Friday, October 17, 2008
R.I.P. Levi Stubbs
The Four Tops and the Temptations. The Temptations and the Four Tops. It was kind of like Ginger vs. Mary Anne. I loved both the Tops and the Temps, but I was always partial to the Tops. Levi Stubbs, their powerful lead singer, who died today, was probably the main reason.
This video, of their 1966 hit "Reach Out I'll be There", conveys some of that power. 1966, by the way, was a year I saw the Four Tops perform at the Asbury Park (NJ) Convention Center (a venue where I also saw the Rolling Stones perform that same year, incidentally, but I digress).
