Levi Stubbs

[Guest SteveJohnston]

Mr L Stubbs

I can't help myself what else is there to do but think about you. I will always cherish the beauty of your voice you where wonderful baby, looking for TML 11061 this morning to drop on the turntable now where did you go..............I know there the same old song's but there's something about you that makes me come back for more ...................hear we go I'll play this till I find you TML 11056 after all they start of the same "now if you feel that you can't go on" and I'm trying to do this justice with know singing talent at all but I'm still trying with...... "and when I see the sign that points one way"....... still can't find 11061 I only played it last month were has She put it!.............." 7 - Rooms of gloom " booms out of the speakers I stop & just how many rooms of gloom there probable are this morning?...........must be millions .........I'm now on the last train to Clarksville & all of a sudden there are the Four Tops standing in a garden all leaning slightly to the right with greatest hits in green supporting them, I'll let "I'll turn to stone" finish ..........And then it starts "now if you feel like you can't go on" ....not in stereo this time and it seams loving you is sweeter than ever.

R.I.P. Levi Stubbs

Edited October 18, 2008 by SteveJohnston

[macca]

Lost for words.

RIP Levi.

[Guest SteveC]

At these times I tend to look back at the work left behind and try to avoid the sadness of the occasion. Have to admit that this time that was difficult. Losing Mr Stubbs is like losing a family friend. He came into my life as I first discovered this music and stayed with me right up until yesterday when I was playing one of the Four Tops French EPs and still enjoying the wonderment of his unique vocal.

I don't think anyone could match his vocal delivery for soul content, and that's a helluva statement to make when you consider the array of talent to choose from. I'm sure tonight, Levi, Lawrence and Obie will be reliving the years they spent giving so much pleasure to so many people. And after such a battle against his illness who on Earth would begrudge them a minute of it? So.......Sleep well Mr Levi Stubbs....and please accept congratulations on a job done to such a standard that it became the yardstick for many to try and attain...but NONE could actually achieve. Soul Perfection.

Oh Dave

So perfectly put mate

[Guest ruffsounds]

Got in from Warwick last night to find the wife on comp checking all the tributes on the net with tears in her eyes,we both sat silent for a minute then put some Four Tops cds on.

That voice just made us both start blubbing, that voice will live on in the hearts of millions of people as the voice of Motown.

R.I.P Levi Stubbs

Ralph & Chris the wife

[Guest SteveC]

I know I'm not supposed to do it this way moderators but I'm not too clear oh how to do it properly at the mo. I'm sure I'll be excused when you here this acapella version of the maestro doing JATL!!!

[Drew3]

I know I'm not supposed to do it this way moderators but I'm not too clear oh how to do it properly at the mo. I'm sure I'll be excused when you here this acapella version of the maestro doing JATL!!!

Abso-bloody-lutely awesome Steve.

Thank you!

KTF.

Drew.

[macca]

There's an awesome clip of them in action in Belgium in 1965 doing I Can't Help Myself.

Don't think we can post Youtube links, can we?

It should be easy to find though. "The Four Tops 'sugar pie' in Belguim" ...

[Sharon Cooper]

I know I'm not supposed to do it this way moderators but I'm not too clear oh how to do it properly at the mo. I'm sure I'll be excused when you here this acapella version of the maestro doing JATL!!!

Whowww how do you replace that, you can't

thanks for that post

[pikeys dog]

A true Icon.

https://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BGRN39oifsE

[Soulgrit]

Just pure pure, class, a sad loss.

Edited October 18, 2008 by Soulgrit

[Jez Jones]

I know I'm not supposed to do it this way moderators but I'm not too clear oh how to do it properly at the mo. I'm sure I'll be excused when you here this acapella version of the maestro doing JATL!!!

Fooking outstanding clip---thanks for that. Stopped me in me tracks---brilliance

[Guest s0ul45]

Even though Levi had not been well for several years now it's still shattering to think that we have finally lost one of the greatest vocalists ever to have graced this music of ours.

I struggle today to recall clearly where it was that I first heard 'Baby I Need Your Lovin', but its impact upon me proved life changing. Probably it was Radio Luxembourg as there were no 'pop' radio stations in the U.K. at that time and if a record didn't make Juke Box Jury or Alan Freeman's 'Pick Of The Pops' chances are, if you were under 14, you'd not hear it. Record shops did not stock everything and if the sound you wanted was unavailable you spent your 5s and 3d or 6s and 8d on something they did have in stock. Unbelievably, in that autumn of 1964 Stateside 336 eluded me and criminally I, along with thousands of other settled for that vastly inferior cover version that became a pop hit for The Fourmost. I was later to confess this in the programme notes I wrote for The Tops 'Indestructible' tour of 1989.

To a spotty adolescent rapidly becoming aware of the charms of the opposite sex Levi's ability to express with sincerity the kind of approach that could only be dreamt of and the level of pain that could be experienced upon rejection said it all. Go and play it again. It still sounds as fresh and as soulful as it did all those 44 years ago, and the real crime of that Fourmost version is that they omit the final line of each verse- the one where Levi is at his most pleading and almost brings tears to the eyes.

