Post by ClassicSoul on Jun 24, 2006 13:57:08 GMT -5
The Four Tops: It's been a wonderful life
Thursday, June 22, 2006
BY RICK MASSIMO
Journal Pop Music Writer
The thing about The Four Tops always was the stability. Plenty of classic soul groups such as The Temptations were shifting members before the '60s were even out; there's only one original member left today. Who's in Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes? The Delfonics? The Marvelettes? Anyone's guess.
But The Four Tops were always The Four Tops. From their mid-'50s inception until the mid-'90s, it was Levi Stubbs, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Lawrence Payton and Abdul "Duke" Fakir, singing some of Motown's greatest hits: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)," "Same Old Song," "Reach Out, I'll Be There," "Bernadette" and "Standing in the Shadows of Love."
That started changing in 1997, with the death of Payton. In 2000, a series of strokes forced Stubbs to retire. And Benson died last July.
That leaves Fakir to carry on The Four Tops with a group of younger singers, including Payton's son, Lawrence Roquel Payton.
"It's a bittersweet feeling, I tell you what," Fakir says from his home in Detroit. "I miss Levi tremendously; I miss Obie tremendously, and Lawrence. . . .
"I certainly miss my compadres. We had a wonderful life together; it was a terribly long life together. We did everything possible that young men do together, and we raised our families together. We trained each other well to stay out of trouble and be good entertainers and good dads.
"So you miss that camaraderie. But there's a new camaraderie, and I'm like the den father, so it's a different application, but it's fun."
Part of being the den father is instilling a sense of professionalism and the right attitude into the group, the next-oldest of which is 20 years Fakir's junior.
That attitude, Fakir says, is simple: "Just have fun. Don't go out there and work; let's go out and have fun. And let the people have fun with us. And then it becomes very relaxing, and a very enjoyable show. Close to as enjoyable as the original Four Tops. Close, not all the way."
Carrying on
Going on hasn't always been an easy call. Payton's death, particularly, forced the close-knit group to discuss breaking up.
"That was part of our conversation. It hurt that bad, that we talked about it.
"After we threw it out there, though, we came to the realization that Lawrence would want us to go on. We made a decision to carry on, after we thought about it and talked intelligently about it. And it was the right decision, of course."
Theo Peoples, brought into the group in 1997 to replace Payton, has now inherited the lead role from Stubbs, the inimitable growler. (Ron McNair rounds out the group.)
"It's like a new adventure for me," Fakir says. ". . . They've kept the energy -- in fact, they've brought a new energy. Theo Peoples is not Levi, but he sings those songs so well that people totally accept him -- not one complaint of, 'Well, he's not Levi.' We might get that one in a thousand. But he's great!"
Stubbs still lives three blocks from Fakir in Detroit, and they see each other about once a week. "He's healthy, but he can't get around, and he's tired."
Fakir says Stubbs supports the decision to go on without him, and that when the Tops play in town, Stubbs heads to the show. "He cries and cheers. And sometimes we bring him out in his wheelchair to wave at the people."
Stubbs, Fakir says, is proud of the way Theo "has taken the lead and made it his throne."
Ultimately, while all the changes have been difficult, Fakir says he's learned something from them.
"The music and the song outlasts the person. And the more the changes come about . . . the realization is that the music lives on. And that makes you feel not too bad, you know what I mean?"
In a drought
Just bringing up the early-'70s departure of the immortal songwriting and arranging team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, who wrote nearly all of the group's Motown hits, still gets a groan from Fakir.
"That was worse then breaking up with your sweetheart. We were in a drought for good producers." Other songwriters and producers at the label had written off the prospect of working with the group, and "it was hard getting back into someone else producing us."
That difficult adjustment led some to believe that the Tops were washed up. Unfortunately, one of them was Berry Gordy's successor at Motown (Gordy had given up the day-to-day reins). When the group's contract with the label ran out, he told them during negotiations that he had no faith in their staying power. "That really kind of hurt us," Fakir says.
The departure of H-D-H and the consequent adjustment, as well as the talent logjam at Motown that prevented most acts from getting the airplay and promotion they deserved, were the reasons the Tops left the label in 1972.
