Soul singer Levi Stubbs remained fiercely loyal to The Four Tops

THE world of pop music was enriched by the vocals of Levi Stubbs (left), lead singer of the Four Tops.

The Four Tops — Renaldo Benson, Levi Stubbs, Abdul Fakir and Lawrence Payton — performed together for more than 40 years.

WHEN Detroit vocal quartet The Four Aims went into a recording studio in 1956 to lay down their first songs, they had hopes of making it big. But their aim was off and their first single for Chess records, If Only I Had Known, went nowhere.

To avoid confusion with The Ames Brothers, they changed their name to the Four Tops — the name under which they would become famous — but it was no overnight success.

After signing with Motown records in 1963 they finally broke through. In 1964 lead singer Levi Stubbs’ gritty, powerful and dexterous voice helped the song Baby I Need Your Loving climb to number 11 on the charts. Then, in 1965, they hit number one with I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch), cementing their place in music history.

The other three Tops — tenors Abdul “Duke” Fakir and Lawrence Payton and baritone Renaldo “Obie” Benson — provided harmonies, but it was the plaintive, emotional vocals of Stubbs that gave them their distinctive sound. Some have dubbed him “the greatest soul singer that ever lived” yet despite his vocal virtuosity he never tried to branch out on his own, remaining a loyal part of the band for more than 40 years.

An undated photo of the Four Tops — Renaldo Benson, Levi Stubbs, Abdul Fakir and Lawrence Payton.

He was born Levi Stubbles on June 6, 1936, 80 years ago today, in Detroit, the son of a foundry worker. His cousin, Jackie Wilson, started to make a name for himself in the early ’50s, giving Stubbs some inspiration to experiment with harmonies singing with friends.

In 1953 Stubbs and fellow Pershing High students Fakir, Benson and Payton, were encouraged by classmates to sing at a birthday party. It went over so well that the boys continued singing together. They called themselves The Four Aims, because they were aiming for stardom, and they were soon performing regularly, doing mostly jazz and doo-wop (a kind of rhythm and blues or rock ’n’ roll relying on high and low vocal layers).

After two years of polishing up a stage act the band secured a recording contract with Chess records, later changing their name to The Four Tops, but the songs they recorded with the label were not chart toppers. They moved around to other labels, including Columbia Records, but never seemed to have much success.

In 1963 they were recruited by Berry Gordy for Workshop Records, a subsidiary of his Motown label. After recording some jazz standards and singing backup for other groups, Gordy matched them up with songwriters and producers Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. Dozier and the Hollands had written an instrumental track that they thought could make a good song. Although Stubbs was a baritone, the song was written in a tenor range, forcing Stubbs to sing at the limit of his range, producing the familiar pleading, almost screaming sound that became the group’s signature. That song, Baby I Need Your Loving, became their first top-20 hit.

The Four Tops (Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Levi Stubbs, Abdul "Duke" Fakir and Lawrence Payton) were inducted into the Rack and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Gordy saw hit potential and set his songwriters to providing more of the same kind of material. In 1965 I Can’t Help Myself became their first number one. Their biggest hit came in 1966 with Reach Out (I’ll Be There). Stubbs’ dramatic, urgent vocal performance makes it one of the greatest soul numbers. The song stayed at number one for three weeks. Stubbs was offered contracts and opportunities to sing solo but preferred to stick with his friends.

By the beginning of the ’70s major hits had begun to dry up, especially when Dozier and the Hollands left Motown in 1967. When Motown Records relocated to California in 1972 the Tops signed with another label, but despite remaining popular they were unable to repeat the successes of the 1960s. In 1983 they returned to the Motown label and were reunited with Dozier and the Holland brothers to work on new material.

They performed at the 1985 Live Aid concert and continued to record but mostly turned to releasing best of and covers albums. Although he never left the band Stubbs branched out on side projects, including providing the voice for the talking plant Audrey II in the 1986 film Little Shop Of Horrors.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, the four performed together until Payton died in 1997. Initially they refused to hire a replacement. When Stubbs suffered a stroke in 2000, he left the group. He died in 2008 after a battle with cancer.

Originally published as Soul singer Levi Stubbs remained fiercely loyal to The Four Tops