'Coz I'm So lonely' 'Coz Lately I've Been Losing Sleep' 'Makes Me Feel Paralysed'

Can you believe that this masterpiece has never even made the U.K. top fifty? (although I suspect that a fair proportion of those that put 'I Can't Help Myself' in the charts in 1970 did so because this was reissued on the flip.)

'Without The One You Love' sounded a bit too much like it was intended to - as a follow, up but with the launch of the Tamla Motown label in the spring of 1965 Levi fronted a recording that for years went unnoticed by so many and yet has had a real renaissance. I still suspect that only Levi and the Andantes were actually in the studio at the time of the recording of the phenomenal 'Ask The Lonely'. It was a strange one this, almost the only Tops single not written and produced by H-D-H until they parted company with Motown and yet it has become one of their most respected offerings. Must confess it sounded strangely un Motown to my ears at the time. That summer of 1965 was dominated by the riveting beat of another magnificent Holland-Dozier-Holland masterpiece, the highly addictive 'I Can't Help Myself' which finally consummated the marriage between the Tops and H-D-H. Yet again though, it was only in their homeland that the full significance of this epic was appreciated. I must have heard this track thousands of times and yet it was only when the Funk Brothers backing track surfaced a few years ago that the dominance of the strings fully comes to the fore. Why did it take so long to appreciate them? It was the sheer power of Levi's voice that almost drowns any accompaniment.

Britain was beginning to develop a love affair with the Tops that was destined to last a lot longer than their popularity in their native country, although there was still no general appreciation of some earth shattering performances such as 'Something About You' or 'Shake Me Wake Me'. The amazing thing about every Four Tops 45 was the equal quality of the 'b' sides 'Just As Long As You Need Me', 'I Like Everything About You', 'I Got A Feeling', 'I'll Turn To Stone' etc. etc, and with every one a Stubbles (his real name) delivery to die for. Levi could even make MOR standards such as 'Macarthur Park' or 'It's All In The Game' palatable and covers such as 'Walk Away Renee', 'If I Were A Carpenter' and 'Do What You Gotta Do' become a delight given his unique interpretation.

Levi's contribution to our music is acknowledged by us all and those of us lucky enough to have spent time in his company will be aware that his charm and charisma were evident wherever he went and with whomever he met. Fortunately, he has left us all with a legacy - some of the finest musical performances we could ever hope for. We all have our favourite Tops recordings, so it's now the time to dig some out and appreciate once more one of , if not the, finest and most distinctive male vocalists in soul history.

RIP Levi; give our regards to Larry and Obie.

Chris

[macca]

I think I'm right in saying that Brian Epstein was instrumental in bringing them over for their all conquering 65 tour of Britain. He told the press that they were the best group in the world after his Fab Four (he had to say that I guess).

Baby I Need Your Lovin' was quoted as his fave track. Many say that for Epstein, the 'baby' in the song was Lennon.

Levi's vocals in the unrequited/unattainable love songs are some of the most moving things ever committed to vinyl.

The reaction to his death on here & other forums is entirely fitting. I deeply felt the loss of Marvin Gaye, but it's nothing like this.

[Guest Biz]

what can i say that hasnt been said,a true legend when the word legend hasnt been used lightly,RIP Levi

[Sharon Cooper]

what can i say that hasnt been said,a true legend when the word legend hasnt been used lightly,RIP Levi

• Penny Valentine
• guardian.co.uk,
  
• Friday October 17 2008 23.07 BST
• Article history

There are few singers who could evoke the kind of divine desperation that Levi Stubbs brought to the work of the Four Tops during the 1960s and 70s, be it the frantic pacing his voice implied as he searched through Seven Rooms of Gloom or the moment after the musical hiatus in Bernadette when he vocally clawed back the title object of his desire. For Stubbs, who has died aged 72, had the most dramatic voice of all the Tamla Motown artists during that label's golden era.

Yet despite a catalogue of hit singles, it was probably for one song alone that the singer, and the group he fronted, carved a historic niche for themselves. Reach Out, I'll Be There, a tumultuous example of romantic devotion, was released in 1966. The high woodwind motif and incessantly demanding rhythm section that marked the record was to become a trademark for the group's sound. Reach Out provided Motown with an early number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and the Four Tops with a musical recipe for success that lasted them for a decade.

Levi Stubbs was born Levi Stubbles and brought up in Detroit, a cousin of the singer Jackie Wilson. Like many black American teenagers in the early 1950s, he and three of his schoolfriends - Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Lawrence Payton and Renaldo "Obie" Benson - formed a vocal group, The Four Aims, mainly playing school graduation dances and church functions. With harmonies redolent of The Inkspots, they quickly moved on to the jazz and R&B circuit, working with Billy Eckstine and Count Basie, as well as Betty Carter, Della Reese, Brook Benton and with Wilson himself.

