Four Tops Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me: What Happened?

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

So this was not one of their bigger hits which I always thought was odd. When I first heard it on an album I found at a resale shop, I thought it was a really good record. I was maybe 12 or 13 and wasn't familiar with the group's history yet. I just thought it was a nice record. But I also noticed that compared to the stuff before all the hits from the 'Reach Out' album, there was something kinda "sad" about this song. I had the impression that because I had never heard it on oldies radio, this must have been from some kind of down time as far as making hits. It's amazing sometimes that even when we're young we can pick up on stuff, because later I found out that this didn't do much chart wise. I'd like to hear how others heard this song and your impressions of it.

[BayouMotownMan]

The Tops were in limbo after HDH left Motown. Their last sizeable hit before this one was Walk Away Renee. Like with The Supremes, the company paired them up with virtually every producer at Motown desperately trying to find a hit sound on them. The Supremes rebounded with Love Child but Motown was not behind the Tops enough to throw their best producers in a Detroit hotel and order them not to come out unless they had a hit for The Tops. That is how the Supremes got Love Child.

Johnny Bristol was emerging as a force to be reckoned with at Motown in the late 60s giving major hits to Jr Walker, Edwin Starr and Stevie. His What Is A Man on the Tops bombed and Motown was just at a loss as to what to do with them. For the Now lp several producers contributed including Norman Whitfield. Whitfield quickly threw out Don't Let Him Take Your Love from a Gladys Knight lp. Unfortunately the song is too reminiscent of their competitors the Temptations. It did get some decent chart action but not enough to re-establish the Tops. On top of that, Motown sat on the track from the Now lp for months before issuing it. There simply wasn't anything else good enough and the group needed a hit record.

It wasn't until 1970 that Motown gave the group to Frank Wilson that they made a comeback with the excellent Still Waters Run Deep lp and the two singles from that album. A duet single with the Supremes did well but the lp it came from, and the two that followed did poorly. Two more albums and several singles with Frank Wilson got little promotion and when it came time to re-negotiate with Motown neither party was that interested in continuing. Berry Gordy liked the Tops but he was totally immersed in Lady Sings The Blues and turned the record division over to Ewart Abner. This was a bad decision as Abner chased off many of the classic Motown artists and developed few new acts to replace them. In 1975 when Abner lost the Jacksons to Epic, Gordy finally fired him.

The Tops went to ABC in 1972 where they got the comeback they had waited for.

[soulwally]

Yeah one of theirs that didn't get a UK release, along with Macarthur Park, another odd choice for a single. Frank Wilson's work with them was excellent

[BayouMotownMan]

Yeah one of theirs that didn't get a UK release, along with Macarthur Park, another odd choice for a single. Frank Wilson's work with them was excellent

Indeed it was as was his work on The Supremes. Frank stayed with the Tops til they left.

God Bless Levi Stubbs. In 1995 I was with Martha Reeves and her sisters at a booking in Biloxi where they opened for the Tops. I got the three surviving members to sign my Nature Planned It CD and I told them how I love that lp. Levi, who was obviously not feeling well, signed it, looked at the back cover that listed the songs and said, "Isn't this good stuff?"

[MIKEW-UK]

I bought this single by The Four Tops when release, but in all honesty I found it charmless and very disappointing. If I recall, I was already familiar with Gladys Knight and the Pips version on their album, and Jimmy Ruffin's version. To my ears, both were more nuanced and engaging versions.

[MIKEW-UK]

[MIKEW-UK]

Obviously the song was a favourite and cash cow for Norman

[MIKEW-UK]

[MIKEW-UK]

Not Motown

[MIKEW-UK]

And The Four Tops performing it live

[MIKEW-UK]

And The Persuasions live

[soulwally]

I really like Gladys’s versions which is from one of my favourite ever Motown albums. The organ on it is reminiscent of Al Kooper on Dylan’s mid 60s tunes

[soulwally]

The Tops look great on that live clip, I think from a French TV show???

