“Reach Out I’ll Be There” (The Four Tops)

Today’s classic song of the day is a Motown classic, “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops. Released during the fall of 1966, this one shot all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart, and the Cash Box Top 100. It was also a #1 hit in Spain and the UK and a top ten hit in Belgium, Canada, Ireland, and the Netherlands. Billboard ranked it the #4 song for the entire year of 1966, the single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and it was selected by the Library Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

“Reach Out I’ll Be There” was written and produced by the legendary team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland, AKA H-D-H. The pounding, pulsing background track was recorded by Eddie Willis, Robert White, and Joe Messina on guitars; James Jamerson on bass; Richard “Pistol” Allen on four-on-the-snare drums; and Motown producer Norman Whitfield playing a tambourine with timpani mallets. The female group the Andantes joined the rest of the Tops on background vocals.

Lamont Dozier recalled this about writing the song:

“[I wanted to write] a journey of emotions with sustained tension, like a bolero. To get this across, I alternated the keys, from a minor, Russian feel in the verse to a major, gospel feel in the chorus.”

He also said he and Eddie Holland were heavily influenced by Bob Dylan at the time, and they “wanted Levi [Stubbs] to shout-sing the lyrics as a shout-out to Dylan.”

As to Levi’s vocals, H-D-H wrote this one at the very top of the singer’s range and made him half-sing, half-shout the lyrics. Fellow Top Duke Fakir recalled:

“Eddie realized that when Levi hit the top of his vocal range, it sounded like someone hurting, so he made him sing right up there. Levi complained, but we knew he loved it. Every time they thought he was at the top, he would reach a little further until you could hear the tears in his voice. The line ‘Just look over your shoulder’ was something he threw in spontaneously. Levi was creative like that; he could always add something from the heart.”

Levi and the rest of the Tops apparently didn’t like the song. Levi, in particular, complained that he didn’t sound good hitting those high notes and he also didn’t like the way H-D-H made him shout throughout the song. “I’m a singer,” he reportedly said. “I don’t talk or shout.”

Everybody else who heard the song felt differently. Motown head Berry Gordy knew a hit when he heard one, and after hearing this one he sent the Tops a note saying: “Make sure your taxes are taken care of—because we’re going to release the biggest record you’ve ever had.” He was right.

Many regard “Reach Out I’ll Be There” as the Tops’ signature song, although “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” competes for that honor. This one is a powerful piece of music, full of soulful emotion, the perfect pairing of singer and song. To me, “Reach Out I’ll Be There” is the epitome of H-D-H’s 1960’s Motown sound. It just doesn’t get much better than this.

And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, Levi Stubbs, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton singing “Reach Out I’ll Be There” live on the October 16, 1966, episode of The Ed Sullivan Show. This is a terrific performance, they were at the top of their game and it shows. Damn, I can watch this one all day long.