By 1956 Stubbs had shortened his surname and the group had signed to Chess records, released Kiss Me Baby and changed their name, apparently to avoid confusion with the close harmony group The Ames Brothers. Two further undistinguished singles - Ain't That Love, for Columbia, and Where Are You, for Riverside - followed without success.

In 1959, the young Detroit-based car worker Berry Gordy started Tamla Motown, and the Four Tops signed to the company four years later. Although the group were keen to record jazz and were going to go onto the Workshop label subsidiary, Gordy had already employed a brilliant young in-house writing and production trio for Motown - brothers Eddie and Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier - and it was to be the Four Tops and the Supremes who would benefit most from their talent. The Four Tops spent some months providing back-up vocals to other Motown groups, including the Supremes on When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes, but in 1964 released their first single on the label. Holland, Dozier and Holland's Baby I Need Your Loving went straight into the American chart.

Although it started pleasantly enough, with the group in close harmony, it was marked by finger clicks, sinuous bass and strings, which became key ingredients of the Four Tops sound, on later records joined by hard tambourine and searing sax breaks. But it was after the initial chorus and on the line "empty nights echo your name" that the song lifted off, bringing Stubbs startlingly broken-edged vocals to the fore, his voice imbuing the song with a drama beyond its paper worth. The success of the track was swiftly followed by a string of hits which repeated the formulae, including I Can't Help Myself, It's The Same Old Song and, in May 1966, the Stevie Wonder/Ivy Hunter song Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever, produced by Hunter herself. It was three months after that hit that Motown released Reach Out, I'll Be There.

Despite its complexity and its use of minor chords, the record instantly became a number one in both America and Britain. Its success and its place as one of the great Motown tracks might well have overwhelmed the singers themselves, but it was the combination of their harmonies and the raw energy of Stubbs' voice that struck the popular imagination and made it a classic.

Not as mellifluous as Smokey Robinson nor as street-tough as the Temptations, the sound of Stubbs' voice , and the songs it was used on, seemed like an early example of a masculinity in crisis. Reach Out relied for its impact on his extraordinary tussle with the lyrics, driving them foreward with that resonant "hup and holler" - the sudden "work shout" - rare for the white pop charts of the 60s, but familiar to black record buyers raised on churchgoing and gospel, and hence soul music's mix of the sacred and profane. Yet ironically, when Holland, Dozier and Holland had first played the song to the group, Stubbs had disliked it and initially pressed for one of the others to sing lead.

That same year the group came to Britain, headlining at the showcase Sunday concerts promoted by the Beatles manager Brian Epstein at London's Saville Theatre, later selling out the Royal Albert Hall. The group would often enjoy more chart success in Britain than in America over the following years, and much of that was due to their live appearances - a fact further reflected in the high sales of their live albums. At a time when young white British groups were struggling to give a passable account of their records, the Four Tops - like all Motown's acts having gone through rigorous schooling in stage presentation - were led by Stubbs through seamless renditions of their hits; his voice at full throttle, their harmonies impeccable, the whole topped off by precise dance routines.

In 1967 Holland, Dozier and Holland left Motown. The Four Tops fell back on recording non-original material. Although their choice of songs, by white writers outside the soul stream, struck critics as odd, in fact their treatment of Tim Hardin's If I Were A Carpenter (1967), The Left Banke's Walk Away Renee (1968) and Jimmy Webb's Macarthur Park (1971) were all instantly transformed by Stubbs' yearning and were all hits.

A smooth version of an old Tommy Edwards song, It's All in the Game (1970), took them back into the American chart, as did their duet with the Supremes on a re-vamp of the Ike and Tina Turner hit River Deep, Mountain High (1971), but things at Motown had changed. By the early 70s the label had switched from being a family-run firm to a Los Angles based corporation. In 1972, along with other groups, like Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Four Tops left it.

The Four Tops had been the most stable group in the history of Motown. A tight unit on stage and off, they never indulged in internal bickering or personnel changes, and, unlike many of his Motown contemporaries, Stubbs never contemplated going solo, staying close to Benson, Payton and Fakir and always living in Detroit.

Although Stubbs and the group went on to enjoy the odd hit on other labels, returned at one point to Motown, and never stopped working the American cabaret circuit, the combination of changing tastes and a lack of material that suited Stubbs' vocal style meant they never really recaptured their original power. When Lawrence Payton died in 1997 they refused to replace him and worked for some time as a trio, re-named the Tops, until they finally conceeded to needing the extra voice and adding the Temptations Theo Peoples.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999, the group had represented a key moment in popular music and Stubbs' voice continued to enthrall a generation of younger musicians. Two decades after the release of Reach Out, in 1986, Billy Bragg wrote and recorded Levi Stubbs' Tears.

In 2000 Stubbs suffered a stroke, and did not perform again. He is survived by his wife Clineice Townsend, five children and three sisters.

