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Cover Story | Larry Braggs
CENTER STAGE
ALUMNUS LARRY BRAGGS WENT FROM PERFORMING HANDEL'S MESSIAH TO SINGING LEAD FOR THE TEMPTATIONS. WE CAUGHT HIM BETWEEN PERFORMANCES TO LEARN HOW HE DID IT.
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by Donna Mooney
Larry Braggs
Photo by Brian T. Williams
Vocalist and music entertainer Larry Braggs may not be a newcomer to the music industry, but he is still a fairly new member of the legendary music group The Temptations, the R&B group that has entertained the masses for decades with engaging love ballads, finger-snapping melodies, and hip-shaking tunes. The 1985 alumnus is in his fourth year as the soulful lead singer for the world-renowned group.
Known in the music industry as an audience pleaser, The Temptations’ concert schedule is just as demanding today as it was 40 years ago, performing nationally and internationally for audiences of all ages. Time, life, and fate have changed the faces of the Temptations, and now, only one original member remains, Otis Williams, Jr.
The Temptations were between performance dates when Braggs met face-to-face to reflect on his musical journey from low spots to high notes. He embraces the university and credits his campus training with positioning him for greatness. He tells a compelling story of a young boy who started out “clowning around” with his vocals and ended up singing for the enjoyment of others.
Hot weather demands cool clothing in the South, so for the interview, Braggs wears a lightweight pinstriped off-white suit. His matching short-brimmed hat makes the look. He’s not a flashy guy, but Braggs has that persona that alerts others that he is somebody special. What he exhibits as an adult, was encouraged when he was a child.
At five-years-old, Braggs said he developed a taste for music when his aunt stood him on a table to sing the Beetles’ song, “Hard Day’s Night.” From there, his 4th Grade teacher in a Chicago middle school told him that if he was going to sing, then he needed to do it the right way. After that, Braggs said every time he moved up a grade, some music teacher helped move his talent forward.
Born into a family with entertainment vibes, Braggs is the eighth of nine children. His father, a native of Mississippi, performed with a tap dancing team in his early years. However, illness forced the elder Braggs to retire when Larry Braggs was about nine years old.
“I entered a talent show in 6th Grade and I sang a song by the Four Tops, “Ain’t No Woman like the One I Got,” Braggs said, grinning and shaking his head in dismay. “I had put together a musical group, but I was the only one who could sing, and I had no idea what I was singing about.”
In high school, Braggs said he sang first tenor, while his music teacher waited for his voice to drop, which never happened. He eventually became the lead soloist for the school choir. “We had the number one choir in the state of Illinois,” he said with pride.
Prior to high school graduation, his music teacher surprised him and two other graduating seniors and took them to Gary, Indiana, to see the UAPB Vesper Choir on tour. During that visit, Braggs was introduced to Professor Shelton McGee who auditioned him for Vesper Choir on the spot.
That audition provided Braggs a full ride scholarship to UAPB - the problem was, Braggs had not planned to attend college. He wanted to sing with a group.
Between Vesper and Venues
In fall of 1981, Braggs enrolled at UAPB as a music major. When he was not singing with Vesper, he was singing with his own music group called Polo. “We were the first band in Pine Bluff,” Braggs said proudly. “That group included Skip Pruitt, Morris Hayes, Edward Dunmore and Derrick Campbell (Morris Hayes was the former music director for Prince for 18 years). We were the Pine Bluff version of the Commodores.” While his group was popular in the community, Braggs said Professor McGhee was not as impressed.
“I got in trouble many days in Vesper Choir because Vesper members were not supposed to sing any other music and strain our voices, plus, I was the lead singer for Handel’s Messiah,” Braggs said. “Professor McGhee knew we were singing off campus because that was how we made money back then. We were poor and our parents didn’t have money to send us, so we competed in talent shows and performed with a band.”
According to Braggs, no talent show was off limits. He competed in gospel talent shows, R & B talent shows, and even country/western talent shows for money.
“Professor used to say, ‘You cannot be singing the Messiah like no whiskey tenor. Go to your room and don’t talk to anybody and don’t sing anymore until the performance,’” Braggs reminisced. “I’d love to sing the Messiah again one day at UAPB. I’d have to stop singing for six months, though.”
“Nobody can say anything bad to me about UAPB,” he continued. “This University saved a lot of kid’s lives. They gave usthe personal touch with staff and professors who cared about your success. They wouldn’t let you fail if you tried. If I hadn’t gone to school there, I don’t know what would have happened. I realize now that I needed all those people and the school to get where I am today."
When thinking of some of the people that impacted his life as a student, he recalled more fond memories with faculty and staff. “We were a real family. U.S. Reed’s mother would take care of us. Back then, if one person had a car, then we all had a car. It didn’t matter what fraternity you were a member of. Professor Odis Burris and Professor Harold Strong were great. I remember Dr. Wiley and J.Y. Williams. Ms. Townsend in Financial Aid went out of her way to help students.”
With a true village experience under his belt, Braggs graduated in spring 1985 with a degree in music.
