Post by Jonel on Feb 20, 2004 16:15:51 GMT -5
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Review: Four Tops still bellowing out upbeat love songs
By JOHN HENDERSON,
jfhenderson@naplesnews.com
February 20, 2004
There they were, on the same stage that was about to be occupied by Motown legends, and they brought down the house.
Students of the Cypress Lake High School of the Performing Arts kicked off the Wednesday night performance of The Four Tops, bellowing out tunes in a cappella to standing ovations.
The students asked their teachers whether they one day might ever perform at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall. The teachers decided to send a tape of the group to The Four Tops who had an upcoming show.
The Tops loved what they heard and invited the students to be their opening act.
In nearly perfect harmony, with the hall's elevated ceilings echoing their voices, the students belted out tunes such as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" featured in "The Lion King."
The Tops had a tough act to follow, but with five decades of performing together, with a full brass band behind them, they were up for the task.
One of Motown's most consistent hitmakers and its longest lived lineup, the Four Tops emerged from Motown Records in the '60s, charting with scores of upbeat love songs featuring Levi Stubbs' rough-hewn lead vocals.
In 1990, Steve Wonder inducted the Tops into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
Only two of the original Four Tops now perform, but their replacements filled in admirably on Wednesday night. The two originals are Renaldo "Obie" Benson, and Abdul "Duke" Fakir, and they performed with wide grins and enthusiasm, with a look as though they were cherishing the moment.
Las Vegas showman Ronnie McNair recently joined the group, essentially replacing Lawrence Payton, who in June of 1997 died of liver cancer.
Since 1995, Levi Stubbs has been fighting cancer and he mostly rests at home now. Theo Peoples, former member of The Temptations, now sings Stubbs' parts.
He was more than up to the job on Wednesday night. At times, the Tops sounded exactly as they did decades ago when the originals were performing. If you closed your eyes and just listened you would think you were hearing one of their hits recorded decades ago.
Only a couple of times did this group of Tops not quite match the delivery of the original four, such as when they performed a quick-hit rendition of "Walk Away Rene" that sounded slower and less emotional than when Stubbs was with the group.
The Four Tops have a list of top 10 hits, many of them gold records and No. 1 chart-toppers, to their credit. They sang many of them on Wednesday night, tunes such "Baby, I Need Your Loving" and "Bernadette," and "Same Old Song."
Stubbs, Fakir, Benson and Payton were teenage school friends in their native Detroit when they joined together in a singing group called the Aims. It was the mid-1950s and their early career was spent largely in jazz and R&B circles. By the time they had recorded their first single for Chess Records in 1956, they were performing as an opening act or as backup singers with artists such as Della Resse, Brook Benton, Billy Eckstine, Count Basie, Betty Carter, Redd Foxx, Richard Pryor, and Flip Wilson.
My biggest criticism of Wednesday's show was that it was so entertaining it seemed as though it ended way too soon. It left you thirsting for more.