"We could've stayed with the [contract] terms we'd had, but we said, 'Are we the Four Tops, or are we the Motown Four Tops? Can we do this stuff on our own?' "
The group left for ABC/Dunhill, and promptly had another hit in 1973's "Are You Man Enough," from the Shaft in Africa soundtrack.
"But we always have been and we always will be Motown," he says, and the fact that the group returned to Motown and left it again would bear him out. "Even when we were with ABC, we told them, 'Yeah, we're here, but we're still Motown guys.' And they said 'OK, I understand that.' "
Even though the group left Motown, though, they didn't leave Detroit. When Motown left for California, a lot of people from all aspects of the label stayed, including the Tops.
"We're just those kind of guys -- homebodies. California never appealed to us as a place to live -- it's wonderful to go out there and visit, but we were all raised Detroiters and we love Detroit. So we stayed -- raised our families well, and it's been good to us. And we're still here."
A new record
At 71, Fakir knows that he can't sing forever, but "I've got one good last run at it," he says. ". . . I haven't put a time limit on it. One day I'll probably wake up and say 'You know what? I'm tired.' . . . and hopefully I'll have someone ready to take my place."
He hopes that'll be his son, Abdul Jr., currently a sound engineer with the band. While Fakir says his namesake has the weakest voice among his three children, he's working with his son and "I'm sure he'll be able to get it."
In the meantime, though, the group is working on a new record, with Payton producing.
In 2004, the Tops released a CD and a live DVD to celebrate their 50th anniversary as a group. Fakir says he had no idea the group would last that long.
"Absolutely not. When we started out, after we got into the business for a while, we realized we wanted to make it a career for life, but at that time a career for life was 20 years. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would still be singing, or wanting to sing, or being able to sing, for 52 years. . . . I still feel excited about coming to work."
So how do you keep a group together for 50 years?
"It's really not a secret. It's learning to live together, and share -- equal treatment, equal amounts of money and stuff like that -- and listening to each other, keeping each other's considerations in mind. But to have one goal, and that goal is to want to sing, and to enjoy, and have people enjoy what you're doing.
"If that's your goal, and you have a great attitude about it, and you enjoy doing it, then you could possibly be a Four Top."
LINK
Thursday, June 22, 2006
BY RICK MASSIMO
Journal Pop Music Writer
The thing about The Four Tops always was the stability. Plenty of classic soul groups such as The Temptations were shifting members before the '60s were even out; there's only one original member left today. Who's in Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes? The Delfonics? The Marvelettes? Anyone's guess.
But The Four Tops were always The Four Tops. From their mid-'50s inception until the mid-'90s, it was Levi Stubbs, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Lawrence Payton and Abdul "Duke" Fakir, singing some of Motown's greatest hits: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)," "Same Old Song," "Reach Out, I'll Be There," "Bernadette" and "Standing in the Shadows of Love."
That started changing in 1997, with the death of Payton. In 2000, a series of strokes forced Stubbs to retire. And Benson died last July.
That leaves Fakir to carry on The Four Tops with a group of younger singers, including Payton's son, Lawrence Roquel Payton.
"It's a bittersweet feeling, I tell you what," Fakir says from his home in Detroit. "I miss Levi tremendously; I miss Obie tremendously, and Lawrence. . . .
"I certainly miss my compadres. We had a wonderful life together; it was a terribly long life together. We did everything possible that young men do together, and we raised our families together. We trained each other well to stay out of trouble and be good entertainers and good dads.
"So you miss that camaraderie. But there's a new camaraderie, and I'm like the den father, so it's a different application, but it's fun."
Part of being the den father is instilling a sense of professionalism and the right attitude into the group, the next-oldest of which is 20 years Fakir's junior.
That attitude, Fakir says, is simple: "Just have fun. Don't go out there and work; let's go out and have fun. And let the people have fun with us. And then it becomes very relaxing, and a very enjoyable show. Close to as enjoyable as the original Four Tops. Close, not all the way."
Carrying on
Going on hasn't always been an easy call. Payton's death, particularly, forced the close-knit group to discuss breaking up.
"That was part of our conversation. It hurt that bad, that we talked about it.
"After we threw it out there, though, we came to the realization that Lawrence would want us to go on. We made a decision to carry on, after we thought about it and talked intelligently about it. And it was the right decision, of course."
