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.

The Primettes struck recording blood first at Lupine Records, backing artists like Don Revel and Gene Martin, and even recorded a single, Pretty Baby. Tiring of gigging in small clubs, Kendricks left for Birmingham but returned shortly afterward; around the same time, Osborne left the Primes to go solo. Two of the Distants -- whose downsized lineup consisted of Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, and Al Bryant -- quit, which led to openings for Paul and Eddie, who had befriended the Distants at a house party. The Distants became the Elgins, and secured a deal with Motown, upon which they became the Temptations; already on board was their former sister group, the Primettes, now the Supremes. The Temptations cut their first Motown release on the Miracle label, Oh Mother of Mine b/w Romance Without Finance, and the rest is history. None of the singles Kell Osborne cut on various labels ever charted, though he possessed a marvelous voice that ranged between Eddie's falsetto and Paul's baritone. Some of Osborne's output includes Little Darling on Cenco, The Bells of St. Mary's, and recordings on Brunswick Records. As talented as the Cavaliers/Primes were, no recordings by them are known to exist. ~ Andrew Hamilton, Rovi