Tribute to Levi Stubbs

[paladin]

I was browsing through YouTube and came upon this. Nicely done.......this man and his group will always be celebrated at my house.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO3eiGylwpA&feature=grec_index

[topdiva1]

Levi Stubbs is among the great superstars that came out of Motown. The Four Tops music remains classic. Thanks for posting this tribute, to a legend.

[marv2]

I've said it in public many times and I'll say it again right here......Levi Stubbs was the greatest male voice is Pop and R&B music!!!!!

[marv2]

Here's a favorite "non-Motown" song he and the Tops use to perform: "Climb Every Mountain"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyW3cIVs0xo

[marv2]

.....and of course ,the classic "MacArthur Park" that they use to open their concerts with:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq9iMWulSS0

[marv2]

They were the absolute BEST!!!!

[paladin]

You are on point Marv, thanks for the photos. They balance the thread quite nicely.

[stephanie]

I am a die hard Supremes lover but NO Motown group brought as much happiness to the public as the Four Tops did. When they performed everybody was just happy and content. Even their commercials [[velveeta, Duncan Hines) put a smile on your face.

[marv2]

You are on point Marv, thanks for the photos. They balance the thread quite nicely.

Hey Kdub, anytime man! We can't talk about the Four Tops music enough for me. Let's make it a real tribute thread so that people can "Google it"? What do you say?

Marv

[marv2]

I am a die hard Supremes lover but NO Motown group brought as much happiness to the public as the Four Tops did. When they performed everybody was just happy and content. Even their commercials [[velveeta, Duncan Hines) put a smile on your face.

You're right on the money there Stephanie. I've seen them in cities all over the country over the years and each time, in each audience they had the people singing and dancing throughout the entire show! Not everyone can do that ya know.

[paladin]

Ok Marv heres my contribution, nothing can say more about the Tops than this short clip, even they would take time to honor our nations veterans.......I can certainly identify with this clip because of its significance to its audience.....



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQcgA9UNEZ0

[marv2]

Kdub, I remember this [[because I am old, hehehehe...) it was on the Ed Sullivan show where they ,Gladys Knight & the Pips and others performed at a military hospital. They took this song and gave it even more "smooth soul". Listen to that harmony......whew!

[marv2]

I remember the times they would appear in the Hudson's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Detroit and the crowd would just go nuts! LOL! It would be freezing out there, but when the Four Tops float came up Woodward Ave, you forgot all about it.

[nomis]

I loved his interaction with The temps on Motown 25..Ive always remembered his facial expressions and mannerisms on that show..hes one cool cat

[marv2]

Levi was PERFECT as Aubrey in "The Little Shop of Horrors" LOL!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGRN39oifsE&feature=related

[phyl]

I've said it in public many times and I'll say it again right here......Levi Stubbs was the greatest male voice is Pop and R&B music!!!!!

you ogt that right marv levi stubs could sing like no othere i lvoe the 4 tops.

[marv2]

Thanks Phyl. There has never been another one like him and I highly doubt there will be another that comes close.

[marv2]

In 1982, Levi and the Tops recorded this gem, "I Believe In You and Me" and it quickly became a classic. Listen and remember:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXsIwM2Bymo

[marv2]

Then, of course the true masterpiece! This song, this recording is the one I would take to the moon with me. My favorite of favorites [[and I've listened to a LOT of songs....) "Baby I Need Your Loving"!!!! :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joqjBAJx4ZA&feature=related

[drewschultz88]

This will always be my favorite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_e-OUAffMI

[rta5225]

Great thread! I sure do miss the original 4 Tops. I have seen them I don't know how many times. I LOVED Levi. They were all so nice. I've met them on several occasions and they are always so fan friendly.

[marv2]

Drew Schultz, very good choice. That and along with "Ain't No Woman Like the One I Got" were favorites of mine from the 70's.

[marv2]

Great thread! I sure do miss the original 4 Tops. I have seen them I don't know how many times. I LOVED Levi. They were all so nice. I've met them on several occasions and they are always so fan friendly.


Exactly rta5225! Everywhere I've lived since I left home for college, the Tops would come to town to perform and it would make me homesick, but I'd have a great time. From Denver to Boston, From Philly to New York. After singing all the songs out loud in the audience [[sometimes at the top of my lungs...hehehehe...) I'd go backstage and they would have me laughing to tears and we'd talk about Detroit and what was going on.

[paladin]

I was a very young and impressionable man when this record came out. My girlfriend and I had broke up and this song along with a couple of numbers by Miracles & The Temptations were the only songs I could stand for a while.

Incidentally this is my all time favorite Four Tops song, you know the one you always like to hear and never get tired of ?
Well quick cut to years later and I asked myself why ? I never realized that the music sounded like the Tempts and I wanted to hear Paul Williams do this tune. It would have fit quite nicely on The Gettin Ready LP. But as much as I like the Tempts no one could have done this song better than Levi & The Tops..........