Theo Peoples, brought into the group in 1997 to replace Payton, has now inherited the lead role from Stubbs, the inimitable growler. (Ron McNair rounds out the group.)
"It's like a new adventure for me," Fakir says. ". . . They've kept the energy -- in fact, they've brought a new energy. Theo Peoples is not Levi, but he sings those songs so well that people totally accept him -- not one complaint of, 'Well, he's not Levi.' We might get that one in a thousand. But he's great!"
Stubbs still lives three blocks from Fakir in Detroit, and they see each other about once a week. "He's healthy, but he can't get around, and he's tired."
Fakir says Stubbs supports the decision to go on without him, and that when the Tops play in town, Stubbs heads to the show. "He cries and cheers. And sometimes we bring him out in his wheelchair to wave at the people."
Stubbs, Fakir says, is proud of the way Theo "has taken the lead and made it his throne."
Ultimately, while all the changes have been difficult, Fakir says he's learned something from them.
"The music and the song outlasts the person. And the more the changes come about . . . the realization is that the music lives on. And that makes you feel not too bad, you know what I mean?"
In a drought
Just bringing up the early-'70s departure of the immortal songwriting and arranging team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, who wrote nearly all of the group's Motown hits, still gets a groan from Fakir.
"That was worse then breaking up with your sweetheart. We were in a drought for good producers." Other songwriters and producers at the label had written off the prospect of working with the group, and "it was hard getting back into someone else producing us."
That difficult adjustment led some to believe that the Tops were washed up. Unfortunately, one of them was Berry Gordy's successor at Motown (Gordy had given up the day-to-day reins). When the group's contract with the label ran out, he told them during negotiations that he had no faith in their staying power. "That really kind of hurt us," Fakir says.
The departure of H-D-H and the consequent adjustment, as well as the talent logjam at Motown that prevented most acts from getting the airplay and promotion they deserved, were the reasons the Tops left the label in 1972.
"We could've stayed with the [contract] terms we'd had, but we said, 'Are we the Four Tops, or are we the Motown Four Tops? Can we do this stuff on our own?' "
The group left for ABC/Dunhill, and promptly had another hit in 1973's "Are You Man Enough," from the Shaft in Africa soundtrack.
"But we always have been and we always will be Motown," he says, and the fact that the group returned to Motown and left it again would bear him out. "Even when we were with ABC, we told them, 'Yeah, we're here, but we're still Motown guys.' And they said 'OK, I understand that.' "
Even though the group left Motown, though, they didn't leave Detroit. When Motown left for California, a lot of people from all aspects of the label stayed, including the Tops.
"We're just those kind of guys -- homebodies. California never appealed to us as a place to live -- it's wonderful to go out there and visit, but we were all raised Detroiters and we love Detroit. So we stayed -- raised our families well, and it's been good to us. And we're still here."
A new record
At 71, Fakir knows that he can't sing forever, but "I've got one good last run at it," he says. ". . . I haven't put a time limit on it. One day I'll probably wake up and say 'You know what? I'm tired.' . . . and hopefully I'll have someone ready to take my place."
He hopes that'll be his son, Abdul Jr., currently a sound engineer with the band. While Fakir says his namesake has the weakest voice among his three children, he's working with his son and "I'm sure he'll be able to get it."
In the meantime, though, the group is working on a new record, with Payton producing.
In 2004, the Tops released a CD and a live DVD to celebrate their 50th anniversary as a group. Fakir says he had no idea the group would last that long.
"Absolutely not. When we started out, after we got into the business for a while, we realized we wanted to make it a career for life, but at that time a career for life was 20 years. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would still be singing, or wanting to sing, or being able to sing, for 52 years. . . . I still feel excited about coming to work."
So how do you keep a group together for 50 years?
"It's really not a secret. It's learning to live together, and share -- equal treatment, equal amounts of money and stuff like that -- and listening to each other, keeping each other's considerations in mind. But to have one goal, and that goal is to want to sing, and to enjoy, and have people enjoy what you're doing.
"If that's your goal, and you have a great attitude about it, and you enjoy doing it, then you could possibly be a Four Top."
LINK