Levi Stubbs (Stubbles), singer, born April 6 1936; died October 17 2008

This obituary has been updated since the death of its author in 2003

[Arabica]

Just played this in tribute to the one and only Levi Stubbs, so sad R I P

Helen & Martin xxx

Hi Helen & Martin,

If i had to say which one was my top tune, this is it, gives that feeling at the back of the neck, perhaps at the Central on the 24th,all the DJ's could play a tops track as a dedication,

Regards Mall

[Guest]

• Penny Valentine
• guardian.co.uk,
  
• Friday October 17 2008 23.07 BST
  
• Article history
  

There are few singers who could evoke the kind of divine desperation that Levi Stubbs brought to the work of the Four Tops during the 1960s and 70s, be it the frantic pacing his voice implied as he searched through Seven Rooms of Gloom or the moment after the musical hiatus in Bernadette when he vocally clawed back the title object of his desire. For Stubbs, who has died aged 72, had the most dramatic voice of all the Tamla Motown artists during that label's golden era.

Yet despite a catalogue of hit singles, it was probably for one song alone that the singer, and the group he fronted, carved a historic niche for themselves. Reach Out, I'll Be There, a tumultuous example of romantic devotion, was released in 1966. The high woodwind motif and incessantly demanding rhythm section that marked the record was to become a trademark for the group's sound. Reach Out provided Motown with an early number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and the Four Tops with a musical recipe for success that lasted them for a decade.

Levi Stubbs was born Levi Stubbles and brought up in Detroit, a cousin of the singer Jackie Wilson. Like many black American teenagers in the early 1950s, he and three of his schoolfriends - Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Lawrence Payton and Renaldo "Obie" Benson - formed a vocal group, The Four Aims, mainly playing school graduation dances and church functions. With harmonies redolent of The Inkspots, they quickly moved on to the jazz and R&B circuit, working with Billy Eckstine and Count Basie, as well as Betty Carter, Della Reese, Brook Benton and with Wilson himself.

By 1956 Stubbs had shortened his surname and the group had signed to Chess records, released Kiss Me Baby and changed their name, apparently to avoid confusion with the close harmony group The Ames Brothers. Two further undistinguished singles - Ain't That Love, for Columbia, and Where Are You, for Riverside - followed without success.

In 1959, the young Detroit-based car worker Berry Gordy started Tamla Motown, and the Four Tops signed to the company four years later. Although the group were keen to record jazz and were going to go onto the Workshop label subsidiary, Gordy had already employed a brilliant young in-house writing and production trio for Motown - brothers Eddie and Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier - and it was to be the Four Tops and the Supremes who would benefit most from their talent. The Four Tops spent some months providing back-up vocals to other Motown groups, including the Supremes on When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes, but in 1964 released their first single on the label. Holland, Dozier and Holland's Baby I Need Your Loving went straight into the American chart.

Although it started pleasantly enough, with the group in close harmony, it was marked by finger clicks, sinuous bass and strings, which became key ingredients of the Four Tops sound, on later records joined by hard tambourine and searing sax breaks. But it was after the initial chorus and on the line "empty nights echo your name" that the song lifted off, bringing Stubbs startlingly broken-edged vocals to the fore, his voice imbuing the song with a drama beyond its paper worth. The success of the track was swiftly followed by a string of hits which repeated the formulae, including I Can't Help Myself, It's The Same Old Song and, in May 1966, the Stevie Wonder/Ivy Hunter song Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever, produced by Hunter herself. It was three months after that hit that Motown released Reach Out, I'll Be There.

Despite its complexity and its use of minor chords, the record instantly became a number one in both America and Britain. Its success and its place as one of the great Motown tracks might well have overwhelmed the singers themselves, but it was the combination of their harmonies and the raw energy of Stubbs' voice that struck the popular imagination and made it a classic.

Not as mellifluous as Smokey Robinson nor as street-tough as the Temptations, the sound of Stubbs' voice , and the songs it was used on, seemed like an early example of a masculinity in crisis. Reach Out relied for its impact on his extraordinary tussle with the lyrics, driving them foreward with that resonant "hup and holler" - the sudden "work shout" - rare for the white pop charts of the 60s, but familiar to black record buyers raised on churchgoing and gospel, and hence soul music's mix of the sacred and profane. Yet ironically, when Holland, Dozier and Holland had first played the song to the group, Stubbs had disliked it and initially pressed for one of the others to sing lead.

That same year the group came to Britain, headlining at the showcase Sunday concerts promoted by the Beatles manager Brian Epstein at London's Saville Theatre, later selling out the Royal Albert Hall. The group would often enjoy more chart success in Britain than in America over the following years, and much of that was due to their live appearances - a fact further reflected in the high sales of their live albums. At a time when young white British groups were struggling to give a passable account of their records, the Four Tops - like all Motown's acts having gone through rigorous schooling in stage presentation - were led by Stubbs through seamless renditions of their hits; his voice at full throttle, their harmonies impeccable, the whole topped off by precise dance routines.

