Yesterday's Dreams album

[rovereab]

I found the covers on this album to be rather weak and feel now that the album would have been more appealing with the following H-D-H songs that either never made an album or remained in the vault:

* Your Love Is Wonderful
* Lonely Lover
* You Keep Running Away
* If You Don’t Want My Love
* Just One Last Look

What do you think?

[roger]

I always really liked the L.P. .. but I think it should have included "You Keep Running Away" as that hadn't been on the "Reach Out" L.P. However, at the time, I think that the powers at Motown probably thought "You Keep Running Away" was a bit too old, as it had been on a 7" for a year or so.

Roger

[Roger Polhill]

I too like that album and would only like "Daydream Believer", "Once Upon A Time" and "The Sweetheart Tree" replaced.I feel that "On Top" would have magnificent if the only cover had been "In The Still Of The Night" it is still my favourite Tops album.

[marv2]

I like the album a lot as it is. It was one of my favorites.

[Motown4Ever518]

When the album came out, I noticed the in my opinion the lack of hit material. Being older and wiser, I always appreciated Levis leads, but now appreciate the harmonies and the backgrounds more, so they could have sung anything and it would have been alright.

[BayouMotownMan]

I found this lp to be an especially weak follow-up to the brilliant Reach Out lp, which remains, IMHO, one of the must-haves for any Motown afficianado. In fact, all the lps following Reach Out were lame until we get to the Still Waters lp which re-invented the group thanks to the brilliance of Frank Wilson. All of the late 60s lps were mostly HDH copies or weak covers of other songs, the exceptions being MacArthur Park and Light My Fire. When the Tops re-did Last Train To Clarksville, Walk Away Renee, Carpenter, I'm A Believer and Cherish, the Funk Bros were in great form so it gave those tracks some originality. Not so with later covers...until Frank Wilson got them!

[motown01]

I really like their version of Never My Love.

[honest man]

Oh Roger you would like 3 of my faves ommitted ha,so glad they stuck to the tracks on album,one of my faves album, cheers.

[snakepit]

This was my first Motown LP....love "Sweetheart Tree", "Never my love" and "Once upon a Time". I don't usually care for covers by Motown acts...but after HDH , Motown tried to replicate that high octane sound with Levi...it didn't work out and the evidence is on the Lost & Found CD.[[straining vocals) The route to be taken was to use Levi on ballads.....all their best stuff post HDH were just nice mid tempo/ballads.

[honest man]

snakepit you are so right,the lost and found cd is perfect though i agree the straining becomes a bit hard at times,the mellow covers from the Tops were perfect lets not forget Little green apples, fool on the hill,by the time i get tp Phoenix etc,love them ,come to think about it ,i will make a cdr of 4tops covers,the ultimate covers being Do what you gotta do,it's all in the game,GOD bless Levi and the boys,cheers.

[lakedistrictlad1]

For me, the Reach Out album is the best Motown album of all. Everything came together for that album. It is the very essence of what the Motown sound is about.

I always felt it was a huge mistake to include so many middle of the road covers on 'Yesterday's Dreams'.

For me - it took the Four Tops from being at the cutting edge of 'pop' music and put them back to being the cabaret lounge act they might have stayed if they had not signed to Motown and had the Funks and H-D-H as part of the creative team.

There's nothing wrong with lovely songs like the Sweetheart Tree - I just think it was a tactical error on Berry's part. And only went to highlight the huge, HUGE loss suffered with H-D-H's departure.

[snakepit]

I'm sure that Motown would have still have gone with the Four Tops style if they could But,
I think that Motown just coudn't replicate the HDH/Four Tops magic. The L&F CD shows that the group were pushed around several producers. [[It seems that the idea was to give Smokey a try, and then Ivy Hunter....I quite like what those sessions produced.) But it seems to me that Motown thought they had to have Levis shouting his songs, when in fact he handles the ballads so well.
Again, I don't like Motown covers as a rule...but the Yesterday's Deams LP worked for me....

[arrr&bee]

Actually one of my favorite motown albums because it shows the versatality of the four tops[once upon a time]is brilliant.