Professional Gigs and Big Breaks
After graduation, Braggs said he joined the group Trick Tracks – his first real professional working band in Austin, Texas.
Larry Braggs is photographed in one of several performance outfits he wears as a member of The Temptations.
Photo by Brian T. Williams
From there, he joined the group Da Bizness and stayed with them until he moved to Pittsburg, California, a move that started out rocky, but soon proved worth it all.
Braggs was working three jobs in California. He was a Sears’s manager from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., worked for Propane from 4 to 8 p.m. and he performed at Harry Denton’s Starlight Club from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
“One night, the DJ told me that the group, Tower of Power was looking for a new singer. The drummer playing for us said he knew the drummer with Tower of Power and set up the connection. I sent them a music demo and Igot the job, but I only had three days to learn 25 of their songs. In the meantime, they hired me, but they were still auditioning singers. I made up my mind that I was the singer for Tower of Power and they did not need anybody else. I had to prove myself.”
That’s when Braggs decided that a singer may out sing him, but he would not outperform him. “I am an entertainer and I’m determined no one will entertain better than me,” he said. Braggs received his training from people in the industry.
“I loved James Brown, and later in life, I got the opportunity to meet him and talk to him for 45 minutes,” Braggs said with a laugh. “But, I don’t remember what we talked about because I was too busy staring at these two pink rollers he had in his hair, one on each side of his head.”
Years later, Braggs also met and toured with his idol, Tom Jones. “When I was young, I watched the Tom Jones Show every week he was on, no matter what,” Braggs said. “To me he was something special. And then I toured two summers with Tom Jones when I was with the group Tower of Power. He’s the reason I started wearing suits on stage. He was my idol. I loved him.”
After 14 years of touring with Tower of Power, another break came when The Temptations were on the hunt for a new lead singer. Oddly enough, it was another drummer who connected Braggs with the group contact, Otis Williams, Jr. “I received a telephone call from Mr. Otis Williams, asking me if I was interested and of course I said yes,” Braggs said. “This time, I had six months to prepare for my new job.”
In summer of 2018, Braggs married Leslie Randolph, another UAPB alum and a Brinkley, Arkansas, native. Oddly, they didn’t know each other in college, since she was a freshman and he was a senior when she enrolled at UAPB. As fate would have it, a chance meeting in Washington, D.C. in 2017 brought them together. Randolph is currently a colonel in the U. S. Army. Together, they have created the Braggs-Randolph Scholarship for UAPB. The scholarship will cover tuition for students with at least a 2.5 GPA or above that major in music or mass communications.
“I couldn’t have gone to school without a scholarship at UAPB,” Braggs said. “We are working on an endowment scholarship for the next five years for $50,000. We want to help students go to this college.”
This fall, Braggs’ youngest of three sons, Cody, will attend UAPB as a mass communications major with emphasis in music production. “My advice to him is to find other students who are positive and like-minded,” said Braggs, shifting into inspirational mode (His other sons, Andrew and Brandon, have careers in the music industry as well).
“My advice to students looking to join the music industry is to learn the music business and all aspects of how marketing works. Learn recording, music production and don’t be afraid to have people better than you working on the team. Be the person who knows how to facilitate everybody else in the room. Be the one to get everyone else on the same page to reach the same goal.”
Addressing the preconception of what life is like in the entertainment industry, Braggs said aspiring artists should be prepared for late-night shows and early morning flights the next morning to the next gig. Because trends change, he also considers variety and endurance to be an important part of becoming successful.
“Don’t be afraid to try different genres of music. You may have to sing blues before you sing R&B. It’s okay to have very high aspirations, but you can’t always start at the top, because if you mess up at the top, it’s hard to get back.”
Braggs has a heart for helping others. When he’s not crooning with The Temptations, he conducts vocal clinics around the world for children from 8th grade to high school. “I tell them don’t get caught up in material things,” he said. “Don’t sell off property. I want them to learn how to make this place better before I leave. I want them to know how to start a business and not just how to work a job.”
The Motivator and Entertainer
Taking his role as a celebrity seriously, Bragg says when he leaves home, he knows his life is not private anymore. He knows that once he steps outside the four walls of his home, he has to be on.
The Temptations sing during a show in Riverbend, Ohio. Braggs became the lead vocalist of The Temptations in 2015. They are currently in the middle of a multicity tour that will run through June 2020.
Photos by Vernell A. Dillingham
“You are watched, videoed, photographed and you never know who is watching and who you can impact,” he said. “You have to watch how you treat people and be willing to share a kind word. We are in charge of a talent while we’re here and it’s our responsibility to nurture and feed it,” he said. “If you don’t, it could be taken and given to somebody else.”
As the temperature outside heats up and the magazine photographer focuses on the best lighting, this singledout Temptation gives a cool impromptu solo when asked about his Temptations’ favorite song. Without hesitation, singing like he’s on stage before a full audience, he belts out the first stanza, “Sunshine, blue skies, please go away. My love has found another and gone away …” Braggs the entertainer, is on.