In 1967 Holland, Dozier and Holland left Motown. The Four Tops fell back on recording non-original material. Although their choice of songs, by white writers outside the soul stream, struck critics as odd, in fact their treatment of Tim Hardin's If I Were A Carpenter (1967), The Left Banke's Walk Away Renee (1968) and Jimmy Webb's Macarthur Park (1971) were all instantly transformed by Stubbs' yearning and were all hits.

A smooth version of an old Tommy Edwards song, It's All in the Game (1970), took them back into the American chart, as did their duet with the Supremes on a re-vamp of the Ike and Tina Turner hit River Deep, Mountain High (1971), but things at Motown had changed. By the early 70s the label had switched from being a family-run firm to a Los Angles based corporation. In 1972, along with other groups, like Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Four Tops left it.

The Four Tops had been the most stable group in the history of Motown. A tight unit on stage and off, they never indulged in internal bickering or personnel changes, and, unlike many of his Motown contemporaries, Stubbs never contemplated going solo, staying close to Benson, Payton and Fakir and always living in Detroit.

Although Stubbs and the group went on to enjoy the odd hit on other labels, returned at one point to Motown, and never stopped working the American cabaret circuit, the combination of changing tastes and a lack of material that suited Stubbs' vocal style meant they never really recaptured their original power. When Lawrence Payton died in 1997 they refused to replace him and worked for some time as a trio, re-named the Tops, until they finally conceeded to needing the extra voice and adding the Temptations Theo Peoples.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999, the group had represented a key moment in popular music and Stubbs' voice continued to enthrall a generation of younger musicians. Two decades after the release of Reach Out, in 1986, Billy Bragg wrote and recorded Levi Stubbs' Tears.

In 2000 Stubbs suffered a stroke, and did not perform again. He is survived by his wife Clineice Townsend, five children and three sisters.

- Levi Stubbs (Stubbles), singer, born April 6 1936; died October 17 2008

- This obituary has been updated since the death of its author in 2003

Stunning!!!!

Thanks so much!

Andy.

[Guest]

Stunning!!!!

Thanks so much!

Andy.

" When the world falls apart some things stay in place , Levi Stubbs' tears run down his face "

Malc Burton

[Sharon Cooper]

Just watched the clip on You Tube with Aretha where the Tops wheel Levi on in the wheelchair............ I just could not stop blubbering

And I Defy anyone on here who genuinely say what they have said, to watch the clip and not do the same

Just So Touching and Sad Really, The Voice of so many Classic moments in time.

But I think Aretha is really Humbled to have Him on the stage and it makes me cry and sad, but happy at the same time.................I think you all know what I am trying to say

LEVI STUBBS RIP

https://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=h1May52b1RQ

Totally in pieces here! So sad and so brave. A truly truly great man.

Sharon

[Kev Moore]

i remember a night many moons ago when Paul F(soulshrew)? and myself got thrown out of nearly every pub in Soho. pPaul had just split from his missus. We travelled from bar to bar with a portable record player and a copy of Ask the Lonely.

We laughed and cried so much that night.

You remember Paul

Cheers Kev

[Mike]

susan ariss sent a message using the contact form

I am deeply sad to hear the news Levi Stubbs passed away fri the 17th of Ocotber, his voice was just awesome and will he will live on in our hearts may he rest in peace awesome voice for people to hear in heaven so sadly missed. Please place this message with the rest of the messages for Levi on soul source.

[Makemvinyl]

Even though Levi had not been well for several years now it's still shattering to think that we have finally lost one of the greatest vocalists ever to have graced this music of ours.

I struggle today to recall clearly where it was that I first heard 'Baby I Need Your Lovin', but its impact upon me proved life changing. Probably it was Radio Luxembourg as there were no 'pop' radio stations in the U.K. at that time and if a record didn't make Juke Box Jury or Alan Freeman's 'Pick Of The Pops' chances are, if you were under 14, you'd not hear it. Record shops did not stock everything and if the sound you wanted was unavailable you spent your 5s and 3d or 6s and 8d on something they did have in stock. Unbelievably, in that autumn of 1964 Stateside 336 eluded me and criminally I, along with thousands of other settled for that vastly inferior cover version that became a pop hit for The Fourmost. I was later to confess this in the programme notes I wrote for The Tops 'Indestructible' tour of 1989.

To a spotty adolescent rapidly becoming aware of the charms of the opposite sex Levi's ability to express with sincerity the kind of approach that could only be dreamt of and the level of pain that could be experienced upon rejection said it all. Go and play it again. It still sounds as fresh and as soulful as it did all those 44 years ago, and the real crime of that Fourmost version is that they omit the final line of each verse- the one where Levi is at his most pleading and almost brings tears to the eyes.

'Coz I'm So lonely' 'Coz Lately I've Been Losing Sleep' 'Makes Me Feel Paralysed'

Can you believe that this masterpiece has never even made the U.K. top fifty? (although I suspect that a fair proportion of those that put 'I Can't Help Myself' in the charts in 1970 did so because this was reissued on the flip.)

