One of the greatest voices in American music history has been silenced. Levi Stubbs, lead singer of The Four Tops, passed away today at the age of 72.
While folks of a certain age might only know Stubbs as the voice of Audrey the man-eating plant in The Little Shop of Horrors and even younger fans might only know Levi’s voice from the song Are You Man Enough, which was featured in the film Superbad, most music lovers know him as one of the most powerful singers Motown ever produced.
Most of today’s generation have no clue who Norman Whitfield is, but the Detroit native was one of the most important producers of the late Sixties and early Seventies. He was the main catalyst from turning Motown Records from a freshly-scrubbed pop-friendly label into something a little more psychedelic and sinister. While he wrote and produced nearly every song during the Temptations phenomenal post-Smokey run (“I Wish It Would Rain”, “I Can’t Get Next to You”, “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”), his most treasured composition is undoubtedly “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”, a song whose definitive version was provided by Marvin Gaye, but has been rerecorded by everyone from Creedence Clearwater Revival to the frickin’ California Raisins.
That string of hits alone would have been enough to ensure Whifield’s legendary status, but he went on to discover and produce well into the disco age. His most popular discovery of that era was Rose Royce, who scored chart hits with “Car Wash”, “I Wanna Get Next to You”, and the classic “Wishing on a Star”.
At a time when most current pop music sounds alike, it’s important to remember the originals, and Norman Whitfield was a true original.
Here’s The Tempts performing “I Wish It Would Rain”, one of my all-time favorite songs. Below it, a little bonus from Amy Winehouse and Paul Weller.
Motown institution Joe Hunter, who won 3 Grammy Awards while playing with the Funk Brothers behind artists like Diana Ross & The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and Stevie Wonder has died at the age of 79.
The cause of death this past weekend is still not known although media reports indicate tht Hunter suffered from diabetes.
Tennessee native Hunter was Motown’s first pianist, brought on board by Berry Gordy even before the more famous Earl Van Dyke and while the music company was still called Hitsville. Among the songs he recorded during his Motown tenure were Shop Around and Do You Love Me? He was also a favorite of guitar legend John Lee Hooker.
Spinning In The CD Player Today:
Fall Out Boy’s Infinity on High dropped yesterday, and while I never was impressed by the hit (This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race), I’m not liking much of the rest of the album either. Look for a comprehensive review on Music Help Web soon.