Reach Out I'll Be There

Background:

Known for their longevity and togetherness, quartet The Four Tops, which consisted of Levi Stubbs, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton, began performing as The Four Aims in 1953. Until the death of Payton in 1997, the group never changed their original lineup. Now with Fakir as the only surviving member, the group has added three new Tops to the lineup.

After suffering a series of unsuccessful stints with Chess, Red Top, Riverside Records and Columbia Records, The Four Tops finally got their big break as Motown artists. From 1963 to 1972, The Four Tops yielded a number of hit singles, including “I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” “Reach Out I'll Be There,” “It's the Same Old Song,” Standing in the Shadows of Love” and “Bernadette.” The foursome went on to record for ABC-Dunhill, where they released the charted singles “Keeper of the Castle,” “Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got),” “Are You Man Enough,” “One Chain Don't Make No Prison,” “Midnight Flower” and “Catfish.” Since leaving ABC, The Four Tops have recorded for Casablanca Records (1980-1983), Motown (1983-1987) and Arista Records (1987-1989).

In 2009, The Four Tops group was presented with The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.

Detroit

Childhood and Family:

The Four Tops began in Detroit where Levi Stubbs and Abdul “Duke” Fakir were friends at Pershing High School. Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton attended Northern High School. The foursome first met at a birthday party of a friend, where they began performing together. They decided to remain together as a quartet and in 1953, The Four Aims was born. After signing with Chess Records in 1956, they changed their name to The Four Tops in order to avoid confusion with the Ames Brothers. The face of The Four Tops would stay the same for over forty years until Lawrence Payton passed away on June 20, 1997. The remaining three continued performing as The Tops before they recruited Theo Peoples, a former member of The Temptations, in 1998 to restore the group as a quartet. It was Peoples who took over as lead singer when Levi Stubbs suffered a stroke in 2000. Stubbs later died in his sleep on October 17, 2008. The group then recruited Ronnie McNair. On July 1, 2005, Obie Benson died of lung cancer. He was replaced by Payton's son, Roquel Payton. The Four Tops, with Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Theo Peoples, Ronnie McNair and Roquel Payton, continue to perform and tour.

I Can't Help Myself

Career:

Under the name The Four Aims, The Four Tops recorded the single “If Only I Had Known” on Grady Records in 1956. Thanks to the help of Payton's cousin Roquel Davis, the group was signed to Chess Records and released “Could It Be You” (1956). In 1960, they signed with Columbia Records, but again failed to score any hit records. Despite the disappointment, The Four Tops built up their stage presence though frequent tour dates and emerged as an experienced dinner club act. On one of their tours, the group performed with Billy Eckstine.

In 1963, The Four Tops signed with the Motown record company, which was founded by longtime friend Berry Gordy. During their early years with Motown, the group recorded jazz standards for the company's Workshop subsidiary and provided backup vocals for Motown singles and other acts. Their first break arrived when the group began collaborating with the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team and launched the single “Baby I Need Your Loving” on July 10, 1964. The song rose to No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the group's first pop Top 20 single.

Released in 1964, the group's self titled debut album went to No. 1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and also charted at No. 63 on the Billboard 200. It was a No. 2 record in the U.K. The follow up to “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “Without the One You Love (Life's Not Worth While),” peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 (#43), but the group scored their next successful single with the third single “Ask the Lonely” (1965). The song rose to No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 9 on the R&B Singles chart.

The rhythm & blues sophomore album, “Four Tops' Second Album,” was released on November 13, 1965. It was successful and rose to No. 20 on Billboard's 200 and No.3 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album spawned three hit singles with “I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch),” which went to No. 1 on the R&B charts and Billboard's Hot 100, “It's The Same Old Song,” which peaked at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, and “Something About You” (No. 9 and No. 19).

Following the releases of “Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)” (#5 R&B; #18 Pop) and “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever” (#12 R&B; #45 Pop, both 1966), The Four Tops released their signature song and one of Motown's most popular songs ever, “Reach Out I'll Be There.” Launched on August 18, 1966, the single spent two weeks on the top of the R&B charts and the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also No. 1 in the United Kingdom. A direct follow up to “Reach Out I'll Be There,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love” went to No. 2 on the R&B charts and No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the U.K. Singles Charts.

In 1967, The Four Tops released the hit single “Bernadette,” which rose to No. 3 on the R&B chart and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also made the Top 10 in the U.K (#8). The group had three more hit singles in 1967 when “7 Rooms of Gloom” went to No. 10 on the R&B Singles charts and No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “You Keep Running Away” and a cover of Tim Hardin's “If I Were a Carpenter” peaked at No. 7 and No. 17 on the R&B Charts, respectively. The Four Tops' partnership with Holland-Dozier-Holland abruptly ended in 1967 when they left Motown in 1967 after conflicts with Berry Gordy over royalties and power of company shares. Their last hits with Holland-Dozier-Holland were “Walk Away Renée” and “I'm In a Different World” (both 1968).

