Continuity planning is something every business must do to ensure that they can keep operating in the event of an emergency or disaster. Perseverance is the key and the EHSDA Song of the Week reflects that mindset with Eddie Kendricks’ 1973 R&B classic “Keep On Truckin’.”
Kendricks was one of the founding members of the legendary Motown group The Temptations, but he went solo in 1971. The Temptations continued on and the split was not amicable. In the spring of 1973, Kendricks released his third solo album, Eddie Kendricks.
The first single didn’t do much but in August, “Keep On Truckin'” was released as the second single and it took off. The funky number was a precursor to the disco sound that would sweep the nation in a few years and it went to #1 on the pop and R&B charts in the U.S.
“In old Temptations’ rain, I’m duckin’/For your love through sleet or snow, I’m truckin’/Ain’t nothin’ holding me back, nothin’/I’ll keep right on, right on truckin’.”
It turned out to be Kendricks’ only #1 hit, although he had a few more hits in the years that followed. He reunited with the Temptations in 1982, toured with Hall and Oates in the mid-’80s, and was inducted with the Temptations into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Sadly, he passed away at the age of 52 in 1992 after a battle with lung cancer.
But 50+ years later, there’s no denying the funky persistence of “Keep On Truckin’.”