AccuRadio Song Of The Day-David Ruffin

Artist:David Ruffin

Song:My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)

Album:The Ultimate Collection

Of course David Ruffin was best known as a member of The Temptations from 1964-68. After he was fired from the group, Ruffin scored a top ten hit with his first single My Whole World Ended. It was his first of two top ten hits. Ruffin's big problem was drug addiction. It made him erratic and that's why he was fired by The Temptations. He was born Jan. 18, 1941 in Whynot, MS. Ruffin's mother died due to complications caused by his birth. His father was a Baptist minister but violent and abusive at home. Ruffin and his two brothers and sister traveled with dad's gospel group opening for Mahalia Jackson and others. Jimmy Ruffin was his brother. Ruffin was taken to Memphis as a teen to go into the ministry. But he moved to Hot Springs, AR. and sang with The Dixie Nightingales and The Soul Stirrers. When Ruffin saw gospel singers like Sam Cooke go secular, his guardian Eddie Bush took him to Detroit. Jimmy was already there and both worked at Ford while pursuing a singing career. After recording a 1958 single for Vega Records, Ruffin met Berry Gordy Jr. who would start Motown Records in the near future. Ruffin recorded for Anna Records which was owned by Gordy's sister. He was also in the doo wop group The Voice Masters with Lamont Dozier and guys who would go on to be The Originals. That's when he met The Temptations and he joined in 1964. He started using cocaine in 1967 and his behavior became a big problem and he was fired in June 1968. Dennis Edwards of The Contours replaced him but Ruffin continued to show up unannounced when Edwards sang his songs. Ruffin was friends with Edwards. Edwards claimed that The Temptations considered rehiring Ruffin. But Otis Williams has always denied that. My Whole World Ended was Ruffin's first single in 1969. It reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the R&B Singles chart. The song was written and produced by Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol and arranged by Paul Riser. The song was written for The Temptations. The Originals did the background vocals and the piccolo is by Dayna Hartwick. The album topped the R&B chart. After that, Ruffin didn't do well to the point where the 1971 album David was shelved. It was released on CD in 2010. His only other top ten hit was the 1975 single Walk Away from Love written and produced by Van McCoy. This budget comp covers Ruffin's Motown recordings. Obviously Motown stopped promoting Ruffin as his cocaine addiction made him erratic and unreliable. He left Motown in 1977 and recorded two unsuccessful albums for Warner Bros. That was Ruffin's final solo album. He recorded two albums with Eddie Kendricks on RCA in the 80s. He also recorded and toured with Ruffin/Kendricks/Edwards in the 90s. Ruffin died on June 1, 1991 of an accidental cocaine overdose at age 50. Here's David Ruffin performing My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me) in the 80s when he toured with Kendricks and Edwards.