Vinyl Records > Four Tops - Reach Out (180gram)

Motown TS-660
"Reach Out" - Renaldo Benson, Abdul 'Duke' Fakir, Levi Stubbs (voc); Lawrence Payton (voc, keyb), a.o.

The Four Tops knew one another from high school, had sung together under the name of The Four Aims in Detroit, and accompanied big-band dandy Billy Eckstine on tour until landing in the pool of Motown’s thriving artist roster in the mid-Sixties. Once there, the record company’s own songwriting and production team Holland-Dozier-Holland took them under their wing and treated the group to their highly sophisticated studio sound against which the four had to give all they had. The attraction of their electrifying recordings lies in the excitement created by complex arrangements and intense vocal attacks: the Four Tops might well be described as »swimmers struggling against the current and winning« (as Lillian Roxon once put it). The album "Reach Out" is like a thrilling musical contest in pure, undiluted form, and the album is considered to be one of the group’s very best. Instead of creamy harmonies and a gentle radio sound, it offers a wide range of songs with instrumental accompaniment, and plenty of great vocals, which fans of raw soul will welcome.

Production: Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier