Levi Stubbs RIP

[jimslim]

Soul legend Levi Stubbs lead singer of The Four Tops passed away yesterday after a long illness , he was 72 .

Stubbs formed soul band The Four Tops in the 1950s in Detroit , signing to Motown records in 1963 , they became one of Motowns most successful acts selling more than 50 million records , they had a string of hits including Reach Out (Ill be there ) and I Can't Help Myself .

The band stayed together with the same line up and toured frequently until 2000 when Levi Stubbs suffered a stoke .

His death leaves only Abdul Fakir surviving from the original line up .

I'm sure he will be missed by all soul music fans , one of the great soul men with an amazing voice .

RIP Levi  

[gizmo]

A class act, RIP

[ericeric]

Great voice,he was the voice of the plant in"The Little Shop Of Horrors".Great shame.

[andre459]

Norman Whitfield and Barratt Strong
Are here to make right everything that's wrong
Holland and Holland and Lamont Dozier too
Are here to make it all okay with you

When the world falls apart some things stay in place
Levi Stubbs' tears run down his face
(Billy Bragg)


RIP Levi Stubbs

[Otho]

I worked for a while as a pop music journalist in the mid 1970s (yes I know, showing my age). Not long after I'd started, I went to interview Levi Stubbs and Abdul Fakir. As a lifelong soulboy, I was awestruck to meet the voices of I'll Be There (no relation to the Jackson 5 song of the same name!), Bernardette, Seven Rooms Of Gloom and - my personal favourite - Walk Away Renee.

They were absolute diamonds, both of them. Abdul was supercool and smooth - he had diamonds in the frames of his glasses, which impressed me enormously. A forerunner to the Kings of Bling!

Leon was just a really warm person with a big, loud laugh. I think he maybe took pity on a young kid who was pretty new to the game but at least knew his soul music backwards.

As luck would have it, mine was their last interview of the day. (In those days, if a US megastar turned up, they'd line up a whole raft of interviews, half an hour each. They probably still do.) But anyway, this was about 11.30 am. Once the tape recorder was turned off, they asked me about good English pubs. I recommended one around the corner in Marylebone High Street (whose name I can't remember but I knew it from getting pissed in there, in an earlier encounter with Les Gray out of Mud!) The next thing I knew, me, Leon, Abdul and the music company PR man were in there. I was in heaven!

They tried a pint of warm flat bitter and hated it. Their preferred drink was Remy Martin which, fortunately, the bar had in stock. We got absolutely hammered on it and I ended up taking them to the extremely seedy Capricorn Club in a basement in Goodge Street, partly because it had strippers and hookers, but mainly because it was open after the pubs shut (as they did in those days) at 3 pm.

Abdul mysteriously disappeared at some point and we had a laugh about it - either he'd gone home cos his head was spinning or he'd fallen for the charms of some dodgy bird and ended up in her bed in a council flat in Holloway or somewhere.

It was a day I'll never, ever forget. Leon gave me a hug when we emerged at about 8 pm and he sent me a Christmas card that year (albeit a standard issue Four Tops one, but still, he signed it).

A wonderful man, a wonderful voice. I'm playing it now. Been years since I heard it. Still sends shivers down your spine. RIP

[Naang Faa]

Ah Levi Stubbs... a true legend



R.I.P x

[Naang Faa]

Nice story Otho and another Soulboy on the forum.....
x

[Guest]

great story Otho...

rip Levi

[alan1chef]

He will be greatly missed...saw all of them together before he had the stroke...at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas...in the smaller venue there....had great seats and it was a show I will always remember. I recall everyone stood, danced, and sang along with the entire show.

[smuttleydfs]

Well there is something we agree on Alan......

I had the pleasure of seeing a Motown review many many years ago that had the 4 Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, and Smoky Robinson and the Miracles in Detroit. It was incredible and still one of the highlights of my many concerts I attended.

RIP Levi