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

The Tops were in limbo after HDH left Motown. Their last sizeable hit before this one was Walk Away Renee. Like with The Supremes, the company paired them up with virtually every producer at Motown desperately trying to find a hit sound on them. The Supremes rebounded with Love Child but Motown was not behind the Tops enough to throw their best producers in a Detroit hotel and order them not to come out unless they had a hit for The Tops. That is how the Supremes got Love Child.

Johnny Bristol was emerging as a force to be reckoned with at Motown in the late 60s giving major hits to Jr Walker, Edwin Starr and Stevie. His What Is A Man on the Tops bombed and Motown was just at a loss as to what to do with them. For the Now lp several producers contributed including Norman Whitfield. Whitfield quickly threw out Don't Let Him Take Your Love from a Gladys Knight lp. Unfortunately the song is too reminiscent of their competitors the Temptations. It did get some decent chart action but not enough to re-establish the Tops. On top of that, Motown sat on the track from the Now lp for months before issuing it. There simply wasn't anything else good enough and the group needed a hit record.

It wasn't until 1970 that Motown gave the group to Frank Wilson that they made a comeback with the excellent Still Waters Run Deep lp and the two singles from that album. A duet single with the Supremes did well but the lp it came from, and the two that followed did poorly. Two more albums and several singles with Frank Wilson got little promotion and when it came time to re-negotiate with Motown neither party was that interested in continuing. Berry Gordy liked the Tops but he was totally immersed in Lady Sings The Blues and turned the record division over to Ewart Abner. This was a bad decision as Abner chased off many of the classic Motown artists and developed few new acts to replace them. In 1975 when Abner lost the Jacksons to Epic, Gordy finally fired him.

The Tops went to ABC in 1972 where they got the comeback they had waited for.

Excellent summary of what was going on with the group from the late 60s onward. I have to say, while I like the Tops' version of this, it always sounded like it was just sort of "jacked" together. It's strange how it doesn't sound at all like a Norman Whitfield production- not when you compare what he was doing with the Tempts, Jimmy and Gladys at the time. In fact, I can't recall another Whitfield production that had so much crammed into the musical arrangement. Then, it seemed he didn't quite know what to do here as there is another mix featuring horns. It's almost as if Norman was thinking, "what would HDH have done?"

In contrast, he knew EXACTLY what he was doing when he did the song with Gladys and Jimmy; Gladys' version is bluesy and restrained. Musically, the track doesn't swamp her vocals or the Pips'. It's a beautifully moving version. With Jimmy [[and by extension, the Temps since they used the same track), I always got shades of a laid-back, soulfully country vibe. There is a song, "Don't It Make You Want To Go Home"- Brook Benton covered it and his Down Home version reminds me very much of Jimmy Ruffin's version of "Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me."

I'm glad the Four Tops finally got their rebirth on the charts with Frank Wilson's material. Just last week, I finally gave a listen to some of the material the Tops did at ABC/Dunhill and I was pleasantly surprised. Honestly, I think their work at ABC surpassed their post-HDH work at Motown. It was progressive, but the music was vibrant and fresh in a way 70's Motown would never have been able to match.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

I bought this single by The Four Tops when release, but in all honesty I found it charmless and very disappointing. If I recall, I was already familiar with Gladys Knight and the Pips version on their album, and Jimmy Ruffin's version. To my ears, both were more nuanced and engaging versions.

Well said. I actually like the Four Tops' version, but I'm rather surprised at how somewhat "reckless" it sounds. I keep feeling as if Norman was trying to do an HDH record and it didn't quite come together. With Gladys Knight & The Pips, as well as Jimmy's [[and the Tempts') versions, I feel like I can "sink" into them. "Nuanced"- that's the perfect word for those versions. Both have a subtle feeling of melancholy, or as Kiki Dee's song said, a warm kind of sorrow.

[drlorne]

Thank you MikeW-UK for the clips. I actually liked the lead in on the Undisputed Truth's song. It had so much potential. I think their version was over sung. It's a good song, for sure.