The single “Yesterday's Dreams” (1968), released off the album of the same name, became one of The Four Tops' early singles released after they left Holland-Dozier-Holland. The following year, The Four Tops had three additional minor hit singles with “What is a Man,” “Do What You Gotta Do” and “Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me.”

The Tops gained more success in 1970 with Tommy Edwards's 1958 hit “It's All in the Game.” Produced by Frank Wilson, the group's version made the Top 10 on the Billboard R&B chart (#6) and the Top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 (#24). It also went to No. 5 in the U.K. The next single, “Still Water (Love),” (1970) co-written and co-produced by Wilson and Smokey Robinson, rose to No. 4 on the U.S. R&B charts and was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. It also went to No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Both singles were included in the 1970 concept album “Still Waters Run Deep (The Four Tops album),” which rose to No. 21, No. 3 and No. 29 on the Billboard 200, the R&B Albums chart and the U.K. Albums charts, respectively.

Still in 1970, The Tops collaborated with The Supremes on the album “The Magnificent 7,” which peaked at No. 6 in the U.K. and No. 18 on the U.S. Billboard R&B Albums chart. The album generated the hit single “River Deep - Mountain High,” which rose to No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971 and became the highest charting version of the song in the U.S. The group’s next collaborative album, “The Return of the Magnificent 7,” followed in July 1971. It spawned a modest charter with “You Gotta Have Love In Your Heart,” which peaked at No. 55 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 41 on the U.S. Billboard R&B Singles Chart. ”Dynamite,” the third and last collaborative album with The Supremes, was released in December 1971.

In 1972, The Four Tops parted ways with Motown to sign with ABC Records. Produced by Steve Barri, Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, the album “Keeper of the Castle” (1972) peaked at No. 6 on the U.S. R&B Albums chart and No. 33 on the Billboard 200. The singles “Keeper of the Castle” went to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 7 on the R&B Singles chart, while “Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got),” written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, went to No. 4 and No. 2, respectively. The group went on to produce several more R&B hit singles for the label throughout the mid 1970s, including “Are You Man Enough” (1973; #2), “Sweet Understanding Love” (1973; #10), “One Chain Don't Make No Prison” (1974; #3), “Midnight Flower” (1974; #5) and “Catfish” (1976; #7).

The Four Tops disappeared from the limelight during the late 1970s before eventually securing a new home with Casablanca Records in 1980. The partnership resulted in two studio albums, “Tonight” (1981; #37 US Pop and #5 US R&B) and “One More Mountain” (1981; #45 US R&B) and seven singles, including the No. R&B hit “When She was My Girl” (1981), which was also a No 11 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in the U.K., the U.K. Top 20 “Don't Walk Away” (1981) and the ballad “I Believe in You and Me” (1983)

The Four Tops were reunited with Motown in 1983 and released the album “Back Where I Belong,” which charted at No. 65 on the Billboard 200 and No. 47 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The follow up album “Magic” (1985) peaked at No. 33 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. A third album titled “Hot Nights” was set to be released in 1986, but was canceled. During this period, the group yielded three singles with Motown titled “I Just Can't Walk Away” (1983; #71 US Pop and #36 US R&B), “Sexy Ways” (1985; #21 US R&B) and the re-issue of “Reach Out I'll Be There” (1988), which was a No. 11 hit in the U.K.

In 1987, The Four Tops left Motown to sign with Arista Records. They then released the album “Indestructible” (1988), which peaked at No. 66 on the U.S. R&B Albums chart and No. 149 on the Billboard 200. The title track was a Top 30 hit in the U.K. The group also released two singles for Arista titled “If Ever a Love There Was” (with Aretha Franklin, 1988; #31 US R&B), and “Loco in Acapulco” (1989; #7 UK), which was recorded for the film “Buster,” starring Phil Collins.

Since the late 1980s, The Four Tops have concentrated on touring and live performances. In 1995, they released the album “Christmas Here With You” on Motown. It was followed by “The Ultimate Collection” in 1997 and “Lost & Found: Breaking Through” in 1999 (both also on Motown), their final release to date.

After losing Lawrence Payton in 1997, Obie Benson in 2005 and Levi Stubbs in 2008, the group has continued to tour and perform as a quartet with the only remaining member Abdul “Duke” Fakir and the new Four Tops Theo Peoples, Ronnie McNair and Roquel Payton.

Awards:

• Grammy: Lifetime Achievement Award, 2009