Ball of Confusion: My Life as a Temptin' Temptation Paperback – July 15, 2014

I just wish that their were pictures N it, you should have put some pictures of (him) Richard Street & his family witch includes his Ex-first wife & there son Richard Street Jr, aka (Rickey), his second wife whom he had (3)-three kids by& her (4)-four that she brought into the family which makes a total of (8)-eight kids all put together, & you should have some pictures of the grand kids as well. But other then that I loved the book.

I felt that Richard Street shared some interesting perspectives regarding the Temptations which had not been revealed before. Especially, the impact Otis Williams has had on the group with his controlling nature. All we have heard from before this book was Otis`s account of how things went and why legendary singers such as David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks left the group. Richard had a very unique way of speaking which was certainly different. The author should have continued to tell the remainder of the story up to and including the time when Richard left the group as well as the point of time when both Damon Harris and Richard himself passed away. The book was useful for gaining a different understanding and perspective about the group but could have gone into so much more detail.

This book was an account of the group without any input from Otis Williams, so it was unbiased. The other 4 original members have a passed away so their views will never be written down.The only negative I can say is that the writing was way too religious for me. However I must thank Mr Street for his views and G-d bless him and all of the Temptations throughout the theirs for sharing their voices with us.

totally underwhelming! nothing of any consequence shared by Richard, only a bit of " shade " thrown towards Otis without any details of the disparities in royalty payments, performance fees, etc. what I found significantly missing was any mention of louis price ( an outstanding vocalist and individual ) and his tenure with the tempts. it would have been enlightening to know some detail of the interaction and dissonance Otis and/or the other tempts had with damon, louis, david, and paul which led to their exit/dismissals and most importantly, any conversations shared between Richard and his childhood friend, Melvin, whom he supposedly encouraged and mentored to be the singer and star he became. I was particularly looking forward to this book, as opposed to the other tepid and ( largely ) disingenuous books previously written by the like of Otis, Mary Wilson, the andantes, and other Motown alumni who, for, whatever reason, are reluctant or scared to share what really transpired and some of the reasons ( from their perspective ) for same. as I am the brother-in-law of ( one of ) david ruffin's former "personal managers" ( actually, the one who was eerily ( but accurately )) portrayed in the temptation's mini-series movie a couple of decades ago ( but was inaccurate in so many other aspects ), I was privy to a lot of activities and involved in a lot of scenarios with a lot of motowners, including all of the temptations, from 1967 on... Richard was a very complex, caring and intense person and I find it hard to believe that he would have endorsed this pathetic attempt on his behalf to represent " his story ", had he been living.

Mr. Street's book is revealing, told in a whimsical way using Scripture and Lyrics and bashes Mr. Otis to no ends. He tells of his 'behind the curtains' job until he felt used and abused. If he had not joined the Tempts, he could have been a preacher, easily. I enjoyed his book and may he RIP.

provided a little extra info on the Temptations but really put negative actions by Otis as his main focus.

I have always been a fan of the Tempting Tempations, but one of my favorite was Richard Streets. I want to get to know the man that spent 25 years to this group yet was to me the only one not mention. I did as much research as I could. I always wanted to ask Otis what he had against him. Taking nothing away from Dr Otis. Great book.

While a somewhat interesting read, the late Richard Street comes off as a very bitter man who wants to claim credit for things that he had little to nothing to do with. When one thinks of the lead singers of the Temptations, you think of Ruffin, Kendricks, Edwards and Paul Williams, not Richard Street. For sure he is a large part of the Temptations history but for the majority of his tenure, the Temptations had become an oldies act. He was an important part of Papa Was A Rollin' Stone as his voice fit that song perfectly, but that was really the Temptations last big hit and for Mr Street to try and claim that nothing would have happened with the Temptations if not for him is far overstated at best. For me his bitterness and ego ruined what could have been an interesting story told by someone who was there for at least some of it.