[Spreadinglove21]

Just played the Four tops version. First time I've ever heard it. It's alright. This was really released as a single?! It comes across more as a typical Motown album filler cut. Professional, but doesn't really reach out and grab me as a listener, which is what a good single should do.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Just played the Four tops version. First time I've ever heard it. It's alright. This was really released as a single?! It comes across more as a typical Motown album filler cut. Professional, but doesn't really reach out and grab me as a listener, which is what a good single should do.

Yep, it was a single and it would appear the majority of the listening audience agreed with you; it only got as far as #45 on the Hot 100 and 25 on the R&B chart. I couldn't find how long it stayed on the chart, but I would hazard a guess it wasn't for long.

[BayouMotownMan]

I agree with that last paragraph in particular. Love their ABC material. Sadly, the Tops got off to a great start with them [[Keeper of the Castle, Ain't No Woman) but by 1975 they were again cast adrift with their own record company. Songs like Sweet Understand Love and Seven Lonely Night, I love them, but they sound like 60s Supremes songs. Other tracks like Just Can't Get You Out Of My Mind and especially Midnight Flower, don't know what Dunhill was thinking, but these were massive hit records. Then the Tops got on board the disco train with Catfish and HELP. Decided duds. Their last great lp was the first Casablanca record. Tonight I'm Gonna Love You All Over is breath-takingly beautiful. Their harmonies were tight and no other backing singers on it. Don't Walk Away was a hit in Britain and could have been one here. I was so excited after Motown 25 to know that the guys were re-uniting for a lp with HDH. Never been so disappointed. Just Can't Walk Away was issued as a single that did very little as it was not commercial for the time. At the same time, the Tempts were reunited with Norman Whitfield and we got the gorgeous Sail Away. Their second Motown lp was a little better but by then it was obvious the group was now going to be an oldies act

[Motown Eddie]

I feel that The Four Tops' version of "Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me" is just average. Good performance from the group [as always] but it doesn't have the punch of their best work at Motown. Here's a song from the same era but was left in the vaults until 2005 that I think would've made a better single for The Tops.

[mysterysinger]

Agree that "Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me" wasn't a great choice for a Tops single. The UK were right not to release it on 45,

The whole "Now" album initially seemed insipid to a younger me but has grown to be one of my favourites. "Do What You Gotta Do" and "MacArthur Park" are two of my absolute favourite Tops songs. And how we need an official CD remastered re-release of this album. I'd jump at the chance to buy it.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Agree that "Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me" wasn't a great choice for a Tops single. The UK were right not to release it on 45,

The whole "Now" album initially seemed insipid to a younger me but has grown to be one of my favourites. "Do What You Gotta Do" and "MacArthur Park" are two of my absolute favourite Tops songs. And how we need an official CD remastered re-release of this album. I'd jump at the chance to buy it.

I'd love to know just why this one particular studio album has not been released on CD since that one time back in yestercentury. I share your experience with this album. At first, I couldn't wrap my head around it, and never fully played it as an "album"- generally, cherry picking tunes, skipping some here and there. But recently I've been appreciating it more, playing it from start-to-finish. This one, along with "Yesterday's Dreams" are a couple of albums that will never, ever be my favorites and yet I seem to be enjoying them more now that I'm [[much) older.

[mysterysinger]

I'd love to know just why this one particular studio album has not been released on CD since that one time back in yestercentury. I share your experience with this album. At first, I couldn't wrap my head around it, and never fully played it as an "album"- generally, cherry picking tunes, skipping some here and there. But recently I've been appreciating it more, playing it from start-to-finish. This one, along with "Yesterday's Dreams" are a couple of albums that will never, ever be my favorites and yet I seem to be enjoying them more now that I'm [[much) older.

As you say, it has been released on CD in the past on MOTD and 37463 versions [[with slightly different track listings between them). But these are rare and they cost a fortune if you find them on EBay fro example. There was also a fairly recent release as a 4 album 2 CD set set which included "Yesterday's Dreams", "Soul Spin" and "Changing Times" but I understand that the quality leaves a lot to be desired.

What I'd like is a remastered CD of Four Tops "Now" with original artwork.

Someone like Elemental or Music On Cd could do a good job or even Universal Japan.