THE FOUR TOPS : EARLY CLASSICS

THE FOUR TOPS

Formado em 1954 por Levi Stubbs, Lawrence Payton, Renaldo Benson e Abdul ODuke ÕFakir, todos nascidos e criados em Detroit, Michigan, Estados Unidos, "The Four Tops" foi o único grupo da época de ouro da gravadora Motown a permanecer na ativa e com sucesso. Seu primeiro single foi "Baby, I Need Your Loving" (1964), que iniciou uma série de grandes hits compostos pelo time de Brian Holland, Lamond Dozier e Eddie Holland até 1967.
Outros grandes hits incluem "I Can't Help Myself" (1965), "It's The Same Old Song" (1965),"Standing in the Shadows of Love" (1966), "Bernadette" (1967), e aquele que talvez seja seu maior sucesso: "Reach Out I'll Be There" (1966).

Em 1982, o álbum "One More Mountain" marcou o vigésimo oitavo aniversário do grupo. É o único quarteto vocal a permanecer unido com a mesma formação por 40 anos.The Four Tops foi uma das poucas Bandas americanas a ficar em 1º lugar nas paradas nos anos 60, por causa do grande sucesso da banda ínglesa The Beatles.

Curiosamente, os Four Tops sempre tiveram sua própria "reserva de mercado" atuando numa região própria e bem peculiar, senão vejamos: nunca chegaram a ser um conjunto típico de "doo-wop", "gospel", "jazz" ou "rhythm & blues", embora tenham roçado os cotovelos em todos esses estilos, e misturado um pouco de tudo, algumas vezes ao mesmo tempo. Talvez por isso, tenham ao longo do tempo ocupado um nicho próprio no mercado, fluindo ao sabor do modismo mais em voga, sem, todavia, abdicar de um estilo marcadamente próprio - O ESTILO FOUR TOPS, aceito por "gregos e troianos". (Como sempre, maldosamente, houve quem dissesse que os Four Tops viviam "em cima do muro"...)
O fato é que, com muro ou sem muro, tiveram uma trajetória duradoura, profícua e de grande sucesso.
-------------------------------------------

FOUR TOPS

The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet, whose repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, and showtunes. Founded in Detroit, Michigan as The Four Aims, lead singer Levi Stubbs (a cousin of Jackie Wilson and brother of The Falcons' Joe Stubbs), and groupmates Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton remained together for over four decades, finally forced to endure a lineup change when Payton died in 1997.
At that time, Theo Peoples was added to the lineup; Peoples later replaced Stubbs, who fell ill from a stroke, and Ronnie
McNair assumed Peoples' spot. In July 2005, Benson died of lung cancer with Payton's son Roquel replacing him.
As of 2006, Fakir, McNair, Payton and Peoples still perform together as the Four Tops.
All four members of the group began their careers together while they were high school students in Detroit. At the insistence
of their friends, Pershing High students Levi Stubbs and Abdul "Duke" Fakir performed with Renaldo "Obie" Benson and
Lawrence Payton from Northern High at a local birthday party. The quartet decided to remain together, and christened themselves The Four Aims. With the help of Payton's songwriter cousin Roquel Davis, The Aims signed to Chess Records in 1956, changing their name to Four Tops to avoid confusion with The Ames Brothers. Over the next seven years, The Tops endured unsuccessful tenures at Chess, Red Top, Riverside Records and Columbia Records. Without any hit records to their name, The Tops toured frequently, developing a polished stage presence and an experienced supper club act. In 1963, Berry Gordy, Jr., who had worked with Roquel Davis as a songwriter in the late-1950s, convinced The Tops to join the roster
of his growing Motown record company.

Among a number of groups who helped define the Motown Sound of the 1960s the Four Tops were notable for having Stubbs, a baritone, as their lead singer; most groups of the time were fronted by a tenor. The group was the main male vocal group for the songwriting and production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, who crafted for the group a stream of hit singles, including two Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" and "Reach Out I'll Be There".
During their early Motown years, the Four Tops recorded jazz standards for the company's Workshop label. In addition,
they filled in time by singing backup on Motown singles such as The Supremes' "Run, Run, Run" and "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes".

In 1964, Motown's main songwriting/production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland created a complete instrumental track
without any idea of what to do with it. They decided to craft the song as a more mainstream pop song for the Four Tops, and
proceeded to create "Baby I Need Your Loving" from the lyric-less instrumental track. Upon its mid-1964 release, "Baby I Need Your Loving" made it to #11 on the United States Billboard pop charts. After the single's success, The Tops were pulled away from their jazz material and began recording more records in the vein of "Baby I Need Your Loving."
The first follow-up single, "Without the One You Love (Life's Not Worth While)", missed both the pop and R&B Top 40 charts by only three positions. "Ask the Lonely", released early in 1965, was a Top 30 pop hit and a Top Ten R&B hit, and the from there, the Tops' fortunes began to improve.
The quality of the Four Tops' output, like that of most of Motown, began to decline, and hits became less frequent The group worked with a wide array of Motown producers during the late-1960s, including Ivy Hunter, Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, Norman Whitfield, and Johnny Bristol, without significant chart success.

The Tops departed Motown for ABC-Dunhill, but by 1983, The Tops had rejoined Motown, and were featured on the company's television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. One of the highlights of the show was a battle-of-the -bands between The Tops and The Temptations, patterned after similar competitions Berry Gordy had staged during the 1960s. Levi Stubbs and Temptation Otis Williams decided the Temptations/Tops battle would be a good one to take on the road, and both groups began a semi-regular joint tour; as of 2007, the two groups continue to play dates together.

Since the late-1980s, the Four Tops have focused on touring and live performances, only recording one album, 1995's Christmas Here With You, released on Motown. On June 20, 1997, 59-year-old Lawrence Payton died as a result of liver cancer, after singing for forty-four years with the Four Tops, who, unlike many Motown groups, never had a single lineup change until then. At first, Levi Stubbs, Obie Benson, and Duke Fakir toured as a trio called The Tops. In 1998 they recruited former Temptation Theo Peoples to join the act to restore the group to a quartet. By the turn of the century , Stubbs had become ill from cancer; Ronnie McNair was recruited to fill in the Lawrence Payton position, and Peoples
stepped into Stubbs' shoes as lead singer.
The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.
In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked them #79 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
================================

THE FOUR TOPS : EARLY CLASSICS
Tamla - Motown


THE FOUR TOPS ARE:
Levi Stubbs
Lawrence Payton
Renaldo Benson
Abdul ODuke ÕFakir


TRACKS / FAIXAS

01 - Reach Out I'll Be There
02 - Love Feels Like Fire
03 - I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)
04 - I'm Grateful
05 - It's The Same Old Song
06 - Just As Long As You Need Me
07 - Baby I Need Your Loving
08 - Call On Me
09 - Where Did You Go
10 - Your Love Is Amazing
11 - Tea House In China Town
12 - Ask The Lonely
13 - Sad Souvenirs
14 - Don't Turn Away
15 - Love Has Gone
16 - Is There Anything I Can Do
17 - Darling, I Hum Our Song
18 - Helpless

DOWLOAD : AQUI