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyDk019wme8

[marv2]

Kdub, you guys picked some really good songs. Amazing how music is tied directly to events in our lives, huh?

[marv2]

What made Levi Stubbs [[and all the Four Tops) special was that he could take any song, no matter popular it was and work it!!!! Check this out y'all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8ibjg053Ho

[paladin]

So true Marv, the first time I heard "Baby I need Your loving", was in my Aunt's car on whats now Interstate 80-90 enroute to her Mom's house in Toledo Ohio. It was late summer early fall I believe of 1964. I met my grandfather for the first time as well as a bunch of Uncles and Aunts that were known to me but I had never met.

They lived on Norwood and I can still remember hopping trains and riding bikes all over town. This song was playing constantly in the background while we danced, ate, played.....

Oh yeah, when you see me smile
You know,Things have gotten worse
Any smile you might see
Has all been rehearsed

Darlin' I can't go on without you
This emptiness won't let me live without you
This loneliness inside me darlin'
Makes me feel half alive


I still believe it was one of the greatest 45's ever made.:cool::cool::cool::cool:

[jobeterob]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPK-KVdrC_8

One of my favourite Tops songs.

[marv2]

So true Marv, the first time I heard "Baby I need Your loving", was in my Aunt's car on whats now Interstate 80-90 enroute to her Mom's house in Toledo Ohio. It was late summer early fall I believe of 1964. I met my grandfather for the first time as well as a bunch of Uncles and Aunts that were known to me but I had never met.

They lived on Norwood and I can still remember hopping trains and riding bikes all over town. This song was playing constantly in the background while we danced, ate, played.....

Oh yeah, when you see me smile
You know,Things have gotten worse
Any smile you might see
Has all been rehearsed

Darlin' I can't go on without you
This emptiness won't let me live without you
This loneliness inside me darlin'
Makes me feel half alive


I still believe it was one of the greatest 45's ever made.:cool::cool::cool::cool:

Kdub, you said NORWOOD! Now I getting even more certain that we may know your relatives! The first time I can remember it was also in Toledo, Ohio on Maplewood Ave. Sitting on the porch in the summer and it was on the radio coming through the window. We both know how long ago that's been and for me personally to still remember and still like it all these years later let's you know it really something special.

I also remember hearing it in the barber shop [[Poor Clarks' barber shop) and watching the older dudes getting their "Do's", their processes DID! hehehehehe..... Remember?

[paladin]

Sitting on the porch in the summer and it was on the radio coming through the window.


Dyed, fried and laid to the side..........funny you should mention that, in the evening before dinner, the porch was like a gathering place for the family.........that was one of the images I had in my head as I was posting.......

[midnightman]

What amazed me about Levi is he had a baritone voice but he showed he could reach higher and sing in that way that was both powerful and commanding. Oddly enough though he didn't feel comfortable recording in that matter but once Motown found something that could turn a group into hitmakers, he stuck with it and classics came out of that. Marvin said Levi and David Ruffin inspired him to dig deeper into his mid-range.

[luke]

I know Levi did not want to leave the Tops and yet he did Little Shop of Horrors--was there ever any discussion of him doing more solo stuff and staying in the group?

[nomis]

Levi was offered name billing over the group..and turned it down,There was also several offers of a solo career through the years but he turned them down due to loyalty to his bandmates..

[midnightman]

Levi probably did the role as a favor. Still with that, he still didn't wanna go solo and that should be commended that he was a loyal brother 'til the end.

[luke]

I know Berry wanted him to go solo but he could have done both. Wondered if that was considered.

[nomis]

...some people are just happy to stay in a band,They have a feeling of security with familar faces on stage and dont want to stand alone....

[marv2]

Levi probably did the role as a favor. Still with that, he still didn't wanna go solo and that should be commended that he was a loyal brother 'til the end.

Exactly! A very good role model in my opinion. He didn't leave them and they never left him.

[marv2]

...some people are just happy to stay in a band,They have a feeling of security with familar faces on stage and dont want to stand alone....

They were far more to each other than "just a band".

[marv2]

Then Christmas 1970 came and Santa brought us this........!

[marv2]

Levi and Jean showed out ! LOL! I like what they did with "River Deep, Mountain High" in this remix:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhpqA28lxKc

[marv2]

If only I could SING! I'd do it like this......LOL! This was probably my favorite post 1980 record by Levi and the Tops.... From the Summer of 1985 and the streets of Detroit! "Sexy Ways" y'all.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcSf43FrCzY

[stephanie]

I dont think there has ever been a group who did remakes that were as good or better than the originals. I can remember thinking before I heard Light My Fire and Reflections there is no way these guys are going to pull this off and they did. My favorite on Light My Fire is not Levis lead but the backgrounds! Another thing I liked about their productions with the Supremes is that its not the Je an Terrell show ALL of them can be heard. Most of the albums have Mary and Cindy having a line and their backgrounds along with the Tops are strong. Even though the Magnificent 7 albums were not HUGE sellers the chemistry is obvious and the album version of River Deep is much better than the single.

