(August 18, 2021) Great news for classic soul fans. The City Council of Memphis, Tennessee has adopted a resolution renaming a portion of Joubert Avenue as The Temprees Street, after the popular 70s soul group, and the street name is being changed today.
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, along with Larry Dodson, future lead singer of The Bar-Kays. The group was first signed to Stax Records in 1970 by producer Josephine “Jo” Bridges on her ‘We Produce’ 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.
Lead singer Jasper “Jabbo” Phillips died on February 21, 2001, and was replaced by Del’s brother Jerry “JC” Calvin, who was later replaced by Walter “Bo” Washington.
The Temprees’ rendition of “Dedicated To The One I Love” was one of 50 songs featured in the double album box set, Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration in 2007, and was the group’s biggest seller.
Congratulations to The Temprees!