Post by Motorcity on Oct 21, 2008 20:00:32 GMT -5
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Last Top mourns Levi Stubbs
Susan Whitall / The Detroit News
Motown's Four Tops were closer than most groups, going 44 years before their lineup changed, so original member Duke Fakir was knocked back by his longtime friend Levi Stubbs' death.
The Tops' lead singer, retired from the road since 2000, died early Friday. Fakir, now the only survivor of the original group, was in Nevada doing shows Friday and Saturday with the Four Tops.
"It seemed like the world really loved him," Fakir said on Monday. "He had one of the best voices, ever. He could take any kind of song and take you with him. He had that kind of power and love for the lyrics."
Led by Stubbs' emotional baritone, the Four Tops had one of Motown's most identifiable sounds. "Levi was the voice, Obie was the spirit, Lawrence was the harmony, somebody said I was the sound because of my tenor, the way it would carry some things."
Stubbs was confined to a wheelchair since suffering a series of strokes earlier in the decade.
For Fakir, the finality of his friend's passing is starting to sink in. "It was hard on stage," Fakir said. He was surprised, too, because the last time he visited Stubbs at his Detroit home about a week ago, his old friend looked well.
"He was looking better than he had been looking. His face was fuller, and he was laughing," Fakir said. "I ran home and told my wife how good he was looking. But he went very quietly in his sleep and that brought a lot of peace to everybody, that he didn't do a lot of suffering."
Fakir first saw Stubbs while both were playing street baseball in Detroit's north end. Fakir didn't realize he could sing until he saw him at the Paradise Theater one night.
"Levi was a guest singer on a show with Lucky Millinder's band. I knew he could run faster than everybody, but I didn't know he could sing. One hundred fifty-five pounds, faster than greased lightning. I saw him outrun the 100-yard state champion once up in Idlewild, Michigan. I won $20 on that!" Fakir says with a laugh.
The two friends attended Detroit's Pershing High School together, with Stubbs even living in Fakir's basement during senior year. Then they met Northern High students Obie Benson and Lawrence Payton at a party.
"Everybody knew Levi could sing, I knew the other guys could sing, so I said let's just back him up," Fakir relates. "We started to sing, and then we said, 'Wow, this is a group.' We won a couple of amateur shows, and then after we graduated (high school) in January (1953), this guy had said he could book us in some places, so we called him up and he booked us in Eddie's Lounge, in Flint. And that was the beginning of our world."
"Levi could also have been one of the greatest comedians. If he never sang a note, he could have been as good as Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy ... he was a character. But he was also a very simple man, all he wanted to do was sing, and take care of his family. He did both of those to the ultimate."
Aretha Franklin sang his song "I Believe in You and Me" in an emotional duet with Stubbs at a 50th anniversary celebration for the Tops at the Detroit Opera House in 2004.
In a statement, Franklin said: "He was a close family friend -- he and my brother were great friends and he and my sister Erma were great friends. They came along together, and then, of course, he and I and The Tops became friends ... He was a man's man, the kind of man that men and women appreciate, which is kind of rare. He was the kind of artist that men and women both appreciated and loved, and he truly was a master of soul at what he did. We are really going to miss him. 'Bernadette,' 'Still Waters Run Deep,' 'Reach Out' -- all of the songs that Levi and the Tops were famous for. He was really one of a kind, definitely an original, like a Picasso or a Rembrandt ... just Levi."
You can reach Susan Whitall at (313) 222-2156 or swhitall@det news.com.
Find this article at:
www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081021/METRO/810210388
Last Top mourns Levi Stubbs
Susan Whitall / The Detroit News
Motown's Four Tops were closer than most groups, going 44 years before their lineup changed, so original member Duke Fakir was knocked back by his longtime friend Levi Stubbs' death.
The Tops' lead singer, retired from the road since 2000, died early Friday. Fakir, now the only survivor of the original group, was in Nevada doing shows Friday and Saturday with the Four Tops.
"It seemed like the world really loved him," Fakir said on Monday. "He had one of the best voices, ever. He could take any kind of song and take you with him. He had that kind of power and love for the lyrics."
Led by Stubbs' emotional baritone, the Four Tops had one of Motown's most identifiable sounds. "Levi was the voice, Obie was the spirit, Lawrence was the harmony, somebody said I was the sound because of my tenor, the way it would carry some things."
Stubbs was confined to a wheelchair since suffering a series of strokes earlier in the decade.
For Fakir, the finality of his friend's passing is starting to sink in. "It was hard on stage," Fakir said. He was surprised, too, because the last time he visited Stubbs at his Detroit home about a week ago, his old friend looked well.
"He was looking better than he had been looking. His face was fuller, and he was laughing," Fakir said. "I ran home and told my wife how good he was looking. But he went very quietly in his sleep and that brought a lot of peace to everybody, that he didn't do a lot of suffering."
Fakir first saw Stubbs while both were playing street baseball in Detroit's north end. Fakir didn't realize he could sing until he saw him at the Paradise Theater one night.
"Levi was a guest singer on a show with Lucky Millinder's band. I knew he could run faster than everybody, but I didn't know he could sing. One hundred fifty-five pounds, faster than greased lightning. I saw him outrun the 100-yard state champion once up in Idlewild, Michigan. I won $20 on that!" Fakir says with a laugh.
The two friends attended Detroit's Pershing High School together, with Stubbs even living in Fakir's basement during senior year. Then they met Northern High students Obie Benson and Lawrence Payton at a party.
"Everybody knew Levi could sing, I knew the other guys could sing, so I said let's just back him up," Fakir relates. "We started to sing, and then we said, 'Wow, this is a group.' We won a couple of amateur shows, and then after we graduated (high school) in January (1953), this guy had said he could book us in some places, so we called him up and he booked us in Eddie's Lounge, in Flint. And that was the beginning of our world."
"Levi could also have been one of the greatest comedians. If he never sang a note, he could have been as good as Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy ... he was a character. But he was also a very simple man, all he wanted to do was sing, and take care of his family. He did both of those to the ultimate."
Aretha Franklin sang his song "I Believe in You and Me" in an emotional duet with Stubbs at a 50th anniversary celebration for the Tops at the Detroit Opera House in 2004.
In a statement, Franklin said: "He was a close family friend -- he and my brother were great friends and he and my sister Erma were great friends. They came along together, and then, of course, he and I and The Tops became friends ... He was a man's man, the kind of man that men and women appreciate, which is kind of rare. He was the kind of artist that men and women both appreciated and loved, and he truly was a master of soul at what he did. We are really going to miss him. 'Bernadette,' 'Still Waters Run Deep,' 'Reach Out' -- all of the songs that Levi and the Tops were famous for. He was really one of a kind, definitely an original, like a Picasso or a Rembrandt ... just Levi."
You can reach Susan Whitall at (313) 222-2156 or swhitall@det news.com.
Find this article at:
www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081021/METRO/810210388