Levi Tubbs, the voice of the Four Tops, R.I.P.

Levi Tubbs, lead vocalist of The Four Tops, died in his sleep. He continued to sing with just as powerful a voice until only a few years ago. Their songs thrilled me for years. I was not a rock and roll kid; my friends and I were all about r and b, soul and funk. The team of Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote and produced many of the Four Tops' hits in the sixties. I didn't know it then, but the musicians on those songs were also huge contributors to their sound; the "Funk Brothers" played on the Four Tops's' sixties hits. The documentary movie Standing in the Shadows of Motown brought that story to greater public attention.

Earlier in the year, I wrote about the rituals of high school graduation parties; in 1974, we went to Disneyland: "The hit show of the night was The Four Tops, in all their dancing glory, singing hits like "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch," Reach Out: I'll be There, Still Waters, "Baby, I need your loving","Ain't No Woman Like the One I got"." This live version of "Ain't No Woman..." shows what great performers they were.


In 1985, the Apollo that brought The Four Tops together with some of the other greats groups: the Manhattans, the Cadillacs, The Drifters, The Temptations, and the Four Tops.