I never though Levi would make a great solo and I think he knew it too. He didnt have that ego thing that Ross and Ruffin and Phillipe Wynn had. I think he felt better in a group setting.

[marv2]

Stephanie, that is exactly what I was thinking in regards to "Light My Fire". The backgrounds are what sold the song to me! There is a black and white clip of them singing it from the Showtime speciasl they did on the Tops and the Tempts back in the 80's. That "sizzle, sizzle, sizzle me baby" was just too cool! LOL!

[marv2]

My one regret is that we do not have any video of the Supremes and Four Tops performances together. Why that is the case is a mystery.

[stranger56]

One of Levi's greatest vocals, IMHO.
Along with the unreleased version of I Believe In You And Me, where Levi "goes to church" at the end.
Here's The Masquerade Is Over.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6QsHqOurRw

[marv2]

Oh Stranger56, you sure picked a GOOD one! Thanks.

[stranger56]

LOL...Glad you liked it, Marv!

[stephanie]

Levi sounds hot on this one Stranger thanks! Marv I SO SO wish there were clips of the Supremes and the Tops together. One reason I liked listening to Levi and Jean was because it didnt sound like they were trying to oversing each other and the backgrounds were audible.
One thing about the Magnificent 7 albums is that if you play them loud [[say a song like Melodie) the productions were awesome! When watching the Tops although Levi was the lead you never got the feeling that it was Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops if you know what I mean. If anyone asked me hands down who was the best singer at Motown I would have to say Levi Stubbs. Not only were the Tops talented they were likeable and there was no outside drama with the public like it was with the Supremes and the Temptations.

[stranger56]

Here's a little known gem by the boys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5JhH2reFTo

[arrr&bee]

Nobody could sing with that tinge of sadness like levi[shake me-wake me]and no group,not even the classic temps could out harmonize the four tops.

[stranger56]

Here's an unreleased version of I Believe in You and Me, with a different arrangement. Listen to the end, where Levi "goes to church"!


http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=1534980250045&oid=115725015115414&comments

[traciewillis2000]

My favorite Four Tops song of all time. It always upset me that Motown never released a version of Levi singing it live in concert cause that's where he really took it to another level. I believe Motown have a concert version recorded since they have at least one Temps Tops concert from the 80's in the vault. The one they got tonight I'm gonna love you all over for the box set from. Don't have facebook so I can't hear this one but am wondering is this the version that was suppose to be on the Hot Nights album?

[stranger56]

Yes it is. I didn't realize you had to be on Facebook to hear this one. Sorry about that. I'll upload it to youtube in a few minutes.

[stranger56]

Try this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MjVR5ArQKg

[marv2]

More of the Four Tops unreleased material needs to be made available.

[tmd]

Can you imagine meeting and talking to your all time favorite singer. That's what I got to do in June of 1974 when The Four Tops, The Four Season's and Tommy James all performed together at Pine Knob.
Levi and Frankie were just standing talking near the concession stand and me and my buddy got the nerve up to introduce our selves to the great man. Although we did not intentionally ignore Frankie Vali, it was Levi Stubbs that we wanted to meet. He spent 10 minutes with us and also introduced us to Frankie Vali -who must have been in shock seeing two white guys go absolutely nuts over Levi Stubbs.
Not only was he the greatest singer who ever lived, but also one heck of a nice guy.
So many classics, but he never sounded better than on Ask the Lonely, and Reach Out is the all time greatest song ever made- hands down.

[traciewillis2000]

Thanks for posting stranger!!! As soon as I'm done here I'll have to give it a listen.

I know there's no hope for something like this but just in case Motown/Hip-O is out there here's a suggestion. How about a 2CD set called Four Tops: Return To Motown 1983-1986 including

Back Where I Belong Album 1983 [[Unreleased on CD)
Four Tops Live 1984 [[Unreleased Tops part of the TNT Concert recorded Dec of 84 in Santa Barbara)
Magic Album 1985 [[Unreleased on CD)
Hot Nights Album 1986 [[Unreleased Period)
Bonus Track: Battle Song 1983 [[with the Temps from their Back to Basics album Unreleased on CD)

This set would appeal to the hardcore Four Tops fan by giving us Two Albums for the first time on CD and the unreleased "Lost" Hot Nights Album. In addition by including an unreleased live set it would give us a concert from the same time period and make it so the package would also contain their greatest hits [[Can't Help Myself, Reach Out, Ain't No Woman, When She Was My Girl etc.) which would give it a chance to appeal to non hardcore buyers who would only consider buying a Four Tops set if it contains these songs. Well anyway one can dream!!!

[paladin]

A nice dream Tracie, don't ever stop.........thanks for your contribution to this thread.

[marv2]

Tracie, that is an excellent idea! I have especially wanted to hear the "Hot Nights" album for more than 20 years now. Including the other latter day Motown albums would just be icing on the cake. I have all of them, but "Magic" is a personal favorite of mine. Each song was special.