Four Tops – Still Waters Run Deep (1970/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 30:15 minutes | 1,31 GB | Genre: Soul, R&B, Funk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © UNI – MOTOWN
By the time the album were released, The Four Tops weren’t very high on Motown’s priority list. That’s really a shame because this album contained some of their strongest material. Frank Wilson was the appointed producer the production is top notch, using many of Motown’s highly talented musicians. Some of the recordings truly stand out. Although skimpy in the lyric department, “Still Water (Love)” is a true R&B classic. The Tops rendition of “Reflections” is better and tighter than the Supremes original version, in my opinion. “Love Is The Answer” brings back memories from when I was a child. (I owned a copy of the single.) It’s a fun song with some really swinging horns.
In early 1970, the group was assigned to Norman Whitfield disciple Frank Wilson for production, and he managed to breathe some life into their stagnating career. They earned a pair of Top Forty hits with ‘Still Water (Love)’ and a remake of Tommy Edwards’ ‘It’s All in the Game.
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Four Tops – Second Album (1965/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 31:48 minutes | 1,33 GB | Genre: Soul, R&B, Funk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © UNI – MOTOWN
The Four Tops followed their fine debut album with an even more magnificent second effort, The Four Tops’ Second Album. They landed their first number one pop and R&B hit with ‘I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch).’ There was also ‘Something About You,’ a great uptempo shouter that seemed a disappointment at number 19 on the pop charts (and number nine on the R&B charts), but didn’t lack vocal authority or production genius. The album also contained ‘It’s the Same Old Song,’ a tidy little number that reached number five on the pop chart and number two on the R&B chart, and had one of the greatest lyrical hooks and titles ever.
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Four Tops – Reach Out (1975/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 33:11 minutes | 1,42 GB | Genre: Soul, R&B, Funk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Motown
Though it’s one of the best Four Tops records of the ’60s, Reach Out still feels weighted down by a few vain attempts at adult pop crossover. It certainly starts out right, with the glorious ‘Reach out, I’ll Be There,’ the group’s second pop/R&B chart-topper. After a faithful cover of the Left Banke’s ‘Walk Away Renee,’ though, listeners are forced to sit through trite versions of ‘If I Were a Carpenter,’ ‘Last Train to Clarksville,’ and ‘I’m a Believer’ to get to real highlights like the dramatic, impassioned ‘Standing in the Shadows of Love’ and ‘Bernadette.’ There is room for a great lesser single (‘I’ll Turn to Stone’), but the flip side finds the Four Tops taking on ‘Cherish,’ which could’ve worked well but didn’t. Reach Out still did better than any other original LP by the group, almost breaking the Top Ten.
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Four Tops – Four Tops (1965/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 29:54 minutes | 1,28 GB | Genre: Soul
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Motown
You’d be hard pressed to find two better singles on a debut album than ‘Ask the Lonely’ and ‘Baby I Need Your Loving.’ These were the cornerstones of The Four Tops’ first LP, and besides netting them one Top Ten and Top 20 pop single each, as well as a Top Ten and Top 20 R&B single, it established Levi Stubbs’ resounding voice as another unforgettable one at Motown. Even the tunes that didn’t do so well, like ‘Left with a Broken Heart’ or ‘Without the One You Love (Life’s Not Worth While),’ were marvelously sung. It was a debut to remember.
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