Levi Stubbs, Obie Benson, Lawrence Payton and Duke Fakir of the Four Tops were jazz singers, the best kind of close four-part harmony heard in the mid-west in the 1950s – and nationally, for a time, when they backed up their idol, Billy Eckstine, on tour. The Tops had a few singles in the Fifties and early Sixties, mostly then-contemporary styles of rocking doo-wop that did little to further their career. Berry Gordy at Motown heard them live, loved them for what they did best, and signed them to his fledgling Workshop Jazz label in 1963.
After a year recording a jazz album that did not see the light of day for 35 years, the Tops saw the Workshop label close down. But they survived to become one of the icons of the Motown Sound. Their versatility brought more than H-D-H productions to the music stand. Gordy also knew they could perform in any venue, singing show tunes and pop-jazz. Subsequently, their albums were filled with covers of current hits by the likes of The Monkees, and Broadway music such as “Fiddler On The Roof.”
Doesn’t mean nearly every Motown producer wasn’t in the Snakepit recording like mad for them anyway. Lost Without You surveys those many Motown sessions from the beginning of the Tops’ label tenure through the end of the decade. Hip-O Select’s second set in the revived “Motown Lost & Found” series, Lost… features 41 unreleased and rare tracks, 34 of which have never been heard before anywhere. Several of the released tracks are in new, extended stereo mixes.
Of particular note – besides the great B-sides – is the majestic new mix of Ivy Jo Hunter’s “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever,” which restores the track to the way he intended it be heard. “Lonely Lover,” once found a on a U.K. collection, is given a surprise ending. And “Wonderful Baby” is not the version known to fans – this collection includes alternate versions from two years earlier, providing an exclusive glimpse into the inner workings of Hitsville U.S.A.
The Tops had most of their collaborations with Holland-Dozier issued. Only two unreleased cuts from H-D-H surface here: “Gotta Say, Gonna Tell It Like It Is,” which appears to have been considered as a B-side for “Baby I Need Your Loving,” and “Just One Last Look,” later issued by The Temptations. Digging deep in the vaults, Select discovered the Tops were in the groove with every stripe of Motown staffer: Johnny Bristol, Ashford & Simpson, Jack Goga, Wade Marcus, Raynard Miner (direct from Chicago’s Chess Records), the Miracles’ Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore, George Gordy, Ron Miller, Frank Wilson (who would cut their classic Still Waters album), and even famed radio DJ Scott Regen, with his first-ever studio production (“Magic Mary”). These were the cuts left behind when cover songs took precedent. Well, one cover got left behind too: Frank Wilson’s one-take production of Gary Puckett & The Union Gap’s “Woman, Woman.”
The Tops’ special energy, passion and Motown magic are in every track here. Great songs, once lost, are now found.