'Without The One You Love' sounded a bit too much like it was intended to - as a follow, up but with the launch of the Tamla Motown label in the spring of 1965 Levi fronted a recording that for years went unnoticed by so many and yet has had a real renaissance. I still suspect that only Levi and the Andantes were actually in the studio at the time of the recording of the phenomenal 'Ask The Lonely'. It was a strange one this, almost the only Tops single not written and produced by H-D-H until they parted company with Motown and yet it has become one of their most respected offerings. Must confess it sounded strangely un Motown to my ears at the time. That summer of 1965 was dominated by the riveting beat of another magnificent Holland-Dozier-Holland masterpiece, the highly addictive 'I Can't Help Myself' which finally consummated the marriage between the Tops and H-D-H. Yet again though, it was only in their homeland that the full significance of this epic was appreciated. I must have heard this track thousands of times and yet it was only when the Funk Brothers backing track surfaced a few years ago that the dominance of the strings fully comes to the fore. Why did it take so long to appreciate them? It was the sheer power of Levi's voice that almost drowns any accompaniment.

Britain was beginning to develop a love affair with the Tops that was destined to last a lot longer than their popularity in their native country, although there was still no general appreciation of some earth shattering performances such as 'Something About You' or 'Shake Me Wake Me'. The amazing thing about every Four Tops 45 was the equal quality of the 'b' sides 'Just As Long As You Need Me', 'I Like Everything About You', 'I Got A Feeling', 'I'll Turn To Stone' etc. etc, and with every one a Stubbles (his real name) delivery to die for. Levi could even make MOR standards such as 'Macarthur Park' or 'It's All In The Game' palatable and covers such as 'Walk Away Renee', 'If I Were A Carpenter' and 'Do What You Gotta Do' become a delight given his unique interpretation.

Levi's contribution to our music is acknowledged by us all and those of us lucky enough to have spent time in his company will be aware that his charm and charisma were evident wherever he went and with whomever he met. Fortunately, he has left us all with a legacy - some of the finest musical performances we could ever hope for. We all have our favourite Tops recordings, so it's now the time to dig some out and appreciate once more one of , if not the, finest and most distinctive male vocalists in soul history.

RIP Levi; give our regards to Larry and Obie.

Chris

Thanks Chris

cannot add anything better

Sweetsoul adds their condolences

And add to the growing records remembered

from the unnissued lost and found album

"Lost Without You"

Doug Andy And Gez

and all Sweetsoulers

Will be playing a big tribute in November at Horncastle

and Newark

[Guest whensmokeysings]

Heartbroken to hear this news evenso we all knew he had not been a well man for some time.

He provided the soundtrack to my youth and I will always be in his debt for that.

His vocals will always make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

Gone but never forgotten.

RIP The real deal, God bless

[Guest 2648 W Grand Boulevard]

I was at Brighouse last night when the news was announced that Levi had gone, to say I was shocked was an understatement. For many of us the Four Tops were the key that opened up the door allowing us to enter the world of soul music. Levi is at peace now and all of us will have our favourite memories. Thanks for the accapella clip of "Ask the Lonely" I need a bigger hankie when that clip is played.

To repeat the earlier quote which I think is wonderful and sums it all up

"Dont cry because its over smile because it happened"

RIP and thanks Levi

Dave

[Kelboy]

Just like to echo everyones thoughts at this sad time. A true legend and like so many others on here, my all time favourite singer. I was lucky enough to see the four tops at manchester appollo in the early 80's.

RIP.

[Ian Dewhirst]

Wow, I'm genuinely touched by the last 3 pages of comments. It's obvious that Levi Stubbs was an integral part of many peoples lives. I've done virtually nothing all day but play Four Tops records and now I'm even more emotional.

Levi Stubbs should be floating to heaven on the sheer wave of emotion on this one thread. Thank God for Soul Source. It really gives comfort to know that everyone's feeling the same way.......

Ian D

[Guest little glyn]

Wow, I'm genuinely touched by the last 3 pages of comments. It's obvious that Levi Stubbs was an integral part of many peoples lives. I've done virtually nothing all day but play Four Tops records and now I'm even more emotional.

Levi Stubbs should be floating to heaven on the sheer wave of emotion on this one thread. Thank God for Soul Source. It really gives comfort to know that everyone's feeling the same way.......

Ian D

an incredible voice that when set with the rest of the tops was just the best

thanks for the memories

r.i.p.

glyn

[Little-stevie]

My Levi is gone... My first love on the road to soul heaven...

He changed my life at the age of 15.. I too danced at home and did learn my first steps to this great mans voice..

As some of you will know, i like to finish my dj sets with only one song.. Its brought sheer joy at the Oz weekender 2004, Sleepless nights and at many other venues also... Nothing like sharing this tune with people switched on in the same way..

I can't do the soundclip bit, if anyone could please post my number one record then it would be nice to share it with you all..

