COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL
Looking sharp in '70s garb, Four Tops Levi Stubbs, left, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Lawrence Payton and Renaldo "Obie" Benson strike a casual pose in a photo used for the "Four Tops Anthology: 50th Anniversary" cover.
Topping off 50 years
It all began at a weekend birthday party in Detroit's North End in 1954. Levi Stubbs, Lawrence Payton, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Abdul "Duke" Fakir were singers in other groups, but gathered together for this one party. The party's host, on a whim, asked them to sing together -- and, hey, they sounded good -- good enough to begin practicing the next day, and later perform under the name The Four Aims.
But the Ames Brothers was another big act at the time and, to avoid confusion, changed from the Aims to the Tops.
After 10 years as strictly a road act, by 1964, The Four Tops made the momentous decision to sign with friend Berry Gordy's Motown label. The rest, obviously, was history -- a particularly glorious one with the seminal black-owned record company that lasted up until Gordy relocated the business to Los Angeles in 1972.
"Four Tops Anthology: 50th Anniversary"
(Hip-O/Motown)
That period is documented on the first of a two-CD set styled after the successful "My Girl: The Very Best of The Temptations" set released about two years ago. And, once again, compilation producer Harry Weinger does a fine job in gathering both the hits, along with some historically interesting and overlooked tracks, from throughout the quartet's rich career to make a comprehensive package to celebrate the Tops' golden anniversary.
The three remaining members are still performing, albeit as just The Tops -- Payton died of liver cancer back in '97 and Stubbs, Benson and Fakir chose not to replace him -- but at least the singing group was intact when they were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in '90 by Stevie Wonder.
That honor is mainly due to a three-year period with Motown, 1964 to '67, that spawned eight of the label's signature hits, as Stubbs and company worked brilliantly with the Funk Brothers (the so-dubbed label's house band) and producer-writers Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland Jr.
With tracks digitally remastered under the able hands of Suha Gur, what once sounded muddy and distorted is now clear and crisp, with just as much sonic impact as the originals.
From the Tops' first hit, "Baby I Need Your Loving," through "It's the Same Old Song," "Reach Out I'll Be There," and the crowning triumvirate of 1967, "Standing In the Shadows of Love," "Bernadette" and "7 Rooms of Gloom," you'd be hardpressed to find a consecutive collection of vocal and instrumentally- arranged masterpieces, short of The Beatles. (And that's not including other worthy mentions of that period like "Something About You," "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" and "You Keep Running Away.")
COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL
Back in the day: Clockwise, from top left, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Lawrence Payton, Levi Stubbs and Renaldo "Obie" Benson in an early publicity shot of The Four Tops.
BUT ONCE the HDH team left Motown in mid-'67 and leaving the Tops, as expressed by Fakir in the compilation's liner notes, "musically brokenhearted," the group carried on as best they could with other producers. (Before leaving, Holland and Dozier produced two folk-rock covers for the Tops, The Left Banke's "Walk Away Renee" and Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter," that were big hits when Motown released them as singles the following year.)
Besides such overlooked gems as "I'm In a Different World," "What Is a Man" and "Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me" (with an especially fine Stubbs vocal), the Tops recorded two more hits for the label in 1970 -- a cover of the Phil Spector-Ike and Tina Turner classic "River Deep, Mountain High," done with the Jean Terrell-led Supremes, and the soulful syncopations of "Still Water (Love)."
There's one curiosity that leads off the second disc, "A Simple Game," a collaboration with, of all groups, The Moody Blues. The sweeping drama of the song made it particularly popular in the United Kingdom in 1971, where such meldings between white rock and black soul weren't thought of as strange.
While never reaching the heights of their Motown prime, the Tops' remaining work on various record labels is still respectable. From '72 to '74, they made the charts with especially fine songs like "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I Got)," "Are You Man Enough" (the lead song from the "Shaft In Africa" soundtrack) and "One Chain Don't Make No Prison."
The vocal group survived the disco era, with the elegant "When She Was My Girl" and the rejuvenating "Tonight I'm Gonna Love You All Over" their shining moments.
The Four Tops even got back together with the HDH team for the 1983 "Back Where I Belong" album, but, unfortunately, the representative track "I Just Can't Walk Away," shows everyone concerned gamely trying to do their best under a dulling, antiseptic wash of synthesizers.
Still, this shouldn't dissuade you from purchasing this well-organized compilation, especially if your a fan of the Tops and the best of soul music.
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