Four Tops
The four tops are an American vocal group. The members are Levi Stubbs, Renaldo Obie Benson, Lawrence Payton, and Abdul Duke Fakir.
In the year 1954, the quartet met at a friends’ party in Detroit, Michigan. This was where they first sang together. They then named themselves The Four Aims. As a group, the four Aims t sang Jazz songs. In 1956, they formed their own band and changed their name to the four tops. They did this to so as to avoid confusion between their group The four Aims and the Ames Brothers-a singing quartet from Massachusetts. With the name change they now focussed more on singing Rhythm and Blue in R & B songs.
In 1963, Four tops group signed a contract with the record label Motown .Their debut album under Motown label, four tops was released in 1965. After this, they came out with albums like
- Four Tops No. 2 in 1965,
- Four Tops On Top, Four Tops Live! in 1966,
- Four Tops On Broadway, Four Tops Reach Out in 1967,
- Yesterdays Dreams in 1968,Four Tops Now!, Soul Spin in 1969,
- Still Waters Run Deep, Changing Times, The Magnificent Seven in 1970,
- The Return Of The Magnificent Seven in 1971, and Dynamite, on which they worked with the all girl American vocal group The Supremes.
- Nature planned it was the last album of the Four Tops with Motown. The company relocated to Califoria in 1972.
Four tops worked with other labels like Casablanca, ABC/Dunhill and released the albums
- Keeper Of The Castle in 1972,
- Shaft In Africa, which was a film soundtrack, in 1973,
- Main Street People in 1973
- Meeting Of The Minds, in 1974 with ABC records
- Night Lights Harmony in 1975,
- Catfish in 1976,
- The Show Must Go On in 1977,
- At the Top in 1978,
- The Four Tops Tonight! In 1981,
- One More Mountain in 1982,
- Back Where I Belong in 1983,
- Magic in 1985,
- Hot Nights in 1986 and
- Indestructible in 1988.
Four tops achieved instant success with the song Baby I need your loving which was one of their initial singles recorded with Motown music. 1965, they released the single I Cant Help Myself, which went straight to number one on the charts. One of their biggest hits was their 1966 single Reach out Ill be there. This song grabbed top positions on charts Throughout America. Their success continued and their singles Bernadette and Its The Same Old Song did quite well at the charts. In the year 1967, they further diversified their range of songs. But they still managed to churn out chartbuster songs like Walk Away Renee and If I Were a Carpenter. Its all in the Game, and the ballad Still Waters (Run Deep), MacArthur Park Keeper of the Castle When Tonight Meets Tomorrow, When She Was My Girl are some other hits.
The Four Tops were honored in 1990, with an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The groups’ lineup did not change throughout their career. However, Lawrence Payton died of liver cancer in June 1997, Renaldo Obie Benson passed away in July 2005, from several medical conditions and Levi Stubbs passed away at his home, in October 2008 when he was 72.The current members of the band are, Lawrence Paytons son Roquel, Abdul Duke Fakir, and Ronnie McNeir, and Theo Peoples.
- Lovina Raymond
Tags: abdul duke fakir, four aims, four tops, lawrence payton, levi stubbs, renaldo obie benson, singer
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