Please please a soundclip of

If i were a Carpenter

Soul Or Nothing indeed

regards

Steve Cato

[De-to]

a nice article about the great man from the detroit news,

https://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...0357/1424/ENT04

[Guest Dave Turner]

A great loss to the world of not just soul but music overall. Many have given great tributes to this pure voiced LEGEND and I agree that Levi Stubbs was perhaps the greatest pure voice of them all.

However, it is at times like this that I think of all of those relatively unknown artists, some great some not so great, who have passed away over the years. Absolutely fabulous singers, writers etc who at one time must have had a head full of dreams only to be cast aside and never hit the spotlights. Some ending their days lonely and in deep poverty known only to a very few who have, and still do, enjoy their music to this day and beyond.

Not very good at putting it into words but I think you can get the gist of what I'm saying. Lets not forget those that for many varied reasons didn't get the breaks that lead to greatness.

[Tabs]

No worries Steve.

I'll PM you in a bit.

Cheers

Tabs

Thanks so much Tabs..

take care

Steve

[Alan Pollard]

I suppose ever since we viewed the clip of Levi in his wheelchair with the rest of the Tops and Aretha singing 'I believe in you' we knew then that his health was extremely poor and news of his death we have been expecting every day since, the fact he survived longer than I thought he would is a bonus.

The world is a better place for having Levi in it for 72 years and for me through all the sadness the greatness of this man hits me today just the same as has done for the last 41 years since the needle settled into the grooves of 'If I were a carpenter' and a moment for me that I will never forget, and then the next exciting few years discovering the rest of the catalogue.

Last night I was DJ'ing at The Greatstone Hotel in Manchester and my tribute to Levi Stubbs was incredibly emotional, so much so I could hardly get my words out through the microphone when annoucing the 3 tracks I had elected to play in memory of the great man.

The dance floor was rammed for every second of the 3 records, due respect to everyone for remembering the guy.

The 3 records I elected to play were:-

Baby I need your loving - Stateside.

Just as long as you need me - Tamla Motown.

Is there anything that I can do ? - French Tamla Motown EP.

For a group to get together as school friends and form The Four Aims in 1952 and still be together all these years later, only death seperating them shows the loyality between each other. I remember very clearly the night we heard of Lawrence Payton's death we were at The Sportsman on Macclesfield and Ginger did a similar tribute which was again extremely emotional. Unfortunately this type of event is going to become more and more regular as our heroes reach a certain age.

I think it's Dave Moore who always looks on these sad events with a positive job well done quote, well Dave I couldn't agree with you more, I will be getting my Four Tops 'forever' CD box set out and playing it this week just to remind of this job so well done.

RIP Levi and thanks for the memories such as:-

"Then"

"Just a little love"

"Do what you gotta do"

"Where did you go"

"Ask the lonely"

"Still Water Love/Peace"

"Helpless"

"There's no love left"

"It's all in the game"

etc etc etc.

Regards

Alan

[Dave Moore]

Evening Mr Pollard,

I think the tributes that have flooded everywhere all over the world for Levi Stubbs have highlighted the quality of the Four Tops catalogue, has confirmed their status as many people's favourite group and that Mr Stubbs himself is ranked up with, if not above, the very best of his peers. Now that's a helluva statement to make when you consider the quality of his peers. For most, just to be mentioned in the same breath as Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Ray Pollard etc would be a thrill. But to mention Mr Stubbs in this company, even as an equal, somehow doesn't quite seem enough. I'm pretty sure that if you believe in this type of thing that Lawrence, Obie and I daresay a few other Motowners were there to greet him on his final journey and I've no doubt the aforementioned singers stood to one side with the words...."Gods band has a new lead singer....move over guys....Levi's here".

The one thing that I think would make him smile tonight is the fact that all over the world people are playing Four Tops records, his songs and HIS songs they certainly were. Penned by Holland Dozier Holland etc but beautifully crafted by the magic that was "The Voice" Mr Levi Stubbs. The greatest soul singer the world has ever known. Gone yes.....but celebrated for many years to come yet.

[Alan Pollard]

Evening Mr Pollard,

I think the tributes that have flooded everywhere all over the world for Levi Stubbs have highlighted the quality of the Four Tops catalogue, has confirmed their status as many people's favourite group and that Mr Stubbs himself is ranked up with, if not above, the very best of his peers. Now that's a helluva statement to make when you consider the quality of his peers. For most, just to be mentioned in the same breath as Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Ray Pollard etc would be a thrill. But to mention Mr Stubbs in this company, even as an equal, somehow doesn't quite seem enough. I'm pretty sure that if you believe in this type of thing that Lawrence, Obie and I daresay a few other Motowners were there to greet him on his final journey and I've no doubt the aforementioned singers stood to one side with the words...."Gods band has a new lead singer....move over guys....Levi's here".

