by the rules” but this fact “is neither here nor there,” and delivered the undisputed truth that “He had a style all his own, not like any other. David was David, and there'll never be another.”

Happy 83rd Birthday in Heaven to the legendary David Ruffin.

Further info:

“David Ruffin, 50, An Original Singer In the Temptations,” obituary, The New York Times, June 2, 1991.

“David Ruffin: Who He Was / The Very First Take of 'Walk Away From Love',” by Adam White, West Grand Blog, November 9, 2017.

“David Ruffin, reconsidered,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 18, 2021.

“Ruffin Revisited,” by Adam White, West Grand Blog, July 16, 2021.

#soul #funk #Motown #Temptations #DavidRuffin