Sunday Boxing Day Soul Celebrating the 2021 Birthday of Duke Fakir of the Four Tops
by Robert Wilkinson
December 26th 1s the birthday of the great Duke Fakir, first tenor and last surviving member of the original Four Tops. We're dancing to Motown, so the party starts now!
Continuing a musical birthday weekend featuring quite a few of the greatest, Mister Abdul “Duke” Fakir (December 26, 1935) met Levi Stubbs in high school, and history was set into motion. Once they met Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton in 1954, they created a group for the ages. One of the archetypal voices of Motown, they were together from 1953 to 1997 without a change in lineup, so it’s safe to say this was one of the most enduring vocal groups in history!
In an era of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, Otis Redding, the Supremes, Dionne Warwick, the Marvelettes, Sam and Dave, Martha and the Vandellas, Booker T and the MGs, and too many other greats to list here, the Four Tops were consistently at or near the top of the charts. Their music was all over the radio and we were fed a long feast of hits that everyone loved and danced to.
We’ll kick off this birthday tribute with one of the greatest tunes the Four Tops ever did! This is a great performance clip from 1967, truly live on television, and fantastic! “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)”
Also from 1967 in Paris, the Four Tops cranking out a great live performance of “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)”
From TV Oz in 1993, the Four Tops very live and in the groove, offering up their first hit from way back when, the smooth soul sound of “Baby I Need Your Lovin’”
Here’s the original studio version, backing a Four Tops 1966 television lip-synched performance, of “Baby I Need Your Lovin’” From the same show, their third hit “Same Old Song”
Here's another great television appearance on Hullabaloo in 1965 performed to a backing instrumental track! For you stomping pleasure, their 1965 smash hit "Something About You Baby"
From Shivaree, the Four Tops lip-synching “Baby I Need Your Lovin’”
This is live! Their second hit was all over the airwaves, and we knew something big was happening! “Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)”
From 1966, live on television giving us "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever”
They were at the top of the charts when they did their smash hit on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1967! Singing live to a backing instrumental track, here’s a great performance of “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)”
Live on b/w television in 1967, “Standing In The Shadows of Love”
Live in Paris in 1967, a rousing show!
“Standing In The Shadows of Love”
“Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)”
He’s an uptempo live performance of “Same Old Song”
Though I gave this to you at the beginning, let’s do it again! “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)”
More 1967 television with Levi and the boys singing to a backing track offering up “Bernadette”
Also from 1967, set to home movies of them on the road, the Four Tops’ studio version of the Tim Hardin/Bobby Darin hit “If I Were A Carpenter”
This 1967 single cracked the Top 20! "7 Rooms of Gloom"
From 1968, the Four Tops delivering another of their huge hits, “Walk Away Renee”
Slowing it down a little, here’s their studio version of the Tommy Edwards classic, “It’s All In the Game”
Last year I had their full 44 minute Live in Europe Show from 1970, but it’s disappeared. Better luck next year.
From The Midnight Special television show in 1978, “Ain’t No Woman Like The One I’ve Got”
Live on ABC TV in 1981, the Four Tops cranking out a very live performance of “Bernadette,” “Ain’t No Woman,” and “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)”
Also on Fridays in 1981, here's a great live performance of their last Top 20 hit "When She Was My Girl"
From Live Aid in 1985, here’s a great live delivery of “Bernadette” and a medley of their greatest hits! The Four Tops at Live Aid
From Miami in 2004, the Four Tops live, with sweet harmonies and smooth dancing! “Reach Out” and “Same Old Song”, which we'll follow with “Same Old Song” and “Walk Away Renee,” and we'll close this gig with “Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)”
From the PBS 50th Anniversary Show in 2005, the new edition of the Four Tops offering up a fantastic 10 minute live tribute performance to Levi Stubbs! “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “Bernadette,” “Same Old Song,” “I Can't Help Myself”
We now get a brief but memorable blast from the past! Here's a single they did in 1956 when they began, back in the era of doo-wop. For your enjoyment, from that year, the studio version of the A side and the B side (remember them?) of their first record, “Could It Be You” and “Kiss Me Baby”
From their early Columbia days in 1960, another two sides of early Four Tops cranking up the Twist machine followed by some sweet doo-wop! “Ain’t That Love” and “Lonely Summer”
We now move into the closers, a couple of great television performances from the mid-80s!
From a 1985 television special Motown Returns to the Apollo, 6 minutes of pure Soul gold! “Temptations vs the Four Tops”
It’s gone again. Some years I have the 53 minute 1986 Motown on Showtime on one clip, while other years it disappears. Better luck next year.
Over the years various individual clips appear or disappear. 2 years ago I had all 6 parts. Last year part 4 disappeared but the whole show reappeared on one clip. This year parts 2 and 4 are gone, so the above clip is the one to view.
Motown on Showtime – Temptations and the Four Tops – Pt. 1 (10 min)
Motown on Showtime – Temptations and the Four Tops – Pt. 2 (10 min)
Motown on Showtime – Temptations and the Four Tops – Pt. 3 (10 min)Motown on Showtime – Temptations and the Four Tops – Pt. 4 has disappeared this year. (10 min)
Motown on Showtime – Temptations and the Four Tops – Pt. 5 (10 min)Motown on Showtime – Temptations and the Four Tops – Pt. 6 (8+ min)We’ll close this tribute with a great b/w live performance in Brussels in 1967, a very cranked up b/w version of “Reach Out (I’ll Be There).”
For our first encore, we fast forward 29 years to a full hour concert in Las Vegas by the original Four Tops in 1996! The Four Tops at the MGM Grand - 1996
For our second encore, a fitting tribute to the original Four Tops! From Letterman in 2005, bassist Obie Benson’s last live performance before he died. For your enjoyment, the Four Tops very live backed by “the most dangerous band in the world” performing “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)”
Copyright © 2021 Robert Wilkinson
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