The one thing that I think would make him smile tonight is the fact that all over the world people are playing Four Tops records, his songs and HIS songs they certainly were. Penned by Holland Dozier Holland etc but beautifully crafted by the magic that was "The Voice" Mr Levi Stubbs. The greatest soul singer the world has ever known. Gone yes.....but celebrated for many years to come yet.

Beautiffuly said Dave and every word spot on.

Best

Alan

[Guest]

"The neon lights appear......................................"

It was inevitable, we knew it was coming but wow! hurts real hurts.

RIP LS

Turntable stacked with Tops traxs and tributes will be played at Thurcroft, including my fave

"I Can't Seem To Get You Out Of My Mind" pretty apt I reckon

[Dave Moore]

Here's how Mainstream US TV paid tribute. Nice one.

CLICK HERE

Edited October 19, 2008 by Dave Moore

[Tomangoes]

levi stubbs in my opinion gave the ultimate vocal masterclass when

he sang if i was a carpenter.an incredible singer who will never be

equalled

Thats sums it up perfectly.

His voice will live in our scene for ever.

Ed

[Guest MOLLY]

Absolutely gutted by this sad news, "Ask the lonely" is my favourite record from Motown. Its got everything, and Levi sings it with such feeling and totally effortless. Just pure class oozes from his silky soulful voice all the way through, and builds and builds right to the end.

I have played it as a last record at the end of the night many times and never fails to get a reaction.

He is one of the all time greats and will be sadly missed. But 'that' voice will always remain with me always.

R.I.P Levi

Best

Molly

[Guest SteveC]

Absolutely gutted by this sad news, "Ask the lonely" is my favourite record from Motown. Its got everything, and Levi sings it with such feeling and totally effortless. Just pure class oozes from his silky soulful voice all the way through, and builds and builds right to the end.

I have played it as a last record at the end of the night many times and never fails to get a reaction.

He is one of the all time greats and will be sadly missed. But 'that' voice will always remain with me always.

R.I.P Levi

Best

Molly

Hurts dunnit m8 :-(

My last 3 at Bournemouth Uni last night were not and could not be accompanied by any words from me......they came from Levi. Virtually everyone was on the floor to:

Reach Out

Teahouse in China Town

Just ask the Lonely

Emotional stuff from the Southern crowd!!!

[Guest recordman]

Sorry to say I just heard that Levi Stubbs has passed away.

He was the ultimate 'heartbreaker' voice of his time. It really is the end of an era.

God bless him.

Paul Mooney

godblesslevistubbs.mp3

The Great Man Levi Stubbs is up with the all time great's who are no longer with us he was the greatest for me and I will never forget his contribution to the music WHAT A VOICE !!!!!!!!!!! when he sang everybody listened

He is without doubt a massive loss to soul music and millions of soul fans all over the world

Steve Connor

[Guest MOLLY]

Hurts dunnit m8 :-(

My last 3 at Bournemouth Uni last night were not and could not be accompanied by any words from me......they came from Levi. Virtually everyone was on the floor to:

Reach Out

Teahouse in China Town

Just ask the Lonely

Emotional stuff from the Southern crowd!!!

Very much so mate I did last spot at Cambridge in May this year, told a full dance floor to stay where they were and just listen. I played acapella version of Ask the lonely and the whole floor just turned and looked up at stage and listened. Some were thinking what the hell is Molly doing ! Then I played original version to finish off the night and told them " right now you can dance". Great reaction at the end

Three of the best from you at weekend, such a distinctive voice no matter what he sings. And all different in their own right. The man could sing absolutely anything with perfection. At Motown Marvin might have been Berry's blue eyed boy, but Levi definitely bar non had the voice of Motown.

Give you a call this week m8

Best

Molly x

Edited October 20, 2008 by MOLLY

[weetwood white]

Levi Stubbs. Quite simply the greatest voice in the best soul group ever. God bless xx

[Our Kid]

Thomas gave us the light.

Henry gave us the car.

Levi gave us................. a starting point.

Thanks

Paul

[Guest glocky478]

Greatest-singer-ever.

RIP

Hear,Hear

Simply the Best!

Dave Glock

[Guest Martin]

Loved his voice, truly deeply, may you rest in peace Levi!

[Markw]

Very sad. Been coming a long time, but still sad. Of all the great artists that have been passing away these last few years, nobody I think has generated so much comment from Soul-Sourcers and that's testimony to just how important this artist and his fellow Tops were to us. There's a remarkable number of people who have said on here that part of the reason they got into the music was from hearing Levi's astounding voice and those great Four Tops harmonies. Certainly was the case with me, growing up during the 60s and 70s in a house full of Motown sounds and particularly the Four Tops who were my Mod brother's favourite singers. Really really sad he's gone. RIP.

[Stubbsy]

Quite simply the greatest singer in the greatest group!

God bless, R.I.P. Levi

[Guest]

Just found this clip

God bless Levi

Derek

[Denbo]

THE greatest singer of MY time on this Earth . . . without doubt!!!

RIP Levi Stubbs.

[Guest]

heres another nice live clip

Derek