The Primes

Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Willy Waller, and Kell Osborne, as The Cavaliers, sang in local talent shows with other up-and-coming Birmingham, AL, artists including Frederick Knight, Barbara Lomax (B.t. Express), and Richard Fisher (Jive Five). Kendricks and Williams came to Cleveland, OH, in the late '50s and performed around the area. Williams and Kendricks hooked up with Cleveland natives Paul Hayes and Fred Fluellen but never recorded. With no great haps in Cleveland, manager Milton Jenkins took over the reins and persuaded Williams and Kendricks to move to Detroit. Kell Osborne joined them in Detroit; it's unclear whether Waller trekked from Birmingham too, but Detroiters don't recall him being on the scene. Jenkins christened the trio The Primes, and named a quartet of teenagers -- comprising Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Betty Mcglown -- The Primettes.



Read More